1 Penny - David I Castle Type

David I introduced regular royal coinage to Scotland around 1136, drawing heavily on English minting practice — unsurprising given that he had spent decades at the Anglo-Norman court and held the earldom of Huntingdon. The castle type takes its name from the architectural motif on the reverse, but the production itself was almost certainly carried out by English moneyers working under royal license at mints likely located at Berwick and Roxburgh.

Surviving examples are rare by any measure. Scotland's early coinage was never abundant, and centuries of melting for bullion have reduced the surviving population to a handful of recorded specimens.