1 Penny - William I Crescent and Pellet Coinage, Type I

William I of Scotland began issuing his own coinage shortly after the Treaty of Falaise in 1174, under which he had sworn fealty to Henry II following his capture at the Battle of Alnwick. The political humiliation of that treaty makes the assertion of a distinct Scottish silver coinage almost immediately afterward a pointed act — a king who had just become England's vassal wasted little time putting his name on coin of the realm.

The Crescent and Pellet series is divided into types primarily on the basis of die-link analysis and minor compositional shifts. Type I is the earliest grouping, struck from Edinburgh and Berwick.