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1 Plack - Mary I 1st Period
| Issuer | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1557 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Plack (1⁄60) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The crowned royal arms of Mary as Queen of Scots occupy the central field, flanked by the initial letters 'M' to the left and 'R' to the right, denoting MARIA REGINA. The shield displays the heraldic charges associated with the Scottish crown and is surmounted by an ornate royal crown. The surrounding legend, struck in Latin, gives the queen's name, title, and the regnal year. The coin exhibits the characteristic irregularity of hammered production, with some flatness and die shift typical of mid-sixteenth-century Scottish billon coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Mary I's first period coinage was struck before her marriage to Francis, Dauphin of France in 1558 — a union that would fundamentally alter Scotland's political position and trigger a complete overhaul of the coinage. The plack denomination itself had been a workhorse of Scottish petty commerce since James III, and by Mary's reign the billon content had been progressively debased to the point where this issue carries barely a whisper of silver.
Spink 5437 is among the more readily attributable of Mary's complex plack series, though die variety attribution remains a persistent challenge given the crude striking conditions typical of mid-16th century Scottish minting at Edinburgh.