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1 Thistle Merk - James VI 8th Coinage
| Issuer | Edinburgh Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1601-1604 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | IACOBVS · 6 · D · G · R · SCOTORVM (Translation: James the Sixth, by the Grace of God, King of Scots) |
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| Reverse lettering | REGEM · IOVA · PROTEGIT · 1601 (Translation: Jehova protects the king) |
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| Additional information |
The Thistle Merk was introduced as part of James VI's extensive monetary reforms of the 1590s and early 1600s, aimed at stabilizing a Scottish coinage that had been chronically debased through successive reigns. The "eighth coinage" designation reflects just how many times the Scottish crown had been forced to recalibrate its currency — a frequency that itself signals the chronic fiscal pressures of the period.
James would leave for London within months of this issue's final striking, uniting the Scottish and English crowns in 1603 and rendering much of Edinburgh's independent coinage apparatus effectively redundant within a generation.