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20 Shillings - Mary I 1st Period
| Issuer | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1543 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Shillings (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays the crowned royal arms of Scotland, featuring the rampant lion passant within a shield, surmounted by an open crown rendered in high relief characteristic of mid-16th century Scottish hammered coinage. The shield is enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The peripheral legend, separated from the central device by a plain border, reads MARIA · D · G · R · SCOTORVM with the date 1 · 5 · 4 · 3 interspersed, identifying Mary as Queen of Scots by the grace of God. The execution reflects the bold, somewhat irregular style typical of the Edinburgh mint under the regency period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mary I was six days old when her father James V died in December 1542, making her Queen of Scots before she could lift her own head. This coin belongs to her first regal period, when the realm was governed by regents — initially the Earl of Arran — amid intense English pressure from Henry VIII, who sought to bind the infant queen to his son Edward through the Treaty of Greenwich. When the Scottish Parliament repudiated that treaty in late 1543, it effectively ended any prospect of peaceful union and triggered the punitive English raids known as the Rough Wooing.
Spink 5391 is among the scarcer Scottish gold issues of the sixteenth century by surviving population.