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Fourpenny Plack - James VI
| Issuer | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1594 |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicting a thistle plant superimposed over two crossed sceptres in saltire, all rendered in low relief within a beaded inner circle. The field is worn and irregular, characteristic of hammered billon coinage. The circumferential Latin legend reads clockwise around the periphery, separated by pellet stops, identifying the monarch as James the Sixth, by the Grace of God, King of Scots. The overall composition reflects the heraldic traditions of late sixteenth-century Scottish royal coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
James VI authorized the plack as a practical response to chronic small-change shortages that had plagued Scottish commerce for decades, but by the 1590s the coinage had been debased so aggressively that the billon content bordered on token money. The 1594 issue falls within a period when the Scottish mint was operating under considerable financial strain, partly driven by James's expensive court and the costs of maintaining political stability in a kingdom still fractured by religious and noble factionalism.
Sp#5520 sits in a long run of nearly indistinguishable plack types; attribution relies heavily on minor die details and edge characteristics rather than gross type differences.