Post mediaeval Scottish coinage 1513-1707

[Deeman]

James VII (II of England) coinage

During the reign of James' brother, Charles II, the Edinburgh mint experienced many problems. Corruption was rife, political infighting the norm, and weight standards had long gone out the window. The upshot saw Charles appoint a commission to examine the mint's affairs. This led to it being closed in 1682. This was still the case in 1685 when James VII came to the Scottish throne but operations started up again in 1687.

Between the Edinburgh mint re-opening and James' overthrow in Dec 1688, there existed only a short period of time for new coinage. Denominations, as ordered by the Act of Scottish Parliament in Jun 1686, were to be 5/-, 10/-, 20/-, 40/- and 60/- pieces; but only the 10/- and 40/- pieces were actually issued. The exchange rate since the accession of James VI to both thrones had been 12 Scottish to 1 English. With James reverting to silver coins with denominations in shillings, and with the weights adjusted to reflect the exchange rate, it became 13:1 and so it remained until the union of the kingdoms in 1707, when the ratio of 12:1 was again restored.

No provision was made for grained or lettered edges on Charles II coins, unlike those used on the English coinage of 1662, but these were introduced at the Scottish mint in 1687 – lettering for the 40/- pieces and grained edge for the 10/- pieces. Such edge finishing was introduced as a protection against clipping. James' reign saw the use of the letter 'U' in inscriptions, but that practice ceased in subsequent reigns.

Coins issued:
Silver 10/- 1687/8.
Silver 40/- 1687/8.



Silver forty shillings dated 1687



Obverse: IACOBUS·II· DEI·GRATIA· (James II, by the grace of God) split around a laureate and draped bust facing right, value ':40' below bust.
Reverse·: ·MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1687 (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms, date divided by the crown.
Edge: NEMO·ME·IMPUNE·LACESSET·ANNO·REGNI·TERTIO: (No one hurts me with impunity third regnal year).
(QVARTO for fourth regnal year.)



Silver ten shillings dated 1688



Obverse: IACOBUS·II· DEI·GRATIA· (James II, by the grace of God) split around a laureate and draped bust facing right, value '·10·' below bust.
Reverse·: ·MAG / BR·FRA / ET·HIB / REX·16 / 88 (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), split around crowned shields of Scotland, England, France and Ireland in the angles of a St. Andrew's cross tipped by the respective badges of the kingdoms - thistle, rose, lis, and harp.
Edge: Grained.



Silver ten shillings dated 1687



As 1688 piece without pellets around value.

[Deeman]

James VII (II of England) sixty shillings (pattern)

Dies for a higher 60-shilling denomination had been engraved by John Roettier, but no contemporary coins were issued, if indeed any were struck. The date the dies bear is that of the year of the Glorious Revolution, 1688.

In 1827/8 two aged ladies died in France – the last survivors of the Roettier family. Among their effects were found the dies for the 60-shilling coin. These were purchased by a Mr. Cox who brought them to England. He sold them to Matthew Young. He cleaned and repaired them and made three gold and sixty silver impressions before the dies were defaced and deposited in the British Museum.



Obverse: IACOBUS·II· DEI·GRATIA· (James II, by the grace of God) split around a laureate and draped bust facing right, value '60' below bust.
Reverse·: ·MAG·BRIT·FRA ET·HIB·REX·1688 (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms, date divided by the crown, shield lies within a collar of the Order of the Thistle, the St Andrew (badge-appendant) suspended from the collar dividing FRA and ET.
Edge: Plain.



James VII established the chivalric Order of the Thistle with a statutory foundation under new rules in 1687 - to reward Scottish peers who supported the king's political and religious aims.
The collar is made of gold and depicts thistles and sprigs of rue. It is worn over the mantle. The St Andrew, also called the badge-appendant, is worn suspended from the collar. It comprises a gold enamelled depiction of St Andrew, wearing a green gown and purple coat, holding a white saltire.

Rue was a common herb believed to keep away witches, and that folk use evolved into the Catholic Church's practice of dipping branches of rue into Holy water and sprinkling it over the heads of parishioners as a blessing.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) & Mary II 1689-94

With James VII/II having fled to France in Dec 1688, William called a Convention Parliament in England, which on 22 Jan 1689 declared that by attempting to flee his country, James had abdicated the throne, leaving it vacant. Instead of the crown passing to James' young Catholic son, it was decided it should go to his Protestant daughter, Mary II, who would rule jointly with her husband, who would become William III of England. In March 1689, a Scottish Convention met in Edinburgh and on 4 Apr 1689 William II of Scotland and Mary II were declared joint monarchs of Scotland.

Parliament passed the Bill of Rights in 1689 which prevented Catholics for succeeding to the throne ensuring that Mary's sister Anne would become the next queen, and after the autocratic rules of Charles II and his brother James II limited the powers of monarchs so that they could neither pass laws nor levy taxes without parliamentary consent. The royal court was abolished, and the proper court was forbidden from imposing cruel punishments or excessive bail. Freedom of speech was to be upheld, and the sovereign was banned from having anything to do with elections or from maintaining their own army. Finally, Parliament put an end to the monarchy's use of England's treasury as a personal piggy bank and tightened control over the sovereign's expenditure.

This document inspired the English colonists in the Thirteen Colonies that would later become part of the USA, to revolt against James II and his stance on colonial government. Revolts occurred in New York, Massachusetts and Maryland in 1689.

Whilst the Convention Parliament in England declared that James, as King of England, had abdicated the Government, the Scots found themselves facing a more difficult constitutional problem. As James had not been present in Scotland during the crisis and had not fled from Scottish territory in December, it would be highly dubious to claim that he had abdicated the Scottish throne. The 1689 Convention of Estates (comprising the three estates of bishops, barons and representatives of the Burghs) sat between 16 Mar and 5 Jun to determine the settlement of the Scottish throne, following the deposition of James VII in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The throne was offered to Mary and to William who was granted regal power on the basis he held the throne de facto, by right of conquest. On 11 Apr, the Convention ended James' reign and adopted the Articles of Grievances and Claim of Right Act, making Parliament the primary legislative power in Scotland. On 11 May 1689, William and Mary accepted the Scottish throne and the Convention became a full Parliament on 5 Jun.

The enthronement of William and Mary marked the birth of the Jacobite cause among those who claimed that James and his descendants were the rightful Kings of England, Scotland and Ireland. The first Jacobite uprising in Scotland, under the leadership of Viscount Dundee, began almost immediately, on 27 Jul 1689.

Jacobitism also had repercussions in Ireland, where James landed with a French army in Mar 1690, taking advantage of the fact that the Irish Parliament still considered him to be King. On 1 Jul 1690, James was defeated by forces under the command of William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne. William's victory ensured the Protestant faith kept its hold in Britain and his war with France, although costly and beneficial to his native Netherlands, did put a stop to Catholic Louis XIV's ambitions to expand his territory.

The joint regnal reign necessitated a new Coat of Arms. They impaled their arms onto the former Arms and, with the resultant added detail, it would have been very difficult to strike a clear representation on coinage, so a compromise solution placed an escutcheon of the Lion of Nassau (the royal house to which William belonged) centrally on the shield. Following the death of Mary, no further amendment was required.

Images of the new Coat of Arms giving Scotland prominence. William & Mary on the left and William on the right.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) & Mary II silver coinage

Coins issued:
Silver 60/- 1691/2.
Silver 40/- 1689-94.
Silver 20/- 1691, 93/4.
Silver 10/- 1690-92, 94.
Silver 5/- 1691, 94.

The 60/- and 40/- pieces have an edge inscription that identifies the regnal year, first year being from 11 May 1689 to 10 May 1690. So consecutively dated coins can have the same regnal year.
The English crown is above the shield on the 60/-, 40/- and 20/- pieces. The 10/- piece was struck with an English crown over a small shield in 1690 and a Scottish crown over a large shield for the other years.

The 5/- piece has the value 'V' below the cipher in 1691, and below the bust in 1694. English crown above cipher on both varieties.



Silver sixty shillings dated 1692



Obverse: GVLIELMVS·ET·MARIA·DEI·GRA (William and Mary, by the grace of God), conjoined laureate and draped busts facing left, value '60' below busts.
Reverse·: MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA·1692· (King and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms.
Edge: ·PROTEGIT·ET·ORNAT·ANNO·REGNI·TERTIO [QVARTO] (It protects and adorns, third [fourth] regnal year).



Silver forty shillings dated 1691



Obverse: GVLIELMVS·ET·MARIA·DEI·GRATIA· (William and Mary, by the grace of God), conjoined laureate and draped busts facing left, value '40' below busts.
Reverse·: MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA·1691· (King and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms.
Edge: ·PROTEGIT·ET·ORNAT·ANNO·REGNI·SECVNDO [TERTIO] (It protects and adorns, second [third] regnal year).



Silver twenty shillings dated 1693



Obverse: GVLIELMVS·ET·MARIA·DEI·GRATIA (William and Mary, by the grace of God), conjoined laureate and draped busts facing left, value '20' below busts.
Reverse·: MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA·1693· (King and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms.
Edge: Grained.



Silver ten shillings dated 1690



English crown, small shield.
Obverse: GVLIELMVS·ET·MARIA·DEI·GRATIA· (William and Mary, by the grace of God), conjoined laureate and draped busts facing left, value '10' below busts.
Reverse·: MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA·1690 (King and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms.
Edge: Grained.



Silver ten shillings dated 1691



As 1690 piece but Scottish crown and large shield.



Silver ten shillings dated 1691



As 1691 piece but GRATIA.



Silver five shillings dated 1691



Obverse: GVLIELMVS·ET·MARIA·DEI·GRA· (William and Mary, by the grace of God), conjoined laureate and draped busts facing left.
Reverse·: MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA·1691 (King and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned 'WM' cipher, value 'V' below.
Edge: Grained.



Silver five shillings dated 1694



As 1691 piece but value 'V' below busts, pellet after date.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) & Mary II copper coinage

Coins issued:
Copper bawbee (6d) 1691-94.
Copper bodle (2d) 1691-94.

The long titles required for William and Mary caused the inscription on the bawbees of completely circumscribe the conjoined busts, the legend starting and finishing above the heads and divided by a mintmark - pellet cross 1691/2, thistle 1692, two trefoils 1692, star 1692/3/4, lis 1692, 94. The reverse design follows that used by Charles II.

For the bodle, GVL·ET·MAR is replaced by a crowned 'WM' cipher with the inscription commencing with D·G at one o'clock. The cipher has variations in form. The reverse design follows that used by Charles II, except that the thistle is crowned. There is some variety in the thistle stalk, which is either finished with a flat or hollowed foot. The thistle head can be slightly smaller.



Copper bawbee dated 1691



Obverse: pellet cross (lis in centre?) mintmark, GVL·ET·MAR·D·G·MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA· (William and Mary, by the grace of God, king and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), conjoined laureate and draped busts facing left.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1691· (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned thistle



Copper bawbee dated 1692



As 1691 piece, but lis mintmark, pellet before GVL and no pellet after date.



Copper bawbee 1692 variant



Reverse incuse.



Copper bawbee dated 1692



As 1691 piece, but star mintmark.



Copper bawbee dated 1692



As 1691 piece, but thistle mintmark and no pellet after date.



Copper bodle dated 1691



Obverse: D·G·MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA (By the grace of God, king and queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned 'WM' cipher.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1691 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned thistle, hollowed stalk.



Copper bodle dated 1692



As 1691 piece, but flat-footed stalk and slightly smaller thistle head.



Copper bodle dated 1693



As 1691 piece, but cipher variation and pellet after date.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) 1694-1702

Mary died of smallpox in 1694 and had no surviving children. William now ruled alone. The Peace of Rijswijk in 1697 marked the end of the war with in Flanders with Louis XIV. William formed an alliance between England, the Dutch Republic (provinces of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel, Groningen and Friesland) and Austria to prevent the union of the French and Spanish crowns. This became known as the 'War of Spanish Succession' (1701-14) triggered by the death in Nov 1700 of the childless Charles II of Spain.

Just prior to Mary's death in 1694, the Bank of England was formed as a private bank acting as a banker to the Government. It was primarily founded to fund the war effort against France. The need for a central bank was seen by a Scotsman, William Paterson, who noticed that the nation's finances had been in disarray and had no real system of money or credit.

With Britain's currency in such a disastrous state and having seen the failed attempts by those before him, William was determined to put it right, and he set a plan in motion that would later come to be known as the 'Great Recoinage of 1696.'

By 1695, high-value gold coins were plentiful in England but there was a notable shortage of small-denomination silver coins, creating a monetary contraction inhibiting payment to British soldiers and impeding everyday transactions between individuals. The coinage in circulation in England was badly worn and clipped to leave just enough of the original coin that it would still pass for full value. Shaving slivers of silver was very profitable and the practice so widespread and repeated to such an extent that there was little money-that was worth what it was supposed to be worth. Forgery was another problem and by 1696 forged coins constituted approx. 10% of currency. To compound the situation, new 'milled' silver coins were more valuable as 'silver bullion' in Paris and Amsterdam than the face value in England.

The great scheme, initiated by the Advisers of William, for calling in and recoining the hammered money, was admirably planned and rapidly carried out, though at great loss and inconvenience to the public.

The Great Recoinage was completed by 1699, but whether it could be called a success is questionable. While it did indeed improve the state of Britain's coinage and proved the Government's ability to handle the country's financial matters, it brought many problems. The public was told that each old coin that was brought in would be refunded at face value, no matter the state it was in. The temptation to file down the precious metal and keep some shavings to sell on was too strong for many. The value that the Government brought in through returned coins was very low, and it likely wasn't helped by this last-minute clipping frenzy. There was also a worrying level of civil unrest. Though there were six mints working to produce enough new coins to replace all the old, it took some time. After handing in their coins and with no remaining coins to pay for anything, many people become very worried about their financial state and refused to pay for anything. This nationwide feeling of unease caused the Government concerns of riots. It was clear something needed to be done. In the end, the Government decided to issue paper bank notes, to bridge the gap until the new coins were rolled out.

But the most infamous issue was the Window Tax. The cost of producing new money and swapping it for the nation's clipped coins was huge. This money had to come from somewhere, so the Government brought in the notorious Window Tax. Households were taxed on the number of windows they had, as well as ventilation openings. In efforts to pay as little extra tax as possible, many people bricked up their windows and covered their vents. The resulting reduction in access to light and air brought widespread anguish and illness, including cholera, typhus and smallpox. The tax was wildly unpopular and continued to cause misery for many years.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) gold coinage

William Paterson, a Scot, whose idea led to the foundation of the Bank of England, had made his first fortune through international trade, travelling extensively throughout the Americas and West Indies. Upon his return to Scotland, Paterson sought to make his second fortune with a scheme to create a link between east and west, which could command the trade of the two great oceans of the world, the Pacific and Atlantic. In 1693, Paterson helped to set up the 'Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies' (known as the Darien Company) with the aim of the establishment of an entrepôt on the Isthmus of Darien (now part of Panama). This Scottish colony would assist merchant shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific by removing the long and perilous journey around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. Instead, goods would be transported to the colony at Darien, on the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, and carried across to a port on the Pacific side, where ships with exchange cargoes from the East Indies and Asia would be waiting.

This doomed endeavour has been cited as one of the motivations for the 1707 Acts of Union. According to this argument, the Scottish establishment (landed aristocracy and mercantile elites) considered that their best chance of being part of a major power would be to share the benefits of England's international trade and the growth of the English overseas possessions and so its future would have to lie in unity with England. Furthermore, Scotland's nobles were almost bankrupted by the Darien fiasco.

This gold coinage was made from gold dust imported by the Darien Company from a profitable voyage along the African coast by the ship the African Merchant which returned to Leith in July 1700. The company directors intimated to the Privy Council that, for the honour and interest of the kingdom, it should be immediately coined as the only means for preventing it from being exported. Further, as was practice in other nations to honour the importers of any considerable quantity of gold or bullion, they petitioned that the Company's crest might be put upon all coin. This was granted, and the crest from the Arms of the Company, a faced sun rising above the sea, consequently appears immediately below the king's bust.

Coins issued:
Gold pistole (£12 Scots) 1701.
Gold half-pistole (£6 Scots) 1701.



Gold pistole



Obverse: GVLIELMVS DEI·GRATIA· (William, by the grace of God), laureate and draped bust facing left, faced sun rising above sea below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse·: MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1701· (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms flanked by crowned 'W' and 'R'.
Edge: Grained.



Gold half-pistole



As pistole, but with modified bust, reduced sea and pellet between GVLIELMVS and DEI.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) silver coinage

Coins issued:
Silver 40/- 1695-1700.
Silver 20/- 1695-99.
Silver 10/- 1695-99.
Silver 5/- 1695-97, 1699-1702.

After the death of Mary, the king's head and style only were placed upon the coins. Otherwise, there was no change, except that on the 5/- pieces where a three-headed thistle took the place of the cipher of William and Mary. No numerals appear after the king's name on Scottish coins. Although he was William II of Scotland, he was only William I of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, which are the titles assumed on Scottish coins.

The 1695 40/- pieces have two varieties of Dutch shield – one with blocks (upright rectangles) and a variant without blocks.



Silver forty shillings dated 1695



Obverse: GVLIELMVS DEI·GRATIA· (William, by the grace of God), laureate and draped bust facing left, value '40' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse·: MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1695 (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms, blocks in Dutch shield.
Edge: ·PROTEGIT·ET·ORNAT·ANNO·REGNI·SEPTIMO [OCTAVO] (It protects and adorns, seventh [eighth] regnal year).



Silver forty shillings dated 1695



Obverse: GVLIELMVS DEI·GRATIA (William, by the grace of God), laureate and draped bust facing left, value '40' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse·: MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1695· (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms, no blocks in Dutch shield.
Edge: ·PROTEGIT·ET·ORNAT·ANNO·REGNI·SEPTIMO (It protects and adorns, seventh regnal year).



Silver twenty shillings dated 1698



Obverse: GVLIELMVS·DEI·GRATIA· (William, by the grace of God), laureate and draped bust facing left, value '20' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse·: MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1698· (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms.
Edge: Grained.



Silver ten shillings dated 1698



Obverse: GVLIELMVS·DEI·GRATIA· (William, by the grace of God), laureate and draped bust facing left, value '10' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse·: MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1698· (King of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms, '8' punched over '7'.
Edge: Grained.



Silver five shillings dated 1696



Obverse: GVL·D·G·MAG·BR·FR·&·HIB·REX· (William, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland), laureate and draped bust facing left, value '5' below bust.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1696 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned three-headed thistle, '6' punched over '5'.
Edge: Grained.

[Deeman]

William II (III of England) copper coinage

Coins issued:
Copper bawbee (6d) 1695-97.
Copper bodle (2d) 1695-97.

The obverse of the 1695 bawbee differs from those of 1696/7 in bust and inscription. They read BR·FR and have a portrait with an angular throat and a straight nose. The later issues have BRIT·FRA and a portrait with a less angled throat and an aquiline nose. On the reverse the type is basically the same as that of the 1691-94 bawbees, but crown and thistle are smaller and the leaves of a rounder shape.

For the bodle, the obverse has large crown and small crown issues. Obverses with a large crown surmounting the sword and sceptre have the king's name as GVLIELMVS or GVL. Obverses with a smaller crown permit the sword and sceptre to be in a more upright position, breaking the legend and always causing the king's name to be contracted. The inscription on the smaller crown obverse exists with '&' or 'ET'. The large crown was issued 1695/6, GVLIELMVS only 1695; smaller crown in 1695/6 with '&' and 1695-97 with 'ET'. For the reverse there is a 1695 issue with the thistle design from the William & Mary issue. The thistle was then reduced and struck 1695-97.



Copper bawbee dated 1695



Obverse: GVL·D·G·MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX· (William, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland), laureate and draped bust facing left.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1695 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned thistle



Copper bawbee dated 1697



As 1695 piece, but revised portrait, BRIT·FRA and pellet after date.



Copper bodle dated 1695



Large crown, GVLIELMVS variety.
Obverse: GVLIELMVS·D·G·MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·R· (William, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned crossed sword and sceptre.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1695 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned thistle.



Copper bodle dated 1695



Small crown, ET, small thistle variety.
Obverse: GVL·D·G·MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX· (William, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned crossed sword and sceptre.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1695 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned thistle.



Copper bodle dated 1696



Small crown, ET, small thistle variety.
As 1695 small crown piece but no stops in reverse inscription.



Copper bodle dated 1695



Small crown, &, small thistle variety.
As 1695 small crown piece but '&' for 'ET'.

[Deeman]

Anne 1702-1714

In 1701 following death of Prince William, the only surviving son of Mary's sister Anne, the Act of Settlement was passed ensuring succession of Protestant heirs of Sophie of Hanover instead of the Catholic heirs of James. William died on 1702 of bacterial pneumonia following a broken collar bone after a fall from his horse. Because his horse had reputedly stumbled on a mole's burrow Jacobites toasted 'the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat.' It was Mary's younger sister Anne's turn to take to the throne.

Anne was 37 years old when she became queen. At her coronation she was suffering from a bad attack of gout and had to be carried to the ceremony in an open sedan chair with a low back, so that her six-yard train could pass to her ladies walking behind.

Within months, the War of the Spanish Succession began. John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, had a glorious victory over the French at the battle of Blenheim in 1704, followed by another great victory at Ramillies in 1706, at Oudenaerde in 1708, and at Malplaquet in 1709. To show the country's appreciation, Anne and Parliament gave the Duke of Marlborough land at Woodstock in Oxfordshire, and built him a magnificent house, designed by Vanburgh, called Blenheim Palace.

The last years of the 17th century had seen differing policies pursued by parliaments in England and Scotland which included disagreements over the succession. The solution seemed to be unification and so on 1 May 1707 England and Scotland were combined into a single kingdom, and Anne became the first sovereign of Great Britain. One British parliament would meet at Westminster, and there would be a common flag and coinage but Scotland would keep its own established Church and its systems of law and education.

[Deeman]

Coinage of Anne before unification in 1707

The coinage for Queen Anne was confined to just two denominations – silver 10/- and 5/- pieces – both minted in 1705 and 1706. The Arms of Scotland reverted to the pre-William era without the Dutch escutcheon.



Silver ten shillings dated 1705



Obverse: ANNA·DEI·GRATIA· (Anne, by the grace of God), bust facing left, value '10' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse·: MAG·BRIT·FRA·ET·HIB·REX·1705· (Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), crowned shield of Scottish Arms.
Edge: Grained.



Silver ten shillings dated 1706



As 1705 piece but REGINA.



Silver five shillings dated 1705



Obverse: ANNA·DEI·GRATIA· (Anne, by the grace of God), bust facing left, value '5' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1705 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned three-headed thistle.
Edge: Grained.



Silver five shillings dated 1705



Obverse: ANNA·D·G·M·BR·FR·&·HIB·REG· (Anne, by the grace of God, queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), value '5' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1705 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned three-headed thistle, '5' punched over '4'.
Edge: Grained.



Silver five shillings dated 1705



Obverse: AN·D·G·M·BR·FR·&·HIB·REG· (Anne, by the grace of God, queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), value '5' below bust with pellet after, inscription split around head.
Reverse: NEMO·ME·IMPVNE·LACESSET·1705 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned three-headed thistle, '5' punched over '4'.
Edge: Grained.



Silver five shillings dated 1706



Obverse: AN·D·G·MAG·BR·FR·&·HIB·R (Anne, by the grace of God, queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), value '5' below bust, inscription split around head.
Reverse: NEMO ME IMPVNE LACESSET 1706 (No one shall hurt me with impunity), crowned three-headed thistle, no stops in inscription.
Edge: Grained.

[Deeman]

Scottish recoinage of 1707-09

The recoinage was undertaken in fulfilment of Article 16 of the Treaty of Union: "That from and after the Union, the coin shall be the same standard and value throughout the United Kingdom, as now in England. And a mint shall be continued in Scotland under the same rules as the mint in England. And the present officers of the mint continued subject to such regulations and alterations as Her Majesty or the Parliament of Great Britain shall think fit." The upholding of the mint at Edinburgh was an acknowledgment that, in consenting to form a part of what was henceforth to be known as the United Kingdom, Scotland entered upon the Union on equal terms, as an ancient and independent kingdom, not as a mere province of England.

Preparations for the recoinage began on 18 Mar 1707 when Lord Treasurer Godolphin asked the officers of the Tower Mint to report on what was required. Their recommendations were that:
1. A new set of Troy weights should be made for each mint. Previously the Edinburgh mint had used its own system of weights: 16 ounces to the pound and 16 pounds to the stone.
2. New trial plates of gold and silver should be made.
3. The money coined in both mints should be the same, with some letter or mark set on coins struck in Edinburgh.
4. A copy of the rules for coinage in the indenture between the Queen and Isaac Newton, as master of the mint, should be sent to the Scottish mint.

To ensure that "the money of both mints may be exactly alike" dies and punches were produced by the Tower mint. A royal warrant signed on 20 Jun 1707 directed the officers of the Scottish mint to observe the rules of coinage set out in a copy of the Tower mint indenture. Personnel from the Tower mint were sent to Edinburgh to oversee and assist.

The feature of British coins after the Union, whether struck for Scotland or for England, was the impaling of the arms of England and Scotland in one shield. On the crowns, half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences, England and Scotland, thus impaled, occupy the upper and lower shields, France the shield to the right, and Ireland that to left, the four shields forming a cross, with the Star of the Order of the Garter in the centre.

The Edinburgh mint opened for business on 22 Aug 1707 when the Scottish privy council issued a proclamation inviting holders of Scottish or foreign coins to bring them to the mint. A second proclamation of 19 Sept called in foreign silver money.

There were complaints from Edinburgh of delays in sending the dies and replacements for defective punches. More seriously it proved impracticable to follow Tower mint's method of alloying silver. Whereas the Tower furnaces were fired with charcoal, the Edinburgh mint used coal, which gave a fiercer heat. To maintain the standard fineness of 0.925, Edinburgh's practice had been to add some grains of copper during pouring when the crucible was half-empty. The Tower mint alloyed silver to meet the requisite fineness.

Eventually the alloying problem was resolved and all seemed to be going well with the output of coins rising in Nov 1707. The Edinburgh mint were producing crowns, half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences.

A proclamation of 12 Jan 1708 called in the larger denomination pre-union silver coins, 40/-, 20/- and 10/- pieces. These ceased to be legal tender on 10 Feb and from 25 Feb were receivable only as bullion. At this point a threatened French invasion in support of a Jacobite rising caused a demand for specie and the withdrawn coins had to be put back in circulation, some being used to pay the forces. The proclamation of 28 April recalled them and also called in the remaining denominations - the 5/- of William and Anne, and Charles II's merk series. These would cease to be legal tender on 1 Jun but could be received by the Bank at full value until 1 Nov.

The cost of supporting the Edinburgh mint and coinage had been defrayed from a dedicated fund, the bullion money, levied on a wide range of imports under a 1686 Act. Under the Act of Union, the bullion money was to be replaced by extending the English coinage duty to Scotland, but the two fiscal systems were not to be merged until May 1708. In the meantime, the residue of the bullion money was expected to meet all necessary expenditure.

Back in Aug 1707 the Scottish privy council had proposed that the Scottish treasury should pay for the recoinage out of the bullion money. But sufficient money was not forthcoming. Part of the problem was an administrative hiatus in Scotland. The treasury ceased to exist on 1 May 1708 and the new court of exchequer, which partly replaced it, was not yet operational. Worse still political manoeuvring at Westminster had led to abolition of the Scottish privy council, which had had general oversight of the mint and coinage.

Despite the uncertainty, production at the mint continued, peaking in Dec 1708. The last batches of old coins were taken in and melted on 30 Dec. By 8 Mar 1709 all silver melted up had been cleared by delivery of coin to the Bank. The Tower mint personnel returned to London and the Edinburgh mint wound down.

[Deeman]

Edinburgh coinage of Anne, post-Union, 1707-09

After the Union of Scotland and England in 1707 the mint at Edinburgh continued for a time producing coinage marked with the letter 'E'.

Coins issued:
Silver Crown 1707/8.
Silver Half-crown 1707-09.
Silver 1/- 1707-09.
Silver 6d 1707/8.

There are three varieties of head on the Edinburgh shillings determined by slight differences in the arrangement of the hair. The first has two small curls above the headband of a good size, one folding forwards, and the other backwards. The second head has two small curls above the headband. The third head, peculiar to the Edinburgh issue and not replicated on English versions, has both small curls folding backwards formed like the letter 'S'.

Some 1707/8 first head and 1708/9 third head shillings have a star after the 'E', as do some 1708 sixpences.

All the coins have essentially the same obverse and reverse designs and inscriptions:

Obverse: ANNA·DEI·GRATIA· (Anne, by the grace of God), bust facing left, 'E' below bust, inscription split around head.
1707 Reverse: ·MAG / BRI·FRA / ET·HIB / REG·17 / 07 (Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland), divided around four crowned shields of Arms forming a cross, Star of the Order of the Garter in the centre; England and Scotland impaled on upper and lower shields, shield of France right, shield of Ireland left.

The crown and half-crowns have edge inscriptions that include the regnal year, but unlike the issues of William & Mary and William, the regnal year relates directly to the calendar year:
Edge for 1707: ·DECVS·ET·TVTAMEN·ANNO·REGNI·SEXTO (An ornament and protection, sixth regnal year). SEPTIMO for 1708, OCTAVO for 1709.

Shillings and sixpences have a grained edge.



Silver crown dated 1707



As common descriptions but colon between BRI and FR.



Silver half-crown dated 1707



As common descriptions.



Silver shilling dated 1707



As common descriptions, first head.



Silver shilling dated 1707



As common descriptions, second head.



Silver shilling dated 1708



As common descriptions, third head, 'E' star.



Silver sixpence dated 1707



As common descriptions.



Silver sixpence dated 1708



As common descriptions, 'E' star.

[Deeman]

Calendar Reform

The Julian calendar began the year on 25 Mar - Lady Day in the Christian world since ancient times when Mary received a visitation from the Archangel Gabriel to tell her she would become the mother of Jesus.

But by the 16th century, scientists agreed that the old calendar improperly calculated the length of a year and was therefore falling gradually behind. During the reign of Pope Gregory XIII, a new calendar was created, called the Gregorian calendar, which began the year on 1 Jan and was adopted by most of Europe in 1582. But England and Henry VIII had broken with Rome and therefore did not adopt the new calendar.

Scotland, however, was not yet united to England and James VI proclaimed that Scotland should follow Europe and start the year on 1 Jan from 1600. As a result, 1599 in Scotland was a little over nine months.

Following the Union of the Crowns in 1603 when he became James I of England, no such legal change took place south of the Border where the new year began on 25 Mar until 1752. As a result, the same day in Jan, Feb or Mar (up to 24th) between 1600 and 1752 was in different years depending whether you were in England or Scotland and date confusion must have arisen.

England and Wales eventually aligned and changed their start to the year on 1 Jan from 1752, so 1751 was their short year of just over nine months. But they were still operating under the Julian calendar. In Sept 1752, England and Wales switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, so joining Scotland. In order to achieve the change, 11 days were 'omitted' from the calendar - i.e. the day after 2 Sept 1752 was 14 Sept 1752.

Taxes were due on Lady Day. With the 'loss' of 11 days in Sept 1752, people weren't impressed with having to pay their taxes in Mar 1753 like nothing had happened. So, the taxman skipped the 11 days and decreed taxes were due on 6 Apr 1753. And, to this day, the UK tax year starts on 6 Apr.

[Deeman]

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