A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman (Part I)

Mary (1542-1567), First period, Testoon, type IIIb, 1558, mm. cross potent on obv., crown on rev., wide low-arched crown, small a to bottom right of shield, no annulets below m r, reads maria · dei · g · scotor · regina ·, rev. large cross potent with small crosses in angles, 6.31g/10h (cf. SCBI 35, 1015; SCBI 58, 352, same dies; SCBI 71, 601ff; B 20, fig. 795, same dies; S 5406). Good very fine with residual mint bloom, the variety very rare £400-£600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman.

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‘From the Baldwin vault’; Baldwin of St James’s Auction 7, 21 June 2017, lot 609

According to the Hopetoun Manuscript, this issue was discontinued by November 1558, with the new ‘Lorraine’ Testoon going into production on 1 December under John Achesoun, the newly appointed Mintmaster. It is not possible to be exact on the timing of this takeover, however, and it seems likely that Achesoun initially continued Testoon production using existing dies with a letter A stamped into the obverse die near the base of the shield. The vendor knows of at least six marked in this way, including the present specimen.

S 5406 (not S 5405)