Scottish Gold Coins

Scottish Gold Coin History

Coins first made their way to Scotland as part of the Roman Empire. Despite being separated by Hadrian's Wall, the Celts of what was then known as Caledonia still adopted the Roman's coinage to develop their own trade systems.

Bronze was the metal of choice for much of the early medieval period, and trade with the Vikings also introduced Sceat coins from the Netherlands and Denmark.

The territory of England and Scotland changed often between 900 and 1600, with invasions from both countries changing the border lines regularly. English and Scottish coins for a time were largely the same; with purity and style maintained, making only the portrait of the ruler a differentiating factor.

The first old Scottish gold coins to truly be unique were struck under King David II. He ended the parity between English and Scottish coins (resulting in a ban on Scottish coins in England). He attempted to create a Scottish variant of the English Noble coin, but this proved to be a failure.

King Robert III succeeded however in introducing a gold coin known as the Scottish Lion. James III brought in the Gold Unicorn coin between 1484 and 1525; it originally had a value of 18 shillings but as gold prices rose this was increased to 20 shillings and then 22 shillings.

A popular old Scottish gold coin was the Sword and Sceptre coin, a gold coin released under King James VI (who would eventually become James I of England). Old Scottish gold coins underwent many changes; James VI had eight different coin issuances before becoming King of England.

After the union of the crowns, the coinage of England and Scotland aligned once more, following the same standards and general designs. The gold Unite coin (called the Unit in Scotland) was released in celebration of the joining of the two countries. The Treaty of the Union in 1707 marked the end of separate coins, with Scottish silver coins withdrawn and a single British coinage introduced.