Cameron Maclean

I'm giving a talk to the British Numismatic Society on the 22nd of September. It'll be on James VI & I's Anglo-Scottish monetary union, which is the focus of my PhD research.

The edge of the gold twopence. It's slightly thinner than the circulating copper version.

More die cracks can be seen on the reverse.

The small die cracks on the coin indicate that it was struck from old dies sometime after 1797.

The cartwheel twopence of George III was the heaviest copper coin ever minted for circulation in the British Isles. This is an extremely rare specimen made from solid gold. With a weight of 77.7g, it's even heavier than the regular copper version (56.7g). From the Hunterian collection, Glasgow.

Close up of the coin weights in their recesses and the balance scales. I’m assuming the string isn’t original? The small lid in the top right corner opens to reveal a bunch of smaller weights. These will have been used to test how much a coin deviated from its correct weight.

A print pasted to the underside of the lid depicts various coin weights and their corresponding coins’ values in Dutch(?) currency. It also shows two merchants and a skeleton, perhaps a depiction of Death striking down a dishonest merchant?

This set of coin weights from the mid-1600s would have been used by merchants to test the weights of different coins. It includes weights for gold coins from Scotland, England, continental Europe and Spain’s American colonies(?). The set is from the Hunterian collection.

The reverse depicts the arms of these four kingdoms and a Latin inscription that translates to: 'Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered'. This inscription had appeared on many earlier Scottish coins, including those of James III and Mary Queen of Scots.

This gold sovereign was minted as part of James VI & I's 1st English coinage (1603-1604). The coinage was established in May 1603, just two months after James inherited the English throne from Elizabeth I. It titles him as 'King of England, Scotland, France & Ireland'. From the Hunterian collection.

The coin's full Latin inscription translates to: ‘George, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman Empire’.

This gold guinea of George I was minted in 1714, the year of his accession to the British throne. It's the earliest circulating British coin to title the monarch as 'Defender of the Faith' ('F D'), which continues to appear on coins to this day. From the Hunterian Collection.

The reverses:

Coins of the two Queen Elizabeths. A 10 pence of Elizabeth II (2021) and a sixpence of Elizabeth I (1562). These two coins were minted over 450 years apart but they still share much in common, including the listing of both monarchs' titles in Latin. From the Hunterian collection.

It weighs just over a gram. It’s about the same diameter as a modern 1p coin but much thinner.

Obverse at a different angle

The reverse

A silver penny of King Alexander III of Scotland with beautiful rainbow toning. It was minted sometime between 1250 & c.1280. This specimen is from the Hunterian collection.

It's common for the period. You often see later 17th century-18th century British monarchs depicted in the same style on statues, engravings etc.

Here's gold £5 coins of George III (1820), George IV (1826) & William IV (1831) that also show the alternating portrait tradition.

From top to bottom, left to right: a halfcrown of Charles II, James VII/II, William II/III & Mary II, William II/III alone, Anne, George I, George II, George III, George IV, William IV, Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI & Elizabeth II. All are silver except for the last.

Here's a coin of every monarch from Charles II to Elizabeth II (except Edward VIII). They date from 1677 to 1963 and showcase the alternating portrait tradition that began in 1662. Each monarch faces in the opposite direction from their predecessor. From the Hunterian Collection

The 9th Scottish coinage alongside James's 2nd English coinage, both of which were authorised in 1604 & formed part of the Anglo-Scottish monetary union. The two smallest silver coins would've circulated as a halfpenny Sterling in England and as sixpence Scots in Scotland.

The Scottish coins are from the collection formed by Lord Stewartby from the 1940s to 2017. It's the largest collection of Scottish coins ever assembled by a single individual. The English coins are from the collection of William Hunter, which he built between 1770 & 1783.

It's a 12 shillings struck at the Edinburgh mint, although it would've circulated as a shilling in England as part of the monetary union.

The 9th Scottish coinage alongside James's 2nd English coinage, both of which were authorised in 1604 & formed part of the Anglo-Scottish monetary union. The two smallest silver coins would've circulated as a halfpenny Sterling in England and as sixpence Scots in Scotland.

The 9th coinage also circulated in England as part of the Anglo-Scottish monetary union. A par of exchange of 12 to 1 was established between the Pound Scots and the English Pound Sterling. So the gold unit in the top left would've circulated as £12 in Scotland & £1 in England.

This is possibly the only complete set of King James VI & I's 9th Scottish coinage in existence. It was struck from 1605 to 1609 and consisted of 12 denominations that ranged in value from £12 to 6 pence Scots. The coins are from the Lord Stewartby Collection at the Hunterian.

The Panama pill alongside a forty-eighth stater of the Kingdom of Lydia that was minted sometime between the 630s & 553 BC. It’s one of the first coins ever made (and the smallest coin in my collection).

The Panama pill alongside a tiny Wu Zhu coin of Han Dynasty China. It was minted from around 73 to 33 BC.