LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2008 Jan. New York Signature World Coin Auction ...  / 

52349

Scotland Mary (1542-67) "Queen of Scots" billon

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
Scotland Mary (1542-67) Queen of Scots billon
<B>Mary (1542-67) "Queen of Scots" billon Bawbee,</B></I> S-5432, crowned thistle dividing "M R" on obverse; plain saltire cross through crown on reverse, with mint of Edinburgh stated in full; lis mm. Struck during the First Period (1542-58) before her marriage to Francis, the dauphin of France; issue of 3/4 alloy (25% silver) -- equivalent to the English sixpence. A high-grade specimen on a better, broader flan than the Spink book plate coin! As struck, Uncirculated, but as always flat in the centers, although all the legends are clearly readable. Perfect medieval gray color. A very choice coin. While lacking central detail, this is one of the finest bawbees seen in many years.<BR><BR>Mary was one of Scotland's heroines, both a romantic and a tragic figure, educated in France and first married to a French prince (for only two years), a Catholic at a time when the Papists were widely hated in the country just to the south. In 1565 she married again, and by Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, she had a son, who was destined to become King of England as James I. Darnley was killed in a gunpowder plot, and poor Mary was forced to abdicate the throne in 1567, and spent most of her remaining life imprisoned by Elizabeth, who feared her and who only named Mary's son as her successor on her death bed, almost with her last words -- keeping the Scots from the English throne as long as she could. The billon bawbee was the coin of the common people during Mary's reign, and millions were struck in the 1540s and '50s because there had been almost none made during the previous two decades. As the common coin, precious few escaped constant and long use. Most long since perished. How a coin of this quality ever came down to us in 2008 is nothing less than a miracle of survival. Not expensive but truly historic.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coins & Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot