James VI eighth coinage quarter merk

The detectorist who unearthed this coin wished to remain anonymous.  He said his find “. . . may be a Scottish merk or part merk” and gave the size as 21 millimetres.

Firstly, at 21mm in diameter this will be a James VI eighth coinage quarter merk.  On the obverse is a crowned shield and a legend reading IACOBVS 6 D G SCOTORVM. Within the inner circle on the reverse is a crowned thistle head and on this side the legend reads REGEM IOVA PROTEGIT 16–.

At first sight this coin looks to be quite well struck. However, at the end of the legend on the reverse is the date and the last two digits do not show up. The faulty date is due to a die shift, which starts at roughly 9 o’clock. On the obverse the shift shows up at the end of SCOTORVM and on the upper left quarter of the shield. The shift is slight but enough to really mess up the date, which is important on any coin in this series. All I can say is that 1602 or 1603 are the likeliest candidates.

In terms of its overall condition, the coin would grade about VF for the issue. I’ve seen a few of these as detecting finds and this is probably the best so it is a great pity about the dodgy date.

                            

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