THE HENRY-THE-PRETENDER MARY STUART RYAL

It was an ill-advised marriage—Mary Stuart and Henry Lord Darnley. As the son of Margaret Douglas, granddaughter of Henry VII, Darnley was in the line of succession for the English throne, as was Mary Stuart whose grandmother was a sister of Henry VIII. With Elizabeth on the throne with no children, the Stuarts had strong claim to succeed her—and eventually did with Mary Stuart's son, James I.

Lady Margaret Douglas, a daughter of Henry VII and wife of Matthew Stuart, the 4th Earl of Lennox, sent her son to Scotland hoping that he would marry the other—and more favorably born—candidate for the throne—Mary Stuart.

Love did not blossom until Darnley fell ill with measles, and in the process of nursing him back to health the 23 year old Mary Stuart fell in love with the 19 year old Darnley. They married despite the disapproval of Elizabeth I, the English Privy Council and most of Mary's Scottish advisors. The two were married in July 1565, and Darnley soon began to push for promotion from King Consort to King of Scots.

The numismatic note of this marriage is understandably brief. At the time of the marriage a 30 shilling ryal was issued showing facing busts of Henry and Mary (Spink 5424. Burns Plate LXV:903B. SCBI 58:1165A). This particular coin issue was "rapidly withdrawn, no doubt because of the clear implication they carried that Darnley's status was to be seen as equal to that of the queen." (Holmes, SCBI 58, p 8 citing a 1565 letter).

The ryal shown here with Henry's name preceding Mary's was minted using a genuine reverse die, probably in 1566. Whether the piece was created as a lark, as a proposed pattern or as a misguided but genuine effort at declaring himself king (Roman emperor aspirants used coins as declarations), it fits with the Darnley push for power at that time. The minters used a worn reverse die (Burns II: p. 340: 5. Fig 905) and a concocted obverse die. Though the name of John Acheson, master moneyer from 1588 to 1582, is mentioned as part of a later irregular coin issue (Murray. 1987) there is apparently no record of whether he was involved, how the reverse die was accessed or how the HENRICVS obverse die was created. However, Holmes (2006) notes that he "is currently of the opinion that they (this issue) may result from unauthorized activity at the mint."

A search of sales records and a survey of numismatic literature shows no examples being offered at auction of this issue other than the Lockett piece and the Davisson 2015 piece. These three pieces remain the only examples we have been able to trace. Beyond the references cited below, a numismatic literature review utilizing the exhaustive 1997 publication by Harrington Manville, Numismatic Guide to British & Irish Periodicals 1836-1995 and the 1993 Cumulative Index to Spink's Numismatic Circular Volumes 1 to 100 revealed no additional research or background on this intriguing artifact from a volatile era of Scottish history.

For more information on the sale, see:
https://davcoin.com/

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DAVISSONS ANNOUNCES AUCTION 40 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n05a18.html)

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