DAVISSONS E-AUCTION 49: LELAND SCOTT COLLECTION

 

Coins from the Leland Scott Collection anchor our June 26th sale. Carefully assembled over many years, this remarkable collection features a significant offering of Scottish coinage, an area where even modest pieces can be hard to find. In addition, the collection features select British hammered and ancient Greek and Roman. The sale concludes with important Scottish references, making this auction a perfect opportunity for Scottish collectors whether just beginning or advanced.

Particularly note the low denomination billon and copper pieces. If you have ever looked for quality examples of these lowly coins, you know they are particularly difficult to find. Billon was not all that stable to begin with and Scotland was not a place where the people who used these low denomination pieces would (or could) leave them sitting around for later generations. I recall trying to locate examples to show when Chuck Bianchi and I were teaching an ANA seminar and it turned out that over a several month period, I found almost nothing to take to the course. (English coins were much easier to find….)

SCOTLAND. David II. 1329-1371. AR groat. 4.12 gm. 28 mm. Second coinage, 1357-67. Edinburgh mint. His young head left, holding scepter, tressure of six arcs; +D?VID DEI GRA REX SCOTORVM / Long cross pattee with mullets in angles; VILL ?ED INBV RGh. S. 5095. Good Very Fine; attractive old toning; chin area double struck.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Scottish David II AR Groat (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-158?)

SCOTLAND. James IV. 1488-1513. AR groat. 2.43 gm. 26 mm. Light coinage issue. ca 1496-1513. Class III. Crown i.m. Edinburgh mint. Facing crowned bust, tressure of nine arcs with trefoils on points; I?COBVS DEI GR? REX SCOTTORVM IIII / Long cross; three pellets in angles one and three, mullets in angles two and four; *VILL ?*EDE nBEO VRGE. S. 5342. Burns II. p.180:14ff. pl. l:675. SCBI 35. Ashmolean/Hunterian 851var. Good Very Fine; attractive light toning over fresh surfaces.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Scottish James IV AR Groat (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-166?)

SCOTLAND. Mary. Francis and Mary. Second period. 1558-1560. Half alloy twelve penny groat ('nonsunt"). 1.58 gm. 21 mm. 1558. Crowned FM monogram, a crowned dolphin left, crowned thistle right; +FRAN ET MA D G R R SCOTOR D D VIEN / Cross above a lettered panel: IAM NON SVNT DVO SED VNA CARO in four lines; 1558 below ("They are no more two, but one flesh"). S. 5447. Burns p 328:1; pl lxiv:889. Very Fine; toned; attractive example.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Scottish Francis and Mary Twelve Penny Groat (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-172?)

SCOTLAND. James VI. 1567-1625. AR ten shillings. 6.16 gm. 30 mm. Seventh coinage. 1595. His bareheaded armored bust right; IACOBVS • 6 • D • G • R • SCOTORVM • / Crowned triple-headed thistle; • NEMO • ME • IMPVNE • LACESSIT • 1595 • ("No one provokes me with impunity"). S. 5493. Burns II: p 379:3: lxviii:939. Good Very Fine; well struck, old toning over fresh surfaces.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Scottish James VI AR Ten Shillings (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-175?)

Elizabeth I. 1558-1603. AR shilling. 6.09 gm. 31 mm. Sixth issue. Hand i.m. (1590-92). Her crowned bust left (6B); ELIZAB D G ANG FR ET HIB REGI / Square-topped shield over long cross fourchée; POSVI | DEV AD | IVTORE M MEV. S. 2577. N. 2014. BCW HA-1/b. Very Fine; beautifully toned, with traces of iridescence; clear, sharp portrait; rough metal in obverse legend from 9 to 11.

To read the complete lot description, see:
English Elizabeth I AR Shilling (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-145?)

James I. 1603-1625. AR shilling. 5.77 gm. 31 mm. Third coinage, 1619-1625. His sixth bust right; • IACOBUS D G MAG BRI FRA ET HIB REX / British arms; QVÆ DEVS CONIVNXIT NEMO SEPARET. S. 2668. N. 2124. Very Fine; attractive old toning; underlying surfaces fresher than photo suggests; even round flan; well centered.

To read the complete lot description, see:
English James I AR Shilling (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-152?)

SCOTLAND. Charles I. 1625-1649. AR 12 shillings. 5.7 gm. 30.5 mm. Dies by Briot. Third coinage (1637-1642). First issue. Crowned bust of Charles left; CAR • D : G • MAG • BRIT • FRAN • ET• HIB • REX • around followed by a small B / Crowned arms, crowned C — R at sides, a pellet below each letter; QVÆ • DEVS • CONIVNXIT • NEMO . SEPARET around, small B at end. S. 5558. SCBI 70 National Museum of Scotland. Very Fine; flan flaw on reverse; fresh, and attractively toned.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Scottish Charles I AR 12 Shillings (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-184?)

SCOTLAND. Charles II. 1649-1685. AR merk. 5.84 gm. 27 mm. 1672. His laureate bust right; CAROLVS • — II • DEI • GRA • / Arms in cruciform configuration, Scotland in arms 1 and 3, France and England in 2 and Ireland in 4; small XIII over 4 (13 shillings, 4 pence) in center. S. 5611. Near Very Fine; lightly toned.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Scottish Charles II AR Merk (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-191?)

Do take note of the two fine Irish pieces as well.

IRELAND. Edward IV. Second Reign 1471-1483. AR groat. 1.89 gm. 24 mm. (29 grains) Third coinage. "Light cross and pellets." Dublin mint. 1473. Facing medieval style bust, "G" below; trefoil/rosette i.m / Long cross; CIVITAS DVBLINIE; sun i.m. S. 6366. D&F 134 (35-30 grains). Very Fine; fresh, and attractively toned.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Irish Edward IV Second Reign AR Groat (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-192?)

IRELAND. Henry VII. 1485-1509. AR groat. 1.63 gm. 22 mm. Late portrait issue, Class IA. Dublin mint. 1496-1505. Facing medieval style bust, arched crown, broken tressure; HENRID… (final letter reversed as "D")… / Long cross with plain cross ends; POSVI DEVM… reverse. S. 6455. D&F 194. Very Fine; lightly toned. (Near full weight, 25.1 grains versus British standard of 28 grains.)

Ex Noble Numismatics Auction 125 (Nov 2020), lot 1519

To read the complete lot description, see:
Irish Henry VII AR Groat (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-193?)

The sale concludes with select references, from the remarkable Diplomata et Numismata Scotiæ by Scottish historiographer Jacobus Anderson published in Edinburgh in 1739, to the preeminent three part Coinage of Scotland by Burns. Several other oft cited references can be added to your collection as well, from Dalton and Hamer on British Tokens (Davissons 2004 reprint) to the standard reference Medals of the United States Mint.

Anderson, Jacobus. (Scottish historiographer, 1662-1728). Diplomata et Numismata Scotiæ. Published in Edinburgh in 1739. Large folio (11 by 18 inches, several hundred pages with complex woodcuts, pull-out sheets with charters and other documents, a lengthy Preface in Latin and some of the earliest images of Scottish coins--woodcuts. Ex Libris Peter Seaby.

Generally a Fine and well preserved copy with minor dampstaining on the upper left (recto) portion of earlier sheets. Half leather binding with generally clean marbled boards though there is a small area of a light, transparent stain that is not prominent at first glance.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Jacobus Anderson's Diplomata et Numismata Scotiæ (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-304?)

Burns, E. The Coinage of Scotland Illustrated from the Cabinet of Thomas Coats and Other Collections. Three volumes. I. David I. A.D. 1224 to Robert III. A.D. 1406. (365 pages). II. James I. 1406 to Anne. 1707. 556 pages including Index. III. Plates and descriptions of the figures. 78 plates of collotype (continuous gray scale) images. Still the standard reference for Scottish coinage. Quarto. Usual binding, green cloth with title on a red leather label on the spine. Edinburgh, 1887, Very Good copy. Contents generally fresh and fine, interleave sheets in the plates volume generally intact. Bindings fully fastened. Corners of covers a bit bent and a few wrinkles and minor discoloration on the covers. The set shows that it has been well used but also cared for.

To read the complete lot description, see:
E. Burns' The Cabinet of Thomas Coats (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-307?)

SCOTLAND. Three useful modern publications (all smaller octavo)

• Bateson, J. Coinage in Scotland. Spink. London. 1997. 166 pages plus Index, photographs in text. Blue cloth, title on spine, with dust jacket. Accessible, well written and comprehensive—arguably the best basic reference available as an overview of the Scottish series. As new though slight scuff on the top of the spine section of the dust jacket.
• Robertson, J. A Handbook of the Coinage of Scotland. Argonaut. Chicago. 1968. A reprint of the 1878 edition published in London. 139 pages. Introductory section followed by detailed descriptions, some with line drawings, of Scottish coin issues. Fine copy with very slight indications of use.
• Richardson, A. Scottish Coins. A new edition of the Catalogue of Scottish Coins in the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh. First published in 1901. Reprint in 1977. 397 pages of coin description plus 12 photographic plates. Blue cloth binding with gold-stamped coin images on front cover. Includes a 14 page fold-out printed price list (£s) dated Dec. 1977. Fine copy with very slight indications of use.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Three Useful Modern Scottish Coin Publications (https://davcoin.com/lot/e-auction-49-lot-305?)

How time flies! It seems the catalog was only just completed, but there are just 12 days to go. We will return with a few more surveys of the rest of the sale between now and the close. In the meantime we hope you browse our carefully assembled 313 lots, and perhaps find the perfect piece to fit your collection.

Allan, Marnie, & Lief Davisson

Please feel free to contact us with any questions by replying to this email.

You may bid through the website, or via:

• Mail: Davissons • PO Box 323 • Cold Spring MN 56320
• Email: info@davcoin.com
• Phone: (320) 685-3835
• Fax: (320) 685-8636

Thank you for your interest!

To view all the lots in this auction, see:
https://davcoin.com/sale/E-Auction%2049

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DAVISSONS E-AUCTION 49 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n22a18.html)

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