James II (1437-1460), Second coinage, Second issue, Groat, type IIIa, Edinburgh, mm. crown, tressure of nine arcs, small fleurs on cusps except above crown, nothing in spandrels, saltires by neck, reads iacobvs and gra ex, legend ends scottorvm, double annulet final, rev. three pellets and tiny saltire in first and third, crown in second and fourth quarters, nothing in centre of cross, annulet and double annulet stops on obv., double saltire on rev., 3.31g/2h (SCBI 35, 706 and SCBI 72, 698, same obv. die; B 24b, fig. –; S 5236). Very fine, toned, rare thus £600-£800,

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman.

View
Collection

Bt A.D. Hamilton March 1975

The stops on the obverse are often referred to as ‘squashed annulets’. This is the only die in the coinage to use such stops; Burns noting that he had never seen an another such die.