A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman (Part I)

James I (1406-1437), First Fleur-de-lis issue, Groat, Edinburgh, type I/IIb, mm. cross pattée, tressure of eight arcs, tiny saltires on breast, i in field, reads tracia, rev. three pellets in first and fourth quarters, lis in second and third quarters, saltire in centre, lis stops with saltire interpunctuation both sides, 2.20g/3h (SCBI 35, –; SCBI 72, 352, same obv. die; B 1a, fig. 425A, this coin; S 5195). On a round flan, very fine or better for issue with grey toning, an extremely rare variety with a distinguished provenance £400-£600

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

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Collection

J. Guthrie Lornie Collection; Greenshields of Kerse Auction [Glasgow], October 1919; J. Davidson Collection, Part II, DNW Auction 60, 9-10 December 2003, lot 396

Burns knew of no earlier issues of James I. An earlier type, first published by Dakers in the 1930s and probably only known from three specimens, was named the ‘Initial Variety’ by Stewartby. This specimen of type I obverse, not only known to but illustrated by Burns, is paired with a later reverse.