Watch List notes:

SCOTLAND: James VI, 1567-1625, AR testoon, ND [1578], crowned thistle countermark, revaluation of 1578 on a testoon of the first period, Group II, Edinburgh mint, dated 1555, crowned large M; crowned thistles to left & right / royal coat-of-arms over cross potent, a lovely example! NGC graded EF45. The value of silver continually rose during the early years of James' reign, and soon the metal content of the Scottish coinage was considerably higher than face value. Consequently silver coinage began to disappear from circulation, being melted down or sold abroad. In July of 1578 the Privy Council passed an act authorizing the revaluation of the coinage. Silver coins would be bought in by the Mint and released to circulate at a higher value by the addition of a crowned thistle countermark. Under this new valuation, a ryal, for example, worth 30 shillings face, would be bought in at 32s/6d, revalidated and returned to the supplier with a higher value of 36s/9d. However, the Mint collected a 4s/3d "handling fee" per ryal. In other words, the supplier would get back a value of metal exactly equal to what he put in, while the state collected a 12% surcharge. This measure was obviously very unpopular, and in 1581 a new revalued coinage had to be introduced.

Estimate: 400- 600 USD