Watch List notes:

SCOTLAND. Long Cross Lion (Scottish Crown or St. Andrew), ND (1390-1406). Robert III. NGC EF-45.
S-5154; Fr-2; Burns-4 var. (fig. 351). Weight: 3.86 gms. Heavy Coinage. An impressive survivor from one of Scotland's first gold coinages. Vibrant yellow-gold tone with warmer apricot patina in areas. Scattered reddish encrustations are visible on both sides. Well centered and bold with remarkable sharpness to St. Andrew's face. A few minor marks are noted under a glass including a thin scratch at St. Andrew's knee.

Robert III was born John, Earl of Carrick, but changed his name to Robert after the death of his father, Robert II. Injured by a horse before his father died, he was apparently badly disabled and yielded most aspects of his ruling authority to his brother Robert Stewart, the Duke of Albany. He fathered a single male heir, the Crown Prince James. Robert III died shortly after James was captured and imprisoned by the English, a captivity that would continue for 18 years. Robert's distress over his failed reign and the capture of his son depressed him enough that he requested that his wife bury him in a dunghill with an epitaph reading "Here lies the worst of Kings and the most miserable of men." He was not buried alongside other Scottish monarchs at Scone, but he was saved the embarrassment of being buried in a dunghill, finding his eternal rest instead at Paisley Abbey.

From the Loch Ness Collection.

Ex: David McDonald Collection (Dix Noonan Webb - 10/2004) Lot # 683.

Ex: Marian A. Sinton Collection (Triton III - 11/1999) Lot # 1623.

Ex: John Work Garrett Collection, Part II (Bank Leu/NFA - 10/1984) Lot # 804.

Ex: John Story Jenks Collection (Henry Chapman - 12/1921) Lot # 1635.

Estimate: $3500 - $5500