Watch List notes:

SCOTLAND. Sword and Sceptre (6 Pound Piece), 1601. Edinburgh Mint. James VI. PCGS AU-55.
S-5460; Fr-46; Burns-1 (fig. 956). Eighth Coinage, Before Accession to the English Throne. An absolutely beautiful piece with satiny luster framing the devices on both sides. The obverse is pulled toward 1 o'clock and most of IACOBVS is left off the edge. The centering is ideal on the reverse where the legends remain complete. Somewhat soft at the centers but overall bold, with delightful intricacy to the thistles flanking the eponymous sword and sceptre. A glass reveals only minimal marks in the fields and no significant friction. Impressive in every sense and likely approaching the condition census for the issue.

The sword and sceptre pieces, and its fractions, represent the final coinage under James VI before his accession to the English throne in 1603. They were another attempt to organize and update the gold coinage circulating in Scotland at the time, which was increasingly being exported in trade. Burns points out that the Act of Parliament of September 11th, 1601 ordered that "all the gold and silver money in the kingdom, as well native as foreign, was called in...to be [re]issued" as these new sword and sceptre pieces. As before, this type was soon replaced by the heavier gold unit of the ninth coinage beginning in 1604. While scarce overall, most survivors show evidence of heavy circulation and significant impairments. This lustrous and sharp specimen is a delightful exception and is sure to attract considerable interest.

From the Loch Ness Collection.

Estimate: $3500 - $5500