Description
Scotland, Charles II(1649-1685), Silver Merk, 1673, First Coinage, Type II, BRA for BRI variety, laureate and draped bust right in armour, thistle with leaves below bust, rev die axis at 3 o’clock, cruciform shields, crowned interlinked Cs in angles, value at centre, date in legend (SCBI 35:1590-3; S.5611).
Toned, slightly off-centre, a bold very fine for issue and rare.
ex A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, Duncannon Street, London, 6 May 1908; ex T. Bearman Collection, collection purchased by A H Baldwin & Sons Ltd, c.1922; ex Richard Cyril Lockett Collection, Scottish Part I, Glendining, 18 June 1957, lot 437 (part); ex Seaby Coin and Medal Bulletin, June 1975, SC 3831; ex Harrington E Manville, Scottish Collection, Dix Noonan and Webb, 15 September 2015, lot 56; “The Scottish Silver Coinage of Charles II” by J K R Murray published in the B.N.J. Volume 38 of 1969 reveals in the calendar year of 1673 that only 97,921 Merk pieces were struck.
