A plack () was an ancient

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

coin of the value of four Scots pence or, by 1707, one-third of an English

penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

Issues and nomenclature

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburg ...

started minting placks and two pence half-placks in Edinburgh before 1473. They were made of " billon", an alloy with a low silver content. The name of the coin comes from a Flemish word for a metal disc.

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James I ...

, who reigned from 1488 to 1513, issued two kinds of four pence placks, both minted in billon. The first issue has "Lombardic" mediaeval-style lettering, and the second issue used Roman capitals. There were also half-placks, valued at two pence. The half-placks are now comparatively rare. Placks issued during the minority years of

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

are slightly different in design from those of his father, and are sometimes called "Queen's Placks", referring to his mother

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and fought to exte ...

. No half-placks were minted under James V.

Revaluations

Placks and other copper-based coins were widely counterfeited, and in May 1567 the Privy Council of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, prohibited the circulation of forgeries under the pain of treason. An article considered by the

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in December 1567 proposed the devaluation of the coins nonsunts, bawbees, placks, and hardheads, because of counterfeits or "false coins". In March 1574,

Regent Morton James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581) was a Scottish nobleman. He played a leading role in the murders of Queen Mary's confidant, David Rizzio, and king consort Henry Darnley. He was the last of the four regents of Scot ...

issued a proclamation to "cry down" or devalue unofficial placks and lions or hardheads (two pence pieces) made in the time of

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French people, French noblewoman of the ...

. The order was printed and published by John Ross. These placks would now be current at two pence, and the lions at one penny. The coins were to be returned to the mint, and if found lawful marked with a Douglas heart and star and returned to the owner. Such countermarked coins are often found today. The goldsmith James Gray was in charge of the marking. The measure was intended to counter exorbitent prices and the large number of counterfeits. Morton's reform of the base money coinage was said to have caused hardship to the poor. A chronicle writer compared the motifs of the countermark, the "mark of a heart" with heraldry carved on Morton's Gate, the Portcullis Gate of

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

, and said that the labourers who worked on the reconstruction of the castle after the Marian Civil War had been paid with base money.

Placks of James VI

In 1588 the word plack was also used to describe coins of the value of a penny or two pence, the "tuppences" having two dots placed next to the lion of Scotland. These twopenny placks are known as "hardheads" today. Some contemporary counterfeits were made of copper blanks coated with tin, to give the appearance of billon. In July 1593 the

authorised the minting of a four penny plack with two sceptres crossed and a thistle. This "saltire plack" was the last coin minted in billon alloy.

The plack in Scottish literature

A letter written by

Robert Constable Sir Robert Constable ( – 6 July 1537) was a member of the English Tudor gentry. He helped Henry VII to defeat the Cornish rebels at the Battle of Blackheath in 1497. In 1536, when the rising known as the Pilgrimage of Grace broke out in the ...

in 1569 described how English and Scottish rebels drank ale played cards for "placks and hardheads" at the house of Thomas Kerr of Ferniehirst in

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

.''Scots Peerage'', vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 64. The coin appears in the old song: :A’ that e’er my Jeanie had, :My Jeanie had, my Jeanie had, :A’ that e’er my Jeanie had ::Was ae bawbie :There’s your plack, and my plack, :And your plack, and my plack, ::And Jeanie’s bawbie. The word is probably derived from the ancient

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

coin, a ''plaquette'', in use before the introduction into the Netherlands of the French money reckoned by

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

s and

centime Centime (from ) is French language, French for "Cent (currency), cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries (including Switzerland, Algeria, Belgium, Morocco and France). In France, the ...

s. It can be found in the works of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

too: :Nae howdie gets a social night, ::or plack frae them :(''Scotch Drink'') :Stretch a joint to catch a plack, :Abuse a brother to his back. :(''To Gavin Hamilton'')

References

* MacKay, Charles – ''A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch'' (1888)

External links