The pound ( Modern and

Middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtual ...

: ''Pund'') was the currency of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

prior to the 1707

Treaty of Union The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new political state of Great Britain. The treaty, effective since 1707, brought the Kingdom of England (which already included Wales) and the Ki ...

between the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

and the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

, which created the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

. It was introduced by David I, in the 12th century, on the Carolingian monetary system of a pound divided into 20

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s, each of 12

pence 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 t ...

. The Scottish currency was later devalued relative to sterling by

debasement A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins, while continuing to circulate it at face value. A coin is said to be debased ...

of its coinage. By the time of James III, one pound Scots was valued at five shillings sterling. Silver coins were issued denominated in merk, worth 13s.4d. Scots (two-thirds of a pound Scots). When

James VI James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

became King James I of England in 1603, the coinage was reformed to closely match sterling coin, with £12 Scots equal to £1 sterling. No gold coinage was issued from 1638 to 1700, but new silver coinage was issued from 1664 to 1707. With the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union refer to two acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of Scotland in March 1707, followed shortly thereafter by an equivalent act of the Parliament of England. They put into effect the international Treaty of Union agree ...

, the pound Scots was replaced by sterling coin at the rate of 12:1 (£1 Scots = twenty

sterling), although the pound Scots continued to be used in Scotland as a

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for most of the 18th century. Today there is no distinct Scots currency; but

's three largest clearing banks (the

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, the

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and the Clydesdale Bank) issue banknotes denominated in sterling. These notes may be accepted as payment throughout the United Kingdom, but are much more commonly seen in Scotland; their value is backed by non-circulating large denomination notes issued by the

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(the "

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" and "

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").

List of coins of the pound Scots

* Pistole – Gold, 12 pounds Scots * Dollar – Replacement for the ryal, 60 shillings Scots (James VI) * Ryal – Gold, 1565 * Crown or Lion – Gold ( James I) * Half-crown, Demi-Lion or Demys – Gold (James I) * Ducat or "bonnet" – 40 shillings, 1539 (

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 ...

) * Mark or merk – Gold (giving rise to the term markland) * Noble – Gold, worth half a mark, 1357 ( David II, reintroduced by Robert III) *

Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...

– Gold, 18 shillings Scots, 1484–85 ( James III) * Half-unicorn – Gold, 9 shillings Scots (

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was 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 III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

) * Testoun – silver, 1553. Was produced in France with the new process of mill and screw, being the first milled coinage of Scotland.Stewart: ''The Scottish Coinage'' * Bawbee – Billon, six pence from 1537 * Shilling * Groat – Silver, equivalent to four pence, from 1357 (giving rise to the term groatland) * Half-groat – Silver, equivalent to two pence, from 1357 * Turner – Billon, two pence (James VI), later copper. * Bodle – Copper, two pence ( Charles II) *

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– also called Lion, billon coin circulated in the reigns of Mary and James VI *

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 ...

– Billon, one of the earliest coins, dating from David I. Later made of copper, giving rise to the term pennyland. * Halfpennies – Initially literally half of a penny, these became minted coins in their own right in c.1280. Later made of copper. * Farthing or quarter-penny – These were originally quarters of pennies, but as with Halfpennies, became coins in their own right in c.1280. Later made of copper. * Plack – value of four pence Scots or by 1707 one-third of a penny sterling.

References

{{Scotland topics Currencies of Scotland Economic history of Scotland Coins of Scotland 12th-century establishments in Scotland 1707 disestablishments in Scotland Medieval currencies Pound (currency)

List of coins of the pound Scots

See also

References