Mary Queen of Scots: Two 'exceedingly rare' 16th-century coins for sale

The two silver coins showing the Queen’s head will be sold in Zurich, along with a ‘superb’ gold coin featuring her son James VI.

Two silver coins featuring the head of Mary, Queen of Scots which would have been in circulation during her reign are coming up for sale.

The first coin dates from 1553 when Mary was just ten or 11 years old. The second dates to less than a decade later when she was back in Scotland following the death of her husband, the Dauphin of France.

David Guest, director of Classical Numismatic Group, one of the companies involved in the sale, said the 1553 coin was “exceedingly rare” and the finest of any known specimen in a museum or private collection. Each have a reserve price of 20,000 Swiss Francs (around £17,700).

The gold coin of James VI which shows him on a galley boat holding the combined arms of England and Scotland. PIC: Contributed.

Mr Guest said: “They are two wonderful coins. The first dates from when she is ten or 11 years old. It is exceedingly rare this coin and it is the finest known of any specimen in a museum or private collection. Normally these coins turn up in very worn condition and this coin is in excellent condition with incredible detail. It is very beautiful and very rare, especially in this condition.

“Together, the two coins really chart her fortunes. The second coin is dated 1562 and by this time she is back in Scotland. Her husband has died. She was briefly Queen of France and she is booted out by her nasty mother-in-law and she is back in Scotland. We have this amazing portrait of her in what us numismatists call her first widowhood.

“The coins represent two periods, just ten years apart, and Scotland has changed a lot and her fortunes have changed a lot.”

The two 16th Century coins of Mary Queen of Scots (top left and top right) being sold at auction in Zurich. PIC: Contributed.

Mr Guest said, at the time, the coins would have been “quite high value and not in the hands of everyone”.

He said: “The more wealthy members of society would have seen them. It was a way of getting her image out there to her subjects, which is really important at this time. The royal monopoly on money making is a way to use propaganda in the coinage as a way of getting her image out, so that her subjects know her. It is very important in 1553 when she is in France. There is no other medium readily available to see her."

Meanwhile, Mr Guest described a “really magnificent” gold coin showing James VI standing in a galley boat holding a shield with the combined arms of England and Scotland.

He said: “This would have been a very, very high value coin. These are really impressive coins, which would have been issued for ceremony in the royal court. If you imagine the Jacobean court in the time of Shakespeare and all the masked balls, as well as religious ceremonies, they would be used in that context."

Mr Guest described the coin as "exceptional" and that it came with a reserve price of 60,000 Swiss Francs [£53,000].

The coins are part of The Cope Collection of highly sought-after British and Roman specimens, which will be auctioned in Zurich in May and October. The collection was amassed over 50 years by noted numismatist Geoffrey Cope, the late English businessman who made his fortune with the fashion chain Skopes.