First coin minted in Scotland found

The earliest known coin minted in Scotland has been acquired by the National Museums Scotland. The silver penny of King David I (r. 1124-1153) was struck in the second half of the 1130s in Edinburgh and is now heading home.

It was discovered in 2023 by a metal detectorist in the woods near Penicuik, Midlothian. They reported it to Scotland’s Treasure Trove and after it was determined to be official Treasure, it was allocated to the NMS who paid its assessed value of £15,000 ($22,000) as a reward to the finder.

The silver penny features the crowned bust of David I holding a scepter on the obverse. The reverse has a cross design in the center and an inscription around the border that reads “+E(A?)BALD:E[…]ONESBVRG” The “ESBVRG” is the mint mark, identifying it as having been struck in Edinburgh.

Before this coin was discovered, the earliest Scottish coins known were struck after David I invaded northern England in December 1135 and occupied Carlisle, using its royal mint to strike his own coins. Previous to this, Scotland’s currency was not locally produced. Coins circulating in Scotland were minted in other countries by other powers.

Dr Blackwell said: “What makes this really significant is that until we found this, we thought all of David’s first coinage was produced in Carlisle because there are virtually no documentary sources that explain how coinage was produced, where, when, why things changed, why the designs changed, any of that.

“There’s very, very little documentary sources for that for Scotland. So the coins themselves are the primary source.

“This is the first time that we can see this very early minting of coinage in Edinburgh .”

* This article was originally published here