The merk is a long-obsolete Scottish

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

. Originally the same word as a

money mark Mark Ramos Nishita (born February 10, 1960), known professionally as Money Mark, is an American producer and musician, best known for his collaborations with the Beastie Boys from 1992 until 2011. Early life Born in Detroit to a Japanese-Hawai ...

of silver, the merk was in circulation at the end of the 16th century and in the 17th century. It was originally valued at 13

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s 4

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

(exactly of a

pound Scots The pound (Modern and Middle Scots: ''Pund'') was the currency of Scotland prior to the 1707 Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was introduced by David I, ...

, or about one

sterling), later raised to 14''s.'' Scots. In addition to the merks, coins issued include the four merk worth 56s or £2/16/- (£2.8); the half merk (or

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Great B ...

), 6 shillings and 8 pence or 80d; the quarter merk, 3s and 4d or 40d; the eighth-thistle merk, worth 20d. The first issue weighed and was 50% silver and 50% base metals,. thus it contained of pure silver. "Markland", or "Merkland", was used to describe an amount of land in Scottish deeds and legal papers. It was based upon a common valuation of the land. During the "Lang Siege" of

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

in 1572, the last phase of the

Marian civil war The Marian civil war in Scotland (1568–1573) was a period of conflict which followed the abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her escape from Lochleven Castle in May 1568. Those who ruled in the name of her infant son James VI fought against ...

, the goldsmith

James Cockie James Cockie (died 1573) was a goldsmith in Edinburgh. He helped mint coins in Edinburgh Castle during the Marian Civil War and was hanged as a counterfeiter on 3 August 1573. The surname was also spelled "Cokie" and "Cokkie", "Cokke", or "Cok". T ...

minted half merks in the castle, while the supporters of

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

set up their mint at

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

.Harry Potter, ''Edinburgh Under Siege: 1571-1573'' (Stroud, 2003), p. 97.

References

Coins of Scotland {{Scotland-hist-stub