A plack ( gd, plang) was an ancient Scottish 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 (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 t ...

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 Roxburgh Ca ...

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 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 Sauchi ...

, 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 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 and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...

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 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 successfully fought to extend her regency. Marg ...

. No half-placks were minted under James V. On 3 March 1574

Regent Morton James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581, aged 65) was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he won the civil war that had b ...

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 (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. She ...

. 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 returned to the owner. Such countermarked coins are often found today. 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

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

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 (c. 1478 – 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 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 (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

.''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 (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

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'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...

s and

centime Centime (from la, centesimus) is French for " 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 usage of ''centim ...

s. It can be found in the works of

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

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) {{Coins of Scotland Coins of Scotland

Issues and nomenclature

The plack in Scottish literature

See also

References