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The unicorn was a Coinage of Great Britain. Celtic to Decimalisation., Part 12, Scottish Coins
Ken Elks (5 July 2003) The
The unicorn was a gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
coin that formed part of Scottish coinage
From until 1709 the coinage of Scotland was unique, and minted locally. A wide variety of coins, such as the plack, bodle, bawbee, dollar and ryal were produced over that time. For trading purposes coins of Northumbria and various other places ha ...
between 1484 and 1525. It was initially issued in the reign of James III with a value of 18 shillings Scots, but rising gold prices during the reign of James V caused its value to increase first to 20 shillings, and then 22.Ken Elks (5 July 2003) The
obverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...
of the coin shows a crowned unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
. The significance is that the unicorn is one of the heraldic symbols of Scotland, two of them occurring, most notably, crowned and chained, as the supporters of the royal coat of arms of Scotland
The royal arms of Scotland is the official coat of arms of the King of Scots first adopted in the 12th century.
With the Union of the Crowns in 1603, James VI inherited the thrones of England and Ireland and thus his arms in Scotland were now q ...
.
According to the British Museum, it became the coin favoured by Scottish kings when making gifts to foreigners, as in 1503 when 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 ...
gave 100 unicorns to Lord Dacre
Baron Dacre is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England, every time by Hereditary peer#Writs of summons, writ.
History
The first creation came in 1321 when Ralph Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre, Ralph Dacre was Hereditary peer# ...
, the English ambassador.
A half-unicorn (lower left in photo) was introduced with a value of 9 shillings during the reign of James IV. It also rose in value due to gold prices under James V, first to 10, and then 11 shillings.
The unicorn was replaced during the reign of James V with the gold crown, or Abbey crown, which had a value of 20 shillings.
References