Lesmahagow

The Coin Findsby J D Bateson

The twenty-four coins and two jettons recovered during the excavations at Lesmahagow Priory constitute one of the largest and most interesting coin groups to have been found in Scotland. Apart from the importance of their having find spots, some of the individual pieces are of interest as numis­matic specimens.

The finds range in date from the early 13th century through to the 17th century. The majority of the coins are Scottish, though two are English and two later ones are French.

The earliest find is the English cut halfpenny of King John minted at Canterbury between 1205 and 1210 (no. 1). Before the introduction of round halfpennies and farthings by Edward I in 1279 people were obliged to cut up their pennies to make the small change necessary for their day-to-day needs. This find thus shows such a need in the west of Scot­land at that date and indeed the cut halfpennies in -the Tom A'Bhuraich and Dun Lagaidh hoards suggest a widespread use of money for small transactions in Scotland at this early date. Apart from hoard finds short cross coins are rare from Scotland as site finds or stray losses. There is a fair amount of wear on this piece from Lesmahagow, but a date of loss before 1230 seems likely.

The second English coin is a silver penny of Edward I minted at London between 1302 and 1310 (no. 2). Again it has some wear, but its period of circulation is hardly later than about 1330. Such a find is not unexpected from a mediaeval site in Scotland where Edwardian sterlings made up the bulk of the currency in circulation in the early 14th century and were undoubtedly connected with the Wars of Independence.

The earliest Scottish coin from Lesmahagow is the groat of Robert II struck at Perth (no. 3) and which can hardly have been lost much before 1400, perhaps even slightly later, by which time English coins with their higher silver content had virtually disappeared from circulation in this country. Nevertheless the loss of the Robert groat must have been a substantial loss at the time and is a useful stray find; these normally tend to be of the lower value billon or copper coins of less value and therefore less worth the effort of a search.

Such is the case with the two 'Crossraguel' pennies found in the same area of the Refectory, though not together. These are at present believed, though with some doubt, to have been issued by Bishop Kennedy of St. Andrews, and indeed many of the stray finds of these pieces come from the eastern part of the country. These two, both with evidence of little circula­tion visible under the corrosion, are useful addition to the corpus of such finds from the western side of Scotland.

An early 16th century loss is the fairly worn billon penny of James IV (no. 6). Another, very worn, billon penny, associ­ated with the 17th century destruction rubble in the cloister walk, should probably also be assigned to the issues of this reign (no. 7). Ofmore interest is the group offour billon coins, two bawbees and two half bawbees, issued by Mary before her marriage to Francis in 1558 (nos. 8-11). These all exhibit almost no trace of wear and are attractive specimens of this issue, except for the half bawbee, no. 8, which has suffered from corrosion and may possibly have been in a fire. Although found separately the other three come from the organic deposit on the cellar floor of the Refectory. It is possible that they constitute the remnant of a hoard of these pieces and no. 8, although from the cloister walk, might just belong with the other three; however without sure evidence the suggestion of a hoard remains purely speculative.

The remaining seven Scottish coins are all 17th-century copper issues and one noteworthy feature is the small degree of wear on these seven apparently quite separate finds of types which usually turn up in a worn and unattractive state due both to circulation and the minting techniques. With one exception they are coins of Charles I and nicely illustrate the copper issues of his reign. There is one turner of the short first issue of 1629 (no. 12) and four examples of the second issue of smaller, lighter turners minted between 1632and 1639 ('Stirl­ing' turners called after the Earl ofStirling to whom the King had assigned the profits of this issue) (nos. 13—16). Such pieces are normally found in poor condition, e.g. of a group of thirty-three recently examined, out of sixty-six mint marks (one either side of each coin) only thirty are legible or less than 50%, whereas on the four Stirling turners from Les­mahagow seven out of the eight mint marks are quite clear and the coins display little evidence of having circulated. They appear to have been lost shortly after issue. One, no. 14, is of great interest as it is the very rare type with three trefoils, instead of the normal three lozenges, under the C R on the obverse. This was once thought to have been at the head of the issue but Stevenson has now reassigned it to later within the coinage, though no explanation is available for this sudden short-lived change in design. One of the four (no. 13) is however early as it possesses the English crown as opposed to the Scottish crown found on the other three. The remaining two (nos. 15 and 16) provide examples of Stevenson's crowns 3 and 4 respectively. The Stirling turners were replaced by a larger turner in 1642 (also 1644 and 1650) of which a some­what corroded specimen also comes from Lesmahagow (no. 17). The Scottish coins from the site end with a copper bodle or twopence of William and Mary dated 1692.

The two French coins are copper double tournois (nos. 20 and 21), many of which circulated in 17th century Scotland where they were similar to the native turners which, as has often been noted, probably derive from their French counter­parts (the first turners ofjames VI being similar in style to the double tournois). Both coins from the Priory belong to the reign of Louis XIII (1610-1643) one is a regal issue but so worn (almost smooth) that its date within that reign cannot be ascertained (no. 21). The other is a provincial issue of Orange struck by Frederick Henry (1636-1646), and also fairly worn though with the date 1637 still legible.

The remaining four coins are in poor condition and merit no comment (nos. 19 and 24—26).

The other two numismatic finds show the economic aspect of a busy monastery; these are the jettons or reckoning coun­ters (nos. 22 and 23) used with the aid of a chequer board to make up the accounts. Such counters are common finds on mediaeval sites throughout the British Isles, from castles, monasteries and urban sites, anywhere where commercial or financial transactions required the keeping of accounts. Although a small number of early jettons were manufactured in England, the vast majority found in Britain were imported, mainly from France and Germany; French ones tend to be the earlier, German ones later, especially the products of Nurem­berg in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This is indeed the case with the excavation finds: the earlier is the French specimen of the 15th century struck in Dauphinee, possibly at Tournay, with the popular motif of a dolphin on the obverse, while the second is a Nuremberg jetton probably of the late 16th century.

The numismatic finds from Lesmahagow Priory thus fall into two groups which neatly mirror the history of the site. The earlier coins and jettons reflect the life of a busy monas­tery while the later copper coins represent the post- Reformation squatting in the ruins of the Priory. The first group consists of a series of stray finds of smaller value pieces which one would expect to find on such a site where regular income from rents, produce and offerings, would result in the loss of a number of coins, a small number of which would not have been recovered. The two English coins show the pre­dominance ofsuch issues in Scotland up to the end of the 14th century when Scottish coins then became the norm and the large number of billon coins produced resulted in more fre­quent losses and non-recovery. The two reckoning counters are an appropriate find from a place keeping accounts and typify the types of jetton imported into Britain. After the Reformation the number of coin finds drops and consists of small copper turners and two of their French equivalents which often circulated alongside the turners. The worn condi­tion of the double tournois is typical ofsuch 17th century copper coins, but the consistently good condition of the Scottish turners implies a loss soon after their issue and remains unexplained.

A full list of the finds now follows giving their small find number and context, then a description, followed by their weight in grammes and grais, and finally a standard refer­ence, a list of which references appears in the bibliography of the general excavation report.

Coins and Jettons from Lesmahagow Priory Excavations 1978—1980 England

1. SFN 1 context: western end of south cloister walk -

unstratified

John (1199-1216) silver cut halfpenny cut from Short Cross penny class V b/c (1205-1210)

mint: Canterbury; moneyer: Iohan B or Iohan M

slightly clipped, fair amount of wear wt. 0.48 gm (7.4 gr) die axis 0° North 970/1

1. SFN 48 context: slype between west and south ranges

(destruction level)

Edward I (1272-1307) silver penny class Xd

(1302-1310)

mint: London

Small nick edge, slightly buckled, some wear

especially on obverse wt. 1.24 gm (19.1 gr) die axis 200° North 1041

Scotland

1. SFN 24 context: directly under car park - unstratified

Robert II (1371-1390) silver groat mint: Perth

Six arcs on obverse, star at base of sceptre, no B, fair amount of wear wt. 3.57 gm (55.1 gr) die axis 45°

Burns I, p. 273, no. 10 (fig. 317)

1. SFN 40 context: refectory cellar - sealed under

sandstone chippings used as levelling for floor

of cellar - late 15th C

James II/III c. 1452-1480

Copper penny ? ecclesiastical issue of Bishop

Kennedy of St. Andrews (1452-1465)

commonly known as a 'Crossraguel penny'.

Type la saltire stops, pellets on cusps, nothing

in spandrals, reverse legend seems normal.

Edge ragged, corroded but seems little wear.

wt. 1.03 gm (15.9 gr)

dies axis 340°

Stewart 95

1. SFN 53 context: as for no. 4 though not found together

similar to no. 4

type Ha, annulet stops, pellets on cusps,

nothing in spandrals, edge ragged, much

corroded but seems little wear

wt. 1.39 gm (21.4 gr)

die axis 270°

Stewart 97

1. SFN 51 context: refectory cellar — post-Reformation

James IV (1488-1513) Billon penny

mint: Edinburgh — second issue with mint name

type IV, saltire stops, part edge missing, fair

amount of wear

wt. 0.39 gm (6.00 gr)

dies axis 180°

Burns II, p. 225, no. 12 (fig. 684), also Stewart cp 133

1. SFN 47 context: cloister walk - associated with 17th

century destruction rubble ?James IV (1488-1513) Billon penny

buckled, corroded, much wear wt. 0.52 gm (8.1 gr)

The detail of this coin is not clear but the portrait best fits with those of James IV; however the legible part of the obverse legend does not readily tie in with IACOBUS and would indeed appear more akin with MARIA.

1. SFN 55 context: refectory cellar — organic deposit on

base of floor after removal of paving by

post-Reformation squatters.

Mary (1542-1567) pre-marriage coinage

(1542-1558)

Billon bawbee (6d)

saltire cross of striated appearance, As unbarred appears to have little wear wt. 1.32 gm (20.3 gr)