Alexander III And Alexander III - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 349
Novicius Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1168 Posts	Posted 02/13/2026 07:43 am My granddaughter gave me a book on Scottish hammered coins, "The Coinage of Scotland" by J. D. Robertson, so I thought it was time to add a Scottish coin to the collection. Specimens in good condition tend to be expensive, but this penny of Alexander III with the 26 points reverse came at a reasonable price. For interest I paired the Scottish Alexander III coin with an Alexander III (The Great) coin. (Same name and both coins feature stars.) The Scottish coin has stars and mullets in the reverse quarters, and the Alexander the Great coin has a star under Alexander's bust and one under Bucephalus. When the Alexander coin was submitted to the RPC it was given it's own page as a new variety. (Now there are two.) https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/7.2/199A Scotland, Alexander III (1249-1286), Second Coinage, c. 1280-1286, Penny. Obverse: Crowned bust left, sceptre before. Some ghosting to obverse. Obverse legend: + ALEXANDER DEI GRA. Reverse: Long cross, star/mullet in each angle, total of 26 points. Reverse legend: REX SCOTORVM +. On a full flan. Class Mb 12h (S.5054). Metal: Silver. Diameter: 19mm. Weight: 1.42gr. J. D. Robertson's book was published in 1986, but was an unchanged reprint of the 1868 edition. It was almost 150 years out of date, so I looked for information that was more relevant. The British Numismatic Society published a pdf file of the 1990 "Classification of the Single-Cross Sterlings of Alexander III" by B.H.I.H. Stewart and J.J. North. The paper holds a wealth of information on the mints, varieties and mules of this one penny. Running to 29 pages, it is not for the faint of heart in trying to attribute one of these coins. Report this Post to the Staff

livingwater Pillar of the Community United States 2213 Posts	Posted 02/13/2026 08:25 am Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I have several Roman Provincial coins from Macedonia during the time of Gordian III. Here is one of mine, Alexander the Great in lion's skin, reverse Olympias as Hygieia feeding serpent. During this time games were played in the city of Beroea Macedon where athletes competed honoring Alexander the Great. On obverse is a star below Alexander's head though not very defined. The reverse legend includes the city name Beroea. Only of few of these have the city name but it is speculated all the Koinon of Macedonia during this time were struck in Beroea. Beroea is mentioned in the Bible, Acts 17. St. Paul visited this city. This coin is on RPC, four specimens cited. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187582 Posts	Posted 02/13/2026 09:37 am Very interesting! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Novicius Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1168 Posts	Posted 02/13/2026 8:41 pm Thanks for posting your Alexander coin and the information, @livingwater. It is always nice to view the rarer coins that we would not normally see. It is interesting that both our coins have a star below Alexander's bust. Do you have any information regarding the meaning of the star? A mint mark perhaps? @jbuck. Report this Post to the Staff
oriole Pillar of the Community Canada 5238 Posts	Posted 02/13/2026 8:59 pm The coinage of Scotland seems to be kind of overlooked, or so it seems to me. Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34393 Posts	Posted 02/13/2026 9:14 pm Maybe not your original idea for this thread, but since you seemed to welcome @liv's contribution of another Alexander III coin, I thought that you might not mind seeing one from me too. This Penny was minted a bit later than yours evidently as I have it minted from 1280 to 1286 AD and attributed as Sear 5053. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
livingwater Pillar of the Community United States 2213 Posts	Posted 02/14/2026 07:37 am Nice Scotland coins. I'm not aware of any significance of the star to Alexander the Great. The meanings of some symbols, monograms on ancient coins are unknown. I don't own any Scottish coins. I have a few Scotland church communion tokens. Edited by livingwater 02/14/2026 07:44 am Report this Post to the Staff
Novicius Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1168 Posts	Posted 02/14/2026 9:46 pm Quote: The coinage of Scotland seems to be kind of overlooked, or so it seems to me. Perhaps the low mintage and high prices put off most collectors, @oriole? Any Alexander III coin would be a more than welcome addition to the thread @Spence, especially Scottish coins or Alexander the Great coins with a device below the bust. My Scottish Alexander III is also second coinage, but is a poor specimen compared to the beautifully detailed coin in your collection. Thanks for posting it. Quote: I'm not aware of any significance of the star to Alexander the Great. After looking through literally hundreds of Alexander III coin images with nothing below the bust, and only finding one coin with a B below the bust from Tarsos, it piqued my curiosity to see that your coin type also had a star below the bust, @livingwater. It does not appear to be the "Argead Star" of the Macedonian Argead dynasty, hence my interest. Report this Post to the Staff
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