A coin to celebrate a royal marriage
Coin to commemorate an ill-fated marriage of Mary, Queen of
Scots to Lord Darnley.
Explosive marriage
Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, her first cousin at
Holyrood Palace on 29 July 1565. It was a turbulant marriage. Their
son James was born on 19 June 1566 but within two years Lord
Darnley was to die.
In February 1567, he was recuperating after an illness in a
house at Kirk o' Field within the city wall of Edinburgh, when an
explosion occurred in the house, and Darnley was found dead in the
garden.
Mary and Henry silver one-third-ryal, Edinburgh, 1565
This is the reverse of a silver one-third ryal minted at
Edinburgh in 1565, in the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, during her
marriage to Henry, Lord Darnley. The coin was worth ten shillings
Scots.
The reverse has a tortoise climbing a palm tree. The Latin
inscription below translates as: 'Glory gives strength' while that
around the edge translates as: 'Let God arise and let His enemies
be scattered' (from Psalm 68).
Mary's coinage is divisible into five phases, reflecting her
early life, two marriages and two widowhoods. During her reign
numerous issues appeared in gold, silver and base metal, many of
them comprising denominations never previously struck.