Countermarked coins used in Scotland
In the late eighteenth and early nineteeth centuries there was a chronic shortage of British coins. Using Scotland as an example, Adam Smith estimated that the total circulating coins in 1707 was just over one million pounds sterling in value. By 1776, the year of the publication of The Wealth of Nations, his calculations suggested that the gold and silver coin incirculation - in a greatly expanded Scottish economy - might only account for some half a million pounds. The principal reason was that the market price for silver was higher than the Royal Mint was authorised to pay.
Britain needed more silver coin and the answer to this problem lay in the vast number of foreign coins, mostly eight reales, which captured in war or acquired through peaceful commerce, filled the vaults of the Bank of England and were available as a regular commocity on the bullion market. In 1797 Spanish dollars were stamped, by authority of the Bank of England, with the oval punch containing the bust of George III which was used to mark silverware.
A number of private companies, most of them Scottish, also countermarked dollars aith their own marks which recycled the foreign coins as British tokens. Of the 121 diffferent types of tokens referred to in Harrington Manville's Tokens of the Industrial Revolution Foreign Silver Coins Countermarked for use in Great Britain, c. 1787-1828, 95 are from Scotland, and of the Scottish ones, 58 are from places within a twenty mile radius of Glasgow. Manville gives an historical account of the cities, towns and hamlets which became the places for issuing such countermarked coins, following that with detailed comments on the issuers, and a catalogue of recorded examples.
When the great silver shortage ended, almost all of the countermarked coins were exchanged for official coin, and melted.
Adamson & Logan, Glasgow
KM-CC37; Manville-37 Five / Shil on 8r 1811 Mo HJ (Stack’s Bowers auction, 16 January 2021, lot 22364)
The countermark is deeply applied though the subsequent grill cancelation obliterated most of the design save for a small portion of the outer legend of which the "OG" of "LOGAN" is visible making attribution easy for the trained eye.
The firm of Adamson and Logan were a well known early 19th Century manufacturer producing muslin, gingham and pullicate wears. By 1817 the firm was well enough known to be featured in the news report of the August issue of "The Scots Magazine". Clearly a successful firm they moved several times to different locations between 1825 and 1847.
Alloa Colliery, Clackmannanshire
KM-CC1, Manville 5 5/ on false 8r 1794 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 16 January 2021, lot 22363)
Issued by John Francis Erskine and Alexander Bald, proprietor and manager of Alloa colliery.
Nearly all known examples from this proprietor utilized contemporary counterfeit Mexican Dollars, most likely produced in Birmingham, instead of genuine Dollars that were readily available from the silver market. The main purpose that these token coins were issued was so that employers could force their labourers to purchase goods at the company store at exorbitant prices perpetually keeping their employees in debt. Since the Alloa issue is almost entirely made up of False Dollars they would have been virtually worthless anywhere else and would have undoubtedly forced their employees into prolonged servitude.
Thomas & Robert Arthur, Glasgow
KM-CC38; Manville 35 on 8r 1811 Mo HJ (Heritage Auction 3085, 7 August 2020, lot 31965)
An extremely rare countermark applied by the lawn and cambric manufacturer Thomas & Robert Arthur, seldom encountered at all and when found, almost universally grill-cancelled.
W. Bilton, 630 Argyle Street, Glasgow
W. Bilton was a tobacconist.
CBCo
KM-CCA39.2; Manville-50 5 Shilling on 8r 1793 Mo FM (Heritage Auction 3030, 5 January 2014, lot 25056)
The identity of the issuer of this intriguing piece remains unknown, but it has long been thought to have been a merchant bank or manufactory of Scotland.
Blantyre Works, Blantyre, Lanarkshire
KM-CC11; Manville 11 5/ on 8r 1814 Ga MR
Catrine Cotton Works, Catrine, Ayrshire
The Catrine Cotton Works was set up by Claud Alexander of Ballochmyle, the landowner, and Glasgow merchant David Dale in 1787. Various mills and works were built over the next few years powered by water from the River Ayr. Workers were housed in a purpose built village, similar to Dale’s development at New Lanark where conditions were unusually good for the period. The mills had gas lighting installed in 1814, four years before gas appeared on the streets of either Glasgow or London.
KM-CC14; Manville 14 5/6 (struck over 4/9) on 8r 1799Mo FM
KM-CC17; Manville 18 4/9 on 8r 1799 Mo FM
These coins form a complex series, stamped at various different rates, using several different shapes and each stamp is individually numbered - the only example of this in the entire countermarked issue. The 4/9d issue probably dates from c. 1800.
D. Campbell and Company(?)
KM-CC40; Manville-51 6 Shillings on 8r 1791 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers NYINC Auction, 13 January 2024, lot 53303)
"DC" with six-leaved (twelve-pointed) rosette.
To Stack’s Bowers the most reasonable attribution of DC was posed by Walter Allen, who suggested "D. Campbell & Company" as the issuers, manufacturers of inkle. It appears there were two possibly successive issuers for these countermarks, first Dale Campbell who was active from as early as 1789 to about 1806 at various addresses. The second was Dick Campbell who was active from about 1809 to at about 1828 with the same address until at least that time.
Deanston. Perthshire
KM- ; Manville-X22 5 Shillings on 8r 1768 Mo MF (Stack’s Bowers NYINC Auction, 13 January 2024, lot 53305)
Beehive on stand, legend around within solid border.
It is interesting to note that according to Manville this issue did not appear on the market until sometime during the 1930s. Supposedly, the die was found in a desk drawer some 100 years after the fact, but shows no signs of age or degradation. In fact, aside from the three known examples on colonial Mexican hosts, most others are on base metal blanks. Though the origins of this issue are unknown, it is still an interesting aspect of the Scottish countermark series.
J. Faulds. & Co., Beith
KM-CC10; cf.Manville-10 5/3 on 8r 1804 Mo TH (Stack’s Bowers NYINC auction, 18 January 2020, lot 21089)
Countermark deeply applied with bold issuers name "J. FAULDS. & Co" and subsequent grill cancellation.
According to Manville there were four generations of James Faulds in Beith around the time of the Industrial Revolution and of the four only two are possible candidates for issuing tokens. One was a grocer or other merchant active between 1807-19 and the other a manufacturer who was active between 1816-34.
J. Stewart Fintry, Stirlingshire
KM-CC35; Manville 32 5/ on 8r 1804 Mo TH
J. Fleming Jr., Paisley
KM-unlisted; Manville-86 5 on 8r 1806 Mo TH (Stack’s Bowers NYINC Auction, 17 January 2026, lot 42200)
Stack’s Bowers were unable to locate any solid information pertaining to J Fleming Jr. of Paisley. “Another interesting facet is the denomination of 5 Shillings; there are only a couple of periods where the bullion value for Spanish Dollars was above this rate, so we opted to give a general date range of circa 1802-11 or 1815-19 based off historical bullion charts as compiled by Harry Manville.”
Forster & Corbet, Hutchesontown, Renfrewshire
KM-CC64; Manville-37a 5/ on 8r 1813 Mo JJ (Heritage Auction 3107, 5 May 2023, lot 31823)
KM-CC64; Manville 37 5/ on 8r 1808 Mo TH
The 5 shilling denomination suggests a circulation period c. 1815-20.
Forster & Corbet were cloth manufacturers from 1805 until 1821 when the company was dissolved. Hutchesontown is on the south bank of the Clyde, across the river from Glasgow city centre and forms part of the wider Gorbals district.
Robert Crighton, Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire
KM-CC89 ; Manville 87 on 8r 1821 Zs RG
Robert Crighton ran a general grocers and wine- and spirit-merchants on King Street and Lyons Lane between c. 1820 and 1835.
Galston Society
Glasgow Bank Company, Glasgow
The Glasgow Bank Company was founded in 1809 by the London banking-house of Ransom, Morland & Co. of Pall Mall. It was situated in Ingram Street and in 1836 was merged with the Ship Bank.
KM-CC44; Manville-X38 5/ on 8r 1810/09 Mo HJ (Stack’s Bowers NYINC , 20 January 2022, lot 8671)
According to Manville he was able to document only 17 examples of the genuine countermarks for this issue, but was only able to locate one example of the contemporary counterfeit punch. More recent discussion and research by some of the fields top academic scholars indicate that this particular punch is of more modern manufacture circa 1990 when it first started appearing on the market.
A. King, Greenock
KM-CC56; Manville-55 4/6 on 8r 1815 Mo JJ (Heritage Auction 3083, 27 April 2020, lot 32760)
W. Langmuir, Paisley
KM-CC83; Manville-77 5/3 on 8r 1804 Mo TH (Stack’s Bowers NYINC Auction, 15 January 2022, lot 2450)
Bifacial countermark with obverse: Arms of Paisley, legend around "PAYABLE BY W. LANGMUIR."; reverse: 5/3 within wreath, legend around "PAISLEY DOLLAR SOCIETY" applied to a well worn host coin with subsequent grill cancellation.
First noted as a miller in 1810, William Langmuir was active up to at least 1838 as both a grain dealer and miller moving several locations throughout that period. According to Manville the Paisley Dollar Society was not listed in any of the directories or official records that he consulted indicating that this short-lived organization was not around long enough to be recorded.
Levern Mill, Barrhead, Renfrewshire
KM-CC73; Manville 8 5/6 on 8r 1797 Mo FM
cancelled with grid pattern, with additional SD countermark at side. The five shillings and sixpence face value suggests this type was issued around 1810-12
KM-CC74; Manville 9 5/ on 8r 1809 Mo TH
In 1780, the second cotton-spinning mill in Scotland was built at Dovecothall, Barrhead, on the banks of the River Levern. Acquired by Stewart Dunlop and Co. in 1794, it was modernised and expanded over the next few years.
McFie, Lindsay & Company, Greenock
KM-CC58; Manville- 4/6 on 8r 1818 Mo JJ (Stack’s Bowers NYINC Auction, 13 January 2024, lot 53306)
McFie, Lindsay & Company was active as general grocers from 1815 to 1834. According to Manville, they are noted for having invented and perfected a method of preserving fresh salmon. Based on the known host dates it appears that McFie, Lindsay & Company issued tradesman tokens from around the early 1820s to August 1828 when the company formerly recalled them to be exchanged for current silver.
John McKelvie, Glasgow (?)
KM-CC57; Manville 58 4/6 on 8r 1811 Mo HJ
While the identity is not certain, these tokens were probably issued by John McKelvie, grocer and spirit dealer of Dalrymple Street and John McKelvie Jr, who was a wholesale grocer and tea dealer in Shaw Street.
Dugald McLachlan, Tobermory, Argyllshire
KM-CC102; Manville 99 5/ on 8r 1794 Mo FM
Dugald McLachlan is listed in local directories as a wine and spirit dealer at various addresses in Tobermory in the 1820s.
James and Andrew Muir, Greenock
KM-CC59; Manville 59 4/6 on 8r 1805 Mo TH
James and Andrew Muir, haberdashers and straw hat manufacturers, of William Street, Greenock, was established in 1808.
J. Muir, Paisley, Renfrewshire
KM-CC87, Manville 83 5/ on 8r 1811 Mo HJ
With reverse countermarked with the Prince of Wales’ feathers, ICH DIEN on scroll, the obverse countermark cancelled with horizontal cuts
New Lanark Mills, Lanarkshire
KM-CC66; Manville-69 5/- on 8r 1796 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 6 August 2020, lot 21574)
Originally New Lanark mills was owned and operated by David Dale who retired in 1799 and sold New Lanark, at the time the largest cotton mill in Scotland, for £60,000 to Mr. Robert Owen of Manchester. When Mr. Owen became managing partner on 1 January 1800 he quickly began to tighten control of costs, quality, management practices, monitor wages and time-keeping resulting in the dismissal of a number of employees. Though he was strict he was fair and won the approval of his employees. The mill offered free education for children and had a church among other improvements in living standards.
It is also important to note that according to Manville the 5 Shillings denomination was issued in two periods. The first was issued prior to 1811 while the second period was between 1815-20. Manville also states that due to degradation the ring punch must have been employed for an extended period. The present piece exhibits signs of die deterioration in the form of cracks and chipping which indicates later use and was why it was attributed to the later period of issue.
Rothsay Cotton Works
Manville 92 4/6 on 8r 1812 Ca RP
additional countermarks T and pomegranate between crowned pillars on obverse (A temporary mint was established at Chihuahua mint by a decree of 8 October 1810 and between 1810 and 1813, 8 reales were cast using Mexico City coins as patterns and obliterating/changing the mint mark and assayer initials. Struck coins were issued between 1813 and 1822. Two countermarks were placed on the obverse, on the left a T designating receipt by the Royal Treasurer and on the right crowned pillars of Hercules with pomegranate beneath the comptroller’s symbol of the Royal Hacienda.)
Rothsay Mills, Isle of Bute
KM-CC94; Manville- 1/8 on one third of undated 8r (Stack’s Bowers NYINC Auction, 13 January 2024, lot 53299)
An interesting and somewhat complex series of countermarked token. According to Eric C. HodgeEric C. Hodge, "New Discovery in Scotland" in Coin News, April 2017 there were two different periods of token issuance from this proprietor. The first period circa 1790-1800 covers Manville 90 (5 Shillings [round]), 91 (5 Shillings [rectangle]), 93 (2 Shilling 6 Pence [round]), 94 (2 Shilling 6 Pence [rectangle]), 95 (2 Shillings 4 Pence [rectangle]) and 96 (1 Shilling 8 Pence [round]), while the second period covers Manville 92 (4 Shilling 6 Pence [round]) of much more narrow window of manufacture circa 1820-21. He also goes on to states that the denomination of Manville 92 seems to correspond to other issues in Scotland during the period of 1815-20 and later.
Saltcoats
KM-CC101; Manville 97 5/6 on 8r 1811 Mo HJ
Saltcoats is a town in north Ayrshire. The issue of a general ‘Merchants’ token suggests the existence of a local trade or merchants’ association although there are no contemporary references to this.
Alexander Steven & Sons, Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire
KM-CC91, Manville-89 4/6 on 8r 1817 Mo JJ (Heritage Auction 3126, 6 November 2025, lot 31120)
Thistle Bank, Glasgow
Thistle Bank, Glasgow
The Thistle Bank, founded by Sir Walter Maxwell Bt, and James Ritchie & Co in November 1761, was capitalised at £7,000. Located at first in Bridgegate and then in Virginia Street, it was absorbed by the Glasgow Union Bank in 1836.
KM-CC48; Manville 44 5/ on 8r 1784 Mo FM
reverse countermarked with upright thistle
KM-CC49; Manville-46 4/9 on 8r 1794 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 25 August 2025, lot 40621)
KM-CC49, Manville-46 4/9 on 8r 1789 Mo FM (Heritage Auction 3032, 21 January 2020, lot 34759)
The 4/9 stamp has been grill cancelled on the obverse, the reverse still exhibiting the thistle mark.
William Thomson, Bell Street, Glasgow
William Thomson was a flesher.
John Wilson, Hurlet, Renfrewshire (?)
KM-CC63; Manville 64a 5/ on 8r 1796 Mo FM
KM-CC63; Manville 64a 5/ on 8r 1818 Mo JJ (cancelled by an open grill pattern)
This issue (J. & J. W, HURLET) was probably made by John Wilson who was associated with various companies around Hurlet (three miles southeast of Paisley) involved in quarrying and mining, including coal, alum, copperas and limestone. The companies had various office addresses in Glasgow between c. 1800 and 1850.