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 with 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.
Three or four issues have a surviving population of 50 or more examples, but at the other extreme more than 70 issues have a surviving population of less than 10 specimens and often only one or two examples. Perhaps another 20 issues are known with a population of 10 to 35 examples. It is clear that the ‘redemption recall’ of these countermarked dollars was very effective for the majority of enterprises and these coins would have been consigned to the melting pot at their current bullion value. In many cases firms ‘cancelled’ their countermarked dollars by applying a grill countermark over the original countermarked value to avoid having to redeem them at a higher price when the value of silver had dropped. Ultimately these pieces would also be melted, but in the first instance they may well have passed back into general circulation at a value agreed by the local population by convention with some link to bullion value.
Some coins are known with further privy marks. It is believed that these were applied as a kind of safeguard or internal control over official issues, to highlight forgeries and copies. For a discussion on these privy marks see Eric C. Hodge, “Secret Marks On Merchant Countermarked Silver Coins” in British Numismatic Journal, vol. 79, 2009.
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.
Until 1775, colliers were serfs in the fullest sense of the word: they were bound to the mine in which they worked, and were sold as part of the working machinery. Even when Parliament acted, the rate of emancipation was slow. Under the 1775 Act colliers under the age of twenty-one were liberated in seven years, those between twenty-one and thirty-five in two years. It was only after another Act had been passed in 1799 that all colliers in Scotland were free, and this was mainly to attract a larger number of workers to the rapidly expanding coal industry.
By 1800 the windlass and horse-gin for raising coal were in use in all the coal-fields except those in the East of Scotland, where the "bearing system", the primitive method of raising coal on the backs of women, was still in use and was continued into the nineteenth century, The "bearers" were, for the most part, the wives and daughters of the colliers, who attended their menfolk in the pit and carried up their coal as it was hewn.
Woman-bearers bringing loads of coal to the surface (from a print dated 1835)
To their lasting credit, the owners and managers in the Clackmannanshire coalfield were enlightened enough to support the Earl of Shaftesbury (then Lord Ashley) in his struggle to secure a better life for the miner and his family. The opposition to the withdrawal of women and girls from the pits came not so much from less progressive colliery owners as from the miners themselves, who regarded the introduction of other forms of carriage and haulage as a blow at their mode of life and an attempt to deprive them of a useful means of increasing their earnings.
In 1808, Robert Bald, one of the earliest Scottish mining engineers and the son of Alexander Bald, the Earl of Mar's Colliery manager and superintendent at Alloa, tried to arouse public indignation by describing the conditions of this class of women “whose peculiar situation was but little known to the world” but women continued this kind of work until the passing of the law abolishing female labour underground in 1843John L. Carvel, One Hundred Years In Coal: The History Of The Alloa Coal Company.
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.
Ballindalloch Cotton Works
KM-CC7; Manville 6 5/ on 8r 1795 Mo FM (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6002)
Ballindalloch was acquired in 1800 by James Finlay & Co., Glasgow merchants, who also operated mills at Catrine and Deanston. Judging from the dates of the host coins and the valuation stamped, all of the Ballindalloch silver tokens were probably issued between 1800 and 1810.
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6007)
The Blantyre Mills were erected by David Dale and James Monteith in 1785: ownership passed to Monteith in 1792 and to Monteith’s brother Henry in 1802. The mill was run as Henry Monteith & Co. from then until at least 1840. Its most illustrious employee was the future explorer David Livingstone who entered the mills at the age of 10 as a piecer and became a spinner when he was 19. It is recorded of him that "he contrived to read in the factory by placing his book on the spinning jenny, so that he could catch sentences as he passed at his work”.
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6011)
KM-CC17; Manville 18 4/9 on 8r 1799 Mo FM (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6012)
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. For a discussion on these privy marks see Eric C. Hodge, “Secret Marks On Merchant Countermarked Silver Coins” in British Numismatic Journal, vol. 79, 2009.
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.
Robert Crighton, Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire
KM-CC89 ; Manville 87 on 8r 1821 Zs RG (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6072)
Robert Crighton ran a general grocers and wine- and spirit-merchants on King Street and Lyons Lane between c. 1820 and 1835.
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6023)
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 37 5/ on 8r 1808 Mo TH (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6026)
KM-CC64; Manville-37a 5/ on 8r 1813 Mo JJ (Heritage Auction 3107, 5 May 2023, lot 31823)
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.
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 1806 Mo TH (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6069)
This was a bifacial countermark with on the obverse the arms of Paisley (a bishop holding his mitre and flanked by two shields), and the legend around "PAYABLE BY W. LANGMUIR.", and on the reverse: 5/3 within a wreath, legend around "PAISLEY DOLLAR SOCIETY". This coin has a subsequent grill cancellation.
William Langmuir was described as a miller at Seedhills in 1810; subsequently at Thread Street, Paisley, 1812, as a grain dealer, 1813, as a flour factor, Seedhills, 1816 and as a grain merchant at various addresses from 1820 to 1838. 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
The Levern Mill, Barrhead
KM-CC73; Manville 8 5/6 on 8r 1797 Mo FM (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6005)
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6006)
4/9 on 8r ---- Mo FM
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.
For further details on these coins, including differences in countermarks and the order of issue see Eric C. Hodge, “New Value on a Levern Mill Countermarked Dollar” in the British Numismatic Journal, 7 November 2018.
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6049)
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6087)
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6050)
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6071)
With reverse countermarked with the Prince of Wales’ feathers, ICH DIEN on scroll, the obverse countermark cancelled with horizontal cuts
New Lanark Mills, Lanarkshire
New Lanark Mills (watercolour by John Winning, circa 1818)
KM-CC66; Manville-69 5/- on 8r 1796 Mo FM (Stack’s Bowers auction, 6 August 2020, lot 21574)
KM-CC67; Manville 71 4/9 on 8r 1802 Mo FT (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6064)
KM-CC68; Manville 72 4/6 on 8r 1791 Mo FM (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6065)
The New Lanark cotton mills were founded in 1786 by David Dale in a brief partnership with Richard Arkwright. The mills used the recently developed water-powered cotton spinning machinery invented by Richard Arkwright. Dale sold the mills, lands and village in the early 19th century for £60,000, payable over 20 years, to a partnership that included his son-in-law Robert Owen. Owen, who became mill manager in 1800, was an industrialist who carried on his father-in-law's philanthropic approach to industrial working and who subsequently became an influential social reformer. New Lanark, with its social and welfare programmes, epitomised his Utopian socialism.
In Owen's time some 2,500 people lived at New Lanark, many from the poorhouses of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although not the grimmest of mills by far, Owen found the conditions unsatisfactory and resolved to improve the workers' lot. He paid particular attention to the needs of the 500 or so children living in the village and working at the mills, and opened the first infants' school in Britain in 1817, although the previous year he had completed the Institute for the Formation of Character.
The mills thrived commercially, but Owen's partners were unhappy at the extra expense incurred by his welfare programmes. Unwilling to allow the mills to revert to the old ways of operating, Owen bought out his partners. In 1813 the Board forced an auction, hoping to obtain the town and mills at a low price but Owen and a new board (including the philanthropist William Allen[7] and the economist Jeremy Bentham) that was sympathetic to his reforming ideas won out.
New Lanark became celebrated throughout Europe, with many statesmen, reformers and royalty visiting the mills. They were astonished to find a clean, healthy industrial environment with a content, vibrant workforce and a prosperous, viable business venture all rolled into one. Owen's philosophy was contrary to contemporary thinking, but he was able to demonstrate that it was not necessary for an industrial enterprise to treat its workers badly to be profitable. Owen was able to show visitors the village's excellent housing and amenities, and the accounts showing the profitability of the mills.
In 1825, control of New Lanark passed to the Walker family when Owen left Britain to start settlement of New Harmony in the US.
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
KM-CC100; Manville 92 4/6 on 8r 1812 Ca RP (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6075)
with 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-96 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.
For further information on these coins see Eric. C. Hodge, “Analysis of Cut 8 Reales Countermarked by Rothsay Mills” in British Numismatic Journal, 2019 .
Saltcoats
KM-CC101; Manville 97 5/6 on 8r 1811 Mo HJ (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6086)
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 (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6028)
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.
For a detailed analysis of these coins, see Eric C. Hodge, “Further Merchant Countermark Records of the Thistle Bank: A Reassessment of the Issues” in British Numismatic Journal, vol. 84, 2014
William Thomson, Bell Street, Glasgow
William Thomson was a flesher.
John Wilson, Hurlet, Renfrewshire (?)
KM-CC63; Manville 64a 5/ on 8r 1796 Mo FM (Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6054)
KM-CC63; Manville 64a 5/ on 8r 1818 Mo JJ (cancelled by an open grill pattern)
(Noonans auction of Eric Hodge Collection, 29 September 2026, lot 6056)
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.
For more information see H. E. Manville, ‘An unpublished Scottish tradesman’s countermark’ in British Numismatic Journal, vol. 62, 1992.