Scotland had its own currency, the pound Scots, prior to the Act of Union in 1707. The first indigenous currency in Scotland was the silver penny, coined by David I. In theory each pound weight of silver yielded 240 pennies (that is, 1 pound equalled 20 shillings, and 1 shilling equalled 12 pennies). However, the crown coined 252 pennies to the pound to make a profit. From the fourteenth century until the end of the sixteenth century debasement of the coinage resulted in the divergence of the Scottish and English currencies. In the reign of James III (1460-1488) the pound sterling was worth 4 pounds Scots. In 1560, 5 pounds Scots equalled 1 pound sterling. When James VI succeeded to the throne of England (in 1603) the exchange rate for Scots pounds to sterling was fixed at 12:1. To find out more about money, coinage and banking, in Scotland go to the entry on money and banking in the SCAN Knowledgebase.

The SCAN currency converter is no longer available. Please go to the money and banking entry in the SCAN Knowledgebase to learn how to calculate sums of money manually.

To find the ‘purchasing power’ (the equivalent amount of money today, taking into account inflation) for this amount, go to the Economic History Services website.