S502 - Continental Imitation, Low Countries issue reading KAROLVS, of Scotland, James III

S502 - Continental Imitation, Low Countries issue reading KAROLVS, of Scotland, James III (1460-1488) and the Bishop James Kennedy of St. Andrews, Joint Regal and Ecclesiastical Issue, Brass Penny, 0.79g., orb titled upwards, KAROLVS DEI GRA R, rev., Latin cross in quatrefoil, CRVX PELLIT OIE CRIM (blundered) (cf S.5309, BNJ 76, p.346, fig 2. (this coin)), fine, rare and interesting. $225 SOLD

This type and indeed this specific coin are discussed by Michael Anderson in "Imitations of the CRVX PELLIT coinage of James III), BNJ 76, pp. 345-348. These types are found in the Low Countries and Northern Spain, the common link being the Scottish wool trade with the Spanish Netherlands. The name of James III is replaced with that of a Charles, likely candidates are Charles VIII of France and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Rather than being an official issue they are likely to have been a private commercial response to a shortage of small change in the local economy.