1249 - 1286, Alexander III, AR Penny, Struck 1280 - 1286 at Roxburgh, Scotland

Obverse: + ALEXANDER DEI GRA . Crowned head of Alexander III facing left within circle of pellets; sceptre topped with fleur-de-lis before. Cross potent in legend.
Reverse: REX SCOTORVM +. Long cross pattée dividing legend into quarters, with three pierced mullets of six points and one mullet of seven points in quarters of inner circle. The total of 25 points is indicative of the mint of Roxburgh.
Class Mb with unbarred "A", wider portrait and cross potent mintmark in legend.
Roxburgh only accounts for some 9% of Alexander's second coinage so issues from this mint are quite rare.
Diameter: 18mm | Weight: 1.0gm | Die Axis: 3h
SPINK: 5054

Alexander III's reign saw the introduction of the round halfpenny and farthing to Scottish medieval coinage.
Following the English recoinage of Edward I in 1279, Alexander introduced his second coinage which began in 1280 and ended when he died in 1286. This coin was therefore struck between those dates.

Alexander III was born at Roxburgh, he came to the throne when he was just 7 years old following the death of his father, Alexander II.
At the age of ten, in 1251, Alexander married Margaret, daughter of Henry III of England. Henry seized the opportunity to demand from his son-in-law homage from the Scottish kingdom. Alexander did not comply but In 1255, after a meeting between the English and Scottish kings at Kelso, he was compelled to consent to the creation of a regency representative of both monarchs.
The early years of Alexander III's reign were dominated by a power struggle between the two factions, but when he reached the age of 21 he was able to rule in his own right. His first action was to claim control of the Western Isles which were then under the domination of Norway. The Norwegian King Haakon rejected the claim, and in 1263, responded with a formidable invasion force which sailed around the west coast of Scotland and halted off the Isle of Arran. Alexander craftily delayed negotiations until the autumn storms began which resulted in the Norwegian ships being greatly damaged. Haakon, losing patience, attacked the Scots at Largs, but the battle proved indecisive and his position became hopeless. The Norwegians set sail for home but Haakon died en route, on Orkney, towards the end of the year. In 1266, at the Treaty of Perth, Norway formally ceded the Western Isles and the Isle of Man to Scotland in return for a monetary payment.
Alexander, when only 44 years old, met his end on the night of 19th March 1286. After entertaining guests at Edinburgh Castle he decided that night that he would return home to his wife near Kinghorn. His aides advised against it because there was a storm and the party would have to travel in darkness for many miles along a treacherous coastal path. Alexander was determined to travel anyway and ignored his advisors. It is not clear what happened, but it seems he got separated from the rest of his group and his horse lost its footing in the dark. The following day Alexander's body, and that of his horse, was found on the shore at the foot of the cliffs, the King's neck was broken. In 1886, a monument to him was erected in Kinghorn, on the side of the cliffs, at the approximate location of Alexander's death.
Alexander had no heirs, which ultimately led to a war with England that lasted almost thirty years.