Pound Scots

The story

The pound Scots belonged to the same pounds, shillings and pence tradition as sterling. The Scottish National Dictionary describes an account pound initially equal to its English counterpart; the National Records of Scotland traces their later divergence through debasement. Taken together, these support a qualified regional branch from sterling. The precise boundary between shared reckoning and a distinct Scottish unit remains uncertain. ^[4]

Scottish prices and debts were reckoned in pounds Scots and in merks, each merk worth two-thirds of a pound. In 1560 five pounds Scots equalled one pound sterling. The coordinated coin proclamations of 1604 established a twelve-to-one accounting relation, which must be distinguished from the rates at which particular coins actually exchanged. ^{[1] [5] [2]}

The 1707 union brought the coinage onto a common standard, but Scottish account units survived. Advertisements still quoted prices in Scots money as late as 1740. A coinage change therefore cannot supply a single ending date for this currency’s accounting history. ^{[6] [3]}