The first issue weighed and was 50% silver and 50% base metals, thus it contained of pure silver.
"Markland", or "Merkland", was used to describe an amount of land in Scottish deeds and legal papers. It was based upon a common valuation of the land. During the "Lang Siege" of
Edinburgh Castle in 1572, the last phase of the
Marian civil war, the goldsmith
James Cockie minted half merks in the castle, while the supporters of
James VI set up their mint at
Dalkeith. The "Ten Merk Court" was a
small-claims court in
Edinburgh dealing with small debts up to the value of ten merks (i.e. £7), or for the recovery of
servants' wages. James VI issued silver merks with the lion of Scotland on the obverse and a thistle on the reverse. The last Scottish silver coinage of merks before the
Union of Crowns of 1603, sometimes called the "eighth coinage" of James VI, were dated 1601, 1602, 1603, with some full thistle merks minted in 1604. James VI and I made the merk current in England on 8 April 1603, to be worth 13.5 English pence. == References ==