Benbecula metal detectorist Donald MacPhee has made arguably his greatest find—an ultra-rare Mary Queen of Scots coin.

Revealing his latest find, Donald said: “To find this coin in Nunton is absolutely mind-blowing.”

Benbecula metal detectorist Donald MacPhee has arguably made his greatest find yet—an ultra-rare Mary Queen of Scots coin.

Revealing his latest discovery, Donald said: “To find this coin in Nunton is absolutely mind-blowing.”

The version of the coin he detected dates back to 1559 and was minted in Edinburgh for just 12 months. It was the year after Mary, Queen of Scots, married Francis, Dauphin of France, at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on April 24, 1558.

The marriage of Mary, who was 16, and her husband, who was 14, was part of the Auld Alliance, a political alliance between Scotland and France that dated back to 1295. Mary became Queen Consort of France when Francis ascended the throne as Francis II in 1559.

However, the marriage was short-lived, as Francis died of an ear infection in 1560.

The coin that turned up in Nunton bears the monogram FM France, Mary, and the Dauphin’s dolphin emblem. The reverse side has a lion rampant.

Known as a billon lion or hardhead, the coin is just 14 mm in diameter. These coins earned this name because they were made of billon, an alloy of silver and base metals. Hardhead was more a nickname for the currency, which was valued at one and a half pence Scots.

Donald, who is the owner of Nunton House Hostel, has made numerous intriguing discoveries, including a rare privately minted copper coin, a George 5th ha’penny, a George 6th penny, and a copper ring.

He has also found a late 17th-century coin on Nunton Beach. The coin, a ‘bawbee,’ is believed to date back to the reign of King Charles ll and was probably minted between 1677 and 1679.

The likely dating of the coin puts it at least 70 years before Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Charles II’s great-nephew, was in the Western Isles while fleeing the aftermath of the 1746 defeat at the battle of Culloden.

Nunton House Hostel was once the residence of the MacDonalds of Clan Ranald and played a significant role in the Prince’s escape over the sea to Skye with Flora Macdonald the following year.