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David I, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malcolm III and Margaret of Wessex, David spent most of his childhood in Scotland, but was exiled to England temporarily in 1093. Perhaps after 1100, he became a dependent at the court of King Henry I. There he was influenced by the Anglo-French culture of the court.
When David's brother Alexander I died in 1124, David chose, with the backing of Henry I, to take the Kingdom of Scotland for himself. He was forced to engage in warfare against his rival and nephew, Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair. Subduing the latter seems to have taken David ten years. After the death of his former patron Henry I, David supported the claims of Henry's daughter and his own niece, Empress Matilda, to the throne of England. In the process, he came into conflict with King Stephen and was able to expand his power in northern England, despite his defeat at the Battle of the Standard in 1138. (Wikipedia article).
David was the first independent Scottish king to issue coins, this probably being related to the capture of Carlisle in 1136 by the Scots under David and his son Price Henry. This capture gave them an established mint and nearby silver mines.
David's pennies are grouped into four periods:
| Period | Chronology | Spink # |
| A | 1136 to early 1140s | 5001-03 |
| B | Mid and late 1140s | 5004-06 |
| C | Later civil war years to 1153 and David'd death | 5007-08 |
| D | After the death of David and his son Earl Henry | 5009-10 |
BNJ References:
B. H. I. H. Stewart, ‘An uncertain mint of David I’, 29 (1958-59), 293-96, pl.
J. E. L. Murray and I. Stewart, ‘St Andrews mint under David I’, 53 (1983), 178-80
