Bawbee Coin Sterling Silver Pendant

Scottish Bawbee

Between 1124 and 1709, the coinage of Scotland was independent and all locally minted. It included such unique coins as the plack, bodle, Scottish dollar, ryal and bawbee! The bawbee, or Scots halfpenny, was particularly beloved and has left it's mark in history through numerous poems and songs including 'The Ballad of Jennie's Bawbee', country dance song 'The Crooked Bawbee' and famous children's rhyme 'Coulter's Candy'. Amazingly enough, Two Skies has ties with this special coin - the bawbee was named after the Laird of Sillebawby, the mint master who introduced it. The Sillebawby farm (where the coins were hand-hammered until 1677) is directly next door to our headquarters in Burntisland, Fife!

Sterling Silver (925%)

Why do silversmiths use 925%? Measured in parts per thousand, pure silver (999%) is too soft so silversmiths mix it with other metals to make it it harder. The purer the metal, the higher the polish, but it is a lot softer (thus less durable). The harder the metal is, the more hard wearing the jewellery is, but it will also tarnish easier as it has less silver content. Therefore, the silver industry set a standard percentage content for fine silver (925); what we know as "sterling silver". At Two Skies our silversmiths use 925 (sterling) silver for ring shafts and moving parts, and a very high 950% on our stones settings, which enables us to get a strong jewellery item with a beautiful and secure stone setting, without any gluing. Each piece of our jewellery is hand stamped with our Two Skies Hallmark alongside the recognised industry 925 Hallmark.