Scottish medieval prices are almost always cited in money of account, that is so much £ s. d., or marks (13s. 4d.) or half marks. However, the relationship between this money of account and the actual currency used in the transaction was not always straightforward. At the beginning of our period the only coins minted in Britain were pennies, and £ 1 money of account would actually have been paid over as 240 of these pence. Similarly Is. meant 12 pence. Halfpennies and farthings were simply cut fractions of the penny. In 1280 Edward I struck round farthings and soon after halfpennies, and Alexander III followed suit at the same time. Edward I also attempted to launch a 4d. groat, but the issue was short-lived and it was not until the 1350s that this larger silver denomination was successfully issued in England and Scotland. A successful gold coinage also began in the mid-fourteenth century in the shape of a noble of 6s. 8d., with in England its half (3s. 4d.) and quarter (1s. 8d.). In Scotland at this time only the noble was struck, and that in very small quantities.

While the intrinsic content of these coins remained constant the distinction between a certain amount of money of account and the actual coins involved will not have affected prices. However, the later middle ages was a period of progressive currency depreciation everywhere in Europe. Precious metals became scarcer and their market value consequently became enhanced. The intrinsic metal content of a given unit of money of account therefore tended to fall.