When the King of the United Kingdom distributes Maundy Money, he is continuing an ancient tradition of both Scotland and England. There is less written down about the Scottish monarchs on this subject but we do have some of their Maundy coins, both at the British Museum and in the Lord Stewartby Cabinet at Glasgow University including the Maundy Groat of James IV from 1512.
According to the Hunterian Museum Blog, these alms usually took the form of the regular coinage of the realm and other items such as clothing. However, in 1512 there was a shortage of available coin, so James had one of his silver wine jugs melted down and struck into groats specifically for use in the Maundy ceremony.
