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L^? .vin'-w.rir # ^. \EUNI\ nrjNYsov^ ■'^-^aiAiN.ijw^' \EUNIV(RJ7/^ o 33 .>- .:» '■■>JOJI1VJJO^^ '^WOJIIYJJO- Jl I ^OF ■Si n A > •Jiiij;Aii)r>- '^/sajAiN.uwv"^ \ :^ %i\ •SJ. > ^ ^>-ii t^ ^ilM i ♦. ^WiUVJiO^- ■■'o\)J. i.:ji TABLE O F ENGLISH SILVER COINS FROM The Norman Conqueft to the Prefent Time. WITH Their Weights, intrinfic Values, AND Some Remarks upon the feveral Pieces.. By Martin Folkcs, Efq; LONDOIf, Printed for the Society of A n t i q u a r ie 3,, MDCCXLV. *CT inn-s- TABLE O F ENGLISH SILVER COINS. THE two firft kings after the Conquefl: coined only ^Vill I Pennies, of which I have feen fourteen or fifteen 1066.* different types. They agree, as near as can be ^^^"-^-^^f- judged, in weight and goodnefs, with the pennies of the '' Saxon kings, their immediate predeceffors. It is there- fore reafonable to think that king Wihiam introduced na new weight into his mints ; but that the fame weight ufed there for fome ages after, and called the Pound of the Tower of London, was the old pound of the Saxon moneyers before the Conqueft. This pound was lighter than the Troy pound * by three quarters of an ounce Troy, and * The Troy weight, Pondus Tre- ctnfe, from Troyes in Champagne, is generally fiippofed to have been intro- duceil here by the Normans ; but docs not fcem to have been immediately eftabliflied. It is moft probable that the Pound of the Tower, or the Mo- neyers pound, was alfo the pound in common ufe before the Conqueft; and that it continued to be fo for a confi- derable time after, till the Troy pound, perhaps from its greater weight, got the preference by degrees. It is obfer- vable, that in the old ftatute called Afftfa pants et cerevifia^ 5 1 Hen. III. and which it felf refers to " older ordi- " nances made in the time of the " king's progenitors," -the weights of the feveral quantities of bread, etc. therein mentioned, arc not exprtfled in Troy but in money weights, that is, in pounds, fhillings, pennies, and far- " When a quarter of wheate 13 fold for xii ts dc poix." In this paftage I oblerve two particulars i firft, that the Denier EJlerlia is therein confi- dcred as the proper or natural part of the Englifh or Rochel marc ; and fe- condly, that the proportion of this marc to that of Troyes, which is here fuppofed to be that of 1 6 to 1 7 ; tho' not ftricflly the fame as the proportion of the Tower to the Troy weight laid down in the table, yet differs as little from it as can well be expeded from accounts taken with different ftand- ards, in different countries, at dif- ferent times, and in ages when the ftandards of weights and meafures, were neither made nor prefcrved with the fame care they have fince been. The proportion mentioned in the Ta- ble, being that of 15 to 16, is agreeable to nVcrdiil relating to the coinage of the 30 Ool. 18 Hen. VIII. remaining in the receipt of the Exchequer at Weft- minfter, in which are the following words. " And whereas heretofore " the marchaunte paid for coynage " of every pounde Towre of fyne " gold, weighing xioz. quarter Troye, " ii s. vi d. Nowe it is dctermyned " by the king's highnefs, and his faid " councelle, that the forefaid Pounde " Towre, fliall be no more ufed and " occupied, but al maner of golde " and fylver fhall be wayed by the " pounde Troye, which maketh xii oz. " Troye, which excedith the pounde " Towre in weight iii quarters of the " oz." From hence it follows that the weight of the Tower pound was 5400 Troy grains, and that of the ounce or the twelfth part thereof 450 like grains. The weight of the Ro- chel or Englifli ounce, as taken from the marc abovementioned, will be found 451.76 Troy grains, if the cor- refponding ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 5 whereas the prefent ftandard of England, of eleven ounces Will, r, two penny-weight fine, to eighteen penny-weight of allay, y/uI ^ is called, in the oldeft accounts of the mint extant, the 1087. Old Standard, or the ftandard of the Old Sterlings; it is mod probable that thefe pennies were of that ftandard, and that the pound of the Tower of fuch ftandard filver, was thencut into 240 of thefe pennies. Whence the weight of the penniewill be found ii Troy grains and a half, and the intrinfic value of twenty fhillings, or of 2 40 fuch pennies of full weight, was the fame as the value of 5 8 iliillings and one pennie half pennie of our prefent coined money. The Pennies of the firft Henry were like thofe of his Henry I. father and brother, to which, as the hiftorians very particu- ^'°°" larly tell us, he added Half Pennies alfo, and thofe round like his pennies. Yet have none of thefe laft, that I know of, been preferved to our time ,• and very few were in all probability coined, fince even the memory of them feems to have been loft within a few years. Thepennies I have feen, and which I take to have been certainly of this king, were of very barbarous work, and reprefentcd him full- faced, with an annulet or eylet-hole on each fide of his head. King Stephen's Pennies were of the fame value as thofe Stephen. of his predeceflbrs, and of various types. There are alfo ^'35* fome coined at York, with the name evstacivs, probably for Euftace the king's fon ; and I have feen one in the coUedlion of the risjht honourable the earl of Pembroke, that hath the king's name only on the re- verfe, and on the fore-fide a profile head with a crofier, and 4- HEN... vs. epc. which I fuppofe to be the head of Henry, biiliop of Wincheftcr, bafc brother to the kincr. o rcfponding marc of Troyes is fup- from his own experiments, in his traft polld cxadly to coincide with tlie De poudcribiis et menfuris, is 550 Englifli Troy weight : and the pre- Paris grains and a quarter, which fvnt weight of the Colonia ounce, as make, when reduced, 451.38 Troy ftatcd by Joh. Gafp. Eifenfchmiti, grains. B The 6 ATABLEOF Hen. II. The Pennies of the fecond Henry were the fame In "^'^' value as the foregoing, and they were alfo of different forms ; fuch a regularity in this particular, as afterwards took place, not being yet eftablifhed in the mints. RicH.I. As king Richard the firfh reigned almoft ten years, it "^9- can hardly be doubted but he muff have coined fome money in that time, and that it was of the flime fort and value as that of his predeceffors and of his immediate fucceffor. It has not however been my fortune either to fee any of his pennies, or to receive any account of one I could de- pend upon: but it is very reafonable to think that the king's long abfence out of England, his expedition to the Holy Land, his captivity, and the large fums paid abroad for his ranfom*, together with his wars '19. France after his releafe, muft have occafioned great fcarcity of money at home, and fmall coinages during all the time of his reign. John Pennies,Half-Penn ies, and Farth ings, were coined ^^99' by king John in Ireland, where it fhould feem his principal mint was. They reprefent his head in a triangle, and are more regular than the coins of his predeceffors. I have alfo feen a few of another fort, with a kind of double crofs between four annulets on the reverfe ; and fome of thefe may have been of his Englifh money, but were all fo much worn and defaced, that little more than his' name was to be made out. One of thefe that is in the colledion of my worthy friend James Weff, Efq; has only JOHANNES DO., rouud the head, and fccms on that account to have been coined before John came to the crown, when he was ufually ftyled lord of Ireland and dukeof Cornwal. * King" Richard's ranfom to the and at once paid down before he emperor, was fettled at 1 50000 marcs could obtain his liberty. An immenfe of filver, after the Colonia weight ; fum for that age, amounting to no and of thefe, loooco, being all he lefs than 194000 /. fterling of our could then get raifed, were carried prefent filver money, over by the queen mother in perfon. King ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 7 King Henry the third coined Pennies, Half-Pennies, Hen. III. and Farthings, according to the records of his fixth year. ^^ Yet is it probable that few only of the lefier pieces were ftruck : I have never met with any, and I ihoiild even think they were difcontinued feveral years before his death, or his fon and fucceflbr king Edward the firft could hardly have been fo generally taken for the firfl of our princes, that added half-pennies and farthings to his coin. There was a very great recoinage in the 32'' year of 1248. this king's reign, when the type of his pennies was alfo fomewhat altered, the double crofs on the reverfe beinsr carried through the limb where the letters are, and almoft to the edge of the piece; which alteration being exprefly defcribed by Matthew Paris, who lived at the time, I^,, ^,^^,,.^ ^.^,r..,„ ^;S^ think all the pieces anfwering to it mnft have been mintcd^,,^^/^. ^^/3> ••'/'•'• a--" ■; after that date. All thefe pennies have rex in. or reX TERCi. upon them, and have therefore univerfally been afcribed to this king: but I muft, for the foregoing reafon, afcribe to him alfo all thofe others, ufually given to king Henry the fecond, which have a good refemblance of thefe, but on which the double crofs does not break into the legend, and which I therefore look upon as the mo- neys of king Henry the third, coined before his 3 id year. In this opinion I am alfo confirmed, by the curious re- marks of my learned friend, the reverend Mr. North, on the names ot the moneyers of this king in particular. The Pennies, Half-Pennies, and Farthings of Edw. I. Edward the firft are all common, but the fmaller pieces ^272. are ufually faid to have been firft coined in his feventh 1279. year, when he made a great reformation in the money, and feveral new regulations for the better trying and pre- ferving of his coin. It was now made more uniform than it had yet been, the names of the feveral moneyers were omitted, and only the name of the town or city where coined, prcfcrvcd on the reverfe. I have my fclf only i^Q.?i B 2 the 8 ATABLEOF Edw. I. the name of one moneyer, Robert de Hadleie, upon ^^79- any of the coins of this reign: and from hence I fhpuld be apt to conchide, that either the alterations in the type of the money took place earlier than is generally faid, or //«««/;,..^^/r«^;«^--» /-*^.'f* that the great coinages in the time of Henry the third, ?«r^rt^/^I,. jjad fufficiently fupplied the firft years of king Edward's 'V"">'""3/'*-'3- rcign. 1301. It appears that, in his 28"' year, an indented trial-piece of the goodnefs of Old Standard was lodged in the Exche- quer, and that every pound weight of the Tower of fuch iilver was then to be fhorn at los. and 3 d. whereby the weight of thepennie, was to be fomewhatlefs than 22 Troy grains and a quarter; and 240 fuch pennies of full weight, making twenty fhillings, or a pound fterling in tale, were to contain as much filver, as in our prefent coin is of the value of ^7 s. and 5 d. nearly. There is a large piece reprefented in Speed, and com- monly called the Groat of this king: I have weighed I think eight of thcfe pieces, which are now rare, and I have found them to weigh from 8 o to 85- Troy grains. If they are really groats, and of Edward the firft, their ftand- ard weight fhoiild be about 8p : but 1 muft alfo take no- tice that, befides thefe, I have met with three others that have weighed 92, 11 (5, and 138 grains refpeclively. I have not found fuch a difagreement in any other Englifh coins, and am therefore quite uncertain what to think of thefe. If the eight firft mentioned, and which feem to con- fpire to a weight, fhall be judged groats, I will only ob- ferve they muft have been coined before the 18"" of Edward tlie third, when the weight of the pennie was brought down nearly to 20 grains: and indeed their whole appear- ance, with the title of dvx aqvt. agrees to make them at leaft as old as that prince, whilft the infcription civi. LONDoNiA, in their inner circle, feems to afcertain them for Englifh coins. The ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 9 The general infcription round the head on the pen- Edw. i. nies and half- pennies of king Edward the firft was, '^°'' + EDw. R. ANGL. DNS. HYB. This addition of lord of Ireland, had not been ufed in the ftyle of any of his prc- deceflbrs, but was never omitted either upon any of the coins of this king, except his farthings, or upon any of the like pieces fuppofed to have been minted by his fon king Edward the fecond. The fame is alfo found upon all the groats and upon many of the lefler pieces of king Edward the third ; but afterwards it was left out, and Ire- land was no more mentioned upon the filver coin, till king Henry the eighth, who had then juft aflumed that title, ftyled himfelf king of Ireland, upon the moneys ftruck in his 34'' year. All thefe pennies, etc. prefented the king's head full faced, and crowned with an open crown/kurie, conlifting of three Jkurs de Its^ with two rays or lefler flowers not riflng fo high as the others placed between them ; and the fame crown is to be feen upon the coins of all our fuc- ceeding kings, till Henry the feventh introduced the clofe or arched crown in its ftead. It may alfo be obferved, that, during all this period, there does not appear to have been fo much as an attempt to preferve any flmilitude of the feveral kings, in the impreflions of their heads. They are all alike, and even thofe that are reprefentcd, on their broad feals and monuments, as wearing beards, do nevcr- thelefs appear fmooth faced upon their coins : and altho' Henry the flxth became king when only nine months old, and reigned above eight and thirty years, yet can no dif- ference be obferved in his countenance, by which his flrft moneys and his lafl: may be difl:inguilhed from each other *. The ^ * However odd this particular entirely chargeable on the want of may appear, I cannot think tliat it is fkill, in the feveral workmen that cn- C graved lo A TABLE OF Edw, I. The type of the reverfe of king Edward's money was *^°'' alfo continued by all his fucceilors, till Henry the fcventh brought in tlie iniprefs ot the royal arms ; which type was only a plain crofs, extending it felf almoft to the edge of the piece, and dividing the letter'd limb whereon the name of the place of mintage was, together with three globules or pellets placed in each of the quarters, between the limb and the arms of the crofs. Edw. II. King Edward the fecond's Pennies, Half-Pennies, ^307- and Farthings, were the fame as thofe of the king his father, and are not with certainty to be diftinguiflied from them. The common opinion, which gives thole pieces with edw. to the firft Edward, and all thofe with edwa. or edwar. to the fecond, is at moft but a probable con- jeAure; and fhould it be allowed that all thofe of the firft fort, which are by far the moft plentiful, were really ftruck by the firft king of the name, who certainly coined a great deal more money than his fon, we fhould ftill be at a lofs for arguments to prove, that he did not coin fome of the others alfo: to which I iliall only add that I have feen fome of thefe pennies of the laft fort, upon which the letters were braced into one another, much like thofe graved thefe coins, fome of which are were neverthelefs often reprefented, in other refpefts not ill executed. It as perfcdl men and women, in the ilioiild therefore feem that fome cu- flower and Itrength of their age : a ftom of thofe ages required the king very remarkable inftance of which is to be always reprefented on his money, fliil to be feen in the chappel of Saint as in the prime ar.J vigour of his Edmond within the Abbey-Church oi years, and that this effigies of him Weftminfter, where.upon a monument was to be confider'd, rather as his po- erefted for William of Windfor and litical than as his natural liktnefs. And Blanch of tlie Tower, two children I remember that upon my mentioning of king Edward the third, that died this circumftance, feveral years fince, in their carlieft childhood, they are to our late eminent antiquary, John both notwithltanding carved in ala- Anftis Efqi Garter principal king at barter, he like a knight in robes and arms, he was pleafcd to tell me he full drefs with his fword buckled on, had himfelf taken notice of fomewhat and flie in a ftrait-bodied gown and very like it, in the fepulchral monu- head attire, agreeable to the fafhion of ments of thofe times, upon which the age. cvea children deceafed in their infancy. on ENGLISH SILVER COINS. ii on the pennies of king Henry the third, and which there- Edw. II. fore feem to have been minted but little after his time. '^°'* 1 have alfo feenafmall thick piece, probably ftruck with a pennie die at Canterbury, + edwar.r.angl. dns.hyb. weight 6^ grains: and this, if defigncdly adjufted to a weight, muft have been a fort of proof for a three-pennie piece, in the time of the firft or fecond Edward. The firft Pennies, FIalf-Pennies, and Farthings Edw. IIL.- -^4 -/" '"■^^ of king Edward the third were the fame as thofe coined, /..J^^.-.'J^',^rr.^-\f u^ '^^ by his grandfather and his father, and we know of no al-^"'"^-^ ,n ,.r^<.x.'ti^. teration that he made in the coin, till his i S'^ year, when 21 s. id and his 20"' year, when 11s. 6 d. were ordered ,^^6^ to be coined out of the pound Tower of Old Sterling filver ; by which laft regulation the weight of the pennie was brought down to 20 Troy grains, and the pound fterling, or 240 fuch pennies of full weight, contained as much iilver as is now coined into 515. and 8 d. In the 27*''year of this king were firft coined Grosses 'i-isi^ 7^- or Groats, running for four pennies each, with Half Grosses, and Sterlings or Pennies j feventy-five of thefe grofTes being coined out of the pound Tower: from whence the weight of the grofle appears to have been 72 Troy grains, and the fih-er contained in twenty {hillings, or in 60 fuch grofles of full weight, was the fame in quan- tity, as what is now contained in 465. and 6d. of our pre- fent money. These grofles and half grofTes refembled the other coins, except that the king's head was furrounded with a fort of double treffure, compofcd of feveral arches with fmall flowers at their intcriour angles,- which ornament has generally but improperly been called a rofc, and continued. to be placed on the larger pieces of all the fucceeding princes, till Henry the feventh made the alterations here- after mentioned in the form of his money. There was be- ildes added to the reverfcs of thefe pieces an cxtcriour limb, C z beyond ^ la A TABLE OF Edw. III. beyond that containing the place of mintage, which was ^353' fj.|U divided by the plain crofs, and upon which was this legend, iifed alfo by his fucceflbrs, posvi. devm. adivto- REM. MEVM. This king firft added to his ftyle the title of king of France, conftantly ufed by all our princes ever iince, and it is generally fcen both upon his groats and half groats, but not upon his pennies and fmaller pieces. The addition alfo of Dei Graita to the king's name, which, tho' uled upon the feals from the time of William the fecond, had not yet appeared upon the money, was now firft infcribed -^: on the groats, but not on the half groats till the following reign, after which it was never omitted on any pieces ot that fize. The common legend of thefe groats of Edward the third was, + edward. d. g. rex. angl. z. franc, d, HYB. tho' I havefeen others with, + edward. del g. rex. ANGL. DNS. HYB. z. AQT. whicli laft I cannot however think to have been coined before he took the title of France, becaufe their weight is no greater than what was required by the above mentioned indenture of his 27"' year; where- as he firft took the title in his 1 4"" year, and that heavier money was diredled to be coined feveral years after. ^35^' It may be noted, that although half-pennies and far- things were omitted in this indenture of the i^"" year; Half-Sterlings were alfo mentioned in another of the 30''' year. Rich. II. KiNG Richard the fecond coined Grosses, Half ^^'''^' Grosses, Sterlings, and Half Sterlings, together with Farthings alfoj for fuch I take fome very fmall pieces ftill remaining to have certainly been, though - not mentioned in the indenture 1 have feen of this king. The legend of his groats was, + ricard. di. gra. * REX. angl. z. francie. he alfo placed the title of France upon his pennies, but this was again omitted by hisfuccef- fors, upon their pieces of that denomination. Henry ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 13 Henry the fourth, coined Grosses, Half Grosses Hen. iv. •'Sterlings, and Half Sterlings or Mailes; the fame '^^''' as thofe of his predeceflbr ; as alfo Farthings: but I have never yet fecn any of thefe pieces, that I could de- pend upon. They would, the larger coins efpecially, be immediately diftinguiflied by their weight, from thofe of the two fucceeding kings of the fame name : but fdver was at this time exceedingly fcarce, and the coina^res therefore in all probability very fmall. By an Acl of ParHa- mentin his 3"^ year, it was ordered, " that one third part -" of the money of filver that fhould be brought to the ^' bullion fhould be made into half-pennies and farthings:'* and by another A61 in his 13 ""year, it was direded <' that by reafon of the great fcarcity of money at that *' time in the realm of England, the pound Tower might *' from the feaft of Ealler then next following be coined *^ into thirty fliillings by tale." By which regulation the weight of the groat was brought down to 60 Troy grains, and the pound fterling, confifting of 60 fuch groats, was to contain fo much filver only, as in our prefent coined money is of the value of 385. and 9 ^. This new money being of the fame weight as that of the two following reigns, is probably fo blended amonaft it, as not to be now diftinguiflied: nor are we indeed certain, that we rightly know the coins of Henry the fifth and Henry the fixth from each other. Some of thofe pieces have an annulet on each fide of the head, witli another conjoining the three pellets in two of the quar- ters of the reverfe, and a like annulet mofl: commonly after the firft word posvi. in the legend of the fame fide of the larger pieces. Thefe are ufually and not without fome rcafons afligned to Henry the fifth, as the others have (Gene- rally been to Henry the fourth: but they muft now alfo from their weight be afcribcd with good certainty either to D the 1412. 14 ATABLEOF IIev. IV. the fifth or fixth of thofc princes, and were mod probably '■^'^" coined by the laft; as tiie pieces are ftill very common, and he reigned much longer than the king his father. I lev. V. King Henry the fifth, and the fixth, coined Grosses, IIe^n-'vi Half Grosses, Sterlings, Mailes, and Farthings; 1422. the fame as the laft of king Henry the fourth: the grofies weighing, as has been laid, 60 Troy grains each. I HAVE feen fome pieces not broader than the pennies ofthefirft Edwards, with 4- henricus. rex. angl. coined at Calais, and weighing, tho' fomcthing worn, about 58 grains : thefe I fliould alfo take to have been groats of Henry the fixth. Befides M-hich 1 have feen another thick piece, coined likewife at Calais, exactly refembling one of the common groats above afligned to this king, but weigh- inor 236 grains; and this feems to have been a proof for a quadruple groat, whofe ftandard weight fliould have been 240. It is a very remarkable coin, and belongs to the dean of the arches, the worfhipful Dr. Bettefworth. Et»w. IV. King Edward the fourth flruck the same pieces, and 1460. of the fame weights, until his fourth year,- when he made 1464. his Groats, Half Groats, Sterlings, Half Ster- lings, and Farthings, lighter than the foregoing : the pound of the Tower being now cut into thirty feven fhil- lings and fix pennies by tale ; whereby the weight of the groat was yet farther diminifhed to 48 Troy grains, and the quantity of filver contained in the pound ftcrling, or in 60 of thefe groats of full weight, was only fo much, as is of the intrinfic value of 3 i fhillings, in our prefent coined money. ITrv. VI. King Henry the fixth about the end of the year 1470, ^'^'°' which was the 49'" from the beginning of his reign, re- covered his authority for a fliort time: during which he made indentures with the mafl:erEofhis mint, for the coining of filver money lighter than his former, and the fame as the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 15 the lad mentioned of king Edward the fourth. And Hen. VI. as it is moft probable, that there was then fuch money ^'^'^°' adlually coined, 1 fhould take fome Henry groats I have leen with an open crown, agreeable to this weight, and marked with a fleur de lis^ to have been pieces minted in confequence of this indenture. Their weight {hews them plainly to have been later than the 4''' year of king Edward ; and I am inclined to believe them this king's, from their mint-mark : as 1 take fome others of the like weight but marked with a rofe, to have been king Henry the feventh's, and coined before he exchanged the open for the arched crown. King Edward the fourth, after his reftoratlon, coined Eow.rv. the fame moneys as before to his death. There was alfo a ^ ^^'^^: ^ , ^^^ aL(-j/^i mafterand worker of the mint appointed in the name o£'~'/"'"*. •^ .,-^ king Edward the fifth, but it is not probable that any new'^^^ ^,^ ;:<:^4. a/ . »" /2 - money was coined in his time. I have once feen of Ed- ward the fourth, as I fhould judge from the appearance, a fmall thick piece, like fome of thofe above afcribed to Henry the fixth : it was coined at York and weighed 76 grains; but being only a fingle piece, was poiTibly no other than a proof, and therefore not adjufted to any re- gular weight. The Groats, Half Groats, Sterlings, Half Rich. III. Sterlings, and Farthings of Richard the third, were ^'^ ^' the fame as the laft of the king his brother : and all ^^^^^'rf'J^^^^^y^T^' I have {qch have been marked either with a rofe or a boar'ar '" head. King Henry the feventh coined the same pieces and Hen. VII. of the fame weights, as the laft mentioned of king ^+ ^' Edward the fourth, and king Richard the third. He firlt placed upon his money the arched crown, or the im- perial crown, as it is now commonly called, with a globe and crofs on the archj much like that ufed by our princes i6 A TABLEOF Hen. VII. princes at this day : and by this particular his coins are ^'^^^' readily diftinguiriied from thole of all his predcceflbrs. This money has however been generally afcribed to king Henry the fixth ; but bclides that feveral of the mint marks to be found upon it, arc either badges ufed by king Henry the feventh,or the fupporters of his royal arms, the weight does afcertain it to be his beyond all doubt, none of thefc groats exceeding the weight of 4 8 grains, which is the true flandard weight of his indentures. This 1504 ^^"g ^^^ ^^^° about the 1 8^" or 19"^ year of his reign make •T.fj.-'u^ H""'.i,if}j: i\' drawn \\\ front upon their money, ever Imce the time or king John. He befides omitted the double trefTure fur- i^f^U cr'rU ip e., ^,/ rounding the head upon the former groats and half groats, ji,^-., -uif-.j-:^ added the number vii almoft conftantly to his ftyle, and '.^'7 - '''^'^/J ~''_^ caufedthe royal arms of France and England quarterly, to ' ' be placed in a plain efcutcheon upon the crofs on the re- verfe of the feveral pieces ; inflead of the old devife of ^ifrfr /-r/. . ^;^~'f 'I ^ ^Q pellets, which was now left ofF, as well as the inner circle with the name of the place of mintage on the fame fide. The number of thefe places feems alfo to have been V, „/^o>/.- •/:^^.>.o?«..-. greatly reduced in this reign; groats were, I believe, coin- //I .77i,/^>^-*Vr.w.< ed no where but in London, though half groats were ftill in good plenty ftruck at Canterbury, York, and Durham. Upon fome of thefe the name of the city was ftill preferved, inftead of the ordinary motto on the re- verfe ; but even thofe pieces whereon that was omitted, may yet be eafily diftinguifhed by the initial letters ufually infcribed upon them, of the names of the archbifhops and bifhops of thofe feveral fees, who had from time imme- morial claimed and exercifed a power of coinage. To- gether ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 17 gether with thefe profile or half faced groats, or very foon Hen.VII. after, were coined for the firfl: time in England *. ^^°^' Shillings, running for twelve pennies each: they were a large and fair coin, exadly refembling the groats, but larger, and weigh'd in proportion to their value each 144 Troy grains. Some of thefe want the number after the king's name, others have vii. and a third fort the word septim'. upon them: they are all rare, and we are told that there were only a few of them coined. I have feen among the Englifh coins, preferved in the liniverfity library of Cambridge, a very remarkable piece, much like the full faced groats of this king, but larger and weighing about five times as much: this feems to have been a tryal for a twenty pennie piece, and before the pro- file money was introduced. .'^/V Jf^cn^Jefn ikc^uU r/urz-r^*^^ * The crown upon mofl: of thefe later. The crowns on mc^, oF rHe coin?, feems only to confift of one following coins plainly exhibit two fingle arch, added to the old crown feurie above defcribed and repre- fented upon all our money from the time of king Edward the firfl: ; tho* upon fome few there appear two leflTer arches befides, crofUng and fupporting this as the principal : and the like may be obferved in other monuments of this king. Such crowns are alfo feen upon the great feals of Edward the fourth and Richard the third, but not upon that of Henry the fixth. The fame crown appears alfo on the money of king Henry the eighth, except that between the Bowers on the diadem croffcs of the fame height are alter- nately inferted, and this has continued to be the form of the diadem to this day : but the number of the arches over it fupporting the mound, do not feem to have been conltantly limited as they now are, to two interfering each other at right angles, till much following lefTer arches as ftrengthcnihg the one principal arch above defcribed ; and fuch is very diflindly that crown {o beautifully graved by Simon, on the reverfe of Cromwell's five fhillin'g piece ; and a like crown is alfo reprc- lentcd as the Englifh Imperial crown by Mr. Selden in his 'Titles cff HonouTy fart I. ch. 8. with this only diffe- rence, that it there feems to have twO' principal' and two lefTer arches. There are indeed piftures of king James the firlland kingCharles the firif, inwhich crowns are feen more refembling thofo now in uk, with two like and equal arches, yet in fome particulars ilill differing from them. All the crowns now in the Jewel Office are modern, the old ones having been dcltroyed or loll during the rebellion, and thcfi: only made in remembrance of them, fince the rciloration of king Char Its the fecond. E I ig A TABLE OF Hen. VII. I do not remember to have feen the profile head of this ^5°4- l^ing upon any piece lefs than a half groat: and 1 am thence apt to conclude, there was not yet any alteration made in the general type of the leffer money, but that it flill continued both in this reign and the following to be coined of the fame form as before, and with the old dcvife of the pellets on the reverfe ; of which particular I fhall have fome further occafion to take notice, in fpeaking of the coins of the fucceeding king. It was alfo about this time, as I apprehend, tliat thofe pennies were firft coined at York and Durham, that have the king's figure at full length fi.tting in his throne, with the crown, fcepter, and orb; and his royal arms with the place of mintage on the reverfe : concerning which Mr. Thoreihy has juftly obferv^d that they are of two forts, fomc having the king's ufual ftyle tho' without the number on the right fide, and others having inftead of it h.d.g. ROSA. siE. spiA. He takes the firft only to have been ftruck by this king, and the others by king Henry the eighth: thefe firft he had conftantly found the heavier, and fufficiently approaching to the weight of twelve grains each, whereas he had found none of the latter to weigh more than nine grains and a half. The fame thing has alfo fuccecded with my felf, I have feen fome of thefe pennies of the firft fort that wanted fcarce any thing of the weight of twelve grains, and the heavieft I have met with of the other has not weighed full ten and a half. The ftan- dard weight of the Engliflipennie was twelve grains, during all the time of king Henry the feventh, and till king flenry the eighth reduced it by his firft alteration to ten grains and two thirds. To thefe two periods therefore muft thefe two forts of pennies be with good certainty re- ferred : and it may yet be further obferved concern- ing them, that, like the half groats laft mentioned, they have alfo imprefted upon them, for the moft part the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 19 the Signatures of the feveral archbifhops and bifliops of Ken. VII. York and Durham, in vvhofe times they were relpeclively '^°'^' minted. We may further in this place take notice of a very un-^ common and lingular coin, charged with the royal arms, but without a name. The arms are furmounted with an arched crown, and placed between 2. Jleur de I'ls^ and a rofe, legend, domine. salvvm. fac. regem : on the other fide is a flenr de Its and a lion of England, an arched crown between them above, and a rofe below, with this infcription, mani. teckel. phares. 1494. an Englifh lion alfo for a mint mark. It is by the make and fize a French grofs, and is fuppofed to have been coined by the Duchefs of Burgundy for Perkin Warbeck, when he fet out to invade England in that fame year 1494. The firft filver coins of king Henry the eighth, were HENr.Vlir, Groats and Half Groats, of the fame weight and ^509' form as the laft pieces of thofe denominations coined by the king his father. They have the number viii. after the name, without which they could not be known at this time, fince all that I have ever feen, have been diftinclly ftruck with dies made from the puncheons of the preceding king : and of this fort I therefore fuppofe that groat to liave been, which archbifliop Sharp mentions out of his colledion, which he tells us " weighed £ve " grains more than the weight he had juft given from the '* indenture," which confequently weighed in all near 48 grains, and did not fcnfibly fall fhort of the full fiandard weight of Henry the fcventh's groats. From this particular of the head I fliould at firft have thought this money continued no longer than till puncheons with the likenefs of the new king could be got ready. But fome half groats of this fort coined at York, and upon which the keys and a cardinal's hat arc to be {(zqw under the royal arms, make it plain they could not at the fooncfl: have E 2 been io ATABLEOF Hen. VIII. been minted, earlier than archbilliop Bainbrigg's promo- *^°^' tion to the purple in ijii, if indeed they were earlier than Wolfey's promotion to the fame in 151 j. And as thefe half groats, of which 1 have feen and weighed a pretty many, have all proved heavier than thofe of the followinor fort, I am thereby conftrained to believe, that tlie lirft alteration made by king Henry the eighth in the %vei(Tht of his coin, was really later than is commonly tlioiifrht, and that it was not indeed made till fex^eral years after'he came to the crown. To all which I mufi: further add the exprefs teftimonies of Richard Grafton and John Stow in their Chronicles, and of the laft in his Survey of :i526. London alfo, who fix this alteration as late as the 1 8"* year of the king's reign, and give us the very date of the proclamation, by which the price of filver was at that time raifed from 3 s, and ^d. to 35. and ^d. the ounce Troy. 1 fhould have been glad to have (ttn the indenture it felf, quoted by Mr. Lowndes, and before by archbifhop Williams in his coUedlions, as of the firft year of this king, and in which the lighter moneys to be next fpoken of are mentioned : but I have not yet been able to find that re- cord. I had difficulties about it when I formerly pub- liflied the Table of Gold Corns, and particularly by reafon of the diftindt mention of Troy weight in it,- whereai the Tower weight does not appear to have been takers away before the 18"" year of the king's reign. On this account I therein dated the gold coins fpoken of in this indenture only in that 18''' year : and tho' 1 have indeed feen fome of thofe pieces, that reprefented the king with a more youthful countenance than might have been ex- peded, I have yet been convinced by other arguments, that even thofe had been coined confiderably after that date. I do not therefore fee any reafon to alter my mind in that particular, but am ftill perfuaded that the iS'*" year ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 21 year of the king's reign, was the true time when his new Hen. VIII. moneys both of gold and (liver were firft minted : and ^ that if there were any other indentures concerning the fame coins, beiidcs that already fo often mentioned, and which I take to have been truly not of the firft but of the twenty-firft year of his reign, they were not however older than the eighteenth. By this indenture it was direded that the pound weight Troy of Old Standard filver fhould be coined into 45 (hillings by tale, namely into Groats, Hauf-Groats, Pennies, Halfpennies, and Farthings: whereby the weight of the groat was brought down to 42 Troy grains and two thirds, and the fine filver to be contained in the pound fterling, or in 60 fuch groats of full weight, was fb much only as is now contained in 17 s. and 6 ci. 3 y. of our prefent coin. It is very true that thefe new coins are much more plentiful than the former, but it is alfo to be noted that money of all forts is faid to have been very fcarce before the new coins were ftruck, which fcarcity was made the pretence for the leflening of their weights : and it is alfo probable that the great coinages in the laft years of king Henry the fevcnth, together with the difperfion of the im- menfe treafures he had hoarded up, muft have lefTcned the occafions of coinage, during the firft years of his fon. Again whereas it mayjuftly feem ftrange, that for above feventcen whole years no dies fiiould have been funk but with the old puncheons, or with others that were exadlly like them ; it fhould alfo be remember'd that a fimili- tude of the king's perfon was yet a new thing upon the coin, and what had not been attempted above five years before the deceafc of the laft king: from whence we may conclude that the infcribing the ftyle of the new kinor about the fame head already ufcd for the former, did not F then 2.2 A TABLE OF Hen. VIII. then carry with it fuch an abfurdity as a Hke pradlice would ^ ■ do in the prelent age. The groats and half groats of this fort had the king's head in profile like the foregoing, but with a youthful face, well graved, and refembling the other rcprefenta- tions of his perfon. There were alfo fome that had ci- viTAs. EBoRACi. inftcad of the common motto on their reverfes, and thefe had befides a cardinal's hat under the royal arms, and for the moft part the letters t.w. for Thomas Wolfey, op either hand. Thefe groats with the cardinal's name and hat were, I believe, the only pieces of that fize coined at this time out of the king's own mint, and in the coining fuch pieces it is poflible that the cardinal exceeded hischarter, and thereby gave fome room to the complaint, in "'^articles againft him when he fell into difgrace *. His hat might alfo as a foreign ornament have given fome offence, but the mitre had been already placed in the fame man- ner upon fome of the pennies of the bifhops of Durham: and in ftamping of his name on the half groats, he did no more than had been pradifed by his predeceffor arch- bifhop Bainbrigg, and was afterwards continued by his im- mediate fucceffor archbiihop Lee. The like half groats are alfo very commonly found with ci vitas, cantor, and the refpedive letters w. a. and t. c. for l^Vilhelmus Ar- chie pifcopus and Thomas Cantuarierifis^ the names of the archbifliops Warham and Cranmer, who fate fucceflively in the fee of Canterbury. * The 40"' article exhibited againft " imprint the cardinal's hat under the cardinal and here referred to, is " your arms in your coin of greats quoted by my lord Coke in his In-, " made at your city of York, which Jiitutes, I. iv. c. 8. in thefe words. " like deed hath not been feen to " Alfo the faid lord cardinal, of his " have been done by any fubjcdl " further pompous and prefumptuous " within your realm before this *' mind, hath enterprized to joyn and " time." I do ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 23 I do not know that there were at this time any \)^^ Hen.VIII. other pennies than of the two laft forts abovementioned, ^^ either with a full face and like the old coins, or with the king fitting on his throne : of which laft there are ftill good plenty, that were coined at York and Durham, and with the fiornatures of the feveral prelates of thofc churches • particularly with cardinal Wolfey's hat and the initials of his name. There are alfo fome of the pennies coined at Durham that have the letters d. s, upon them, which I read Ditiielmenfis ftcles : and I fuppofc thefe to have been ftruck whilft that fee remained vacant from i jo j, to i J07, in the foregoing reign. Mr. Thorelby mentions a very odd piece that he had, which was like one of thefe Durham pennies and little broader, but that weighed two grains more than the ftrid: ftandard of a groat. This piece I have not feen, but iliould fufped it was no other than an irregular proof made with the pennie die : and which from the letters c. d. upon it, fliould ha\ e been ftruck whilft Cuthbcrt Tunftall was the biftiop. 1 have indeed fccn a groat coined at London with the king on his throne, but this .tho' very ftngular, was proportionably broader than the pennies, and weighed its true ftandard weight ot fomewhat lefs than three and forty grains. The halt-pennies and tarthings of this period I can give no account of, as having feen no pieces 1 could know to have been fuch, tho' by an Acl of Parliament of the four- teenth and fifteenth ol the kino; it was cnaiStcd, " That *' all fuch coiners as ftiould coin and make any money at ** any mint within his realm of England, ftiould make " and coin of every hundred pounds worth of bullion " j-ilate or filver, that they fhould ftrike into coin, as ma- *' ny half-pence as flwuld amount to the fum of ten *^ marks ftcrling; and as many farthings as amount to the *' fum ot five marks ftcrling.'* 'And in the fame A^t ic F i was 24 ATABLEOF Hen.VIII. vvas further provided, that '^ forafniuch as at that prefent ^■^^ * *' time farthings and half-pence were ftricken all with one " coin, fo that the common people of the realm many " times took, thofe that were farthings for half-pence : All " fuch farthings, that from thenceforth fhould be made *' within this realm, fhould have upon the one lide the *' print of the portcolice, and upon the other fide thereof V/VJ'^*^'/''"'^ ''»"''■ '''"^ " the print of the rofe with a crofs." Yet have I never feen any pieces myfelf that could anfvver this plain de- fcription, nor indeed any others I could take for farthings after this time: tho' fuch continued to be mentioned in the indentures made with the mafters and workers of the mint, as late at the leaft as the laft year of king Edward the fixth. I have feen of king Henry two different groats flruck at Tournay in Flanders: the firft is without his head and carries the date of the year 1J13, when he took that place j the other, which is the more common, is with his head and like his Englilli coin *, except that as well on this as on the other, France is placed in the king's flyle before England, and that there is no motto but civiTAS. TORNACi. upou the rcverfc. Tournay was again furrendered by treaty in 15 19. Hitherto no money had been allowed to be coined in England but of the Old Standard, as it is ftill called, of. eleven ounces two penny-weight fine, to eighteen penny- weight of allay. But bafer iilver having been introduced * Tiic head upon this groat is England, that and not the other would pl;UnIy that of Icing Henry the fe- have been made the pattern of this vcnth : whence there arifes a new ar- money coined on a fort of triumphant gumenf, that the firft money of king occafion abroad. It may alfo be noted Henry die eighth above fpokcn of, that upon this groat the number after was rtill the money in ufe in 1513. the king's name is omitted, yet is it For fureiy Iiad the new money, upon certainly this king's, as Tournay was which the king's likenefs was well never in his father's hands. exprefled, been already coined in towards ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 25 towards the latter end of this reign, the ftandard will HEs-.vm. be henceforward exprefs'd in the table after the common '^^^" manner; that is, by the ounces and penny-weights fuch new ftandards were worfe than the Old Standard, in the pound weight Troy. Now it: appears by the indentures that there were coined, Anno Regm 34. Of filver i oz. id. wt. worfe than 1542. the Old Standard, Groats, Half Groats, Pennies, Half Pennies, and Farthings, as alfo Testons cro~ ing for twelve pennies each : and 48 fuch teftons were coined out of the pound weight Troy. Whence the weight of each teflon comes out 120 Troy grains, and twenty fuch teftons of full weight were to contain as much fine filver, as is now nearly contained in 231. and 3 cL i ^. of • our prefent money. The groats and half groats of this fort have the king's head almoft full faced, whereas he was reprefented in pro- file upon the former : and they have commonly been called gun hole pieces, from four annulets upon the extre- mities of the crofs on their leverfe. The pennies and half pennies have alfo the king's head with a full face and a good refemblance of his perfon, but ftill preferve the old device of the tliree pellets in each of the four quarters of the other fide. The teftons prefent his head in full front, and have on their reverfe a full blown rofe crowned, with the letters H and R alfo crowned on either iiand, and the word adivtorivm. inftead of adivtorem. in their legend. These were the firft coins upon which the king was ftyled king of Ireland *, which title he had affumed the year • Tho' the title of lord of Ireland ufe of by fome of our kings upon was omitted, as hath been obfervcd their filvcr coined in that country. above, upon all tlie Englifh moneys Thus upon a groat of Edward th« of filver, from the time of king Ed- fourth ftruck at Dublin, with the furi ward the third : ic was however made in glory on tlie rcvcrfc, the legend G round 26 A TABLE OF Hen.VIJI. year before ; and which has never fince been omitted by ^•^'^^' any of his fuccclTors to the prefent time. The whole in- fcription about the head upon the teftons was, henric'. viii'. Di\ gra'. agl'. fra'. z. hib'. rex. and the fame is alfo, tho' differently abbreviated, to be feen both on the groats and half groats. All this money I take to have been marked with a 7?^";/;' (Jiflis i and for this reafon, among others, I apprehend a very curious piece, in the colleclion of my worthy friend Browne Willis, Efq; to have been a proof for a quadruple teflon or a four fhilling piece of this money: whofc full weight fhould have been an ounce, and to which it fufhciently ap- proaches*. 1544. v/w/tf Regm ^6. By indentures of this year, the same PIECES were again to be coined, and of the fame weight, but of filver j oz. i d. wt. worfe than the Old Standard : fo that twenty of thefe new teftons were to contain no more round the head was only + edwar- DVS. DEI. GRA. DS. HIBERN. And Up- on another that bears the royal arms on one fide and three crowns on the reverie, which I take to have been king Henry the feventh's, the legend was on one fide rex. angli. franc. and on the other dominvs. hibernie. without a name. King Henry the eighth alfo coined groats in Ireland, on one fide of which are the royal arms ciowned upon a crofs, and on the other a crowned harp with a letter alio crowned on either hand. Thefe letters are cither h. a. or h. i. or H.ji. beiiig the initial letters of his own name and thofc of two of his queens, Anne B jleyn and jane Seymour, or thofe ,ot his own name only. The pieces of this fort that I have kzx\ with the letters a. or i. had for their legend HE-^•IRIc'. viii. t'. g'. r'. agl. fra.vce. dominvs. HIBERNIE. and thofe with the h. r. only were irifcribed liiNR^c'. dj'. GRACIA. ANGLIE. FRANCIE. ET. HIBERNIE. REX. as being coined after his taking the title of king of Ireland. There were probably alio groats with H. K. during the time of the king's marriage with queen Catherine How- ard. He was proclaimed king of Ire- land, the 23'' of January, 1541. * This piece has been publifhed by the Society of Jntiquaries in one of their plates. It bears on one fide the king's figure crowned, full faced, and hall bodied, with his fword in one hand and the orb in the other, henric'. S. DEI. GRACIA. ANGL'. FRANCl'. Z. HI BERN'. REX. and on the reverfe the royal fliield crowned and fupported by a lion and a dragon, Anglice. z. HIBERNICE. ECCLESIE. SVPREMVM. CAPVT. mark a fleur de lis : it now weighs only 464 grains, but has loft confidcrably by wear, and a fmall hole bored through it that has taken away fome of the filver. filver ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 27 filver than is now contained in 13 ^. and 11^. halfpenny Hen. VIII. nearly, of our prefent coined money. ^^'^■^• y^rmoRegm 37. The same pieces were again indented 1545. to be coined and of the fame weights, but of illver now 7 oz. 1 d. wt. worfe than the the Old Standard : whereby the value of twenty of thefe teftons, or of the pound fter- ling in tale, was brought down to the worth only of 9 s. and ^d. i q. of our prefent filver coin. And this was the ftate of the money at the time of the demife of king Henry the eighth, the 28"" of January, 1546. These two lafl forts of money, excepting their greater bafenefs, were a good deal like the money of the 3 4''' year abovementioned: but moft of the pieces that now remain are very much worn and defaced. They were coined in fcveral places, and upon many of the pieces the name of the place of mintage was infcrlbed inftead of the ordinary motto on the reverfe : thus I have feen tcflons witii cr VITAS. EBORACi. and very many of the groats, half groats, and pennies, with the fevcral names of Lon- don, Canterbury, York, and Briftol upon them. The pen- nies have, like the groats and half groats, the king's head on one fide, but with the legend he. 8. d. g. rosa. sine. SPINA, and on the other the royal arms inflead of the former devife of the pellets. I have not that 1 remember feen any of the half pennies of this money : and I iup- pofe the feveral pieces coined out of London were how- ever coined in fome of the kind's own mints, as nothins: like the name or token of an archbilliop or bifliop appears upon any of them. 1 would alfo obferve that from the in- fcription civitas. bristolie. upon many of thefe coins, there arifes a new proof that they are really here afligncd to their right date j fmcc Briflol was not made a citv, bv the credlion of it into an cpifcopal fee, before the month of June, 1 542, and that confccjuently all thofc pieces were minted alter that tinie. J G I Bv 2.8 ATABLEOF Edw. VI. By the indentures made in the firft and fecond years of '^■^^' the reign of king Edward the fixth, with the officers of the feveral mints in the Tower of London, and in South- wark, Canterbury, and York, filver money was to be coined of the fame weight and goodnefs, as the laft men- tioned money of king Henry the eighth : and the pound weight Troy of bullion, four ounces in the pound fine, or 7 oz. 2 d. wt. worfe than the Old Standard, was ft ill to be cut into forty fhillings by tale, in Testons, Groats, Half-Groats, and pieces of leffer denominations. Of this money 1 have feen groats, half groats, and pennies, agreeable to the indentures, but never any teftons that I can recolle£l:. The groats have on one fide the king's head crowned and well reprefented in profile, with his ftyle edward'. 6. d', g'. ag'. fra'. eV. hib\ rex. and on the other his royal arms on a plain crofs, with the iifual motto. The half groats rnd pennies are like the groats, but have the name -^f the place where minted in- ftead of the common legend on their reverfe ; and the pennies have e. d. g. rosa. sie. spia. inftead of the king's ftyle round about his head. Tho' I have yet met with no teftons anfwering to the weight of this money, I muft neverthelefs take notice of a piece dated in i3'47, the firft year of king Edward's reign ; that is fomewhat broader than a groat, and very much refembles in its make the fhillings afterwards coined in I 549, 1 5 JO, and i j 5 1, but weighs little more than 45- grains and is apparently of good filver. It bears on one iide the king's head as juft defcribed, and on the reverfe his royal arms in an oval fbield garniflied, with the letters E. R. on either hand: his ftyle upon it is edward'. vi. REX. AGL. fra. hib, 8cc. and the motto on the other fide TIMOR. DOMINI.- FONS. viTE. M. D. XL/. It is marked with a rofe, and has, what is peculiar to feveral of the coins of this reign, the motto about the king's head ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 29 head and his titles round the arms on the other fide. Edw.vi. I apprehend this piece to have been minted for a fliil- ^^'^^' hng, notwithftanding the weight; and I have feen others equally light and nearly of the fame make and fccm- ing goodnefs : from whence I have been apt to conchidc, that, during the continuance of the very bafe money, tliere was a liberty given to the mailers and workers of the mints, either by commiilion or otherwife, to allow for the weight of their money by making it liner for beauty's fake. By this an eafy folution will be given of fome difficulties, that are otherwife very perplexing, about the weight of king Edward's filver coins : and indeed the whole appearance, not only of thefe pieces laft mentioned, but of fome others alfo coined in the following years, docs render fuch a fuppofition highly probable. The king does in his own journal allude to this variety of flandards *, and exprefly therein takes notice of fome, not to be found in any of the indentures and commifiions we have. And if to thele * In this journal ftil! pref^rved in the Cotton Library, written with the king's own hand, and printed at large by bifliop Burnet in his Hiftory of the Rcformction, is the following paflage. " 1551. 6 Sept. Dchbera- " tion concerning the coin. Memo- •' randum, that there were diverfe *' ftandards, nine ounces fine, a few, *' eight ounces fine, as ill as four, *' becaufe allhough that was fine, yet " a fliilling was reckoned for two *' fliiUings, fi,"{ ounces, very man/ " four ounces, many alio three ounces, *• 130000]. now of late." From which words I colleft tliat in this reign befides the moneys of four Qunccs fine, fix ounces fine, and three ounces fine, which are ail that arc mentioned in the indentures and com- miffions that we know of; there were alfo fome others of ci<'ht ounces fine 1 and nine ounces fine -, and that in the moneys of eight ounces fine in j)arti- cular, one fiiillingwas of no more va- lue than anotiKT of only four ounces fine, as being of only half the weight, tho' it was as fine agam. Now as the fliillings of four ounces fine were by the Table of the weight of i 20 grains each, the others of nine ounces fine and eight ounces fine, and which were of the fame vakic, muflhave weighed 53 grains and one third, and 60 grains refpecflively. If therefore among the fiiillings we have of the firft five years of this reign, there are really fuch found as agree fufBciently with thefo weights; we may rcaibnably conclude, that fuch fiiillings are of the ftandards above mentioned, and that they are fome of the pieces to wliich the king alludes in the above cited pafljgc of "lis journal. H wc 30 A TABLE OF Edw. \l. we add one flandard more, vvhicli is tliat of filver ten ounces ^^*^'' in the pound fine, or only i oz. i d. wt.wor^c than the Old Standard, and \vhich was the very ftandard of the firfi: de^ bafed money of king Henry the eighth ; we fliall be able to account for the filver money of this period, as well as can reafonably be expe<£led, where almoft all the pieces that come to hand are miferably mangled and defaced, where the variety of the ftandards and the bafencfs of moft of them mufl: have introduced confufion and negligence in the coinage, and where many counterfeits much com- plained of at the time, muft now be entirely undiftin- guifhable from the genuine coins. It follows from the indentures already quoted of the firfl: and fecond years of the king, that the weight of the teflon, 7 oz. 1 d, wt. worfe than the Old Standard, was to be i 20 Troy grains : and according to that rate, the weight of another af equal value, but of filver only i oz. 2 d. wt. worfe than that Old Standard, fhould have been of 48 like grains. Now fucli a fliilling, I take the piece above defcribcd to have really been, tho' it has now loft by wear almoft three grains of the original weight: and 1 farther look upon the fliillings of this fort to have been the very fhillings fpoken of by bifliop Latimer, in that remarkable pafiage of one of his fermons preaclied before the king, where he fays, " We '' have now a pretty little fhilling, indeed a very pretty *' one. I have but one I think in my purfe, and the laft " day I had put it away almoft: for an old groat, and fo " I truft fome will take them. The finenefs of the filver " I cannot fee : but therein is printed a fine fcntence, 7/wo^ *' Dowim fons vita vel Japiemite. The fear of the Lord " is the fountaine of life or wifdome. I would God this " fentence were always printed in the heart of the king." Here are all the charafteriftics of the fliillings above de- fcribed, their fraallnefs and the goodnefs of their filver ^ and the words cannot with propriety be underftood of any of ENGLISH SILVER COINS. of the bafer coins: againft which alfo the good bifhop in- veiVhed with great w^armth and boldnefs in another of his difcourfes, where applying a text of the prophet Ifaiah he faid, '' Argentum itimn vejfum ejl in Jcoriamy thy filver is " turned into, what ? into teftions ? fcoriam^ into *' drofs*". I muft here take notice, before I entirely quit the fubjedl of thefe lail: mentioned fliillings, that 1 have alfo feen fome other pieces of good {ilver, greatly re- fembling the fame, and of the fame date iJ47, that have been fo much thicker as to weigh about half an ounce, tog!;ether with fome others that have weicrhed an ounce. All thefe I fliould take to have been of the fimc "I Ed-.v. VI. * The firO: quotation from blfliop Latimer vvas from a fermon preaciied the 8'" of March, 1549, and the lall; is from another preaclu'd aUo before the king, on the 22"* of the fame month : in wiiich as the whole pafTage from whence ihofc words are taken is very remarlcable, and fcts forth in the flrongefl: manner both the bifliop's own fentiments, and in all probability what was then freely talked abroad alfo, of the pernicious confcquenccs of the bafe money -, I fnall take the liberty of tranfcribing the fame, as it flanils in the prir.ted collcftion of the bifhop's fermons. " Thus they burdened ** me ever with fedition. And wot '* ye what ? I chanced in my lalt fcr- •» men to fpcak a merry word of the ** new fliilling, to refrefli my audi- " tory, how 1 was like to put away ♦' my new fliilling for an old groat. *' I was therein noted to fpcak fedi- •* tioufly. 1 have now gotten " one fellowe more, a companion of " fedition, and wot you who is my " fellowe ? Elay the prophet. I *' fpake but of a little prettie Ihilling, " but he fpeaketh to Jerufalem alter *' another fort, and was I'o bold as co " meddle with their coynes. Thou " proud, thou haughty city of Jeru- " fileni : Argcnti'.:n tuum verfum cjl " infccriam, thy filver is turned into, " v/h.it ? into teftions ? fccriam, into " drois. Ah feditious wretch, what " had he to do with the mint? why " fhoukl he not h;we left that matter " to fome mafter of policy to re- " prove .? thy filver is drofs, it is " not fine, it is counterfeit, thy filver " is turned ; thou hadft good filver. " What pertained that unto Efay.^ " Marry he efpied a piece of divinity " in that policy, he threatneth them " G:)d's vengeance for it. " lie went to the root of the mat- " tcr, which was covetoufncfs ; he " efpied two points in it, that either it " came of covetoufncfs, wliic'i be- " came him to reprove : or elfe that " it tended to the hurtof poore peo- " pie i for the naughtinefs of the "• iilver was the occafion of dearth of " idl things in the realm. He im- " puteth it to them as i crime. He " may be called a mafter of fedition " indeed. Was not this a feditious " fellow ; to tell them this even to " their facts r" H 2 ftandard 3a A TA B L E OF Edw. VI. Aandard of ten ounces fine to two ounces of allay, and '^^7' to have been confequently intended as tryal pieces, for coins of the feveral values of five Shillings and ten iliillings re- fpcdively. 1549- Im the third year of the king's reign there was a com- miillon for the coining of filvcr, fix ounces in the pound fine, or 5 oz. 2 <^. zut. worfe than the Old Standard, and that into SHILLINGS only, as itfcems. The pound weight Troy of fuch filvcr was thereby ordered to be cut into yz fliil- lings, and the weight of each fhilling was confequently to be, that of 80 Troy grains. By this commiffion no alteration was made in the value of the money, from what was direcfled by the indentures of the firft and fecond years; for 120 grains of filver four ounces fine, and 80 grains of filver fix ounces fine are of equal value. Twenty therefore of thefe fhillings were fiill intrinfically worth no more than nine fiiillings and three pennies three fourths of our prefent money, and the ounce of fine filvcr was therein rated at the nominal value of 1 1 fiiillings. Thefe fhillings, except that they were fenfibly broader, did not in their make difi"cr from the fmall {hil- lings above defcribed : they were in the fame manner charged with the royal arms in an oval fhield garniflied, and were for the moft part infcribed with the fame motto, and feverally dated in m.d.xlix. and m.d.l. tho' I have feen fomc without any date, and with the motto inimicos. E I V S . 1 N D V A M . C O N F V S I O N E . Besides thefe we have other fliillincrs of the fame form, and coined in the fame years, but which feem to be of better filver, and arc of lighter weights : and thefe I take to have been fome of thofc pieces the king refers to in his Journal, where he fpeaks of the flandards of eight ounces and nine ounces fine. The refpedive weights of fhillings of thofe fiandards and of equal value wuth the others, fiiould be 53 grains and one thjrd, and 60 ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 33 (Jo grains: and there are fuch among the {hillings of thefe Edw, vi. dates, and that appear to be of good filver, as will be ^^'^^' found fufficiently conformable to thofe feveral weights. It is very furprizing that, during this period of time, the price of gold does not appear to have been raifed in any proportion to that of the filvcr. For by the inden- tures of the 37"" of king Henry the eighth, and the firft of king Edward the fixth, the pound weight Troy of gold 20 carats fine, was to be coined into 30 pounds by tale, according to which rate the ounce of fine gold was valued at three pounds only : and whereas from what has been faid above it appears, that at the fame time and for four years after, the ounce of fine filver was valued at 1 2 {hil- lings, it follows of confequence that fine gold was then only rated at five times as much as fine filver. Indeed in the following; indentures of the third year of kino; Ed- ward, fine gold is valued a little more, that is, at 3 /. i s. and 10 c/. the ounce: but again in thofe of the 4'** year it is yet valued at lefs, and only at about 48 ^. the ounce; whereby it is rated at only four times the price of fine filver. It is not however credible that there could have been any free exchange of the two metals, at rates fo very difagreable to the natural proportion of their values : ac- cording to which in truth, one ounce of fine gold muft then have been worth about eleven ounces of fine iilver. Mr. Stow tells us in his Survey of London^ that *' this bafe " monie, for the time, caufed the old flailing monies to ** behoorded up, fo that he had himfelf fecn 2.1 s. currant " given for one old angcll to guild wirhall:" And the king alfo in his own journal fecms to allude to the fame fa«5t, that the gold monies were not freely exchanged for thofe of filver without a pramhimy when fpcaking of the intended amendment of the coin, he fays, that on the *' ii** of Sept. 15 ji. it was concluded that the tefiiourn " fiiould be eleven ounces fine, the proportion of the I " pieces 34 A TABLE OF Edw. VI. <^ pieces according to the gold; fo that five fhillings of 155^' it filver fliould be worth five of gold.'' Bv a Commiflion, in the beginning of the fifth year of the king's reign, there was a more exorbitant abafement made of the coin than had yet been attempted. Shil- lings were thereby ordered to be coined as before, 72 out of the pound weight of bullion; but that bullion was to be only three ounces in the pound fine to nine ounces of allay, or in other words, was to be 8 oz. 1 d. wt. worfe than the Old Standard of fterling moneys. By this regulation twenty of thefe new fiiillings, making a pound fterling in tale, were to be of no more intrinfic va- lue than 4 fhillings 7 pennies and three fourths, of our prefent money: and the ounce Troy of fine filver- was thereby raifed to the nominal value of twenty- four fliillings. These fhillings were in form like the laft, but they look more like latten waflied than filver : they have the fame legend, timor. domini. fons. vite. with the date of the year m.d.li. There are alfo fome others dated m.d.l. that look altogether as bafe as thefe: and hence it appears that this fort of money began to be coined before the end of that year. The money was now in a fiate of great confufion, and ■ it is not eafy to reconcile, or to underftand, fome entries made about this time concerning it, in the king's journal: but it is very plain that fome of the bafeft money was coined after the refolution was taken of amending it, and even after orders were given for the proclamation by which the bafe moneys were firft cryed down. It is faid in the journal of the 10'" of April, in the year ijyi, that " it *' was appointed to make twenty thoufand pound weight " for necefiity fomewhat bafer, to get gains 1 5000 /. clere, *' by which the dette of the realm might be paid, the " country defended from any fuddain attempt, and the " coin be amended;" and again on the 30'" of May fol- lowing, ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 35 lovvins, that ' 'whereas before commaundcment was given Edw. VI. *' that 160000 pound fhoiild be coined of 3 ounces fine "^ " for difcharg of dettes, and to gette fome trefure to be *' able to alter all, now was it flopped, faving only 80000 *' pound to difcharg the king's dettis, and 10000 more " weight that the I'onkare delivered in the laft exchaunge, " at four ounces in the pound." And it had been already- entered on the 6"" of the fame month, that " the teftourn *' was cried down from \zd. to ^ d, and the groat from *' 4^. to 3<^." which muft be underftood of the teftons and groats of the firft four years of king Edward's reign : all which, tho' of difFerent ftandards were, as has been ob- ferved, of the fame intrinfic value. All ways had before this been tryed, and all means had. been found ineffectual, for the keeping up the value and fupporting the currency of the bafe money : and procla- mations had been publifhcd with fevere penalties, againft the exportation of home commoditys, and againft thofe that refufcd or nesrledlcd to brincr their corn and other provifions to the markets*. It further appears alfo, by * " 1550. Sept. 22. A Proclamn- " brought. Furthermore, whoever " tion was fct forth, by the which it " fliippcd over any thing thing aforc- *' was commanded, i. That no kind " faid, to the parts beyond lea, or " of victual, no wax, tallow, cin- " Scotland, after eight days following " dies, nor no fuch thing fliould be " the publication of the Proclamation, " carried over, except to Calais, put- " fhould forfeit his fhip, and theware " ting in furcties to go thither. 2. " therein, half to the lord of the " That no man fliould buy or til the " franchize, and half to the finder " felf fame things again, except " thereof; whofo bought to fell a- " breakers, who fhould not have " gain after the day aforelliid, fliould " more than 10 quarters of grain at " iorfeit all his goods, farms, and " once. 3. That all parties Ihould. " leafes, to the ufe, one half of the " divide thtmfelves into Hundretls, " finder, the other of the king ; " Rapes, and Wapentakes, to look " whofo brought not in corn to " in their quarters what fuperHuous " market as he was appointed, fliould " corn were in every barn, and ap- " forfeit lo/. except the purveyours *' point it to be fold at a reafonable " took it up, or it were fold to his •' price. Alfo that one ut them mufl: " neighbours." K'nig^s "journal. ^ be in every market to fee the corn I 2 the (( IC 36 ATABLEOF Edw.VI. the king's journal, that on the 19''' of Odober, lyjo, ^55^- a pi-ices had been fet of all kind of grains, butter, cheefe, '* and poultry ware by a proclamation ;" and that, on the 20"* of the following November, " there had been letters *' font down to the gentlemen of every fhire, for the obfcr- vation of the laft proclamation concerning corn, becaufe ^' there came none to the markets, commanding them to punifh the offenders:" but that " upon letters written. '* back by the fame, the fecond proclamation had been *' aboliilicd," on the 29''' of the fame month. It was now found by experience that gold and {ilver had, by the common confent of all people throughout the civilized parts of the world, acquired certain real and proper values: and that in fuch a nation as this, not deftitute even then of all commerce with ftrangers, it was impolTible that the arbitrary value fet upon pieces of bafe metal could, for any confiderablc time, fupply the want of the {liver that ufed to be contained in the pieces of the fame denominations. Whatever names were given to thofe pieces of bafe metal, or by whatever authority their imaginary value was fupported; the people would either not bring their provilions at all to the markets, to exchange them for fuch money, or would there fell them at much higher rates than before : as the nominal fums they re- ceived for their goods, would not now purchafe them the fame conveniences elfewhere, as the fame nominal fums of better money had formerly done. It was therefore judged abfolutely neceflary to reform and to amend the coin j the affair was very ferioufly confidered, and the work was undertaken and carried on, with fo much diligence and vigour, that withm a few months a reformation of the money was brought about, truly memorable, and no lefs remarkable than the former abufes of it had been : for the new pieces that were coined before the end of this year 1 J ji, were of more than four times the value of thofe of the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 37 the fame denominations, that had been coined in the Edw. vi. former months of the fame. '55^- It has been already obferved from the king's journal, that on the 6"* of May this year " the teftourn was cried *' down from ii d. X.o ^ d. &c." and this feems to have been the firft ftep that was taken towards the amendment of the evil: by which I fhould only underftand that it was that day refolved to make fuch a redu6lion in the value "^ prefent money ; without either then carrying it into imme- diate effe6l, or even fixing the day when that intended re- dudlion (hould firft take place. For we find that it was not till the id of July following, that " there was a pro- ** clamation figned for fhortning of the fall of the money " to that day ; in which it fhould be proclaimed and de- " vifed, that it fhould be in all places of the realm " within one day proclaimed :" and accordingly we read that there was on the 9*'' of the fame month " proclama- " tion made that a teftourn fhould go at 9 d. and a groat " at 3 d. in all places of the realm at once." The fame particular is alfo recorded by Mr. Stow in his Chronicle, who tells us that " on the 9'*" of July, the bafe monies ** coined in the time of king Henry the eighth, and " king Edward the fixth, were proclaimed, the fhilling " to goe for 9 d. the groate for 3 d. which took ef- " fe6t immediately after the proclamation made : " which cannot however be properly underftood of all the bafe moneys of king Henry the eighth, but of tJiofe only of his 37''' year, and which were of the fmie va- lue as thofe of the firft four years of king Edward the fixth. Although this redudion of the coin was neccflary, and that it proved in the end beneficial ; yet were very many great fuftercrs by it at tlie time. TJic people natu- rally looked upon it as the real lofs of a full fourth part of K what- 38 ATABLEOF Edw. VI. whatever cafh they had by them * : and indeed the price of *55^' things to be bought could not immediately follow the new rate of the money. They were alfo greatly apprehenfivc of the furdier changes that might ftill be intended, and of the manner in which they might yet further be affedled. by fuch changes: infomuch that upon their difcontents it was thought neceflary to have, on the 1 9'*" of the fame month of July, *' another proclamation made for punifli- " ment of them that would blow rumours of abafing and " enhauncing of the coyn to make things dear withall." There was however a further reduction of it within a month, for on the 17'^ of the following Auguft, " the " teftourn was cried down from ^ d. to 6 d the groat ** from I d. to z d. the i ^. to i d. the penny to an half- " penny, the halfpenny to a farthing : " and this fe- cond redudion is alfo taken notice of by Mr Stow in his Chronicle^ where he fays, that on the fame 17''' of Auguft;,, '* the {hilling which of late was called downe to ninepence, " was called downe to fixpence ; the groate to 2 d. the " half groate to one penny, the penny to one half " penny. About this time alfo propofals were made to the king and council concerning the new money to be from hence- forward coined : and it feems to have been ao;reed on the 6"*' of September, that the new pieces fliould be minted of filver ten ounces in the pound weight fine, which it was thought might then be done without any further great lofs, as the teftons were already reduced to the value of only fix pennies each. For it was judged that a * Bp. Fleetwood in his Chroniccn " 8 d. ob. q. And by the fecond pro- preciojum, p. 57. obH-rves, that he had " clamation, dated Auguft 17, imme- then by liim " an account of that " diately following, on: of 45 /. 3 s. " time, wherein by the firft procia- " the college loll i§l. \ s. which was *^ mation dated July 9. a college loft, *' a 4''^ and a 3'^ part of every one's •* out of 118/. 6 s. lid; 29/. US. «* calh, in the Ipace of two months." pound ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 39 pound weight of teftons fix ounces in the pound fine, Edw. vi. added to another pound weight of thofe four ounces ^^•^'* fine, would together furnifh a pound of bullion ten ounces fine: and again that a pound weight of the teflons of eight ounces fine, together with two ninth parts of a pound weight of thofe of nine ounces fine, and which were fewer in number than the others, would in like manner without further lofs furnifh a pound of bullion alfo ten ounces fine. But it was further intended that the new pennies, halfpennies and fiirthings, fhould flill be coined of filver only four ounces in the pound fine : and that as it was apprehended there would thence arife a confiderable profit to the king ; that profit would ferve to pay the ex- traordinary charges of this recoinage, and to make good the lofs, that might arife from the want of a fufficient number of the teftons of nine ounces fine, as alfo the lofs upon fuch of the coins, particularly upon many of thofe of fix ounces fine, as were fuppofed to have been really made bafer than their appointed ftandards *. * I take what is faid above to be " pence, four with help of fix fliould the true meaning of the following paf- " make ten fine, eight with help of Cige of the king's journal, whicii I " nine, being fewer than thofe of was willing to take notice of, though " eight, fliould make ten ounces fine, I may be thought to have wan- " the two ounces of allay fhould dered too far from my purpofe-, as " quit the charge of minting-, and this fchcme was not really put in " thofe of threepence, being but practice. I am alfo very fenfible " few, fhould be turned to a flandard that I have, throughout this account of " of four, of farthings, and halfpence, king Edward's money, mentioned " and pence, for to ferve for the many particulars that may i'cem either " poor people, becaufe the mer- trifling or unncceflary ; I fhall hope " chants maJe no exchange of it, notwithftanding to be cxcufcd, that on " a:id the fum was not great. Alfo the occafion of fo great a change as " to bear the charges, for becaufe it was now made in the money, 1 have " was thought that few or none were endeavoured to colkJl and lay toge- " left of nine ounces fine, eight ther all the fl-Vv.ral faifts, that appeared " ounces were naught, and fix ounces to have any relation to fo remark- *' were two ways dcvifcd, one with- able a tr.mfaftion. The pafTagc is " out any cratt, the other was not as follows; " Whereupon agreed " fullv fix, of whicJi kind was not a " tliat the tcltourn being called to fix- " few." K i. On 40 A TABLEOF Edw. VI. On the 9"" of the fame September, ** there was a pro- ^55^- " clamation fet forth touching the prices of cattel, of " hogs, pigs, beeves, oxen, muttons, butter, and cheefe," and the king obferves that it was " after a reafonable " price, not fully fo good cheap as when the coin was *' at the perfedlefl: but within a fifth part of it, or there- " abouts"*. On the 1 1'^ of the fame month there was " a procla- ** mation fet forth touching the coin, that whereas it was *' fo that men for gain melted down the ninepence '* teftourn continually, and the fixpence alfo ; there " fhould no perfon in any ways melt it down upon pain " to incur the penalty of the laws." Upon which it may not be improper to obferve, that as the common tefton was already called down to fix pennies, this nine pennie teflon muft have been of a different fort : and may reafonably be concluded to have been that of the 36''' of Henry the eighth, which being of the goodnefs of fix ounces fine, and of the fame weight as the tefton of four ounces fine, was confequently worth nine pennies when * The money that was of more va- quotation feems to imply, thofe prices lue, by one fifth part, than the mo- were in truth computed, i'rom like ney now current upon the foot of accounts taken, " when the coin the lafl: redudtion, was the money of " was at the pcrfcfleft," or when it the 34'" year of king Henry the had not yet been dcbafed from the eighth : and fixtccn fliillings therefore goodnefs of the Okl Standard : they of that money, or four fifths of the fliould if juft and equitable not have pound ftcrling, mult then have been fuch prices, as were only one bought as much of any fort of com- fifth part, but fuch as were" one third modity, ceteris paribus, as twenty part dearer than the prices of the fhilHngsof this ; or twenty fiiiilings fame things, at the time when the of that money muft: in other words lafl: Old Standard money was ftill in have bought of any fort of goods one life. For during that period, wliich fifth more than twenty fliillings of was from the iS''' to the 34"^ of the this. If then provifions were in this laft king, fine filver was rated in the proclamation valued at reafonable coins at four fhillings the ounce ; and prices, thofe prices muft have been confequently, being now valued at fix computed from the accounts of the fhillings the ounce, muft hava been markets, while that fort of money confidered as one third part dearer was generally current. But if, as the than it was, when rated only at four. the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 4t the other was reduced to fix. The fix pennie piece alfo Edw. vr. here mentioned was pofTibly the fide faced groat of the *^^^* 1 S*"* of Henry the eighth, and which being of Old Standard filver, and of the weight of 42 grains, was very nearly of the fame value as the laft reduced tefton. But here arifes a difficulty with regard to the profit that could be made by thus melting down thefe pieces : for as they were, in proportion to the common teftons, of no greater value than what they are here fuppofcd to have run for, no profit could arife from fuch a mifdemeanour. The gunhole groats were, in proportion to the fixpennie tefton, worth no more than five pennies each, and there- fore, if allowed to pafs for fix pennies, went above their va- lue. The old groats indeed that were coined from the 4"* year of king Edward the fourth to the 18''' of king Henry the eighth, if they alfo had courfe for fix pennies, might poflibly be melted with fome advantage : for weigh- ing 48 grains each, thofe among them that were undimi- niflied and of near their full weight, were worth about three farthings more than the fix pennie tefton. But I fiiould be apt to think there were" now very few of the older and better coins ftirring in bufinefs : for all that could be come at had already been coined down for pro- fit .into the ha.(cv /pedes ', and thofe few that remained, were only fuch as had been preferved, and kept up in the private hoards of careful timorous people, when the coin was firft debafed. I ftiould therefore think upon the whole, that either this proclamation was grounded upon fome miftaken apprelicnfion of the fads to which it re- lates ; or that thofe fa(fl-s were really fuch as had been committed before the bafe money was reduced; andwhilft the exorbitant price fet upon filver, and the general confu- fion in the coin, might aflord profpcdls of confidcrablegain from fuch evil practices, L All 42 ATABLEOF Edw. VI. All that we now have of the older coins, are the re- '^^^' mains, as I apprehend, of fome of the hoards of the old money juft above mentioned: excepting only fuch as may have been found fince, in places where they had been hidden or loft in yet earlier times. For it does not appear that any of thofe pieces were ever current in common pay- ments after this time: and I have always been told, that in a manner all the filver that came to the mints, in the great recoinage of the dipt and hammer'd money in the time of king William the third, confifted only of pieces coined between the fixth year of the reign of king Ed- ward the fixth, and the year 1661, when the coinage by the mill and fcrew was introduced. We next learn from the king's journal, that the lords of the council having had all the feveral forts of the bafe money afiayed before them at London on the 10'^ of the fame September, the king himfelf being then at Windfor ; they had found that the feveral forts of teftons, which were apprehended to have been coined bafer than even the fe- veral indentures and commiilions allowed, were really better than was expedled, and that they had feverally an- fwered to their refpe6live valuations: and that further, up- on taking of the feveral pieces mixed together as they ran, they had found that 400 pounds in tale, reckoning the tefton at fix pennies, did truly contain as much filver as was fuffi- cient to coin 400 pounds in tale of new money, arfieavyor heavier than the laft, and of the goodnefs of eleven ounces fine in the pound weight *. " Whereupon they reported ' * " The Lords at London having " and minifters corrupted, it was " tried all forts of ftamping, both of " tried that it had the valuation jull " the finenefs of 9, 8, 6, 4, and " by eight fundry kinds of melting, " 3, proved that without any lofs " and 400 /. of fterling mony, a " but fufferable, the coin might be " teftourn being but fix pence made *' brought to eleven ounces fine : for " 400 /. 1 1 ounces fine, of mony " whereas it was thought before, that " fterling." K/ng's Journal of the *'• the teftourn was through ill officers 20 Sej>. 1551. the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 43 " the fame to the king on the i ^^ and then it was Edw. VI. ** concluded that the teftourn (hould be eleven ounces *^^'* " fine, the proportion of the pieces according to the gold ; *' fo that five fliillings of CiWcr fliould be worth five of »' of gold." On the 24''' of the fame month it was " agreed that " that the flamp of the fhilling and the fixpence fhould- " be on one fide, a king painted to the fhoulders in par- " liament robes, with the chain of the order. Five lliil- " lings of filver and half five fliilling?, fiiould be a king ** on horfeback armed, with a naked fvvord hard to his " breaft." As alfo that the fine moneys (hould be coined at the mints in the Tower and in Southwark ; and the fmall pieces of a bafer ftandard at Canterbury and York. On the firft of the next month of Odober, " the com- " mifiion for the making of five fhillings, half five fhil- " lings, grotes *, and fixpences, eleven ounces finej and " pence with halfpence and farthings four ounces fine, ** was followed and figned." So far the kino-: and we further learn from Mr. Stow, that the pieces themfelvcs were accordingly publifhed and proclaimed on the 30''' of the fame month f . But by the indentures made immediately after with the maflers and workers of the fcveral mints, it appears that thefe finer coins were really 1 1 oz. i (^. wt. fine, or only I ci. wi. worfe than the Old Standard : and that the pound weight Troy of fuch filver was then agreed to be cut into three pounds by talc, in Crowns or pieces of « * Grates : there were now no four 5 s. rterling, the fcconJ pecce of pennie pieces coined, this word was is. 6 d. ftcrling, the third peece a therefore wrote for y2).7//«_f J, or meant fliilling of 12 pence ftcrling, the 4 iiicli pieces ; as in Stow, " a groac p'.-ccc uf 6 p-ncc ftcrling, of fmaller *' whichwasinvalue i2,a''s ChrS' filver, to wit, A pcccc of filver of «.y.V, ;55i, L 1 FIVE 44 A TABLEOF Edw.VI. five shillings, half crowns, shillings, half ^55^' shillings, quarter shillings, pennies, half pen- nies, and farthings. According to which regulation the crown piece was to weigh an ounce Troy, and the fhilling 96 grains: and the pound fterling, confifting ot four of thefe crowns, or twenty of thefe fhillings, was to be intrinfically worth about 6 cl. 3 ^. more than twenty {hilHngs of our prefcnt coin. In this indenture fine filver is valued at five fiiiUings and five pennies the ounce nearly ^ and whereas in the gold coin, direded by the fame, fine gold is valued at three pounds the ounce : it follows that what was then thought the true proportion of the value of gold to that of filver, was the proportion of eleven to one. Of the eight pieces laft mentioned, the five firft are common, and in the hands of every one that looks into thefe matters: but the three laft I have never feen or heai^ of It is indeed probable, notwithftanding what is faid in the indenture, that the pieces themfelves were never really coined: as there was a comraifiion ftill fub- fifting for the coinage of pennies, halfpennies, and far- things, of a bafer fort at Canterbury and York ; and as we learn from Stow, that thefe laft were adually pro- claimed with the other coins, whereas he takes no notice of any pieces of thofe denominations, that were of the finer flandard. . The crowns and half crowns were imprefled on one fide, as was before directed, v/ith the figure of the king on horfeback, crowned and in armour, with his drawn fword in his hand j and underneath the horfe, which was richly caparifoned, was the date of the year 1551, 1 J J 2, oriyj3, which laft was the year of his death. On the fhillings, half fiiillings, and quarter fliillings, was re- prefented the king's buft full faced, crowned, and dreficd in parliament robes with the chain ot the order : on the ENGLISH SILVER COINS, 45 the right fide of his head was a full blown rofe, and on the Edw. Vi. left were placed the figures xii. vi. or iii. exprefTing the '^^ number of pennies for which each piece refpedively ran ,• and which were now become in fome fort necefl'ary, from the great alterations that had lately been made in the value of the filver coins. The king's ftyle upon all thefe pieces was EDWARD.' VI.' D.' g'. agl'. fra'. et. hib'. rrx. and upon all their reverfes were the royal arms on a fort of "^ crofs fleurie, and in a plain ercutchcon, als upon the fliil- lings and laft groats of king Henry the feventh, with the ordinary motto posvi. dev'. adivtore'. mev'. These laft mentioned pieces were of two forts, fome being marked with the figure of a ton, and the others with the letter y. The former have commonly been called Throckmorton's, as the latter have alfo been called Yorke's moneys ; from the names of the gentlemen that were at that time refpe^lively mafters and workers oi the feveral mints, in the Tower of London, and in the borough of Southwark, where thofe moneys were coined. Behdes which, 1 have alio {een half fliillings and quarter fhillings minted at York: thefe were all marked with a mollet pier- ced, and had ci vitas, eboraci. inftead of the common • legend on their reverfe. The pennies of the bafer filver had, according to Mr. Stow, a double rofe upon them, the halfpennies a fingle rofe, and the farthings a portcullis. 1 hav^e feveral times ken. the two firft, which had e. d. g. rosa. sie. spia. about the rofe on the right fide, and the name of the place of mintao;e round the arms on the reverfe: but none ot the farthings with the portcullis have ever yet come to my hand. It may be here obferved, that the laft dcfcribed flMllings, half iliillings, and quarter fliillings ol king Edward, were the laft pieces of filver upon which any of our princes have been reprefented with a full lace. M King 46 A TABLE OF Q^ Mary. King Edward deceafed on the 6"* of July i j j 3 , but queen ^553' Mary his fifterwasnot proclaimed till the 19''', and did not make her entry into London till the 3'' of Aiigufl: follow- ing. A few days after fhe made new indentures with the officers of her mint in the Tower oi London, whereby the pound weight Troy of {lU'er, eleven ounces in the pound fine, or 2 t^. ivt. worfe than the Old Standard, was directed to be coined into three pounds by tale ; namely, into Groats, Half-Groats, and Pennies. Accord- ing to which appointment the groat was to weiL!;h 32 Troy grains, and the pound fterling containing 60 of thofe groats, was to be worth very nearly 20 fhillings and five pennies three fourths, of our prefent filver money. The new pieces were publifhed by proclamation on the 4'** of September, and tlie bafe coins vv^ere ordered by the fame to continue current as before. The groats, half groats, and pennies were all imprefled on one fide with the queen's head crowned and in profile, and on the other with her royal arms upon a crofs after the ufual man- ner. Her ftyle upon the two firft was maria. d'. g'. ANg'. FRa'. Z. HIb'. RF.Gl'. With thc IllOttO VERITAS. TEMPORis. FiLiA. on the reverfe: but thc pennies had only m'. d'. g*. rosa. sine, spina, round the head, and civiTAs. LONDON, about the royal arms. All thefe pieces had for a mint mark the figure of a fmall pomegranate, placed after the firft word of the legend on both fides. 1154. Upon the queen's marriage with Philip afterwards king of Spain, on the 25"" of July 1554' ^^^ was immediately complimented with the title of king: and his name was in confequence of it joyned with the queen's, in the legend of all her money coined after that time. The pieces however laft defcribed, were ftill ftampcd with her head and arms only ; tho' with the ftyle of phi lip. et. maria. .■\,.th..-Lr,u.(.. .Iluj^u,. RE''<- ET. regina. on thc groats and half groats, and ' IJijr: J lYnf/' :i /iC'irc/ ! P. ET. ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 47 p. ET. M. ROSA. SINE. SPINA. OQ the pennies. The legend Q^Mary. alfo on the reverfe of the two firft pieces was changed into ^^^'^' P03VJMVS. DEVM. ADivTo. Nos. And all the coins I have met with of this fort have been marked with a Jlerir de Its, Besides thcfc, there were alfo coined about the fame time, and probably lirft out of the treafure brought over by king Philip, and by him fcnt with great folem- nity to the mint, Shillings and Half Shillings of weights proportionable to the other coins Thefe had on on one Tide tlie profile heads both of the king and queen looking at each other, with a crown between them above, and their ftylc philip. et.maria.d.g.r.ang. fr.neap. PR. Hisp. round about. Their reverfes prcfcnted an oval fliield crowned and garniOied, upon which the Spanifli arms were impaled on the right fide, with tlieEnglifh on the left : and they were infcribed like the groats with the legend POSVIMVS. DEVM. ADIVTOREM. NOSTRVM. On the fldcS of the crown were placed the numeral figures xii. or vi. denoting the refpeclive values ot the pieces : fome of which were not dated, but others were, and had on the fides of the crown over the heads of the king and queen the date of the year 1554, or of the following years to^ 1558, in which laft the queen died on the 17'^ day of November. In the year 15^5, an alteration was made in the ftyle \ssS' of the king and queen upon thefe lail pieces, who were from that time only called philip. et. maria. d.g.rex. EF. REGiNA. ANG. and indeed the title of pr. hisp. was now become improper, asPhilip was this year crowned king of Spain, upon the refignation of the emperor Charles the fifth his father. I have nothing further to obferve concerning theie fhil- lings and half IhiHings, but that fome of them are marked with a flatr cle In^ tho° by far the greater number arc M 1 without 48 A TABLE OF Q^Mary. without any mint mark. I have neither Teen the inden- ^555' ture nor the commifTion by which they were coined : and it is remarkable that Mr. Stow, tho' otherwile fo exaft in his account of the coins of this time, takes ne- verthelefs no notice of thefe pieces, which he muft have remember'd the firft coinage of, and which muft have been very plentiful u hen he wrote, as fo many of them are ftill remaining at this day. I have feen a fmall bafe piece with a rofe, and p. z. m. ROSA. SINE. SPINA, tlic Toyal amis and ci vitas. London. on the reverfe. This I take to have been a halfpennie, and I conclude from thence, that as king Edward after the reformation of his coin did ftill ftrike pennies, half- pennies, and farthings of a bafer fort; fo this queen did alfo coin the like, both before and after her marriage, tho' very few of thefe fmall pieces have been prefcrved, and tho' I have never yet fcen what I could take for one of the farthings*. Whether queen Mnry did, » like her brother, coin any money at Canterburv and York, does not appear : but I have {t:a\ no pieces fo in- fcribed, and it is certain that her fiftcr and fuccefibr ne- ver coined any but in the Tower of London. * I have not met with the indenture difcriminatcly uled for either pennies, by virtue of which this bafe money halfpennies, or farthings. The Imall was coined. But by a AJemcrandum bale moneys of king Edward were of I have feen of the then officers of the filver 4 oz. in the pound fine, accord- mint Thomas Stanley and William ing to his journal : but there is in the Knight, it appears that " in the firlt mint the copy of an indenture for the " and fecondofPhilipand Mary, there making of others only 3 cz. in the " was made into money of rofe pence, pound fine: which indenture bearing *' of the ftandard of 3 oz. fine filvcr date the 1 1'" of June, A'^ Regni 7". a *' to the pound: 6510 pound weight, few days only before the king's death, " at 40 p. the pound weight ; as by was probably never complied with in " indenture m March, 1° et i" Region iiis time ; tho' it appears by what has •' di£l." Hence it follows that the been juft faid, that ibme at ieaft of pennies of this fort weighed 1 2 grains the fmall money coined in the follow- each : byt I Ihould fuppofe the word ing reign, was made agreeable to the ^ence in the Memorandum, to be in- directions of that indenture. The ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 49 The firft iilver coins of queen Elizabeth were Shil- Q^Eliz. LINGS, Groats, Half-Groats, and Pennies, of the '^^ ' Old Standard of ii, oz. %d. ivt. fine filver to i% d. wt. of allay : and it appears by an indenture made with Tho- mas Stanley and others, on the 8''' of November, in the fecond year of her reign, that the pound Troy of fuch filver was then coined into three pounds by tale *. Ac- cording to which appointment thefe {hillings, like the laft of king Edward's, and all queen Mary's, were ftill to weigh 96 grains each: and the pound ftcrling confifting of 20 fuch {hillings, was to be intrinfically worth twenty {hil- lings and eight pennies of our prefent coined money. All thefe four pieces had on one fide the queen's head in profile crowned, and on the revcrfe her royal arms in a plain efcutcheon, and placed upon a crofs after the ufual manner. The queen's ftylc upon the three larger pieces was Elizabeth, d'. g*. ang'. fr'. et'.hib', re- gin a. and the legend posvi. dev'. adjvtorem. mev'. on the reverfe : but the pennies had only e. d. g. rosa. sine, spina, on the one one fide, and civitas. Lon- don, on the other. This money was all marked with a martlet, commonly but very erroneoufiy called a drake, with a crofs croflet_, or with ^ JJear de lis. • Alrh'/ this indenture of the 8''' money for Ireland a few months only of Nov. 1560, is the firll of tliis after her accefllon. But hoNvever that queen of which I have any account, matter ftands, the coins here dcfcribcd I am pcrfwaded that there mud Iiave were certainly her firft : for it evident- bj:eu other indentures made earlier ly appears that the half ftiilUngs and than this, or commifllons given to the oth r pieces to be nextfpoken of, were lame purpofe fuon attti Ihc came to tlie not coined before the latter end of the crown. For it would otherwife follow, year 1561. B.-lidcs which it may be that queen Elizabeth coined no money obfen'ed, that as the firft coins are with her own name during the two firft found imprefTed with three different years of her reign : whicli being con- mint murks •, it thence appears that trary to the general practice of all there were three tryals of the pix be- other princes, is not to be admitted ; fore the publication of the following and we know befidcs that flic coined pieces. N Queen 5° A TABLE OF Q.ELIZ. Queen Elizabeth is greatly celebrated by all our hifto- J5^°- rians for the reftoring of the old ftandard of the coin in her filver rrioneys ; and no lefs for the aboliOiing and recoin- in^T of the bafe pieces minted in the times of her father and her brother: in which however fhc can only be faid with truth, to have given the laft finiihing to a work al- ready brought very near its perfection. For king Edward, as hath been obferved above, had himfelf reduced the bafe money nearly to the intrinfic value, and had beddes, in the laft one and twenty months of his lif?, coined down by far the greateft part of it, into money very little infe- rior in goodnefs, and not at all inferior in weight, to any that has been minted lince. I fliall here give the account of this matter in the words of the old chronicle of Raphael Molinfhed, with which alfo John Stow and Mr. Camden do perfedly agree : " The queen's majefty by the advice of her moft ho- " nourable council, meaning to abolifh all corrupt, bafe, *' and copper moneys then current in the realm of Eng- " land, coined in the times and reigns of king Henry the *' eighth, and king Edward the fixth, to the great hin- *' derance and decaie of the commonwealth of this realm, *' and therewith to reftore to all her fubjeds fine and *' pure fterling moneys, both of gold and filver, to the " great honour and benefit of the whole realm: pub- *' lilhed a proclamation on Michaelmafs even before *' noone, that the tefton coined for twelve pence, fhould '' now forthwith, that of the beft fort marked with the *' portculeis, be current for fourpence halfpennie: the *' fecond marked with the greyhound for twopence far- *' thing : the third and worft fort not marked as afore, ** not to be current at all, nor received for any value. *' The grote to be current hi twopence, the former piece " of twopence for a pennie, etc. h was not long after " this. ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 51 ** this, but that her grace reftoring to her fubjeds fine Q^Euz. " fterling money, called all the faid bafe and corrupt ^^ °' " coins into her majefty's mint, allowing to them there- *' fore after the rate betore mentioned, fo much of the *' faid fine moneys as they brought in of the faid bafe. " moneys. Upon thefe words I have only to obferv^e, that the teftons here faid to have been countermarked with a port- cullis, and then fufi^cred to pafs for fome time, being thofe that were before reduced to the value of fixpennies by king Edward, were really after the rate of the queen's money, if coined to their ftandard and undiminilLed, worth about five pennies and a farthing each. But as they were by this time fomewhat worn down, bcfides the other defeds they might poflibly have, it is reafonable to think that this price of four pennies and a halfpennie, was as much as they would hold out to one with another: and one of thefe teftons thus countermarked with a port- cullis, and dated in 1549, I remember to have feen in the colledtion of the late earl of Oxford. The other teftons faid to have been countern-iarked with a greyhound, muft have been thofe of juft half the value of the former, that is to fw, thofe that were coined in 155 I5 of idver only three ounces in the pound line. But of the third lort here fpoken of, and which were nei- ther countermarked, nor fuftcred to run at any rate, can only have been thofe that had been counterfeited either here • Agreeable to what is here related, " inby her highnefs orher fiibjei5ts,f/f, I have fcen an indenture made with " after liich rates and values as were Thomas Fketwood, under treafurer of *' apj.K)inted in the late proclamation : the mint in the Tower of ionilon, on " giving bills tor the lame. And the 9'*' of D'Cember, 3° Eliz. 1-560, " the fame then to refine and convert whercl.y he covenanted " to take into " into rterling mom ys of ii.ver, v.z, " his hands l)y number and tale, all " into Ihiiling';, grutes, halt grotcs, *' fuih lafe mon y of her highiufT 3 " .md p-nmes, ot the itandard of *» coin then current, as fhould be l.nt " 11 cz. 2 d. ivf." etc. N i or s* TABLE OF Q. Eliz. or abroad, and of which great complaints had frequently *^ °' been made : for the teftons laft mentioned^ and which were now allowed to pafs for two pennies and a farthing, were the bafeft of any that were ever coined here by public authority *. 15^1. The queen did as we learn from Holinfhed and Stow, pubiifh feveral fmall coins of filver by proclamation on the ij'** day of November 1561, which was but two days before the end of her third year. Thcfewere, they inform us, pieces of six pennies, four pennies, THREE pennies, TWO PENNIES, and ONE PEN N IE, aS alfo PIECES OF THREE HALF PENNIES and THREE FAR- THINGS : and Mr. Lowndes quotes an indenture as of the fecond year of the queen, in which pieces of all thofe feveral denominations were contraded for. This indenture I have not my felf feen, but 1 fhould take it not to have been of the fecond, but rather of the third year of the queen's reign ; as the pieces coined in confequence of it do not appear to have been really publiihed before the end of that third year. The half fliillings and fome others of thcfe pieces bear refpe6lively the dates of their coinage upon them, yet none of thefe, tho' exceedingly common, have ever been produced with an earlier date than that of the year 1561. The book called Camden's, Re- mains., fpeaking of this tranfaftion. fays, that the queen being " defirous •' to refine the coin, not according to *' the legal, but natural eltimation of " the metal, firft marked the bafe mo- " ney, fome with a greyhound, other " with a portcullicc, and other with *' a lion, harp, rofe, or flower de lys, *' and after a time calling them to her " mint, repayed fo much for them as *' they contained in pure filver." But I greatly fufped that wliat is there faid of the four other marks, not men- tioned by Holinfhed to have been thus (lamped on the bafe moneys, is a millake ; for the two he fpeaks of were fufficient to diftinguifli all the coins that could remain doubtful, and which were properly but of two values. The harp I take to iiave been only the common mint mark of the Irifh mo- neys coined about this time, as the lion, rofe, and the fieur de lis were the like marks of Ibme of the En- glifli. All ENGLISH SILVER COINS. All thefe coins were of the fame fafhion andofthefame Q: Eliz. O goodnefs as the firft pieces of the queen's money above de- fcribed, and their weights were feverally proportioned to their refpedive values. It is only to be noted, that all the four /everal pieces now firft coined, which were the pieces of fix and three pennies, and thofe of three half pennies and three farthings, had the figure of a full blown rofe placed behind the queen's head ; and that they were be- fides all dated on their refpedive reverfcs: whereas none of the other pieces minted either before or now, had the rofe or the date upon them. By this particular every piece was readily difiinguifhed from that next above it, and that next below it in value, as they were all coined alternately, from the fhilling to the piece of three farthings, without and with this diftincftion of rofes and dates: and this was of fingular ufe, in the lefl'er pieces efpecially, as thofe would otherwife have been in the greateft danger of being perpetually miftaken one for another *. The ;6i. * Mr. Thorefby, N" 313. p, 366. of his Ducatus Leodiejifis^ etc. is mi- ftaken in what he there T.iys of the three half pennie, three farthing, and half pennie pieces of this queen, which he had either not feen or not fufficieiitly attended to. He there fays, " Ihc " three half pennie piece hath a rofe *' without the queen's head, e. d. g. *' ROSA. SINE. SPINA. RtV. CIVITAS. " EBORAci. with the arms, it weighs ♦• 12 gra. iS, but is mix'd money." This piece was truly one oi ilic above- mentioned bafe pennies of king Ed- ward the fixth, and which were by his journal to be coined at Canter. ' try and York, whereas queen L',ii/.3l ' i coined no money at eitht-r ^)f ■ le places. W hat he conjectures to been the three farthing pitce. •was exaftly like the pennie, mud on- ly have been a pennie ill pieferved : and the half pennies he prelcntly after fpcaks of, that had a rofe only on each fkle, were really thofe of king Charles the firll, as will be obfcrved in the ac- count of his coins. Shakefpeaf in his King John, has a remarkable allufion to the true type of the three farthing piece, which mull have been Hill cur- rent in his time, though he puts the words in the mouth of a perfon that lived long before any fuch pieces were coined. He there introtiuces the baltard Faulconbridg, cxpofing the flight fliapc and thin countenance of his Kgiti- mate elder brother, and who having jult i)eforecomi)ared him to a halt faced i^'oat, at lad airimilates him to a yec More contemptible piece ot money, O our 54 A TA B L E OF Q,Eliz; The three half pennie and three farthing pieces, had '^ • like the pennies only civitas. London, on their reverfe, inftead of the common legend of the larger coins: they continued to be minted from the forementioned year 1561 to 1572, during which period they were marked fucceflively with a pheon, a rofe, a portcullis, a lion of England, a ducal crown, and a caftle. But I do not remember to have yet feen a groat with any of thefc feveral mint marks. What has hitherto been fiid relates only to the hammered money: and there were alfo, during part of this period, namely from 1^61 to 1568, other pieces coined in a more elegant tafte, and as it feems by the mill and fcrew. Thefe were of all the denominations of this queen's money yet mentioned; and the defcriptions of the former pieces may ferve alfo for thefe ; with this only difference, that all the coins of this laft fort, were of ex- quifite beauty, and far excelled any that had yet been feen of the EngliQi moneys. The circle that was within the legend upon all the other coins was omitted upon thefe, and the letters were of a much more fquare and regular fliape. The former obfervation about the rofes and the dates is alfo true of thefe pieces, which having particular marks muft have been pixed by themfclves, and our three farthing piece : faying of vifh trick then commonly praflifed himfelf that he would not at a.y to impofe the Idler of thefe coins iip- race have fuch a perfon, on heedlefs people fur the other : " He " liad a ballard, his own toward iflue, my face fo th'in^ " whipr, and then cropt, for walliing ^hatinmineerirldurjinotjlickavo{c, " out the r^yi-j in three farthings to Lejl men fiould fay, look whcj-e thixc " mdit them pence." See Theoia/d's farthings gees! notes upon Shakefpear's King John. Agreeable to this lall mentioned obfer- There is alfo a pafTage in the Scornful vation I have myfeif met with a broad Lady of Bjaumcnt and Fletcher, that groat, upon which a counterfeit rofe not only fhews the difference between had been attempted, probably to make the pennie and the three farthing it look like a fix pennie piece, and pals piece ; but alfo informs us of a kna- for fuch. were ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 55 were probably but few in number compared with tliofe Q^Eliz. of the common fort that were coined at the fame time. '^ i Thefe mint marks were a ftar of fix points from i j6i to | 1 5(^4, and 2ifletir de lis, from i5<:>4toij($8. I have feen ! all the eight feveral pieces from the fliilling to the three farthings, but do not recolledb to have met with either s fhilling, groat, or half groat, that was marked with the fleur de Its. The maker of this milled money is reported to have been one Philip Meftrelle a Frenchman j an excellent artift : but who falling befidcs into the infamous pradice of coining falfe and counterfeit money, was thereof con- vi^lcd, and for the fame executed as a traytor, with two other offenders of the fame fort, at Tybura the 17"" of January, ij<>9. John Lonison was appointed mafter and worker of 1572; the queens mint in ij7i> the 14"" year of her reign.: and I had by the indentures made with him the ip'** day of April that year, that the groats, half groats, and pen-!- nies, mentioned in the indentures made with his imme- diate prcdeceflors, were all omitted in thcfc new ones; by which only half fhillings, and pieces of three pennies, three half pennies, and three firthings, were appointed to be coined. There was nevcrthelefs fome time after a commil- fion made out, by which he was alfo direded to add pennies to the other pieces*: and thefc moneys refembling in all refpeds • The commifTion that I have fccn is therein fct forth after reciting the ^ *"'"' r/^.u-Ji., "'"/ for the comnge of thefc pennies w;is of indenture made with Lonifon the i^^^'f •'• '" •'■'A'/.v/i/-/ nitnic.' <• «■<■•" the 29"' of DiTcenibcr, 2 i Eliz. By of April, 14 Eliz. that " the queen. ,/,v,«* /.-rycKr/^/'P. "•'•-V*^ '..■^<"* Avhicli it alfo appears that notwith- " for great and urgent caufes heriyV^,,,^ r»*?!-./-/>/'"'"^>', <'/'"''^'^''' Handing all the qu en's indentures " thereunto moveing, minding for .,y ^. ^.jj^ //, />{V /•"•«/'••' '-V- were fcrfdver money of the Old St.in- " a Oiort time to tolerate fome alte-' ' > ■ ,... ■^^.'. ,C . dard, there was however about this " ration from the cxprefs words of the rime a fnall deviation fiom the fame, " faid inilencure, autiiorizes the faid befiiles an allowance to coin the fe- ♦' Lonifoii to make befides the forts vera! pieces a fmall matter lighter " of money thereby appointed to be th.m thofc indentures required, lor it " coined, pennies 7:0 to the pound, ^ " " .in J 5$ A T A B L E O F q^Eliz. fefpcdls thofe before coined of the fame denominations *^^^' did accordingly continue to be minted till the year i j8i. The feveral mint marks ufed during thcfe years, were the fpot of ermyne, the acorne, the cinqucfoyle, the plain crofs, and the fvvord. 1575, Besides thefe moneys that were all hammered, there were coined in 1575? by the mill and fcrew, fome half fhillings and quarter fhillings, and pofTibly alfo pieces of the other denominations mentioned in the laft inden- tures. Thefe coins were very beautiful in their execu- tion, and particularly ordered with refpedl to the crofs on the reverfe, which was much broader than that on the other moneys. There was alfo fomewhat fingular in the manner in which the legends were wrote, eli- Z A BETH. DE. G '^. AN°. F ^. & H 1 ^. REGINA. and posvi. DEV^*. ADiVTOREM. MEV". the inner circle was left out as on the former milled money, and the points between the words were fmall rofes. The mint mark of thefe pieces was a mollet, and the figure of the half fhilling of this fort has been publiflied both in Speed\Hiflor'^^ and in one of the plates of the Society of Antiquaries. This lialf fhilling I have feveral times met with; hut the quarter fhilling, which is almoft in every refpeft like it, I have only feen, and that in the higheft prefervation, among " and to make the gold of the fine- time to time, and I have fcen another " nefs of 23 carats, 3 grains and one to Sir Richard Martyn of the 23** of *' fourth, and the filvcr of the ftan- May, 24 EHz. wherein it is fet forth, " dard of 11 tz. i d. wt, and to after reciting " that the queen Jud *' fhere the gold at 2^1. i Jh. 10 d. " granted the like commiffion on " halfpennie, and the filver at 60/;. " the 25''' of May, regni 23", to *' and 3 d. the pound weight -, re- " continue in force to the laft of Oc- *' medy one eighth of a carat, and " tober then next following, that *' 2d. wt. as lifuil, etc." which " flie, being minded for fome time commifTion w.-is *'to extend to no " longer to tolerate the fame altera- *' bullion that fliould be taken in " tions, gives this comniiflion every *' after the 24*'' day of April then " way the fa.me, to continue to the " next enfuing :" but like conimiffions " laft of November then next com- ■were however renewed after this from •' ing." the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. c;; the many fcarce and valuable coins that are in the curious Q- E'-'z. collecftion of my honoured friend Dr. Mead. '^ ^' In the year 1582, there were made on the 30''' day of January, in the 25"" of the queen, new indentures with Sir Richard Martyn, then mafter and worker of her majefty'smint: whereby the feveral pieces of three pennies, three half pennies, and three farthings were all laid afide; and SHILLINGS only, half shillings, and pieces of TWO pennies, one pennie, and a half pennie, were ordered thenceforward to be coined. All thefe pieces were to be of the Old Standard, and of weights anfwerable to their refpedive values, after the former rate of five fhillings to the ounce Troy. They were in their make like the moneys of the fame denominations before minted, excepting that upon the two larger pieces the three laft let- ters of the queen's name were conftantly omitted, and for the moft part alfo the two laft of the word regina. The two pennie pieces now coined had e.d.g. rosa.sine. spina, on the one fide, with civitas. London, on the other: and they had befides two points to denote their value placed behind the queen's head. The half pennies now coined for the firft time in this reign, had not any legend, but only on the one fide the figure of a portcullis with a mint mark, and on the other a crofs moline with three points in each of the four quarters. Thefe feveral pieces continued to be thus coined without interruption from 1581 to 160 1 : during which time their mint marks fuccefiively were, a bell, the letter 71:, ^n efcallop flicll, a crei'ccnt, an open hand, a ton, a woolpack, a key, an anchor, and an annulet. Some ol the fhillings marked with a kcv were particular, being from a neater die, and having the cf- cutchcon handfomcly garni Hied on their rcverfc. In the year 1601, which was the 43"* of queen Eliza- i^o«, beth, there was a new indenture made on the 29"' day of July, with the fame malkT and worker Sir Richard Martyn : Vv'hich indenture was for the coining of filver P moneys S8 A TABLE OF Q. Eliz. moneys of the Old Standard, but of a fomewhat lighter '^°'' weight. For the pound Troy, of fuch ftandard filvcr was thereby ordered to be coined, as it has ever fince been, into three pounds and two fhillings by tale: namely, into CROWNS OrPIECES OF FIVE SHILLINGS, HA LF CROWNS, SHILLINGS, PIECES OF SIX PENNIES, and TWO PEN- NIES, PENNIES, and HALF PENNIES. From hence we learn that the true ftandard weight of a crown piece is 4(54.516 Troy grains, and that of afhilling 92.903 of the fame grains : and that the nominal pound flerling as now fettled in England, contains ^ oz, \7 d.wt. 10.0645 gr. of Old Standard, or 3 oz, 11 d, wt. 14.7096^^. of Fine Silver. These crowns and half crowns, which were the firfl: pieces of the fort that had been minted fmce the death of king Edward the fixth, had on one fide the queen's effigies drawn in profile below the fiioulders, in the habit of the time, with the crown on her head, the fcepter in her right hand, the orb in her left, and her ftyle round about, ELIZABETH. D*. g\ ANg'. FRa'. ET. HIBER'. RE- GiNA. and on the reverfe were placed upon a crofs fleurie ■.as ufual, the royal arms in an efcutcheon garnifhed, with the common motto, posvi. devm. adivtorem. mevm. The five lefier pieces were, excepting their weight, ex- adlly like thofe of the fame denominations before coined ; and they are now only diftinguifliable from the others, by their mint marks i . and 2 . as the half fhillings are alfo by the feveral dates 1601 and 1602. ftamped upon their reverfes. And thefe were the lafl: filver coins of queen Elizabeth, who departed this life at Richmond, on Friday the 24"" day of March, 1602 *. ' I HAVE * As in fpeaking of the money of marks, or the privy marks, as they this reign in particular, I have had have been ufualJy called in the mint, frequent occafion to mention the mint it may be neceflary to fay a word of the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 59 I HAVE {ecn a pretty many half fliillings of queen Q. E Liz- Elizabeth, and a few pieces of her gold, that were ^ °** countermarked with a flamp of the arms of Zeeland: and this the nature and ufc of thofc marks. It may therefore be obfcrved, that it hath been ufual from old time to oblige the mafters and workers of the mint, in the indentures made with them, " to make a privy mark in all " the money that they made, as well *' of gold as of filvcr, fo that an- " other time they might know, if " need were, and witte which mo- " neys of gold and filver, among *' other of the fame moneys, were of " their own making, and which not." And whereas, after every tryal of the pix at Weilminfter, the mafters and workers of the mint, having there proved their moneys to be lawful and good, were immediately intitled to receive their quietus under the great feal, and to be difcharged from all futes or aftions concerning thofe rtioneys, it was then ufual for the faid mafters and workers to change the privy mark before ufed for ano- ther, that lb the moneys from which they were not yet difcharged might be diftinguilhed from thofe for which they liad .-xlready received their quietus. Which new mark they then conti- nued to ftamp upon all their mo- neys, until another tryal of the pix gave them alfo their quietus con- cerning thofe. The pix is a ftrong box witli three locks, whofe keys are refpedively kept by the warden, maftcr, and comptroller of the mint : and in which arc depofited, fealed up in fevcr.d parcels, certain pieces taken at random out of every journey, as it is called, that is, out of every 15 pounds weight of gold, or 60 pounds weight of filvcr, before the fame is delivered to the proprietors. And this pix is from time to time, by the king's command, opened at Weft- minfter, in the prefence of the lord chancellor, the lords of the coun- cil, the lords commiftioners of the treafury, the juftices of the feveral benches, and the barons of the Ex- chequer ; before whom a tryal is made, by a jury of goldfmiths im- panelled and fworn for that purpofe, of the colic(5live weights, of certain parcels of the feveral pieces of gold and filver taken at random from thofe contained in the pix ; after which thofe parcels being feverally melted, aftays are then made of the bulliop of gold and filver fo produced, by the melting certain fmall quantities of the fame againft equal weights ta- ken from the refpeftive tryal pieces of gold and filver, that are depofited and kept in the Exchequer tor tiiat ufe. This is called the tryal of the pix; flic report made by the jury upon that tryal is called the verdicft of the pix for that time : and the in- dented tryal pieces juft tibove men- tioned, are certain plates of ftandard gold, and ftandard lilver, made with the greateft care and delivered in upon oath, from time to time as there is occalion, by a jury of the moft able and txpcricpced goldfmiths, fummoncd by virtue of a warrant from the lords of the trealliry to the wardens of the myftcry of goldfmiths of the city of London for that purpofe ; and which plates be- ing fo delivered in are divided each, at this time, into fevcn parts by in- dentures, one of which parts is kept in his majcfty's court of rxchcqucr at Weftminftcr, another by the fiid company 6o TABLE OF Q^ ELir, this was probably done in the Low Countrys to give cur- * rency there, to the moneys carried over by the earl of Leicefter, when he was fent by the queen to give fuccour to thofe provinces againft the Spaniards. The company of goldfmiths, and two more by the officers of his majcfty's mint in the Tower ; the remaining three being for tlie ufe of the mint, &c. in Scotland, The pix has fometimes been tryed every year or even oftener, but fometimes not more than once in feveral years : and from hence is un- derftood how it comes to pafs that,, among the pieces that are dated as well as marked, three or more different dates are fometimes found upon pieces imprefled with the fame mark, and asiain that different marks are found upon pieces bearing the fame date. Thefe marks are firft obfervable upon the coins of king Edward the third, the words above quoted concerning thofe marks are from the indentures made with the lord Haflings, mafter and worker to king Edward the fourth -, and the marks themfelves contioued to be ftamped very confpicuoufly upon the moneys, till the coinage by the mill and fcrew was introduced and fet- tled after the reftoration in the year 1662. Since which time the moneys being made with far greater regularity and exaclnefs than before, thefe marks have either been totally laid afide, or fuch only have been ufed, as are of a more fecret nature, and only known to the officers and engra- vers concerned in the coinage : and in- deed the conftant praftice that has ever fince prevailed of dating all the feveral pieces, has rendered all fuch marks of much lefs confequence than before. I fhall now fubjoin to this note, as a fpecimcn of the ver- difls of the pix abovementioncd, the record at large of one of thofe ver- dlfts in the ii"" year of king Henry the fixth -, as I received the fame a-, mong others from my very worthy friend George Holmes, Efq; to whom I have been conftantly obliged for his kindaffiftance, in the free communica- tion of whatever has been to the purpofe of my enquiries, in thole valuable re- cords that are entrufted to his care in the Tower of London. Label, Henricus Bet gratia, rex . Aitglie et Francie, «t Dns. HH^emrg, thefaurario et baronihus fids de Scacca- rio, Sal. Volentes diver/ts de catifis cer- tiorari fuper ajjaiis et probacionibus monetanim auri et argenti, per JVillum Rtis magijlrum monetarum nojtrarum in- fraTurrim nojlram Lou/ion etvillamno- Jiram Cales de novo faolarum, coram vo- bis in Scaccario predi£Io, inter xvi. diem O£fobris anno regni nojiri decimo, et xxii. diem OSlohris ttltimo preteritum^ fa^fis et habit is tit dicitur : vobis man- damus, quod nos inde in cancellariam nojlram, fub ftgillo Scaccarii prediBi, dijlinole et apertc, ftne dilatione, red- datis certiores, remittentes nobis hoc breve. Tefte me ipfo apudlVeftm. i. die Nov. A" regni nojlri iindecimo. Selby. Schedula. fT. Tenores ajfaiorum, et probacionum monetarum auri et argehti, de quibus in brevi huic fchedule confuto Jit mentio, kguntur in hec verba, Cales Aff. Argenti. AJJaium argenti factum apud Wejlm. xxvii. die OSiobris A° tin decimo regis Henrici fexti, in prefentia Humfr. duels G/ouceJlrie, et venerabi/ium pat rum Henrici archiep. Cantuar. ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 6i, 1 60 1. The portcullis money of this queen, as it is commonly Q F' jz- called, is next to be taken notice of; tho' it vva inotreally current Englifli coin : the pieces that are ufually taken for crowns. Cantuar. Johis. archiep. Ebor. et Johis. ep. Bath, et JVelkn. cancellarii AugUe \ Jqbis. dni. le Scroop tbefaurarii An- gliCy tngri. Willi. Lytidwode cuftodis pri- vatijtgilli,nec non venerabilium patruniy Ph. Elienfisy PFilli. Liticolnienfts, et Johis. Roffen/is epifcoporum ; ac Humfr. c^im. Stafford, Johis. com. Suff. IVal- teri dni. Hungerford, et Johis. Ivyn militisy capitalis baron, de Scaccario : de J quinqueformi monetd argenti faSld in • villa Cales, inter ult. diem O£lob. A" de- cimo regni regis hujusy et ult. diem Sept. A° undecimo ejufdem regis, u- troque die computato : tempore viz. Ricardi Bokeland cuftodis Cambii regis in villa predicld, ac Willi. Rus magijtri et operarii monete prediSfe. Ubi apertd pyxide, invente funt in eddem xii. fcin- chie continent es Ixxix s. iiii d. nume- randoy fumptos de xxviM. C.iiiiXX.ii. lib.x unc. dimid. [26182/. 10 unc. dim.] argenti ponder, ibid, monetat. et liberat. extra Cambium predi£lum per tempus predillum. Unde funt de groffis xxiis. via d. argenti tnimerando, de dim, grojjis xxii s. viii d. argenli nu- merando, de Jierlingis xxii s. viii d. crgenti nnmerando, de oholis v s. viii d. argenti numerando, et de quadrantibus vs. viii d. argenti nnmerando. Omni- - nibus quibus grcffis, dim. grojfis, jier- lingis, obolis, et quadrantibus fie de fctnchiis prediilis intcrmixlis, fa£loque iude affaio in ponderc, cum Jlandardo dimidie tibre Turris Loudon. J>^r Johem. llixbam campfiatorcm et affaia- torem monete regis in eddein Turri ad hoc juratuw, inventum ejl quod xv s. argenti numerando concordant in pan- dcre cum eodcmjlaiulardo, el fie moneta prediHa eft equi ponder is, juxta formam ionvencionis in q:(il'!ij\bni indcnluyis inter dnm. regem et prediUum magi- fir urn fait is contente, irrotulatis in me- morandis di£li anni undecimi inter re-. corda de termino f£li. Michaelis, rot. fexto ; in qua convencione inter cetera continetur, quod moneta ilia de- bet effe de allaio veterum fierlingormny et de pondere xxx folidorum fierlin- gorum, pro qualibet libra ditle Tur- ris ; et quod ft di£fa moneta ali- quando, cafualiter per defe£ium opera- riorum, inventa fuerit fortior vel debi- lior per duos denarios pondere ad li- bram pondere, cuftos debet deliberare tnonetam illam tanquambonam. De quibui eciam groffis, dimid. grcffis, fterlingis, obolis, et quadrantibus, pro affaio ad ignem faciendo, fumuntur viii denarii numerando, viz. unum groffum, unum dimid. groffum, unus fierlingus, umis obolus, et duo quadrantes, fatloque inde affaio per ignem, videlicet per libram fubtilem ponderis, pofi fciffuram eo- rundem, prout maris eft, inde fumptam ; inventum eft poft fumpcionem inde de igne, quod moneta predi£ta in affaio eft nielior de puro argento quam al'aium veterum fterlingcrum, per unum dena- riun; ponderc, ad libram pondere. London AiT. Argenti. Item eodein die in prefenciu corundem factum fuit affaium de quinqueformi moneta argenti faold in Turri London,inter xii diem Oil. A' deeimo regis hujus, et ix diem Oct, A' undecimo ejufdem regis, utroque die computato, tempore viz. Hcnrici Somer cuftodis Cambii regis in eudem Turrit et Willi. Rus niri. et operarii monele predicle. Ubi apertd pyxide invente funt in eddem xxii fcinchie continentes xxx s. vtii d. argenti numerando, fumptos de I^lCCCClxv: lib. IX unc. xdcn. dun. ar- (^ gcnti 62 A TABLE OF Q, Eltz. crowns, half crowns, fliillings, and half fhillings, having ^^°'" only been coined for the ufe of the Eaft India mer- chants, to be exported by them in their trade, and for their gmti fciidere ibid, msnetat. et liberal, extra Cambium prediflum,per tempuspre- diSlum. Uiidefunt de grojfis ixs. iv d. argent i nuiiicrandc, de dimid.groffisz'i s. iid. argenti numerando, de Jlerlingisv s. 1-i d. argent! ntanerando, de obolis v s. , argenti numerando. !^dbus quidemgrof- /ts, dimid. groJfis, fierlingis., obolis., et qtiadrantibus fie de fcimhiis predicts fumptis intermixtis, fa^oque inde ajjaio in ponder e., cum ftandardo dimidie libre di^e Turris London, per prediifum Johem. Hexham campfatorem et ajfaia- torem, inventum eft quod xvs. inde numerando deficiunt in pondere ah eodem ftandardo per obolum pondere ad libram pondere. Sed di£ius magifter dicit fe fore excufabilem, de eodem de- fecfti invento in monetd predi^d, per convencionem inde inter dnm. regem et ipfunt 7nagiftrum fc^am^ in inden- turd ftiperius recitatd plenius anno- tatam, in qua inter cetera continetnr^ quod ft moneta predicta, cafualiter per defectum operariorum, inventa fuerit fortior i-el debilicr, per duos denarios pondere ad libram pondere^ cuftos debet deliherare monetam illam tanquam bo- nam. Et quoad allaium inventum eft fncnetam prediftdin effe bonam et k- galem.. Aflaium Auri. Item eodem die in frefencia ecrundan., faStum fuit ajfaium de monetd auri fafia in Ttirri prediHd, inter xvi diem Oct. prediolo A" decimo, et xxii diem 0^1. diilo anno undecimo., utroque die computato, tempore videlicet di^orum cuftodis et magiftri. Ubi a- pertdpyxide invente funt in eadem xxxiii fcinchie continent es xxii lib. vi fol. viii den.- auri numerando., fumptos de DCliii lib. iv unc. xv den. vii gr. - euri pondere ibid, mcnetat, et libcrct. extra Cambium predi£lum per iempus predicium. Unde funt xxxvi groffi flcy- reni dioli nobiles auri numerando., xxxvi mediocres ftoreni diili dimid. nobiles auri numerando.,et Hi minor es ftoreni diEli ferlingi auri numerando. ^ibus quideni groffts ftorenis., mediocribus et minoribus florenis, ficde fcincbiis prediHis fumptis intermixtis., faSloque inde affaio in pon- dere., cum ftandardo dimidie libre Tur- ris predivle, per campfatorem et affaia- torem fupradi^um ; inventum eft quod viii lib. vi fol. viii den. ejufdem auri numerando, deficiunt in pondere de eodem ftandardo., per unum denarium pondere ad libram pondere. Sed di£lus magiftsr dicit fe fore excufabilem de eodem defeUu invento in monetd pre- diSld, per convencionem inde inter dnm. regem et ipfum magiftrum fa3am in indenturd fuperius recitatd plenius an- netatam. Levefham. * It may here be remarked, that whereas there feems Jomcwhat de- feclive in this verdift, the afTay of the goodnefs of the gold being omitted in the laft article, the fame is in another record of the fame fort, and of the 6'^ year of the fame king, thus ex- prefied : Ds quibus eciamgroffu ftoreni s^ mediocribus et minoribus ftoreni s., fumun- tur poftmodum pro affaio ad igmm, unus groffus ftorenus, unus mediocris florenus^ et duo minor es ftoreni : et inventi funt ii~ dem floreni poft fumpcionem de igne fuf- ficientes depuro auro et de debilo allaio^ juxta affaium inde fa£lum per petram. By which Lifh words it appears, that the touchftone was alfo then iifed and regarded in thefe affayes : tlie fame is alfo mentioned in all the old indentures of the mint, wlierc fuch ftunes i6oi. ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 63 their conveniency ftruck to the refped^ive weights of Q. Enz. the Spanilli p/aj/re, or piece of eight reas, the half, the quarter, and the half quarter of the fame. The weight of the Spanifh piece of eight, was about 1 7 r/. ivt. and a half, and with that weight thefe pieces will be found to agree. They were feverally imprefl'ed on one fide, with the royal arms in a plain efcutcheon ■'^ under an imperial crown, between the letters E. and R. alfo crowned, and with the queen's flyle, the fame as upon her five fhilling pieces : and on the other fide with a portcullis crowned, and her ufual motto round about. All that I have met with of thefe pieces have had an annulet for their mint mark *. I have feen befides ot queen Elizabeth three pieces of filver of different fizcs ; t!;e firft of which, prefented on one fide her majefi-y's buft crowned and almoft lull-faced, with this legend vnvm. a. deo. dvobvs. svstineo. and *^ ftones are clirefced to be provided at (Its and workers of the mint, in all the king's cxpcr.ce, together with the indentures cKcaiit from the iS'** touching needles of gold ot divi rfe year of kin^ Edward the third, which degrees of allay, and with which the is die olddl we now have any know- feveral parcels of gold to be tried, were ledge of. refpeflivcly to be compared. The record of an aiTay of the filver money, * Mr. Thomas Violet, in his book by which the fame was f( u:id tauky, called yf'z Jppenl io C.efar, printed iii in the 1 2"* year of king Edward tue j66o. has treated largely of thefe fecond, may be feen in Madox's Hi- pieces, of which he li.is there given ftory of the Excbcqt'.ery p. 199. and the figure, by the name of the filver which record is lo much the mure coin fhnt queen EUzabe'.b allowed ihi remarkable, together with the pro- Eajl India merchants to fend to tbofe ceedings therein mentioned, as the Indies. He has alfo in the iame ■whole deficiency of the money com- place reprefentcd the figures of three plained of, by which it was found fquuie weights, feverally marked im- itimis debilis el inrjoris allaii quam dia. vi ii. testernes. iv. tkster- fuiffe del/tterat^ amounted only to the ■ es. antl 11. testernes. refpective- fum of 258 1. 5 J. 10^/. ob. in the ly : and which he there calls 'T^s-y?-?//- coinage of 407:^0/. whereby it ap- daid poyzes of the ahovefvd coyne, re- pears that the laid deficiency, being 7i:.nnh;g in his majefifs mynt^ icitbii: about one 157'' part of tlic whole, tbcTozver of London, and in lie cuHody was Icfs than the remedy that has of Sir IFiHiam P.;rkL:irJty tvarden of sonliintly been allowed to the ma- his inajejlfs faid tnynf. 64 ATABLEOF q^Eliz, on the other a lort of cypher of her name under a crown, ^ °'' with the date 1601, and the motto afflictorvm. con- sERVATRix. The fecond afforded the fame type, but with only this infcription the. pledge, of a. penny. and the fame date : the laft had on one fide the fame cypher crowned, and on the other a crowned rofe, with the words the. pledge, of. a. half, penny. Thefe by their weights, compared with what was infcrib- ed upon them concerning their values, could not have been defigned for filver coins: and I have feen the fame in copper alfo. I therefore apprehend they were only pattern pieces for copper pledges of two pennies, one pennie, and a half pennie refpeftively, which were intended to be coined about this time, but which do not appear to have been everadually publifhed. The pieces were very fair and beauti- ful, and tlie two larger had the mint mark of an emony or flower of fix leaves. I have feen befides a very fmall tin piece, with a like cypher on the one fide, and the queen's head without any legend on the other : this I look, upon to have been a proof alio for another fort of fmall token ^ and it may be here juft obferved by the bye, that when copper was firft coined and publifhed in the following reign, the pieces were not called farthings, but only farthing tokens, which the king " licenfed any of his fubjeds to take at " their good liking, but did not intend to make monies " or coin that any one ihould be obliged or compelled to *' take *." King * I fhall here add to the foregoing warden of his majefly's mint, from obfervations upon the coins of queen his own library ; and it was, as I Elizabeth, the abftrad ot a paper con- apprehend, an old tranfcript of taining an account of the whole quan- thofe accounts collefled by arch- tity of money both gold and filver birtiop Williams, that were quoted that was coined in her reign. This by Mr. Lowndes in his EJfay for the paper was communicated to me fe- amendment of filver coins ; and that veral years iir.ce by my honoured were, as he informs us, burned fome kinfman Sir Andrew Fountaine, now time before among other curious col- ' ledions ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 65, King James the Hxth of Scotland, but the firft of James I.. Great Britain, was proclaimed king of England, etc, the ^^°^' fame day that queen Elizabeth died : and upon the news of his acceflion left Holyrood-houfe on the 5"* day of April, le(5tions in the archives at Weftmin- church, and which were imfortunatelf fter. By which archives are to be there deftroyed by a fire that hap- underftood, as I am told, the ma- pened about fifty years fince in a- nufcripts formerly kept at one end part of the old fchool, that was conti- of the library belonging to the Abbey guous to that end of the library. A brief note of all the money i oj gold and fiher, coined in the time of Queen Elizabeth, with the true value thereof in current money. Coined in fterling filver money in the mints in the ^ /. s. d. Tower of London, from the year 155810 the year [ 1572, in the time of Thomas Stanley and Thomasp>i,f548,932 02 o5 Fleetwood under treafurv^rs, in weight 549,644 l.\ o cz. lod. Kt. making at 3 /. the pound weight j More, from 1572 to 1581, in the time of John') Lonifjn mafter a id worker, in weight 255,338 /. V 765,014 2 cz. 8 d. ivt. "] gr. making at the fame rate J More, from 1581 to iCoi, in the time of Sir -j Richard M iriyn mafter and worker, in weight > 2,010,993 12 06 670,331 /. 2 lz. xod.i'jt. making at the fame rate j Mijre, from Sept. 1601, to 31 March 1603, in ) the time of the lame matter, in v/cight 63,890/. S 198,060 16 02 7 oz. making at 3 /. is. the pound weight * Coined in March 3" Eliz. in Irifli moneys of^ J I ounces fine, in weight 2,977 /. making at 3 /. theS. 8,931 00 00 pound weight j 12 00 3 (». The whole fum of fterling filver coined in the^ queen's time was in weight 1,54;, 181/. 0^2.(4,632,932 o^ 02 3 j*. 8 d. wt. 7 gr. making in money ) Coined in bale Irifh money in March 1° Eliz. of ^ 3 ounces fine filver and 9 ounces of allay, in weight > i5)54i 10 03 i j. J 9, ^'2 8 /. worth in llerling money More of like bafe money in the time of Sir Ri-^ chard Martyn, in weight 89,844 /. \o oz. i^d.wt.> 70,105 09 o: 2 q. •worth in fttrling money J So that the whole value of the filver money 7 ^ „ , „q ^ „ II » ■ 1 I 4)7 '8,570 02 00 2 q. coined in the queen s tmie, amounted 10 j li Coined 66 A TABLE OF James I. ApHl, and arrived at Whitehall on Saturday the 7"* day of '^°^' May following, 1603. On the 21'' of the fame month he renewed the indentures with the mafter and worker of his mint Sir Ricliard Martyn, for the coining of new moneys, the fame both in goodnefs and in weight, as thofe direfted by the above mentioned indentures of the 43 44-0,55^ oS 09 3 q. 6 gr. and made in current money j Coined in crown gold money in the mint in the} • Tower of London, from 1558 to 1601, in weight^ 332,848 i6 o- 20, jo,o86/. 3 oz. iS d. ivt. ij gr. which made in \ current money at 33 /. the pound weight :: More from i6oi to 1603, in weight 643 /. 10 oz,7 8 d. wt. 21 gr. which made in current money atr 21,737 oj 01 2 £. 33/, 10 J. the pound weight J The fum total of all the crown gold coined? in the queen's time, was in weight 10,730/. 2 oz.e 35455^5 '9 07 J d, ivt. 14 1''*, and made in current money J And the true value of all the gold and filv^cr? moneys coined in the time of queen Elizabeth,^5,5i3,7i7 11 01 i q. amounted to i> PIECES ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 6^ PIECES OF TWO PENNIES, PENNIES, and HALF PEN- James I. NiES. The five fhilling pieces firfl; coined had on one °^" fide the king's figure on horfeback, crowned and in ar- mour with his drawn fword in his right hand, the houfings of his horfe adorned with a crowned rofe ; and his ftyle round about was iacobvs. d.'g.' ang'. sco'. fran'. et, hib'. rex. The famepieces had on their reverfe the royal arms in an efcutcheon handfomely garnifhcd, with the motto exvrgat. devs. dissipentvr. inimici. but thefe arms were different fi-om what had yet ap- peared upon the Enghlli money, France and England being now placed quarterly in the firfl: and fourth quar- trfers of the fhield, Scotland in the fecond, and Ireland in the third. The half crowns were every way like the five {hilling pieces, except in the abridgment of fome of the words in the king's ftyle. The fliillings and half fiiillings had on one fide the king's profile buft crowned and in armour, with his ftyle as before, and the refpcdiive figures XII. and VI. behind his head to denote the value of the pieces: and on the other fide they had the royal arms in a plain efcutcheon with the former motto. The two pennie pieces and pennies were imprefl'ed with the king's head, like the ftiillings and half ftiillings, but with the figures II. and 1. placed refpedivcly behind it, the legend i.d.g. ROSA. SINE, spina, aiid they bore on the other fide the royal arms in a plain efcutcheon without any infcription. The half pennies were exactly like thofe of queen Eli- zabeth, with the portcullis on the one fide and the crofs on the other ; being only to be diflinguifhed by the mint marks difcoverina; the time of their coinajie. All thefe feveral pieces were marked with a thiftle flower, till the ii"* of May 1604, and from that time with Vijleur de lis till the 1 1"' of the following November, prefcntly after which the alterations to be next mentio 1 d took 6S ATABLEOF James I. took place. It may alfo be obferved that, of all the coins 1603- Qf f}^is reign, none are dated but the half {hillings, all which have the feveral years of their mintage placed over the efcutcheon of the royal arms upon their refpeclive reverfes. 1604. There was a proclamation iffued on the 16''' of No- vember, in the fecond year of the king, wherein were particularly defcribed both the gold and the (ilver coins then publiilied, in confequence of the new indentures made with Sir Richard Martyn a few days before : and by this proclamation it appears that the words mag.' BR it', were from thenceforward to be put into the king's ftyle, inftead of thofe of ang'. sco'. infcribed upon the former crowns, half crowns, {hillings, and half {hillings ; and that the motto qv^. devs. conivnxit. nemo, se- PARET. was inflead of the former exvrgat. devs. eic. to be imprefled upon the reverfes of the fame fe- veral pieces. Tlie two pennie pieces were at the fame time ordered to be flampcd on one fide with a rofe crowned, and on the otjier fide with a thiftile flower likewife crowned ; the pennies with a rofe and a thiftle flower not crowned; and both pieces with i. d. g. ROSA. SINE. SPINA, ou the onc fide and tveatvr. vnita. DEVS. on the other: but the half pennies were only to have the rofe on the one fide and the thiftle on the other without any infcription. After which the proclamation concluded with the following words: "All which feveral *' coins, both of gold and lilver, we do hereby publilh, ** declare and aurhorize to be, amongft others heretofore ufed, our moneys current for this our kingdom of Great Britain, to be ufed and received by all our loving fubjedls thereof, in all receits and payments, *' and in all manner of trafHcking and dealing between *' man and man, at the feveral rates and values con- *' tained ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 69 " tained in the table hereunder written, exprefiing their James I. " true values and weights, according to the account: of ^ ' iD y CD " the mint-men of both nations." The SE feveral pieces of filver did accordingly con- tinue to be minted, without any other material altera- tion *, during all the following years of the king's reign : and the feveral mint-marks then (tamped upon the mo- neys whether of gold or filvcr were ; till the 20''' of June 1 60 5 the former mark of the JIe//r de liSy to the i o''' of July 1606 the rofe, to the 30''' of June 1607 the efcal- lop lliell, to the 11''' of November following the bunch of grapes, to the 17'"' of May 1609 the coronet, to the ii"* of May 1 6 10 the key, to the 9''' of May \6\i the bell, to the 21'' of May 1612 the mollet, to the 28'*" of April 1613 the tower, to the 20'' ot 0<^ober following the trefoil, to the 17''' of May 161 5; the cinqfoil, to the 15'' of November 1616 the ton, to the 23"* of Auguft 1617 the book, to the 15''' of May i6j8 the half moon, to the 9'"" of June 1619 the plain crofs, to the 20''' of Auguft following the filtyre crofs, to the 23'' of June 1620 the fpur- rowel, to the 5"' of fune 1621 the rofe, to the 3"* of July 1613 the thiftle-flower, to 17''' of June 1624 the jlenr de lis, and from that time to the king's death the trefoil. But it may be noted that, whereas filver was ex'cellively fcarce during fome part of this reign, and the coinages ot it then very fmall, it has liappen'd that no filver moneys were ever marked * I have obfervcd this only varia- qiicntly coined alx)Ut the year 1621 ; tion from the common type of king the ho wfings of the king's liorfe are ad- Jamcs's moneys above dclv ribcd : that nrned with the thilUc Howlt crowned, upon the crown pieces and half crown inftead of the cruwned rofe, that ap- pieccs that are marked with a thilVlc pears upon all his other pieces coined flower, that have mag. brit. in the in England of the fame denomin.i- king's ftylc, and that were conic- tions. S widi 70 A TABLE OF jy;MEs I. yvkh tlie half moon or the faltyre crofs abovemen- °^' tioned, Th I s fcarcity of filver was the fubjedl of much con- fideration and enquiry at the time: feveral proclamations were ifiued ao;ainft the exportation of it, and feveral fchemes were propofed for the drawing it into the mint. It was particularly advifed that the weight of the money {hould be leflcned : and this proccdcd fo far, that di- redions were adually given to the attorney-general, the 2 1'' of February i(5i9, to prepare new indentures of the mint, whereby the pound weight Troy of ftandard iilver fhould be coined into 66 fliillings. But thefe di- redions were foon after recalled, and the defigned al- teration of the filver coin was ordered to be fufpendcd for twelve months; upon a report made to the council, the 1^'^ of the following April, by feveral eminent merchants, whofe advice had been defired in a confulta- tion with the minifters on that occafion. This intended al deration does not appear after this to have been thought of any more : and indeed filver about the fame time be- gan to come again to the mint, in greater plenty than it had done for fome years * before. [ There was a good quantity of money coined in this reign, of the filver refined from the lead of the mines in the principality of Wales: and all the pieces of this money, of which I have fcen the crown, the * It does not appear what was the of March 1625, there was coined the occafion of this change, but the fadl fiim of 205,500/. 16s. 2d. ThisJaft was this : that in the four years fum is however little more than was from the V^ of April 1617, to the coined in the laft one year and a hJlf 4''' of February 1 6io, there was only of queen Elizabeth: during whofe coined at the tower in lilver money tlie whole reign there was coined in filver fum of 1070/. 15 J. 4957 13 01 03 07 1,765,961 «4 10 In fterling filver, at 3 /. 2 s. the pound weight In like filvcr for Ireland j to the fterling value of And the total value of all the gold and filver ^ moneys coined in the reign of kir.g James, ex- f clufive of fome bafe moneys coined lor Ireland, )i 5y43'^->35^ '3 °9 and of which I have feen no account •, aoioumai i. to the value of J There 72 ATABLEOF James I. There wcre in this rci^''^''/'/*-^^> they there began, about the end or this year 1641, to com ^.^^^ in New-Inn hall, under the direction of Sir William Park- hurft and Thomas Bufhell efq. *. IN; • The earl of Clarendon feems to OxFord. Which is alfo more agreeable reprefcnt the firlt loan made by the to his immediate removal of the mint iiniverfitys to the king, to have con- tliithcr. fiftcd chiefly of plate, and the lad Thefe cxtra(5ls, tf/f. were very kind- now made by tiic iinivcrfity of Oxford ly communicated by the revere: id and to have been altogether money. But it karned Francis Wife, B. D. ot Trinity is more probable from the following college in Oxford : who lias fartlicrin- extrafts of papers and memorandums formed me there is very little ir.ore to Hill remaining in that univcrfity, that be found at tiic univerlity relating to their firll benevolence was principally thcfe affliirsj excepting only two or money •, and that their plate was not, three other receipts for pl.Ue delivered, at leaft the greatell part of it, pre- to the iiime purpofe, as the und^-rmcn- lented him till after his coming to tioned receipt to the redor and tcl- Y J0W8 S6 Char. I. 1642. A TABLE OF In this mint there was coined in the following years, if we may judge by the frequency of the pieces ftill extant, a large quantity of money, both of gold and filver. And as this mint was managed and wrought by the officers and moneyers that came from Aberiftwith, and was itfelf confidered as the fame mint removed, all the money that was coined in it was marked on both fides with the Welfli lows of Exeter college. The great danger of being called upon by the parliament, as the vice-chancellor and fcveral heads of houfes had already adtually been, having made all people very careful what they entered and committed to writing in thofe times, concerning fuch .matters : and for the fame reafon, in all probability, all the records ot the proceedings of the mint at Oxford were fecreted and deftroyed. So that no more is now known about thofe tranfadtions, than what is to be gathered from old and very imperfeft traditions. The fubftance of the ex- trafts above fpoken of is as follows. From the univerjity regijler. July II, 1642. The king fent a letter to Dr. Prideaux, bifhop of Worcefter, and then vice-chancellor of Oxford, to borrow money of the col- leges and halls, to be repaid with the intcreft of S per cent. From the college regijler cf All Souls. July II, 1642. " Upon a letter " from the king, the college agreed *' to lend all the ready money in their " treafury, viz. 351 /.• 7 j. 3^. and " that they would borrow as much " as is owing to the faid treafury " upon the college bond, which is •' 300 /. in all 65 1 /. y s. ^ d. to his *' majefty's ufe, receiving an acquit- '* tance for the fame, by his majefty's " direftion, from Sir Richard Cha- " worth, chancellor of Chiclicfter.'' Note that in RuJJjworth's ColleSii- ons., part III. vol. 2. may be feen the king's letter to the vice-chancellor of Oxford, from Beverly the 18^"^ of July 1642 ; wherein he returns " his royal " thanks, for a moft large and ample " teftimony of the affeftion of that " loyal univerfity, by the free loan " of a very confiderable fum of mo- " ney, in a time of fo great and ur- " gent neceflity.'* From the fame college regijler of All Souls. Jan. 6. 1642. The king's letter to the college to deliver their plate to Sir William Parkhurfl: and Thomas Bufliell efq. mafters of the mint, to be repaid, " as foon as God fliall en- " able us, after the rate of 5 s. per " ounce white filver, and 5 j. 6d. " guilt filver.'* Ah original paper in the hand of the prefident of Corpus Chrijii college. Jan. 21. 1642. " It was agreed " that our college plate fhould be " fent unto the king, according to " his letter of 7rt«. 6. 1642. By us Rob. Newlin^ Pr." and four more. Frojj^ ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 87 Wellli feathers, the diftingiiilliing mark of that mint, as Char. I. has been before obferved. This money not onlydiftcred inform from what had been before coined, but fome pieces of new deno- Frem a letter to the re5lor and fellows oj Exeter college. 'Jan. 6. 1642. Charles R, " — and ha vine; received fe- *' veral quantities of plate from divers «' of our loving liibicdls, wc have *' removed our mint hither, to our " city of Oxford, for the coinage *' thereof. " And we have entrufted our trufiy *' and well beloved Sir William " Parkhurft kn'. and Thomas Bunicll *' efq. officers of our mint, to receive *• the fame plate from you." The receipt for the fame. Feb. 2. 1642. " Received of the " redor and fellows of the college *' of Exeter in Oxford, in plate tor *' his majefty's fervice, as follow- " eth: /. oz. dwt. " In white plate — 208 04 18 " In guilt plate — cjS 00 o^; <( Total — 246 oi 01 By the regifter of the fame college, •wherein are fome letters that pafled between the king and the colkge, it further appears, that upon his firll defiring their plate, they prefcntcd a petition fetting forth, " that it was " contrary to the ftatutcs they were *' fworn to obfcrvc, to alienate or •' fo much as alter the form of their *' plate, upon any pretence whatfo- *' ever j" to wlvich the king in his anfwer urged, " the example vi " other college.^, who were cquaf- " ly tyed down in that rcfpcft by «' their ftatutes," and told them, that, " if they confidered the inten- " tion of their benefactors, they " would make no fcruple." Upon which they complied with his de- fire. From the univerfty regijlcr. " To the vice chancellor, and the " reft of the convocation. Charles R. " Trufty and well-beloved, we greet " you well. Whereas we have lately, " by our letters to the fevcral heads " and fellows of every college within " this our iiniverfity, defired the " loan of all the plate belonging to " thefe our faid colleges, for the " fupply and maintenance of our " army railed for the defence of us *' and thefe whole kingdoms: and " whereas we are informed that there " are other quantitys of plate be- " longing to our univcrfity for the " life of feveral halls, which cannot " be difpofed of but by the con- " fent of the convocation, we have " thought fit, etc.'" Oxford., 25. Jan. 1642, ^lihtis perle^is per procuratorem univcrfitatis, prcrogante i-ice-caiicel- lario, oinnis coetus magijlrorum regen- tium et non regentium annuchaty ut qiidccumque vafa et uteii/ilia argenua out demratn, in aulis invenirentur^ ad ufuvi ferenijfmii, etc. -I Jan. 164:. minations 88 ATABLEOF Char. I, rnlnatlons were alfo now introduced ; there being made "^"' of fllvcr, PIECES OF TWENTY SHILLINGS, and TEN SHILLINGS, CROWNS, HALF CROWNS, SHILLINGS, HALF SHILLINGS, GROATS, QJJARTER SHILLINGS, HALF GROATS, and pennies. The four larger pieces reprefented on one fide the king on horfeback as ufual, but with arms and weapons moftly under the horfe's feet, the Welfh feathers in the area behind him, and with his ufual ftyle: on their reverfe was this motto, exvrgat. devs. dissi- pentvr. inimici. roundabout, and relig. prot. leg. ang, liber, far. in two lines generally, crofs the middle of the area, alluding to what his majefty had declared at the breaking out of the war, that '* his intentions *' were to preferve the proteftant religion, laws, and li- " berties of his fubjedis, and privileges of parliament." Within the area were, above, three plumes of the Welfh feathers ; with the value, on the twenty, ten, and five fhilling pieces, but not on the half crowns : and under- neath was the date of the years of mintage. 1 have feen of thefe larger pieces thofe dated in the feveral years 1642, 1643, ^"^ 1^44* ^^^ I have heard of others dated in 1646. They are in general of very coarfe and mean work, but in their weight are not to be found fault with. Yet have I feen fome twenty fhilling pieces ftruck in 1644, hnely performed, on the reverfe of which the motto relic, prot. ew. was placed in a handfome co- partment, furmounted with one large plume of the WeKli feathers. I have feen belides a very beautiful crown of the fame date, upon which the city of Oxford appeared in perfpedive under the king's horfe : the word oxon. was to be read over the view of the faid city, and was again imprefled under the date upon the other fide, as the letters ox. were alfo on the twenty fliilling piece. One ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 8c One of tliefe very remarkable crowns was in the col- Char. [. ledion of my friend Brown Willis, efq. by whom it wap, among other valuable coins, not long iince prefentcd to the univerfity library at Oxford. Many of thefe coins have nothing that looks like a privy mark, but others have the Wclfli feathers again repeated in the place of one, before the beginning of the king's flyle: which obfervation alfo holds of all the three pound, twenty, and ten fliilling pieces of gold, coined in this mint. And it may be added, concerning the fine Oxford crown piece laft fpoken of, that upon that there is a fort of crofs croflet in the place of a mark on the one fide, and that on the reverfe, there is a branch of either laurel or olive between each of the four words, exvrgat. DEVS. DISSIPENTVR. INIMICI. The lefler moneys of filver of this fort from the fhil- ling down to the pennie, have all the king's head on the one fide, exactly the fame as on the pieces firuck before the removal of the mint from Aberiftwith : but on the other, they have the motto exvrgat. etc. round about, and RELiG. PROT. etc. nioftly in three lines, crofs the area, with the three plumes above and the date below. Some of thefe Ihavefeen dated as late as the year i(54<5; from whence it is probable this mint continued till the fur- render of Oxford to the parliament forces, on the 24"'' of June that year *. Some of the half fiiillings and groats of 1643, ^^'^ '^44) liave, as was obfcrved above, the mint mark of the open book, vvhilft moft of the others have either no mark at all, or the feathers repeated, as on • The fcarceft of this money, is and there was probably but very little that of the year 1645, I do not my- money coined in this mint that year, fdf rccollc(^t to have fcen any more Mr. Thorclby had alfo a like groat pieces of that date tiun one groat : in his colledion. Z the 90 ATABLEOF Char. I. the larger money. There arealfo half jfliillings of 16^6, ^~' that have a B at the head of the king's ftyle, of whicli I know not the reafon: and I have feen a groat of the fame date without any mark, and upon which the feathers were omitted. It is farther to be noted, that upon fome of the mo- neys of this kind of all forts as well of gold, as of filver, the letters ox. or oxon. occur under the date: and thefe pieces were very probably minted out of plate or bullion, fiirnifhcd by the gentlemen of the univerfity or city of Oxford. There are befides fome others that have under the date an R and a B interlaced: thefe are, I believe, all dated in n544, and are of lilver only. They are re- ported to have been thus marked in memory of Dr. Ri- chard Baylie, prefident of St. John's college, and dean of Salifbury, a gentleman who fufFered greatly afterwards for his fervices to the king, and who is faid to have pro- V cured him a confiderable loan about this time: but what credit is to be given to this tradition, I fhall not de- « termine. I TAKE it for a truth, that all the exurgat money was coined at Oxford, as I obferve that fort of money ta have commenced with the eftablifhment of the mint there, and to have ceafed upon the furrender of the city : I have alfo found this to be the current, tradition in the univerfity, and the general opinion of the oldeft colle- dors of thefe coins, and I have never yet met with a good reafon, to affign any of them to any other particu- lar place. But befides this money, there were alfo pieces of other forts i^ruck during the king's troubles; fome of which were more like his former coins, with arms upon the reverfe. Among thefe I have noted a half crown marked with a. lofe, and differing from the common ones only in this, that ENGLISH S ILVER COINS. 91 that the king fee ms commanding with a truncheon in^^AJ^- ^• his hand, the ground under the horfe covered with ' ^^' weapons, and that it is dated 1642, under the fliield on the reverfe. This, by the mark and date, could not be minted in the tovver ; I fhould therefore apprehend it to have been coined at York, about the time that the king iirft fet up his ftandard in that neighbourhood, and where I prefume the mint ftill fubfifted : and the fame may be, faid of fome fliiHings and leffer pieces of the fame date and witli the fame mark of a rofe, and of fome others a^ain dated in 1(^44 ;. in which laft year the city of York was furrendered to the parhament, on the 16''' day of July. I have alfo [s^n a half crown with chst. under the horfe for Chefter, a crown with a caftle as a mark on both fides dated i<^4j, and another of the fame date and mark, but with Ex. for Exeter on the reverfe : a half crown with three pears, being the arms of the city of Worcefler ; and another, much taken notice of, for ^ the particularity of having the royal arms encircled with the garter and fupported, a manner in which they are repre- fented on no other Englifli coin. This piece is dated in 1645, and is faid to have been minted fomewhere in the weft of England, tho'l never heard the particular place. But I fhould in general imagine, that all thefe laft mentioned pieces were coined by the moneyers of the mint at York, who difperfed upon the breaking up of the fame in 1644. During tlie continuance of the civil war, the noblemen and gentlemen in arms for the king, were un- der the neceffity of ftriking money occafionally, and coining dovv^n their pLite for the relief of their men. A good deal of this fort of money has been prcferved in the cabinets of the curious : but it were to be wifhcd that fome account of it had been publiiLed, whilft the memory of thefe 92 ATABLEOF Char. I. tlicTc tranfac^ions was yet frefh, and that fome of the '^^' perfons concerned in them were flill living ; as it is only from very impcrfcdt traditions, that any knowledge has been handed down to us oi thefe things, that were done in times of great diflrcfs, and of which confcquently no regular records were then kept. The firft of this fort of money was flruck in the caftle of Dublin, by order of the lords of the council there, in January 1641, confifling of irregular pieces of plate, flamp- dwt. gr. dtvt. gr. divt. gr. ed on each fide with the figures 19-8, 9-16, 3-20, elc. and defigned refpedlively to pafs for five fhillings, two fhillings and fix pennies, one fhilling, etc. Sooh after which others were alfo by the king's approbation ftruck there, of all the ordinary values, from five fhillings to a pennie, with C. R. under a crown on the one fide, and the value s s d V, II -VI, e/c. on the other. There were alfo fome other irregular pieces of filver, flamped on both fides with V- without either crown or C. R J and others with only a plain crofs on the one s fide, and the value, as V, on the other: but I am igno- rant when or where they were coined. 1645. In i<545-, when Carlifle was defended for the king, the governor, Sir Thomas Glcmham, coined out of plate, and in a very rude manner, fliillings, with C. R. under a crown and the figures XII. on theonefide, and obs. carl. on the other ; there were alfo pieces of three fhillings each, and perhaps fome others, of the fame make. There were befides this fame year pieces flruck at Cork in Ireland, with only the value, as XII, VI, etc. on the one fide, and cork. 1645. on the other. And towards the end of the fame and the beginning of the following year, there were coined at Newark, pieces of thirty, twelve ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 93 twelve, nine, and fix pennies, all of the form of aC"*R-I- lozenge, with a crown between the letters C. and R, ^ '^^' and their value, XXX, XII, eic. on the one fide, and CBS. NEWARK. j6^^^q*t appointed mafter and worker of the mint in his room. ■//a^^'^"/ * "* • The new filvcr coins of the commonwealth, were CROWNS, HALF CROWNS, SHILLINGS, and HALF SHIL- LINGS, with PIECES OF TWO PENNIES, PENNIES, and HALF PENNIES. The four larger pieces prefented on one fide the plain cfcutcheon of England, commonly called St. George's crofs, between two branches of palm and laurel, legend, THE. COMMONWEALTH. OF. ENGLAND: and on the other, two plain cfcutcheons conjoined ; the firft charged with the Encrliih crofs as before, and the other with the Irifh harp, legend, god. with. us. 1649. and over the two fliields were the figures V, II-Vl, XII, or .»VI, ref[)c6lively exprefllng the values of the feveral coins. The pieces of two pennies, and the pennies bore alfo the fame impreflion, with the figures II, and I, over the double fhiclds, but without any other infcription. The halfpennies had only the plain fl-^lcld of England on the one fide, and that of Ireland on the reverfe ; but none of thefe laft pieces were dated or had any mint-mark. The moneys of gold, which were, twenty, ten, and five (hilling pieces, only differed, by the exprefiion of their value, from thofe of filver : and I have feen upon fomc of thefe coins aJl the feveral dates from 1 ^49 to 1 6 j6^, together with thofe of 1658, and i6(So, the eight fird im[''refi"ed with the mint-mark of the fun, and the two lart with that of an anchor. From all which it ap- pears, that thefe moneys were never entirely difcontinued, from the time of their firfl: coinage to the Rcliauration. I have alio heard of pieces dated in 16)9, marked with an anchor: and that there were others in i0j7 mariCed with the fuii, does appear by the trial of the pi\, made by 96 A TABLE OF Char. II. ^y order of the prote£tor, on the third of December ^^' that fame year *. j6si. In the year 1651, one Peter Blondeau a Frenchman^ who had been fome time follicitiiig an employment in the mint, produced lome models or proof-pieces of money exquifitely coined by the mill and fcrew, and curioufly imprefled with letters or graining on the rims or edges: the engraver employed in making the dies being the fa- mous Thomas Simon, fo defervedly efteemed and admi- red for his excellent performances in this way. Thefe feveral pieces, which were half crowns, fhillings, and halt fliillings, excepting the beauty of their work, exactly re- fembled the type of thofe of the commonwealth that were coined by the hammer: they bore the date i6yi, and had alfo like the others the fame mint mark of the fun. Some of the half crowns had on their edge thefc words cu- rioufly infcribcd, truth, and. peace. 1651. petrus. blondaevs. INVENTOR. FECIT, with 3. palm branch before the beginning of the motto, and a branch of laurel between the date and the name of the artilt: and others had only this legend, IN. THE. THIRD. YEARE. OF. FREEDOME. BY. GODS. BLESSING. RESTORED. 1651. no lefs artfully imprefled. Both the fliillings and half fhillings were excellently grained on their refpedive * What quantity was coined in eJ at the Tower, during that time ; all of this money of the common- in crown gold, the weight of 1768/. wealth, I have never been able to y cz. ly dw(. 16 ^r. making in tale, learn. All the papers I have feen at 41/. the pound weight, the fum relating to that fubjecl, were only of 72,514/. 18 j. 08 ^. i ^. and in fter- fomeextrads IVIr. Conduit had of Dr. ling filver, the weight of 123,644/. Guerdain's accounts, for about four 01 oz. oS dwt. 12 gr. making in talc, years and a half elapfed between the at 3 /. 2 s. the pound weight, the fum 16''' day of May 1649, when he en- of 383,294/. 15s. 04^. iq. ; fo that tered upon his office, and the 30''' the whole coinage, both in gold and day of November 1653. By which filver, during the faid time, amounted it appeared tha: there was coin- to the value of 455,809/. 14 J. oo*fc;. of goldfmifhs of our faid city of London, of integrity and experience, to be impanncllcd and fworn on a day certain, to be by you in that behalf appointed, in the place ac- cuftomed within our palace of Wclhninfler : and that the lords commifFioners of our treafury, the juflices of the feveral benches, and barons of the exchequer, or fome " of them be then there, prefent, and " councelhng, and afTiibng you in the " due execution of this our fervice. " Given at White-hall this 9''' day " of November, 1657." To our right trujly and ivell be- lovedNa.th. Fitnnes, and John Liflc, Lords Comm-Jfioners of our great jeal c/ England. The tryal of the pix lafl: preceding this, was made on the 9'''of Novem- ber 1649, before the lord prefident of the council of ilate, the commifFioners of the great feal, and others of the council of ftate, and committee of re- venues : by virtue of an a " day of April 1662." To Thomas Simon, one of our cheife gravers, \66ly io8 ATABLEOF Char^ 11. i(^(^2j and on the 19"' of January following; it appears by the books of that office, that they aftually began to coin the new money on the &^ day of February ; and that tlic fame was publiflied and made current by procla- mation on the 17"' of the following March 1663. i66j. The pieces of filver were crowns, half crowns, SHILLINGS, and half shillings, almoft the fame as thofe that have been coined ever fmce. They reprefented on one fide the king's head in profile, in long hair or a peruque, crowned with laurel, and with a fort of Roman mantle about his fliouldcrs ; legend carol\s. 11. del GRATIA : and on the reverfe were the four crowned fhields, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, with the garter ftar in the center, and four double linked C in the quarters between the fliields ; legend mag. br. FRA. ET. H1J3. REX. 1 663. The two larger pieces had on their rims or edges the following words, decvs. et. tv- TAMEN. ANNO. REGNi. XV. witli fomc mullcts or crofi'es that were poffibly ufcd as privy marks ; and the two lefier were neatly grained on the edge, with parallel flrokes at right angles to the faces of the coin ; but which were fome years after exchanged for thofe oblique ones that have continued in ufe almofl: to the prefent time. The year of the reign likewife, which was exprefled in figures upon the edges of the two larger pieces, was afterwards infcribed upon the fame in words at length, anno, regni. vicesimo. OCTAVO. eU\ and the fame motto has conflantly been im- prefi'ed, without any alteration, upon all the crowns and half crowns that have fince been minted in the followlno; reigns. But I muft not omit taking notice, that fome of- the firft milled crown pieces that were coined, and that bore the date i66i, differed in this from thofe coined afterwards, that the arms of France and England Were placed quarterly together in the firft and third of the ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 109 the four crowned fliields on their reverfes; and that the^"^^- ^^• words on their edges were only decvs. et. tvtamen. with- out the year of the king's reign. Some of thefe alfo, if not all, had a rofe under the king-'s head. ^ ^ It was in this fame year 166^, that the fo often s^ mentioned Thomas Simon, produced that beautiful li and inimitable pattern crown with the petition on the 5 i edge, that is now fo juftly valued by the curious as a e ; mafterpiece in this fort of workmanlliip. It refembles, 1 1 in its general difpoiition, the common milled five *s fhilling pieces, but the king's head being larger fills I i a greater part of the area ; both the fiice and the i ^ garment are covered with a fort of frofted vi'ork, firfl: 1 1 ufcd by this mafter in fome of his former coins, and i< which has a good effe of — ; — — 4,177.253 19 o^ > 544.642 14 II In 112 ATABLEOF Char. II. Th E EngliHi merchants trading to the Eaft-Indies, did, ^^^2" in the reign of king Charles the lecond, flrike filver money In like filver, from the 6'^ day of February i66i'^ I. s. d. to the 6''' day of Febnmry 16S4, the weight of 1,025,012/. ooz. Xifdivt. \ifgr. the which be- ing coined into milled money, at the fame rate of ^ 3^^77^537 ^7 ^9 '?• 3 /. 2S. the pound weight, made in the coins then and ftill current, the ium of ■ Total of the filver, in weight 1,200,703 /. 3^^.^ iivt. 14^?". making in money — — 3 3,722,180 02 08 iq. And th€ total value of all the moneys both of ^| gold and filver coined in this reign, acconiing to >7>''99'434 02 01 the foregoing rates, amounted to the Turn of — J !?• It may here be noted, that part of the filver abovementioned was the pro- duce of 1,500,000 French crowns, or 4,500,000 Livres 'Touniois, received for the fale ol Dunkirk •, which pro- duced in flandard filver the weight of 108,636/. 6 oz. ^dzi-i. 2gr. and made in coined Engiifh jiioney by tale 336,773 /. 3 J. 9^. 2 q. As alfo, that other part of the fame filver was the produce of what were called the crown and harp moneys, whicii Sir Thomas Vyner kn'. a:,d bar^ Francis Meyncll efq. then flieriff of London, .and Edward Backwell elq. contrafted Avith his majefty on the 6^'" of De- ceoiber 1^651, to take in by tale, and to coin with all convenient expedi- tion, at their own charge intoEnglifli current moneys : receiving for the fame a confideration of 5/. 10 j. for every 100/. in tale, in lieu of want of weight and expence of coinage. Upon which there was accordingly recoined of the faid crofs and liarp moneys, the fum of about 500,000/. in tale. And here I mufl: acknowledge the particular favours of the honourable Richard Arundell efq. jiow mafter = and worker of his majefty's mint; who, knowing that I was making en- quiries of this fort, was kindly pleafed to dirc038 iS 08 zq. 44/. \Qs. the pound weight, the value of J In ftcrlingfiivcr, the weight of 167,198/. iocz.'\ 6 d'j.-l. 2ogr. making in money at the rate of I. 5,8,316 09 05 iff.. 3/, 2 J. the pound weight, the fum ot — — | ^ Total value of both the gold and the filver — 2,631,955 08 01 3^, i088. ** The late king James landing with and fiJver, that were then current in French forces at Kingfale in Ireland Ireland : but his wants a few months on the 1 2 "^ of the following March, after greatly increafing, he was re- the greateft part of that kingdom fub- duced to fuch diftrefs, that he was mitted to him, and he made his en- forced to coin old brafs guns and other try into Dublin on the 24"' of the uteniils of bafe metal, into pieces of lame month. He there by proclama- money, made alfo current for half tion raifed for his prefent occafions, crowns, fhillings, and half (hillings, the value of all the coins both of gold by proclamation of the 18"' of June 1689. ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 115 CROWNS, SHILLINGS, HALF SHILLINGS, GROATS, and '^'^- ^ J^^" PIECES OF THREE PENNIES, TWO PENNIES, and ONE PEN N IE. But tluTc had both their heads in profile, look- ing the fame way, and in the manner that writers upon medals call capita jugata; the king's head was laureat and nearer than the queen's, of whom he thereby took the right hand. Their ftyle was gvlielmvs. et. maria. del GRATIA. MAG. BR. FR. ET. HI. REX. ET. REGINA. The arms of Nafl'au were placed inftead of the garter ftar, in the center of the reverfe of the four larger pieces, and 16S9. All thefe pieces were hand- ibmely coined with the king's head, ftyle, and year of our Lord, and were charged on the reverie with a crown and two fcepters in laltyre, between the letters 7and /?, the value xxx. xii. or VI. abov-j, and tlie month of coin- age below. They were befides ail edged, the half crowns with a foli- age, and the two lelTer pieces with a common graining. There are to be found half fhillings from June 1689 to May 1690, fhillings from July 1689 to June 1690, and half crowns from Auguft 1689 to the fame 1690. But in April that laft the necefTity of the king's af- had again obliged him to re- call by proclamation the laft men- tioned bi-afs money, when all the lefier pieces that were brought in were recoined, into half crowns, fhillings, and half fhillings, of the fame form as the former, but of little more than half their weight : and the firrt half crowns being again ftamped, were ordered to pafs for five fliillings each. This new ftamp prcfented on the one fide the king on horfcback with his ufual ftyle, and on the reverfe four crowned fhiclds as upon the Englifh five fliilling pieces j with a crov/n in June year, fairs the center, the motto christo. vic- TORE. TRivMPHO, round about, and Axo. DOM. 1690. crofs the quarters. Of this brafs money there was coined in a little more than a year, as Dr, King afterwards lord archbifliop of Dublin informs us, 965,375/. when even that metal failing, there were coined, but not iflued, in the latter end of June that fame year 1690, five Ihilling pieces of pewter with a ftud of brafs or copper in the center, cxadly like the laft above defcribed crown pieces of brafs, but edged with the words melioris. tessera, fati. an- no. RECNi. SEXTO. Thefc pcwtcr plcccs are now very rare, but the procla- mation by which they were intended to be made current, was, as we learn from Mr. Putland^s letter in PhiLTranf. N-". 297, aftually prepared ; when the viiilory obtained by king William at the pafTage of the Boyne on the firft of July, prevented the publi- cation of it. The late king James quitted Ireland about three days after this defeat; and retiring a fccond time into France, he there afterwards de- ceafed, at St. Germain en Laye near Paris, on Saturday the d^^ of Septem- ber 1 70 1. the ii6 ATABLEOF W. & M. the fame had alfo an interUnked W and M in each of the ^ ^ ' four quarters, under which were ftamped the four figures exprefFing the year of our Lord. Upon the four lefler pieces, whereon the king was reprefented with (hort hair, and both he and the queen with naked necks, the words Dei ^,at'ia were contracted into d. g. and the areas of the re- verfes were feverally filled with the numeral figures 4, 3> Zy and I , each refpedively under a crown. There were of the half crowns firft: coined in the year 1689 two forts, both different from thofe above defcribed in this particular, that they had upon their reverfes the royal arms in a fiagle plain efcutcheon crowned. The arms on the one were only England, Scotland, Ireland, and France quarterly; but upon the other they were marfhalled in the common way, France and England quarterly in the firft and fourth quarters, Scotland in the fecond, and Ireland in the third ; and both having NafTau upon an inefcutcheon in the center. Will. III. Q^ e E N Mary deccafcd at Kenfington, on friday ^^'^^' the 28''' day of December 1694. And the king after her death continued to coin the fame moneys, but with his own head and ftyle only: gvlielmvs. hi. del gra. MAG, BR. f R. ET. HiB. REX. with the date, from 1694 to 170 I, which was reftored to its former place at the end of the legend. Theinterhnked W and M' were befides omit- ed, in the quarters of the reverfe of the larger pieces, which were again left blank: and his majefty's head upon the leffer ones was made exadly agreeable to the type of the larger. The old hammered filver money which was ftill cur- rent, tho' it had been long complained of, on account of its being diminifhed by the infamous pradice of round- ing and clipping, was about this time come to fuch a ftate, and the ill condition of it increafed fo faft; that there was an abfolute necellity for the putting an effedual ftop ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 117 ll:op to an evil, which rendered all trade and dealing be- Will. III. tween man and man precarious, and at lafl: threatened no ' ^^' Id's, than the total deftrudion of all our lilver coin. Th e king accordingly in his fpeech to the parliament i%j- on the 2 1'' day of November 1695, ^^^^^ notice of this calamity, and recommended it to the confideration of both houfes, '' as a matter of the moft general concern *' and the greateft importance." * The lords on the j"* day of the following December refolved upon an addrefs to his majefty, " defiring him to iil'ue out his proclama- " tion, that from fuch a day or days as he fhould think " fit, no clipped money of any fort fhould pafs in pay- *' ment as the current coin of this kingdom." And the ♦ To what a degree the filver coin was at this time dimiiiifhed, by the infamous praflice of chpping, will bed be apprehended from the follow- ing particulars. IVIr. Lowndes in his Ejjayfor the ainendnient of/ther coins, p. 159. gives us a computation of the common weight of 100/. by tale in ordinary filver money, from a me- dium of the bags weighed at the re- ceipt of exchequer in May, June, and July 1695. by which it appears that 572 fuch bags containing in tale 57,200 pounds, and which fhould, ac- cording to the law of the mint, have weighed 221,41862. i6dwt. S^r.did only weigii 107,647^2. iidivt. igr. So that the medium of the weight of each hundred pounds was only y^'ioz. iSdwt. inltcad of 38702. i dwt. Z2.gr. which the fame fhould have weighed: and that there was confequently upon tach hundred pounds at a medium, a deficiency ot 188 oz. ^dwl. 'i\gr. in weight •, making the value in mo- ney ot 48/. 1 2 J. and 4t/, nearly. And again it appeared, by an account I have kcnot Thomas Ncalc efq. then mafler and worker of the mint, thattheweightof790,S6o/. icz. iQgr. coined out of the clipped filver money fent in from the exchequer, was the produce of 4,695,303/, 16s. 2d. of the laid money in tale : according to which account, there was at a medium a deficiency upon each hundred pounds of the faid money, of 1 84 oz. 1 8 dwt, 16 gr. in weight; making the value in money of 47/. 15 j. 10^. But if the money was fo much de- ficient at a medium, fome of the par- ticular pieces muft have been yet more enormoufly diminifhed : and I have myfclf fcen thofe that wanted full three fourths of their lawful weight. Which jullifics what I have heard jocularly laid, that there were half crowns then currant in payment, tliat were each 7 s. 6d. too light, by which it was meant that they were fo defeClive, that one ot tlicni being put into the ballance wanted the addition ot three more ot the fame fort, to make up the weight of 2 3 2 Troy grains and a quartcr,which is nearly that of one undiminifhed half crown. a com- ii8 ATABLEOF Will. III. commons on the lo"' of the fame month came to the fol- * ^■'' lowing refohitions. *' That the mofi; effecElual way to put a flop to the ** mifchief, which the nation fuffercd by the currency of " dipt money, was, to recoin the fame.'' And there- fore " that all dipt money fhould be rccoined, accord- *' ing to the eftablifhed ftandard of the mint, both as to " weight and finenefs.'' " T H A T the lofs of fuch dipt money, as was filver, <* and coined at the lawful mint of this kingdom, fliould *' be borne by the public.'' ** That a day or days fhould be appointed, after *■' which no clipped crowns or half crowns, fhould be al- *^ lowed in payment or to pafs, except only to the col- ** ledlors and receivers of his majefty's revenues and taxes^ " or upon loans or payments into the exchequer.'' " That a day or days fhould be appointed, after '' which no dipt crowns or half crowns ihould pafs in *' any payment whatfoeven" " That all fuch crowns and half crowns, as they " came into his majefty's receit, fhould be recoined into " milled money.'' "That a day or days fhould be appointed, after " which no money clipped within the ring, fhould be al- " lowed in payment or to pafs, except only to the col- " ledlors and receivers of his majefty's revenues and taxes, *' or upon loans or payments into the exchequer." "That a day or days fhould be appointed, after '* which no money clipped within the ring fhould pafs " in any payment whatfoever." " That a day or days fliould be appointed, for all " perfons to bring in their dipped money to be recoined '' into milled money, after which no recompence fliould " be made for the fame." 3 " That ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 119 " That a fund or funds fhould be fettled, for fupply« Will. III. *' ing the deficiency of the clipped money.'' '^^' A N D an addrefs being prefented in confequence of thefe refolutions, his majelly did by a proclamation of the 19"" of the fame month, reciting the before mentioned addreffes of the two houfcs, " command; that after the " i'' oi January then next enfuing no clipped crowns or " half crowns fhould pafs in any payment, except to his " majefty's coUedors and receivers, etc. nor after the 3* ** of February in any payment whatfoever within Lon- *' don or forty miles thereof, nor after the iz"* of Fe^ *' bruary in any other part of the kingdom, and that " after the 13"" of February no fhilling clipped within the " ring lliould pafs in any payment, except to his maje- " fty's colIe(£lors eU. nor after the 2'' day of March in any " payment whatfoever. And that after the faid i'^ day of ** March, no other money clipped within the ring fliould " pafs, except to his majefty's colledors, efc. nor after " the 1^ day of April in any payment whatfoever." A N D by another proclamation of the 4''' day of Janu- ary in the fame year K^pjj reciting the former and an ad- drefs of the knights, citizens, and burgeffes in parliament affembled, the receivers and colledors of his majefty's taxes and revenues were " ftridly charged and com- " manded, that until the faid feveral days mentioned in " the laft proclamation, they fliould receive in payment '^ all clipped money of the feveral denominations therein " mentioned, that were of ftandard filver." But the ads of parliament prepared in the fame fcfTiot>, for the regulatiHji^ mid amending of the coniy not palTing lo foon as was expelled, and fomc farther indulgences to the prcfent pollcflors of the clipped money having been granted by the fame : his majefty did by a third procla- mation of the 17'" day of April i6(?6 declare, thot '' whereas 120 ATABLEOF Will. III. " whcreas by an a6t of the prefent parliament, intituled, » 9 • 6^6,i^yi 00 16 19 melted 1 the weight of — — — J The hammered money and wrought plate im- ported into tiie five country mints, made in weight. At Briftol, At Cheftcr, At Excrer, At Norwich, At York, The total of the hammered and clipped filver'] money,and of thewroughtphte imported; amount- >2, 065,827 02 16 03 ed to the weight of — J Which makes at 3 /. 2 s. the pound weight, the"j /. s. d. fum of 6,404,064/. 8 J. 6d. but which being coin- I g A^jr^Q-.^ i± 09 zq. cd fomewhat lighter, tho* within the remedy al- | ' "*' "^ lowed, produced rcalJy in tale, the fum of J But i4&,977 00 00 CO 101,660 00 00 00 147,296 00 00 00 83,040 00 CO 00 99,023 00 CO 00 ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 125 But as it was found that, notwithftanding the advan- Will.ii[, tages given by the beforenientloncd a6ls of parliament ^^ ' to thofc who (hould bring in their hammered and ch'pped filver moneys to the feveral mints, a confidcrable quan- tity of thofe moneys was yet ftanding out after the days fixed for the bringing in of the fame ; and as the govern- ment was flill willing to give fome relief to thofe, who had through inadvertency or other accidents neglected to take the benefit of thofe ac^s: it was provided by another ad of the next following feHion, 8 IV. III. c. i. that '' for " the encouragement of all perfons to bring in what re- " mained of their hammered filver money into his maje- " fly's mints to be recoined ; all fuch hammered filver '' money, clipped or undipped, as fhould be brought '' after the fourth day of November 1696 and before the *' firft day of July 1697 to any of his majefiy's mints, " fhould be there received, at the rate of five fiiillings " and four pence /?(?>■ ounce for every ounce Troy." And further, '* that all his majcfiy's receivers and colleflors *' iliould from the faid 4"^ of November 1696 to the i" " day of June then following 1697, receive all fuch ham- *' mered filver coin, at the rate of five (hillings and eight *' pence for every ounce Troy. ' Alter which no further encouragement was to be allowed, but the fame being fterling filver was only to be received, as it already was elfewhere, at the intrinfic value ot five fiiillings and two pennies the ounce. And whereas in order to promote the bringing in of filver bullion to the mint, towards the making good the de- ficiency in the weight of the clipped moneys; the ufe of all wrought filver plate, fpoons only excepted, had by an a weight, the value of — — . — — J In fterling filver during the iame time, the^ weight of 25 /,492/. /^oz. iS^/w/. 8^r. making |^ 79,026 09 043^. in money, at 3/. is. the pound weight, the fum 1 of . 522,365 04 103^. Total value of all the money both gold and fil- ver, coined during the joint reign of king William and queen Mary, • There was coined during the remaining part of ■ the reign of king William after the queen's death ; in crown goM in the Tower ot London, from the 29'" day of February 1694 to the 8'*^ day of ^'2,975,550 16 01 if. March 1701, the weight of 66,866/. 3 cz. \4.dwt. i\gr. making in money, at the aforefaid rate of 44/. 10 s. the pound weight, the value of J In fterling filver, during the fame time ; in thq" Tower the weight of 1,684,600/. ooz. igdwt. 6gr. and in the five country mints the weight of 577,996, making together the weight of '> 7>oi4.047 1*5 113^. 2,262,596/. 002. igdzvt. 6gr. and which pro- duced in money, at the aforefaid rate of 3/. zs. the pound weight, the fum of — — j Total value of all the moneys both of gold and ^ filver, coined from the dcceafc of queen Mary to 1 the deceafe of the king. ■ 9,989,598 13 01 And the whole value of all the fame moneys 7 coined from thi- king's accclfion to his death, /* '°>5ii'9"3 amounted to die fum of — — — } 17 "3^ Kk It 130 A TABLE OF Anne gracefully reprefented bare and in profile, her hair bound '^°'' with a fillet and tied up in a knot behind: and her ftyle was upon all the pieces anna, del gratia. mag. 1702. BRi. FR. ET HiB. REGiNA. lyoi. In which fame year war having been declared againfl: France and Spain on the 4''' day of May, feveral Spaniili Galleons and the town of Vigo in Gallicia were taken by her majefty's fleet and land forces, under the command of Sir George Rook and the duke of Ormond in the month of Odober following : from whence part of the treafure taken was foon after brought to the Tower and there coined ; all the feveral pieces both of gold and filver being ftamped with the name of VIGO, under the queen's head, as a diftindion of them from her other moneys. 3707. In the year 1707, the Union of the two kingdoms of England and Scotland being complcated, and taking place on the firfl: day of May ; there was thereupon an altera- tion made in the royal arms, as reprefented on the money : England and Scotland being from that time impaled to- gether in the firfl: and third of the four crowned fhields, in the fecond of which France was now placed, and Ire- land in the fourth All the old filver money of Scotland was alfo upon the fame occafion recoined into money of Great Britain, exadly the fame as that coined in England, and It may be obferved, that in the mc- •' Lewidors of France, v/hich were tnorial prefenttd to the lords of the " worth but 17^. and three flirthings treafury, the 21'' of September 1717, "a piece, pafTcd in England at \js. by Sir Ifaac Newton kn^ then mafter " 6d. I gave notice thereof to the and worker of bis majefty's mint, and " lords commifTioners of the treafury, upon which the redudtion of guineas " and his late majefly put out a prcr prefently after, from one and twenty " clamation that they fliould go but fhillings and fix pennies to one and " at i-j s. and thereupon they came twenty Hiiilings, was founded; there " to the mint, and 1,400,000 wers occurs the following paragraph. " coined out of them." " At the fame time," that is to fay Which accounts for the large coin- in tkeJall yc^ir of kingWilliamj '♦ the ages of gold about that time. only ENGLISH SILVER COINS, 131 only diftingiiifliable from it, by the letter E. for Edinburgh, Anne ftamped upon all the pieces under her majcfty's head*. '' '' The queen deceafed at Kenfington on funday the firft day of AugufI: 1 7 1 4, and his late majefly king George the firft, then eledlor of Brunfvvick, was proclaimed the fame day. Tii E filver moneys of king George the firft were the George I. SAME as thofe of queen Anne, and ot the fiime form ; ex- '7H- cepting that his head was again adorned wiih laurel, like thofe of his predeceflors, king Charles the fccond, king James the fecond, and king William ; and that upon the reverfe of the crowns, half crowns, fliillings, and half (Kil- ling, the arms of Brunfwick, Lunenburg, etc. ufed by his majefly as ele6lor, were placed in the laftot the four crowned fliields, the third of which was now given to Ireland. The king's * There was coined in the Tower of London during the reign of queen Anne; that is to fliy, from the 9''' day of March 1701 to the 1'' day of Augiifl: 1 714. /.J. d. In crown gold the weight of 55,832/. loz.l making in muney at the rate of 44/. \os. the/" 2,484,531 08 04 pound weight, the vakie of — — * And in fieri ing filver, the weight of 66,804 /. 7 9(52. 1 5 t/w/. which produced in money, at the rate S 207,094 18 04 2 y. of 3 /. 2 s. the pound weight, the fum of — . — 3 Total value of both forts — — — 2,691,626 06 oS iq. It may be noted, that it appears by her majefly's acceihon to her deceafe. the particulars of the accounts from But there was further coined in this which the foregoing extraft wastak.cn ; reign at Edinburgh upon the Union, that in the years 1 709 and i7ii,du- and by the Englilh moncycrs fenc ring which tlie grcatcll coinages of down thither, the weight of 103,346/". filver were made in this reign, there making in tale at the aforefaid rate was coined out of wrought plate of 3/. 2 s. the''pound weight, the brought in upon encouragement, the Ann of 320,372/. iis. flerling mo- weight of 46, 156/. Moz. iJ-jjt.^gr. ney -, all which I take to have been making in value about 1 44,0( o/. iLt- ot their firlt coinage, in the year ling; which was more than two thirds of 1707 or the very beginning of all the filvcr coined in the Tower, from 1 708. Befides which there was again a kcon-vl 132 ATABLEOF George I. king's flyle was alfo enlarged, Ftcht Defenfor being added '^"'" to his Englifli titles, which were all (lamped on the one fide, as his foreign ones were on the other; georgivs. D. G. M. BR.FR. F.T. HJB. REX. F.D. ERVN. ET L. DVX. s. R. I. A : TH, ET. EL. 1 7 1 4. But none of thefc additional titles were ever infcribed on any of the pieces lefs than the halfiLilling ; all the fmaller coins being lelt agreeable to the types of thofe minted in the time of king WilHam the third. It may be noted in this place, that upon fome of the guineas that were firfl: coined, his majefty was ftylcd pr.. EL. but prefently after the letters pr. were omitted : and as I have heard for this reafon, that this part of the flyle was thought too like that peculiar to the clcflor archbiHiop of • Mentz, who claims, as great chancellor of the empire, the firfl; place in the eledoral college *. King fecond coinage foon after, and be- fore the end of the laft mentioned year 1 708, when fome filver that could not conveniently be minted before, was alfo like the other con- verted into current money of Great Britain : but of this laft coinage I have met with no particular account. * There was coined in the Tower of London, during the reign cf king George the firll, that is to fay, from the z^ day of Auguft 17 14 to the xi''' day of June 17?. 7. In crown gold, the weight of 184,763 /. which"' computed at 46 /. 145. bd. the pound weight; guineas having been iettled and made current at 2 1 J. each, by his majefly's proclamation of the 22'' of December 1717, and being therefore no longer efteemed as pieces of twenty lliillings but of one and twenty fliillings each, in the mint j produced after that rate in money, the value of — — _ In fterling filver, the weight of 75,176/. making^ in money, at the rate of 3 /. 2 5. the pound weight ; > J . s. 8,492,876 03 06 the fum of — — — . And the total value both of the gold and the filver amounted to — — , thej 233>045 12 00 8,725,921 15 06 It ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 133 King George the firft departed this life at Ofnabrug George I. in Germany, on funday the ii'^'day of June 1717: but ''^'* the news not reaching England before the afternoon of the 1 4"", his prefent majefty, then prince of Wales, was not proclaimed king till the next day, being thurfday the ly^ of the fame month of June 1 7 1 7. Hi s majefty's moneys of filver are the fame in all re- George II, fpe6ls and of the fame form, as thofe of the king his fa- ^"^7- thcr: except that his ftyle is difterSntly difpofed and con- tradled upon the four larger pieces: the words georgivs. II. DEI. GRATIA. Only, being infcribed round the head, and all his other titles as formerly about the reverfe. m. B. F. ET. H. REX. F. D. B. ET. L. D. S. R. I. A. T. ET. E. 1727. The four lefler pieces are every way like thofe of • the late king *. As It may be obfcivcd that in the year 171 S, and then only, there were coined fome quarter guineas : when the weight of i lo/. in gold was con- verted into I'uch pieces, of which it confcquently produced about 19,580 in tale. • I lis prefent majeftydid by a pro- clamation of the 21" of February 1732, prohibit all perfons from re- ceiving or uttering in p.iyment by tale, any of the gold coins commonly called broad pieces of twenty- five iliillingsor twenty-three fliillings, and any halves or quarters of the fame : anil on the 28'" of the Hime month he did further by warrant under liis lign manual, in confequence of an addrefs of the houfe of commons, authorize the mailer of the mint to receive the faid pieces, to pay tor them after the rate of 4/. i s. per ounce I'roy, and to coin them with all con- venient fpced into the now current gold moneys. WJiereupon there was of thofe pieces imported into the mint and there coined, between the 1 1^'" day of April 1733 and the J9''' day of July 1734, the weight of 15,482?. § cz. 4.dwt. Sgr. which produced in current money at the rate of 46/. 14.S. 6d. the pound weight, the value of 723,416/. 15 J. 3^. The gold then coined confifted properly, of the fcepter'd units of crown gold of king James the lirft, which weighing orignially almoll 154 grains had been tor a great while current at twenty-five fliillings each i of the laureat twenty Ihilling pieces of the fame prince, and of thole of his fon and grandfon king Charles the firlt and king Charles the fecond, which having formerly weighed above 140 grains had alio been long current ac twenty-three fhillings each ; and of 1 llicU 134 A TABLE OF As among the moneys of king James the tirfl: and king Charles tlie hrft, thofe coined ovit of the Wellh filver were diftingiiiilied from the others ; the like has alfo been praclifedinthe moneys coined by the mill and prefs. There being pieces of king Charles the fecond with the Welfli feathets, both under the head, and in the center of the reverfe : and others that have a rofe under the head, which is the diftindion, as I am informed, of the filver drawn from, the lead mines that are in the weftern parts of England. fuch as remained of the common- wealth pieces called the crofs and harp gold, which were of the fame weight and value as the laft. But as fevcral coins of king Edward the fixth, fome of queen Elizabeth, and the firfi fcepter'd fovereigns of king James, were tho' ot different weights yet of the fame allay, they were alfo taken in by weight with the reft : whereas all the coins of angel gold, which were worth more by the ounce than the prjemium allowed, were again returned to the importers, by the gentlemen of the mint who had the infpeftion of them -, when any fuch, as it fometimes happened, were by miflake brought in. The villainous and fraudulent art of diminifhing guineas by the filing of their edges, v^hich is faid to have begun foon after the recoinage of the ham- mered money had defeated tlie former pernicious pradice of clipping, was about this tune come to fuch a height as to require the particular notice of the government : and his majefty did accordingly in the year 173S, offer confiderable rewards for the difcover- ing any of the perfons that were con- cerned in this offence ; fome of which were foon after apprehended and con- iricfted^ of it. Blic as the preven- tion of fuch an evil for the time to come, was judged to be of the great- eft importance to the public -, it was confidered how fuch an alteration might be made in the form, or in the manner of coining of the guineas, as might render them leis capable of being thus diminiHied. And for this purpofe, the ftrait floping ftrokes upon their edges were in the year 1 740 exchanged for others of an arched or ferpentine form, which could not without the greateft difficulty be cither followed or counterfeited witha common file. The letters of the legend were alfo at the fame time fet nearer to the edge, than they had been upon fome of the former guineas, and tlie graining round about the flat fides, was made narrower than it was before. Thefe improvements were at this time fuggefted by the reverend Mr. Peter Vallavineof the Ifle ofThanet, who had fcveral conferences with the offi- cers of the mint upon the occafion, and who in a fmal! but very ingenious traift publifhed foon after, and in- tituled Obfervations on the prcfent con- dition of the current coin of this king- dom, has made feveral ufeful and judi- cious remarks upon our moneys of all forts, and the m.eans of prefcrving them from being unlawfully diminilhed. I There ENGLISH SILVER COINS. There are befides coins of the fame king, crowns, half crowns, and fliilHngs with the figure of an elephant under his head, denoting filver brought in by the African mer- chants ; whofe gold has conftantly been impreffcd alfo with the fame diftindtion. All that I have feen of thefe African pieces of filver bear date in the year 1666. In the time of king William, the money from the Welfli mines was marked with four plumes of feathers in the quarters between the crowned fhields on the reverfe; and the other fort with as many rofes in the fame places, both which have been continued to the prefent time: and thefe two forts of filver being frequently brought to the mint together, the money of fuch coinages has ufually been marked with both rofes and feathers, placed alter- nately in the quarters of the fame piece. The South- fea company brought in a quantity of filver to be coined in the time of the late king,, which was marked with S. S/ and C. alternateJy in the quarters: as fome from the Wclfh copper company was with alternate feathers and double linked C" in the fame places, and tlie letters W, C. C. under the king's head befidcs. There has alfo been gold coined by the Eaft-India company, in the time of the prefent king, upon which the letters E. I. C. are ftamped under his majefty's head. Our kings had anciently a duty of /e/^neur^(^e upon all the gold and filver that was coined in their mints, and the mafters and workers had alfo certain fees from the merchants who brought in bullion, for their charges and trouble in the coinage of the fame. But by an ad: of par- liament of the iS'** of king Charles the fecond cap. 5, intituled ///V auJ jor eucotirojiiyig of cotnajie, it was pro- vided that " vvhatfocvcr perfon, native or foreigner, ihould *' bring any foreign- coin, plate, or bullion, or any manu- "• fa(!^urc ol gold or filver, into his majclty's mint to be "coined,. j:> (C li 136 ATABLEOF " coined, fliould have the fame aflayed and coined with *' all convenient fpecd, without any diminution or charge for the afl'aying, coinage, or wafl:e j fo that for every pound Troy ot crown or ftandard gold, there (hould be deUvered out a pound Troy of current coin of crown gold ; and for every pound Troy of fterling or ftandard filver, there fhould be delivered out a pound Troy of " current coins of fterlinfr." And there was aranted by the fame adt a duty upon wines imported, for the " anfwcring and defraying the charges of the mint, and *' the encouragement of the bringing in of gold and fil- *' ver to be coined.'' The duty oi fetgneurage to the king, was fomewhat different at different times, and fo were the fees to the maders and workers. All the particulars are of no confe- quence in this place : but I fhall obferve that from the i p'*" of Henry the feventh, when the pound Tower of old ftandard gold was coined into 12/. 10 s. by tale, and the like pound of old ftcrling filver into 37;. and 6d. to the i 8''' of Henry the eighth ; the king had for every fuch pound weight of gold 7^. bd. and for every pound weight of filver \s. out of which he allowed to the maftcr etc. iid. for the gold and 10 d. for the filver. And this was not greatly altered till Henry the eighth in his 34'*' year took upon every parcel of gold a twenty- fourth part, and upon every parcel of iilv^r a fixth part of the whole j out of which indeed as before, he al- lowed the fees and charges of the mafter. The fame prince again in his 36'"* year took on the fame conditions a twelfth part of the gold, and better than two fifths of the filver ; and laftly in his t^j'^ year, more than a feventh part of the gold : for he then coined twelve ounces Troy of fine gold into thirty fix pounds, for which the importer received only thirty pounds and twelve fliillings, fo ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 137 fo that there remained with himfelf and his officers five pounds and eight fliilHngs. King Edward the fixth in his third year took of the gold only a four and thirtieth part; and for that reafon a confiderable quantity of it fcems to have been then coined : but he took at the fame time, out of every twelve ounces of fine filver, which was then coined into 7/. 4^. for himfelf and the officers four pounds. Yet in his fixth year, when the great reformation of the money was made, this particular was again brought into a very moderate compafs : the king taking upon the pound weight of old ftandard gold then coined into 36/. by tale, {ox: feigneurage and all charges is. c^d. only; upon the pound weight of crown gold 3 fliil lings ; and upon every eleven ounces of fine filver then coined into 60 fliillino-s, no more than one ffiilling. But not long after, this duty was again fomewhat increafed ; and 1 find that in the forty-third year of queen Elizabeth, when the prefent ftandard of the filver moneys was finally eflabliflied, the queen took upon the pound weight of angel gold then coined into 36/. \os. for hex ovfn feigfienyage 55. 7^d. and for the fees and char- ges of the mafter 4^. ^d. that upon the pound weight of crown gold coined into 33/. 105. the queen had 35. id. and the mafter <^ s. 9 ^. and that upon every pound weight of old fterling filver coined into 3/. zs. there remained with the queen 8<:/. and with the mafter i6d. for his fees and charges in coining of the fame. Befides which there was alfo introduced in the latter end of her time, and continued during the firft fevcn- teen years of the reiga of king James, a pradice of de- livering the money coined, not by weight as direded in the old ftatutes, but by tale only: whereby there arofe over and above ^^z fetgfieiira;ie, and which was accounted for together with it, a fmall j^rofit upon the fiicar of the M m moneys ; ft 138 ATABLEOF moneys; which was before taken notice of in the 74 page of thefe papers. No w as it is impoflible that any moneys can with the ftrideft exadlnefs, be made agreeable in every particular to a certain ftandard, there has conftantly been allowed from old time a fmall latitude in our mints, which is called the remedy for the mafler ; whofe moneys, if coined within this remedy, were by his indentures to be delivered as good; and he was to be held excufable at the trial of his pix, notwithftanding the fame were there reported either too bafe, or too light, or both, provided that fuch imperfedion and deficiency were together found lefs than what the faid remedy amounted to. The quantity of this remedy has never greatly varied fince the 1 Jb*'' year of king Edward the third, when the folemn trial of the pix was firfl inftituted : and the fame has almofl: conftantly been the value of the eighth part of a carat, or of thirty grains of fine gold in weight, upon the pound weight of old ftandard gold ; and the value of two penny weight of fine filver, upon the pound weight of old fterling filver ; that is to fay, the one hundred and ninety- firfl: part of the value upon the gold, and the one hun- dred and eleventh part of the fame upon the filver. But as to the crown gold, or the gold of the new flandard firft introduced in the eighteenth year of king Henry the eighth, and which^is the only fort of gold that has been coined fince the year 1642; the remedy ftill allowed is the value of one fixth part of a carat, or of forty grains of fine gold in weight, upon the pound weight of fuch ftan- dard gold ; that is to fay, the one hundred and thirty fecond part of the value of the money that is coined of the fame gold. All which remedies are contained, as I am told, within as narrow limits as any workers, intending to coin up to the true ftandard appointed, can reafonably be fijppofed ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 139 fuppofed to malie themfelves anfwerable for, with any degree of fafety, A s the way the profile head of the fovereign is made to lock upon the money, and the returning it from time to time the contrary way, are particulars often taken no- tice of-, it is neceffary that a word or two fhould be f:iid about them: and I have rather chofen to do it here once for all, than when 1 was before defcribing the par- ticular pieces, that the feveral variations which have been made from time to time may thus be fet before the reader all together. But in order to be underftood, I muft firft obfcrve, that I ufe the words right and left in the fame fenfe as thcfe words are applied by the heralds, in the blazoning of the feveral parts of a fhield : confidering a coin I am looking upon, as I would a pcrfon I were talk- ing with, and of whom 1 fhould fay that he turned to the right, when he fo turned himfelf as to fliew me the left fide ot his face only, or ccntrariwife that he turned to the left when the right fide only of his face was feen by me. This being premifed, I fhall now take notice that all the profile heads of Henry the feventh and Henry the eighth, which are only upon the fhillings, groats and half groats of the former, and upon the fterling groats and half groat-i of the latter, arc constantly turned to the left: and that the head of king Edward the fixth is alfo turned the fame way upon all his profile moneys ; which were his firfthalffovereignsot crown gold, with their quarters and half quarters ; the fovercigns ot like gold of his fixth year with their parts ; and all his teflons, groats, and half groats of bafe filver. 1 lis horfe was alfo rcprefented upon his crown pieces and half crown pieces, as going on the fame way to the left. The head of queen Mary looks to the right, upon her groats, half groats, and pennies of fter- ling filver : and fo does that upon her fhillings and half fliillings. 140 A TABLE OF fhillings, upon which fhe is drawn loolcing towards king Philip, whofe head is turned contrarivvife to the left. Queen Elizabeth looks to the right like her fiflcr, upon all !icr coins of crown gold and of filvcr, her half pennies oiily excepted, upon which her head is not reprcfentcd. King James the firft is turned to the left upon all the coins of crown gold that have his head ; the laureat broad pieces and their parts excepted, whereon his head is again re- turned the contrary way. His face is alfo turned to the left, upon his fhillings and half fliillings of filver, and upon his firft two pennie pieces and pennies. Upon his crown pieces and half crown pieces he rides the fame way 3 and the like is to be underftood of all his moneys minted in Scotland, after his acceilion to the Englifli throne. King Charles's Englifh moneys are contrary to thofe of the king his father, and he looks to the right upon all his coins whether of gold or filvcr whereon his perfon is ex- hibited, fome proof pieces only excepted, which do not fo properly fall under the prefent confideration. He alfo rides to the left whenever he is drawn on horfe- back ; and the fame is true of all his Scotifh pieces, his fcepter'd fovereigns excepted, and fome of the halves of the fame that have the motto henricvs. rosas. regna. lAcoBVs. upon which, contrary to all his other coins whether of gold or filver, his head is turned to the lelt. The head of Oliver the protedor was turned to the right upon all his pieces, and fo was that of the lord Bal- timore upon the money coined by him in Maryland. That of king Charles the fecond was alfo turned the fame way, upon all his hammered money, upon his firft milled units of gold, milled groats, and lelTer pieces of filver marked with a crown; and upon his dollars and their parts minted in Scotland: but upon all his other moneys both of gold and filver coined in England by the mill, and ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 141 and upon his four mark pieces, etc. coined in Scotland, his head was again turned the contrary way and looked to the left. The face of king James the fecond was re- turned to the right, thofe of king William and queen Mary, and king William alone to the left ; and that of queen Anne again to the right, upon all their moneys coined in England : but the contrary way refpedivelv upon all thofe minted in Scotland, before the completion of the Union in 1707. The head of king George the firft was again reprefented as looking to the left: and lartly that of his prefcnt majefly is upon all his coins whatfocver re- turned to the right. Having now gone through thofe obfervations I had to make upon our Englifh filver coins, from the Norman conqueft to the prefent time, I fliall here add as a general abftracl of the foregoing pages, and of what I principally defigncd fhould be contained in them j a fhort table ex- hibiting at one view, the ftandard of our filvcr money as to goodnefs, together with the true weight of 240 pennies, 60 groats, or 20 fliilUngs, making the pound Acrling in tale ; and the prefent intrinfic value of lo much filver, as was refpeclively contained in the fame pound flcrling, at the feveral times there noted in the firfl: column. To which 1 have alfo added in the laft column, the fime intrinfic value of the nominal pound ftcrling, cxpreffcd in decimals of our prefent fterling pound: whereby the pro- portion of the intrinfic value of any former fums of mo- ney mentioned in books, to the intrinfic value of fo much money as is now called by the fime appellation, may im- mediately be known; and the prices of provifions, labour, and materials, in former times, may readily be compared with the dirtcrent prices, which the like provifions, labour, and materials, arc found to bear at this day. Nn 3 ear 142- A TABLE OF 2^ear of the A '«iey. tion. oz. dwt. gr. I. s. d. CONQV'EST 1066 Old Ster. 1 1 05 00 2 18 01 iq. 2.906 28EDW. I. 1300 - > I 02 05 2 17 05 2.871 iSEdw. III. 1344 - . 10 03 00 2 12 05 I J. 2.622 20 Same 1346 - 10 00 00 , 2 1 1 oS 2.583 27 Same. 1353 - - 9 00 00 2 06 c6 2-325 13 Hen. IV. 1412 . 7 10 00 I 18 09 '•937 4 Edw. IV. 1464 - 6 00 00 I 1 1 00 i'55 18 Hen. VIII. 1527 oz. dwt. 5 06 16 I 07 06 3?- 1.378 34 Same. 1543 IV. I 2 5 CO 00 I 03 03 If 1. 163 l^ Same 1545 W.5 2 - - 13 1 1 2q. 0.698 37 Same. 1546 IV. 7 2 - - 09 03 3?- 0.466 3 Edw. VI. 1549 W. 5 2 3 06 16 - - - - _ . - 5 Same. 1551 IV. 8 2 - - -; 04 07 3?- 0.2^2 6 Same. ^SS'^ JV.Q 1 ^4 00 00 1 CO 06 3?- 1.028 I Mary 1553 W. 2 - " "I ' CO 05 3?- 1.024 2 Eliz. 1560 0/J Ster. - - 1 00 08 1033 43 Same. 1601 • - 3 J7 10 I 00 00 1. 000 Now by a comparifon of the foregoing Table offilver corns, with the Talk of gold coins formerly publifhed, it appears, that in the 2 7"* year of king Edward the third 1353, vvhcn the firft confiderable coinage of gold was made in England ; fine gold was rated in our coins, at eleven times and about one fixth part, as much as fine filver. But even this value of gold was thought too great in the time of king Henry the fourth; and the fame be- ing complained of, by the regulations made in his 1 3''' year 141 2, gold came to be exchanged for ten times and about one third of an equal quantity of filver. In the 4'^ year of king Edward the fourth 1464, gold was again valued at a little more than eleven times the price of filver. During the 140 years next following, there was ENGLISH SILVER COINS. 143 was fcarce any alteration made in the proportional value o^ the two metals ; exxepting only in the times of con- fiifion between the 34''' year of king Henry the eighth and the laft of king Kdward the fixth : and by the in- dentures of the 43'' year of queen Elizabeth and thofe of the firfl of king James 1603, the pound weight of fine gold in the coin was yet rated at fomcwhat lefs than eleven '. pound weight of fine filver. But foon after that time the price of gold was very fenfibly advanced, the pound weight of it being valued in the indentures of the 2'' year of king James, at better than twelve pounds and an ounce; and in the 17'^ of the fame king, at more than thirteen pounds, four ounces, and three pennie-weight, of fine filver. When guineas came firft to be coined for twenty fhilling pieces, in the ij'** year of king Charles the fecond 16(53, the pound of fine gold was therein made equivalent to fourteen pounds, five ounces, fixteen pennie-weight, and nine grains of fine filver; which value, by the running of guineas as they now do for one and twenty of April 1603, that thefe pieces were of the finenefs of 2 2 carats, and that fix of them weighed an ounce Scotifii. The weight therefore of each piece was about 78 Troy grains and a half, and they fell fliort almoft feven and a half like grains, of the weight of the half fovereign of queen Elizabeth that was of the fame allay. But gold was then fuppofed to be too cheap in England ; and the in- convenience that arofe from the ex- changing of the fix pound piece Sco- tifh for the half fovereign and angel of queen Elizabeth was foon after re- moved, by the new coins that were pubhfhed on the 16''' of November 1604. Thefe fix pound pieces had on one fide the royal fhicld of Scot- land crowned, with the king's flylc lACOBVs. 6. D. G. R. scoTORVM. and on the other, a fcepter and a fword croffed in faltyre between two thiflle flowers, with a crown above, and the date 1 60 1 or 1602 below ; the legend SALVS. POPVLI. SVPREMA.LEX.There were alfo pieces of three pounds Sco- tifh, excepting in their fize and weight, exadly the lame as thefe fix pound pieces. The Scotifh mark piece of filver, made alfo current in England at the fame time, was of the finenefs of eleven ounces ; and four fuch pieces and a half were cut out of the ounce Scotifli : whence the weight of each piece appears to have been that of 104 Troy grains and three fourths nearly, and the value not to have fenfibiy diflercd from that of thirteen and a half Englifli pennies. Thefe mark pieces with their halves,quarters, and half quarters, had on one fide the royal Ihicld crowned with the king's llyle round about ; and on the other the crowned thilUe wich this motto recem. iova. pro- TEGiT. 1602. Others of them were dated 1601, and 1603. o o quire. 146 ATABLEOF James VI. q^^jire. Yet may it not be improper to take notice, that ^* the old pennies of king William the firft, king Alexander * the fecondj and the like, did not fenfibly differ from thofe of their cotcmporary kings of England before Ed- ward the firfl: : and that notvvithftanding the pennies of Scotland had already, like thofe of England, loft fome- vvhat of their firft weight in the time of our king Ed- ward the third ; it was not till the 29* year of that prince^ that any public notice was taken of the inequality between the moneys of the two nations ; and which inequality could not then be very great, fince we find that twenty years after, the groat of Scotland was ftill allowed to be current in England for three Enghfh pennies. But to return to the moneys coined in Scotland after the union of the crowns ; king James who was defirous that the fame moneys fhould be current through both king- 3604. doms, did by a proclamation of the 16"' of November in the i^ year of his reign *, cftabli/li the feveral pieces therein defcribcd, " to be among others before ufed, the *' moneys current, for his kingdom of Great Britain:" and thofe were of gold, the unit commonly called the SCEPTER, the DOUBLE CROWN, the BRITAIN CROWN, * We further learn from the fame called drops, and each drop into 36 proclamation, the proportions of the grains. Fine gold was called in Scot- Scotifli weights to the Englifh, it land gold of 24 caradls ; and fine fil- bcing there noted, " that the pound ver, filver of 12 dtniers : but they " weightEnglini, beingtwelveounces fubdivided in this cafe both the carad: *' Troy, doth overpoix the pound and the denier, each into 24 grains. "• weight [/wm'i? o;^«f^.r] of Scotland,. The Scotilh ounce here intended •* four penie weight and nine grains was the Trois ounce, confidered in *' Enghfli." Whence it appears that the mint as the twelfth part of the mo- the Scotilh ounce was equal to 471 neyers pound: tho' every where elfe Troy grains and a quarter: and this fixteen fuch ounces were faid to make ounce was divided by the mint into a Trois pound : befides which they 24 deniers, each denier into 24 grains, have from old time had in Scotland an- «ach grain into 24 primes, each prime other lighter pound, which they called into 24 feconds and fo forth ; but by the pound Scotifli, and which was only the fiiyer-fmiths,, into 16 parts only equal to fifteen of the fame ounces. the MODERN SCOTISH COINS. 147 the THISTLE CROWN, and the half crown; running J^mes VI, feverally for 20 Shillings, 10 fhillings, j fhilHngs, and ^ ^'^ 1 fhilHngs and 6 pennies, fterling: and of filver, the CROWN, HALF CROWN, SHILLING, HALF SHILLING, TWO PENNiE PIECE, PF.NNiE, and HALF PENNiE, run- ning in Scotland as well as England for thofe refpedive fterling values. The coins minted in Scotland only dif- fered from thofe of England in thefe particulars, that in the fhicld of the royal arms, Scotland polleffcd the firft and fourth quarters, France and England being placed quarterly in the fecond ; and that the trappings of the king's horfe upon the crowns and half crowns of filver, were adorned with the crowned thiftle inftead of the crown- ed rofe, ufually ftamped upon the pieces of the fame de- nominations that were coined in England. The thiftle crown of gold and the three lelfcr pieces of filver, not being imprelled with the royal arms, were no ways, unlefs by their mint marks, diftinguiihable from thofe minted here. Some years after king James's acceffion to the throne 16191, of Great Britain, gold was conGderably advanced in its value; infomuch that in i6ip, the laureat broad piece above 14 Troy grains lighter than the former unit or fceptcr, was coined in England for twenty fliillings in its ftead. But this laft piece was never introduced into Scotland, where the fcepter'd unit, with its half, quarter, and half quarter, ftill continued to be coined as before : and as I apprehend for this reafon, that although it was no longer fo convenient for tale in England, it continued ne- verthelefs to be equally fo in Scotland j where the manner of accounting by their own marks flill fubfifting, a piece of gold of twenty marks Scotifli, as this would now be, with its parts of ten marks, five marks, and two marks and a half, was no lefs convenient and apt for tale, than when the fame after its firfl coinage had courfe for twenty {hillina:a 148 ATABLEOF James VI. fliilUngs fteiling. Thefe pieces of gold had, like thofe ^' coined in England, for the legend of their reverfes, FACIAM. EOS. IN. GENTEM. VNAM. Upon the unitS; HEN- Ricvs. ROSAS. REGNA. lACOBVs.upon the doublccrowns ; and TVEATVR. vnita. devs. upon the lefl'er pieces. Char. I. King Charles the firft coined alfo in Scotland fcepter'd ^^~5- UNITS of gold, with their halves, quarters, and half QUARTERS, like thofe of the king his father; at firfl with the fame legend, and afterwards of the like value, but with HIS. PRAESVM. VT. PRosiM. on the reverfe of the whole pieces; and vnita. tvemvr. on that of the halves, quar- ters and half quarters. Thefe laft coins were very beauti- ful, and the dies for them vvere cut by the famous Nicholas Briot, a French artift, that has been mentioned before, and who firfl fhewed in Britain the fpecimen of a piece with letters upon the edge; which was a curious medal of gold for the king's coronation at Edinburgh, the 1 8 "^ of June 1633, upon the edge of which the following words were moft elegantly impreffed, ex. avro. vt. tn. scotia. reperi- TVR. BRIOT. FECIT. EDiNBVRGi. 1633. Two of thcfc vcry valuablc pieces are in the feveral cabinets of my worthy friends, Sir Hans Sloane baronet and Mr. Peter Sainthill. Of filver, king Charles coined in Scotland the crown, HALF CROWN, SHILLING, and HALF SHILLING ftcrling, with the fame legend as king James's, ovae. devs. coNiVNXiT. NEMO. SEPARET. ou their refpcdive revcrfes. They were like the pieces of the fame denominations coined in England, excepting the above mentioned dif- ference in the royal fhield ; and that they were in gene- ral more fair and handfome, moft of the dies having been prepared by the before mentioned engraver, whofe fine performances have been fo conRantly cfteemed, not in England and Scotland only, but in France alfo. Besides MODERN SCOTISH COINS. 149 Besides thefe fterling moneys there were alfo of king Char. 1. Charles, filver coins of half a mark Scotifh, forty ^' PENNIES and TWENTY PENNIES Scotifh, vvith the refpec- tive figures VJ. 8, XL, and XX, behind the king's head; vvhofeftyle was upon thefe pieces, CAR. D. G. SCO. ang. fr. ET. HiB. REX. The reverfe of tlie half mark was the royal fhield crowned, with the legend christo. avspice. REGNO J that of the forty pennie piece, a crowned thiftle with salvs.reipvblicae. svprema. lex. and that of the twenty pennie piece, the fame devifewith ivstitia.thro- NVM. FiRMAT. There appears alfo in Mr. Anderfon's tables a piece of two fhillings Scotifh, with the number II. be- hind the head ; and on the reverfe the crowned iliield of Scotland only, with the motto ivs. thronvm. firm at : and it is natural to think that there mufl: have been alfo a Scotifh fincrle fhillino; to anfwer it. From this time to the reftauration of king Charles the Char. II. fccond, I have neither fecn nor heard of any money coined ^^46. >' '• in Scotland : but after that time there were minted there by the mill and prcfs, pieces offilver of four marks, two MARKS, ONE MARK, and HALF A M A RK Scotilll. All thcfc were ftampcd on one fide with the king's buft laureat, al- mofl: half bodied in a fort of Roman drefs, the medal of St. George dependent at his brcaft, and the words carol vs. II. DEI. GRA. roundabout; and on the reverfe, with the four fiiields of Scotland, France and England quarterly, Scot- land, and Ireland, lurrounded with the words mag. bri. fra.et.hib.rex. 1664. In the quarters between the fliields were double linked C crowned, and the values of the fcve- ral piecesLni.4, XXVI. 8, XI!I.4,or VI.8, were refpcdivcly placed in their centers. It thefe coins, which bore date from 16*54 to 1 67 5", were nearly of the Englilh ftandard and fuppofed the forementioned equality of 5 fhiUings fterling to 60 lliillings Scotilli, the ftandard weight ol the four P p mark 150 ATABLEOF Char. II. mark piece muft have been very nearly that of 413 Troy ^^^^' grains: and I have accordingly found fome in tolerable prefervation, that have not wanted above three grains of that weight. 1675. These coins were followed by what were commonly called the dollars of Scotland, running for fifty fix fliillings Scotifh each, with their halves, qjjarters, EIGHTHS, and SIXTEENTHS J runiiing for twenty-eight {hillings, fourteen fhillings, feven fliillings, and three killings and fix pennies Scotifh, refpedlively. They all had the king's head laureat like the Englifli milled money, with CAROLVS. II. DEI. GRA. on the onc fide ; and the four firft had on the reverfe, the four crowned fliields of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, with thiftles in the quarters and two linked C' in the center, legend SCO. ANG. FR. ET. HiB. REX. i^/j. The Icaft piecc had on the reverfe a St. Andrew's crofs, with a thiftle^ rofe, /leur de lis^ and harp in the quarters, and a crown in the center: legend the fame as before. Thefe, like the former moneys, were all coined by the mill and fcrew, but without either letters or graining on the edge. They were firft minted in 167J, and continued to the king's demife. 1 colledl from a pafllige in an adl of parliament, in the year 1696, that ftandard filver was computed in thefe coins at three pounds and four fhillings the ounce Scotifh ; from whence the ftandard weight of the dollar ihould have been nearly 41 1 Troy grains and one third ; and to this weight I have found fuch of the pieces as I have examined, and which have feemed well preferved, fufficiently to converge. I fhould therefore apprehend the weight of thefe pieces was intended to be the fame as that of the former, and that the difference of their value only arofe from the increafe of the nominal price of filver in Scotland. In MODERN SCOTISH COINS. 151 In the fecond feflion of the firft parliament of king James VIL James the feventh in i<58(5, it was enacted, " That in " all time coming, the fpecies of current coin within *', that kingdom fhould be five shillings, ten shil- *' LINGS, TWENTY SHILLINGS, FORTY SHILLINGS, and " SIXTY SHILLINGS, ScotiHi pieces, to be coined of the *' ftandard and weight therein aftermentioned." That is to fay, they were all to be of the ftandard of eleven de- niers and two grains; and the fixty (hilling piece Scotifh was to weigh, according to the ftandard pile of weights then in the mint, zi deniers, i8 grains, lo primes, and 18 feconds ; or in the ordinary denomination ofweights^ 14 drops and i8 grains, making almoft 417 Troy grains and a half, and the other pieces in proportion. By which regulation it is plain that the ounce Scotifh of their ftan- dard ftlver was then coined into 3 //^. 10 s. 6d. and two thirds of a pennie Scotiili : and that the Englilli pennie was then rather more than equivalent to i 3 pennies Sco- tifh. And this was the proportion that fubfifted between the coins of the two nations, till the entire completion of the union by queen Anne: all the ftlver that was coined, after this and before that time, following the appointment of the laft quoted adt of parliament. Yet does it not follow that all the fevcral pieces therein and above men- tioned, were ever really ftruck by king James: I have only fcen the forty and the ten ftiilling pieces, and it does not appear that the advocates library at Edinburgh has any others. The forty ftiilling piece was edged with thefe words, NEMO. ME. IMPVNE. LACESSET. ANNO. REGNl. TERTio. The king's head was thereon reprefented lau- rcat, as upon his Englifli coins, with iacobvs. ii. dei. GRATIA, and the value 40 underneath; and upon the reverfe was the royal ihield crowned, with Scotland ia the fiift and fourth quarters, France and England quar- terly 15^ ATABLEOF JamesVII. terly, in the fecond, and Ireland in the third ; legend ^^^'^' MAG. BRIT. FRA. ET. HiB. REX. 1687. The tcn fhilJing piece was grained on the edge, had the number lo un- der the head ; and on the reverfe a St. Andrew's crofs tipt with a thiftle, rofe, Jleny de lis, and harp, the four crowned fhields of Scotland, England, France, and Ire- land in the quarters ; and the legend as before. Will. and KiNG William and queen Mary, who were proclaimed ^6sJ' at Edinburgh on the ii"' of April 1689, the fame day they were crowned at Weftminfter, coined in Scotland all the five abovenamed pieces of filver ; and (o did king William alone after the queen's deceafe. The four larger pieces were, mutatis mutandis^ the fame as the forty fhil- ling pieces of king James ; excepting that the words on the edges of the 60 and the 40 Hiilling pieces were pro- TEGIT. ET. ORNAT. ANNO. REGNI. T E RT I O. The leflcr pieces were only grained on the edge : the five fhilling piece Scotifh of William and Mary had a Roman V under their heads, and only a crowned cypher, with the latter part of their majefties ftyle and the date on the reverfe ; and that of king William alone had 5 under his head, with his whole ttyle round about ; reverfe the crowned thiftle. NEMO. ME. IMPVNE. LACESSET. 169). Will. II. NEITHER king Charles the fecond, nor king James the i/oi. j(^venth, had coined any gold in Scotland ; but in the year 1 701, there were ftruck at Edinburgh by king William, PISTOLES and half pistoles, having his head laureat, on the one fide, and the royal fhield crowned, with Scotland in the firft and fourth quarters, between the letters W and R alfo crowned on the reverfe. The ftyle was the fame as ufual, but it may be noted that there never was upon the coins of king William ftruck in Scotland, any number put after his name; thofe who had the direction of that affair being fcnfible, that altho' he 4 was MODERN SCOTISH COINS. 153 was the fecond king of Scotland of his name, and the Will, a, third of England, he was really the firfl: of that name that ^'^^' was king of Great Britain. Under the head upon thefe pieces was the figure of the rifing CuHj and they are all laid to have been coined of the gold fcnt over by the Scotifli African company, from the colony of Darien in the Weft- Indies ; and to have been thus marked in memory of the Ri{ing-Sun, a great fliip fitted out by thofe merchants upon that occafion, and in which this gold was brought home. All that I have feen of thefe piftolcs, and that were in fine prefervatioB, have conflantly weighed full io6 Troy grains: from whence I judge that they were intended to run for 12/. Scotifh, and their halves for 6/. refpcclivcly of the fame money. O F queen Anne's filver money coined before the Union, A n n- e I have only feen PIECES OF ten shillings, and pieces ^7°-- OF five shillings Scotifh, which were every way, ex- cepting the head and flyle, the fame as thofe of king William. But the perfedl union of the two kingdoms be- ing compleated in her time and taking place upon the firft day of May 1707, it was then among other things 1707. fettled, "that from and after that time, the coin iliould be *' of the fame ftandard and value throughout the united " kingdom, as it then was in England ; and that a mint *' fliould be continued in Scotland, under the fame rules *' as the mint in England : and alfo that from and after " the Union, the fame weights and meafures lliould be *' ufed throughout the united kingdom, as were then *' eflablillied in England." In conftquence of which regulations, all the old filver money was prefcntly called into the mint, to be recoined into flerling money the fame as the Englilli; and the feveral ftcrling crowns, half crowns, shillings, and half shillings that were then minted, and that bear date in 1707 and 1708, Q^q are 154 ATABLEOF Anne are no ways dilHnguifliable from thofe coined in England,. *' ''* exceping by the letter E.for Edinburgh, Aamped upon them all under her majeHy's head. There was upon this occafion brought into the mint at Edinburgh to be recoined in the year i707> of Tilver moneys then current in Scotland, over and above what is ufually hoarded up and laid by in like cafes, what was by the filver-fmiths converted into plate and bullion, and fome thoufand pounds that came in afterwards, the value of 41 1,1 17 /. 10 s. f) d, fterling * ; as 1 learn from the ex- cellent and judicious preface prefixed by Mr. Thomas Ruddiman to Mr. James Anderfon's Thefanrm Diplomatum et Nmmfmatum Scou!cenx kty:g of arms. Where that curious o-entlcman has riiz;htlv oblerved that king Edward, who had firft afliimed the title of king of France in his i4«h year 1340, did atterwards again lay it ahde, upon the cellions made him by the treaty of Bre- tigny in his 34''' year i3(5o; in confideration of which he then renounced all right and title to that crown, and never afterwards laid any claim to the fame, until Charles the fifth of France, having broken the peace, de- clared the former treaty void ; upon which he again in his 43'' year 1369, by the advice of his parliament re- fumed that title, which all his fuccelTors have hncc con- tinued to this day. This alfo accounts for thofe of his coins of gold upon whicli the title of king of France is omitted ; but concerning v/hich it may be further obferved, that notvvithftandinti he had laid afide the flvlc, he con- tinued to make ufc of tlic arms of that kinizdortT, which he ftill quartered, as the inheritance of the queen his mo- ther, in the firft and fourth quarters of the royal lliicKi 1 11 ,\ V E ftid in the 44''' page, tliat 1 had never fcen any piece of the laft or bcft money ot king Edward the fiNtli, that was lefs than his quarter lliilling : and that as IclVer pieces ol a bafer kind were ftill coined at Cantcr- + R r burv 158 ADDENDA. bury and York, it was probable there were none of thofe pieces actually minted of the finer filver. But I have fince fccn a pennie of that fort j having on one fide the king in iiis robes at full length, with his crown, fcepter, and orb, e. d. g. rosa. sine. spi. and upon the revcrfe the royal arms on a cro[s fJer/ricy as they are reprefented upon his larger moneys, with civitas. i.ondon. and the mint mark of a ton, by which it appears to have been coined at Throckmorton's mint in the Tower of London. This uncommon pennie is in fine prefervation, does not want a quarter of a grain of the full ftandard weight of eight grains, and belongs to my worthy friend Thomas-Lee Dummer efquire : who at the fame time com- municated another very remarkable piece of king Henry the eighth, ftruck in Ireland, and feemingly of good filver. This had on the one fide his head almoft full faced, hen- Ric'. 8. D. G. AGL.' FRA. z. HiB. REX. and upon the other the royal arms on a cvo[s JJe/irie, civitas. dvblinie. and the mint mark of a harp : it was no broader than one of his Englifh groats, but fo very thick as to weigh 606 grains ; from whence I fhould apprehend it to have been only a trial piece, no ways adjuftcd to the weight of any regu- lar coin. I H A V E fufpeded in the So"" page, that the fmall rofeupon fome of the coins of king Charles the firft ftruck by Briot, might pofiibly be the very mint mark ufed in the Tower in 1632, and that this money was therefore pixed with the other coins of the fame year. But two pieces I have fince feen of his Scotifh money marked with a like fmall rofe, have rather perfuaded me that the fame was the proper mark of Briot, ftamped upon the feveral pieces minted by him, in confequenceof the warrant given him by his majefty, to coin moneys both of gold and fil- ver agreeable to the indentures of the mint then fubfifting. I HAVE ADDENDA. 159 I II A V E mentioned in a note at the bottom of the ,8 1^ page, a fmall piece of filver of the fame king, with sALVs. popvLi. svPREMA. LEX. and fince that paffage was printed off, I have feen in the colledion of Mr. Charles Smyth of the Tower, another piece nearly of the fame fort, but appearing to have been of Briot's milled money : this has alfo, like the former, a rofe behind the king's head, and under it '[}, together with the fame date 1634 on the reverfe. And having thus infenfibly drawn out thefe remarks to a greater length than what I at firfl intended, I fhall only add the following account of the a6tual weights of fome of the coins abovementioned in Troy grains, as I have found, the fame with the ballance : by which it may be feen how nearly thofe pieces agree, when they are undiminifhed, with the feveral indentures of the mint by which they were refpedlively coined. Silver corns well prefer veJ, or hut little tmpa'tred. A pennie, with two fcepters, 4- pillem. rex. an- -^ ' GLOR. Rev. +C0LSPEGEN. ON.LVND. --- 22. Another, with a rofe on each fide of the head, + PILI.RM. REX. Rev. + PVLSTAN. ON. ROFF. - 22. q. A pennie o^ Henry I. vvith an annulet on each (ide of the head, -\- iinri. rex. n. Rev. -t- algar. ON. LVNDN. - - - _ _ 22. A pennie of Stephen, full faced, +' stifne. Rev. 4-hermer.on.nor. - - - - 11. h. A pennie ol Henry II. as I take it, fide faced, -h HENRICVS. Rev. 4-GODRlC. ON. SVTT. - 11. iq. A pennie of John^ coined at Dublin, - - 21.3^. A pen- i6o ADDENDA. A pennie of Henry III. of the fort commonly TroyGr. afcribed to Henry II. henricvs. rex. Rev. 4-'SAMVEL.ON.CAN. - - - 11. h. Another of the fame, Rev. 4- adam. on. wing. ii. h. Another, with rex. III. Rev. gilbert, on. cant. 21. h. Another, - - vvillem. on. winc. ii. h. Another, _ _ , nicole. on. lvnd. , 21. -6. " A pennie of the fame, rex.terci. Rev, nicole. ON. LVND. - - - - 11. q. A pennie of Edward I. old Jler\ Rev. robertvs. DE. hadl'. - - - - ~ 11. b. Another, - - Rev. villa, bristolie. - - 11. /•• Another, - - Rev. ci\\.t m. london. - - n- A pennie, with edwa. Rev. civitas. cantor. - 22. A groat of Edward III. - • - - 7i.h. A groat of Richard II. - - - ^9S9- A half groat of the fame, _ - _ 36. A pennie of the fame, _ _ _ _ 17. />. A groat of Henry V. - - - - 59./:?. A groat of Henry VI. - - - 60. A heavy groat of Edward IV. - - <^o. A common groat of the fame, - - 47. A groat, probably of the 49''' of Henry VI. mark 2iflem- de In. - - - - 4^' A groat of Richard III. - - - 4^' A full laced groat of Henry VJI. - - 48. A Oiilling of the fame, - - - 141- A fide faced groat o^i Henry Vill. of his 1 8'h year, 42. h. A fhilling of his 34'' year, 10 oz. fiHCj - -116. Another of his 30''' year, 6 oz. Ji'f/e, - -121. Another of 37'^ yeavy ^ cz. firJe, - - 114. A groat of Edward VI. of his firll: year, - - 37. A fl:iil]ing of the fame, dated i J4t?> 6 vz. fine.^ - ^.r. Another, ADDENDA. i6r Another dated 1 5 j i, of the bafer fort, being only Troy Gr. 3 oz. fine, - - , - . yy^ ij^ A crown piece of his 6"' year. 11 oz. i chvt, fine - 479. h, A groat of queen Mary. 11 oz. fine. - - 32. A Ihilling of queen Elizabeth, marked with an efcallop-fliell. Old Jierling. - - ^6. A crown piece of her 43"* year. - - 4"^ 3* An exttrgat tvventy-fliilling piece of Charles I. in 1643. Weight, 3 02. 17 <^z£;/, 7^;-. or - ^^^55' A mark piece Scotifh of James VI. 1 1 oz. finey made current here for 1 3 lings, and half angels at five; their weight and value the fame as thofe of the 4"* of king Ed ward, the fixth. 1 have have feen no gold pieces coined alter the queen's^ . marriage, except angels and half angels only. SOVE- ENGLISHGOLDCOINS. 7 • Sovereigns etc. of old flandard gold, the fame as iEliz. queen Mary's; to which were added quarter angels: *558. as alfo Sovereigns of crown gold at twenty {hillings each, with HALF sovereigns, CROWNS, and HALF CROWNS; the fame as thofe of the 6"' year of king Edward. There were fome of thcfe laft pieces coined by the mill, and very neatly ; but I do not remember to have feeii the whole fovcreign fo coined. Angels of old flandard gold at ten fi-iillings each ; 43 Same. HALF angels aiid qjjarter angels. Weight 7 f). 3 ^r. Value I 3 s, and i i ptnnies. And of crown gold. Sovereigns at twenty fhil lings each, with halves, CROWNS, and HALF crowns. Weight i']i.^gr. Value xj s. lod. half pennie. Thcfc lad: coins of queen Elizabeth are readily diflin- guiihied from her others, by the feveral mint marks .1. or .•2. upon them. The same pieces of crown gold as the laft. They i James I. have all ang. sco. upon them: whereas all his following '*^°-^'- coins have mag. br. • Sovereigns or units of crown gold, commonly called 2 Same, fcepter pieces, at los. each; with double crowns, Bri- tish crowns, and half crowns. Weight i^^.^ gyahis. Value ij.f. \ d. jar thing. As alfo. Thistle-crowns, at four fliillingseach. Weight 3 \ gy. Value 5 J. VL\\d a faithhig. Rose rialsoI old ftandardgold, at thirty fliillings each, . Same. and spur-rials at httcen (hillings. VV^eight 213-3 grains. Value 37 J. 6d. half-penn'ie: Together with. Angels at ten ihil ings each, and half angels. Weight 7 1. 1 grams. Value 1 : s. and 6 pennies. All gold coins were advanced by proclamation, after the 9 Same. rate of two Ihillings u^vjn e\ery twenty. Till rty 17 Jam. I. 8 ATABLEOF Thirty s-hilling pieces and fifteen shilling PIECES, of old Aandard gold. "Ucij^ht 194.2^/-. Value 34^. 2^/. balf-penme. As alfo Ten shilling pieces or new angels. Weight 64.7. Value 115. 4^. three fourths. And of crown gold, Units or twenty shilling pieces commonly called broad pieces, double-crowns or ten shilling pieces, and BRITISH -crowns or five shilling pieces. Weight i^o.'^ grains. Value iis. c^ d. halj-pemne. All thefc have the kinor's head laureat. I Char. I. Xhe SAME PIECES of crovvH gold as the laft. There ^' were of thefe feveral types, fome reprefenting the king with a ruff, and having a plain efcutcheon on the reverfe; and others exhibiting his perfon in a band, and his arms in an oval fhield upon the other fide. He alfo coined of old ftandard gold, Angels, the fame as thofe of the i?'*' year of king James: tliey were his only coins of that ftandard, and in- deed the laft ftruck in England : all thofe that follow be- ing of the new ftandard, or of crown gold 12 carats fine. King Charles in his troubles coined three-pound- pieces, twenty-shilling pieces, and ten-shilling- pjeces, at Oxford : all with the legend f.xvrgat. devs. etc. They were bcfidcs ftamped with the Welili- Feathers, the mark of the mint at Aberiftwith; whofe officers at- tended the king, after the parliament had taken poffeftion of the mint in the Tower of London, about the end of the year 1642. The weight of thefe three-pound pieces, was the fame as that of three of his common broad pieces, or of 421.4 grains J and the others were made in proportion thereunto. I Cha. II. 1 have feen among what are commonly called the fiege ^ "^ • pieces, a twenty- shilling-piece of gold, ftruck at Pontefradt, and there may be others of the fame fort. It was ENGLISH GOLD COINS. 9 was eight corner'd, and coined ju ft after the king's death; iChar if while the caftle ftill held out for king Charles the fecond. ^ '^^' Twenty, ten, and five-shilling-pieces, of the C fFeahb. fame wei*;ht as thofe of king Charles; but with the arms ^^^^' and ftyle of the Common-wealth. Twenty shilling-pieces, of the fame weight, whh Oliver Pr. the head and ftyle of the Prote6lor. They were milled, '^^^' finely graved, and edged. Fjftv-shilling pieces of the fame, weighing 351.2 gyairis^ with letters on the ed guineas, which ^7M- Jiad for fcveral years pafled at 215. 6cl. althouo;h coined for twenty-fliilling pieces only, were made current by pro- clamation at one and twenty lliillings : and the year following were coined befidcs the other moneys, fome QUARTER GUINEAS, Weighing cach, 3 1.36 (^/VZ/^/J. I Geo. II. Guineas, at one and twenty fhiliings each, half gui- *727- NEAS, DOUBLE GUINEAS, and FIVE GUINEA PIECES; bu£ no quarter guineas have as yet been coined, fince the ac- ceflionofhis prefent majcfly. ylddefida. Since the publilning of this table in 17^6, the wor- thy and curious Brian Fairfax cfq. has found and pro- cured the quarter-floren of king Kdward tlie third, char- ged with a helmet agreeably to what is faid of it in the firfl paragraph: and my refpedcd friend, Taylor White efq. not long after met with the noble of the 2o"'year of the fame king, exadly refembling the common nobles of his 17'^ year, but weighing within half a grain of the full weight here afligned it. My good friend alfo Mr. Peter Sainthill, much about the {ame time, firft met with a Henry's angel, every way fuit- ing the defcripticn I had ventured to give in the 4*'' page of thofe coined in the 49''' year of king Henry the fixth ; and having aflern' de lis in the place of th.e rofe, which. I apprehended would be wanting upon tliefe coins: fince which two or three more like angels are come to light, and Dr. Mead has found an angelet every way an- fwerins: to the fame. Mr. Sainthill has befides met with a gold coin of king- Edward the fixth, that I had never before either feen 01: heard of :.it exadly refemblesthe half crown of the double rofe ENGLISH GOLD COINS. ii rofe of king Henry the eighth, and weighs about 28 Troy grains. There was in all probability a crown likewife of the fame fort, and I fhould aflign them both to the. 3'' year of this king: when he appears to have coined crown gold, and when the weight of a noble made proportionable to his twenty- niilling fovereign of that gold, would have been that of •)6.') gra'in^^ lels than a grain fhort of the crown of the double rofe of king Henry the eighth ; and which mufl: it lelf at this time have been current for the advanced price of fix fhillings and eight pennies. I SHALL only add in this place the adual weights by the ballance, of fome of the gold coins above mentioned ; among which I have taken the faireft and the heavieft pieces, whenever I had it in my power to make any choice. Gold coins well prefeivedy or hut little d'lmhnfhed. A quarter floren of king Edward III. Oldfland. ■ A noble of the fame, of his lo'"" year, A common noble of the fame, A noble of king Richard II. - - A noble of king Henry JV. A noble of king Henry V. - - A noble of king Henry VI. - - - A rial of king Edward IV. - - - An angel of the fame, - - - An angel, fuppofcd of the 49''' of Flenry VI. - An angel of king Richard 111. A fovereign, or double rial of king Henry VII, - An angfl of the fame, - - - A fovereign, as 1 think, of king Henry Vlll. -• An angel of the fame, - - _ A George noble of the fame,. Tro^ Gr. 16. ?• 128. 1 20. 1 20. 119. k. ic8. 107. h. 119. h. 79- h. 79- 1- 79- 239. ^ 79- h. 239. b. 79- IT 70. A crowa 12 ATABLEOF, etc, Troy Gr. A crown of the double rofe. 22 carats finey - 57- ^• A fovereign of his 34"* year. 23 carats fiyie^ - 199 h. A guii-holc angel, - - - 79. A fovereign of his 3 6"" year. Crown goldy - 190. .6. A fovereign of his 3 7''' year. 20 carats fine, - 190, A half Wereign of the i" of king Edward VI. - 9^- h, A fovereign of his 3'' year. Crown gold-, - 169. A fovereign of his 4''' year. Old ji ami - ^ 233. An angel of the lame, _ _ - yy^ A fovereign of his b'*" year. Crozvn gold, ~ 174. a, A fovereign of queen Mary. Old jl and. - 239. An angel of Philip and Mary, - - - 80. A fovereign of queen Elizabeth, - - 239. An angel of the fame, - - - - 80. A fovereign of the fame. Crown gold. - ~ 17 ^.h. A fovereign of her 43^ year, - - - 171. A like fovereign of king James I. - - 171.3^. An unit of his 2'' year, called a fcepter piece, - ijj. A rofe rial of the fame. Old jland. - - 213. An angel of the fame, - - - - 71. A thirty iLilling piece of his 17''' year, - - »5»3-3^. A laureat twenty -piece. Crown gold ^ - - 140. An exurgat three-pound piece ol king Charles I. - 421.^. A twenty fhilling piece of the Common-wealth, 140./6. A fifty /hilling piece of Oliver Cromwell, - - 3 jr. A milled unit of king Charles II. 1662. - 141. A guinea of the fame, 1663. _ - - w^. h. A five pound piece of the fame, - - 647. FINIS. -^1 viiiBi; ^^\\MIBRARYQr ^1 OFCAllFOff^ ^OfCAlIf JAavHHiH'i'^ ^OAavaaii iN"^"^ \\f lINIVFRVv, \ •^ ME I'NIVERSV, "^^ANIMNVnUV aMIIBRARYO/ ^WJIIVD JO"*^ "^.JOJITO JO""" OFCAllF0Mi> AOFCAllFOff^> &AavMfln-i^ ^SAavaan^- = I ^ >- ^\^E -— cc L UNrVERSIT\' OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hllgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. Ni JN-RENEW'"' AUG 1 •) 1996 puE 2 m m\\ mi receive UCLA UFiL/ILL SEP 191996 ^--.> [NOV 1 4 im ii'. -w^ Vtt- ? - D/?^^ -■^ .? 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