Dr. Smith on the Irish Coins of Edward the Fourth. 29 



Mint, for on the eighteenth of October, in the tenth year of this reign, (1470,) 

 William Crumpe and Thomas Barby, merchants, were by letters patent consti- 

 tuted masters of the coinage ;* and in 1473, it was ordered, that Germyn Lynch 

 be Master of the Mint during good behaviour.f 



It is reasonable to suppose, that Lynch, being restored to his oflfice, would be 

 anxious to adhere more strictly to the provisions of the Statutes ; and as so many 

 frauds had been committed in the coinage, he probably adopted the letter g as 

 his privy mark ; and I find that the groats with this mark on them are remarkable 

 for the uniformity of their weight, and correspond pretty closely with the stan- 

 dard fixed in 1473. Lynch's coins are more numerous than the other varieties, 

 which, with few exceptions, do not appear to be regulated by any standard. 



There are four pennies described in this section, which I am unable to refer 

 to any particular date, viz. Nos. 47, 54, 59, 73. No groats corresponding in 

 type with them are knovra, and it is only from the larger pieces that the types 

 described in the Acts can be satisfactorily determined. 



There is one particular respecting the inscription on the coins of this period, 

 which requires some notice. The Act of 1470 orders that the groat shall have 

 the words rex anglie in the inscription on the obverse. Now I have observed 

 this title on only three coins, (figs. 37, 55, 56,) and on a Drogheda penny 

 engraved in Simon's Essay.J 



Before I conclude my remarks on this section, I must say a few words 

 respecting the weight of these coins. In 1470, it was enacted that eleven groats 

 should make an ounce troy ; each groat should, therefore, weigh very nearly 

 forty-four grains, or 43^. I presume the troy ounce has been erroneously 

 substituted for that of the Tower, and consequently that the groat of this year 

 should weigh very nearly forty-one grains, or 40-1^. I only know of two coins 

 which exceed the standard as fixed in 1470.§ 



* Simon, Appendix, No. XI. f Simon, Appendix, No. XIII. 



X Plate IV. fig. 92. 



§ Figs. 48, 63. The occasional extra weight is explained by the Act of 1470, which states : 

 " And as the said money cannot always be made to agree according to the just standard, being, in 

 default of the Master, sometimes made too great, and sometimes too small in weight or allay, by 

 four deniers in every pound, which four deniers shall be a remedy for the said Master." — Simon, 

 Appendix, No. X. 



