Dr. Smith on the Irish Coins of Edward the Fourth. 35 



the king's name before the word Rex."* I have not met with any such 

 variety. 



Sir James Ware says, that liberty to coin " pieces of three-^&ace, two-pence, 

 and a penny," with three crowns on the reverse, was granted to the Mint 

 Master in the eighteenth year (1478) of this reign. I conceive he has com- 

 mitted some error on this subject, for Moryson, who wrote many years before 

 him, speaks of "cross-keale groats, with the Pope's triple crown." 



Simon, relying on the correctness of Sir James "Ware's account, endeavours 

 to reconcile it with the standard fixed by the Act of 1479- He observes, " the 

 standard of the Tower of London must be understood here only as to the allay, 

 and not as to the weight of the Tower," and concludes that "the groat must have 

 weighed forty grains, and ten (twelve ?) of them to have been cut out of the 

 ounce Troy, in which case silver was again reduced to near its former value ;"t 

 and in the next page informs us that "the pieces with three crowns" weigh 

 from twenty-eight and a half to thirty grains, " the half piece fourteen to fifteen 

 grains," and the penny "with the crowns seven grains." 



It is difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile his opinions with the following 

 facts : 



In 1473 the weight of the Irish groat was reduced to nearly thirty-two grains, 

 and in 1479 Germyn Lynch was empowered " to strike coyne at four shillings 

 and ten pence per ounce, according to the fineness and standard of the Tower of 

 London,"! which reduced the weight of the groat to thirty one grains.§ 



Sir James Ware represents these pieces in the proportion of three, two, and 

 one, while Simon speaks of them as "pieces," and "half-pieces." I have 

 weighed many of them, and in general they correspond with the weights, as stated 

 by Simon ; they also agree with the standard fixed in 1479,11 and are in the pro- 



* View of the Coinage, p. 46. -I" Simon, p. 29. 



X Simon, Appendix, No. XVII. 



§ Simon evidently did not take a correct view of this coinage, for he understood the standard as 

 applying to the allay, and not to the weight, whereas the Act expressly provides for both, in the 

 words, " according to the fineness (allay) and standard (weight) of the Tower of London." He was 

 in error in calculating the weight of the pieces according to the Troy ounce. 



II Those of the Fitzgerald type are usually somewhat lighter than the others. 



e 2 



