74 Dr. Smith on the Irish Coins of Henry the Seventh. 



I have had occasion, in more than one instance, to doubt the accuracy of 

 Simon's engravings ; and it is plain that he sometimes erred in attempting to 

 restore the legend of a defaced coin. His fig. 56, has gra, but my fig. 55 has 

 GRACiA, and is identified with Simon's, by having the letters ne in the name of 

 the city united exactly as he has represented them ; and my friend, the Rev. 

 J. W. Martin, has a groat which certainly has been struck from the same die as 

 mine, but defective in the legend exactly in the place where Simon's differs 

 from fig. 55. Mr. Martin's coin has been traced to Simon's possession. 



Of the many coins without the tressure which I have seen, I have not met 

 with any so perfect as those engraved in Simon's Essay. The errors, for such I 

 must consider them, which appear in the legends, &c., of figs. 56, 57, 58, may be 

 accounted for by his attempting to restore partially defaced coins, while the letters 

 in the inner circle correspond with pieces known at present. 



In making these observations, I by no means intend to insinuate that Simon 

 intentionally misrepresented the legends on any of his coins, on the contrary, I 

 am satisfied that his errors are to be attributed to the want of opportunities en- 

 joyed by his successors, and his work, which he " modestly styled an Essay only," 

 has received a well merited eulogium from the able and impartial author of the 

 " Annals of the Coinage of Britain." 



Mr. Lindsay was the first writer who questioned the correctness of Simon's 

 appropriation of the groats without the tressure to Henry the Fifth; and as several 

 distinguished numismatists are still of opinion, that these groats are the earliest 

 in the Irish series, it is necessary to enter at some length into the discussion of 

 this question. 



I shall first lay before my readers, an abstract of Mr. Lindsay's opinions, 

 and then proceed to investigate the objections which have been urged against 

 them. 



" It must in the first place be observed," says Mr. Lindsay, " that no records 

 have hitherto been discovered, which direct, or even refer to, an Irish coinage 

 from the reign of Edward III., until the 38th Henry VI., 1459-1460."* 



In the Introduction to this essay, I have quoted a roll of the 9 Henry V., 

 and another of the 3 Henry VI., which, although unknown to Mr. Lindsay 



* View of the Coinage of Ireland, p. 31. . 



