Dr. Smith on the Irish Coins of Henry the Seventh. 75 



when he wrote, tend to support his opinion that Henry the Fifth did not coin 

 money in Ireland. 



He next observes, " this Act (38 Henry VI.) would seem to imply that a 

 separate coinage for Ireland, of a type and standard different from that of Eng- 

 land, was then for the first time adopted ; if so, the coins assigned to Henry V., 

 viz., Nos. 56, 7, 8, 9, 60, of Simon, could not have been struck before that 

 period, as they differ in type, and still more in weight from any English coins 

 hitherto struck." 



I have already shown, that if any money was coined in Ireland during the 

 early part of the reign of Henry the Sixth, it ought to be of the same weight, 

 allay, and assay, as the silver money made in London.* The difference in type 

 will be noticed hereafter. 



At an adjourned sitting of the parliament of the 38 Henry VI., it was ordered 

 that the groat " shall pass for five-pence," and on these words, Mr. Lindsay 

 remarks, "it is nearly certain that these coins must have been of the English 

 standard, then sixty grains to the groat, otherwise they would not have been 

 ordered to pass at the rate of a penny more than the new (Irish) groat of forty- 

 five grains, and could not possibly have meant or Included the groats given by 

 Simon to Henry V.," and adds, "let us now consider the coins themselves, and 

 compare them with the English coins of the Henrys. The first peculiarity which 

 presents itself, is the want of the double tressure round the king's head" — the 

 next, " is the cross fourchy on the reverse," then, " the king's title," and lastly, 

 " their weight." 



Mr. Lindsay, with the candour of an enlightened and impartial writer, con 

 eludes by saying, "having thus given to the coins an appropriation very different 

 from that of Simon, or indeed I will admit of any other writer who has noticed 

 them, I think it fair to lay before ray readers, the opinion of a learned friend on 

 whose judgment in matters relating to the English and Irish coinage, I have the 

 greatest reliance." 



With the arguments of Mr. Lindsay, in support of his appropriation, I fully 

 concur, and therefore I feel imperatively called upon to institute a rigid Inquiry 

 into the objections of his learned friend, whose opinions are deservedly entitled 

 to the highest respect. 



* See p. 53. 



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