15 



the existing bank, by the roadside. Thirty-five or 36 coins were dis- 

 covered, and all were testoons or shillings of the first coinage of 

 Edward VI. with one exception, this being a groat of Henry VIII., 

 struck at York, and one of the fourth coinage of that King in the 

 year 1513. On the obverse of the groat the head of the King is repre- 

 sented nearly full face, and this coin was at first supposed to be 

 a gold one from its color when rubbed. This arose solely 

 from the amount of copper which it contained. The coinage was 

 debased to such an infamous extent, the amount of alloy being eight 

 ounces of copper to four ounces of silver, that the groats and 

 shillings with the full face of the King soon displayed the inferior metal 

 at the most prominent part, viz., the end of the nose. This gave a good 

 opportunity of having a joke at his portly Majesty's expense, so that his 

 most loyal subjects, in speaking of him, often called him " old copper 

 nose." I have secured the groat and 16 of the testoons of Edward VI. 

 Of the testoons or shillings in my possession five are dated 1549, five 1550 

 and six are dated 1551. The obverse of each coin has the King's profile, 

 crowned, looking to the right, with the name in full and the titles 

 abbreviated. On the reverse is an oval shield of arms, garnished, with 

 E.R. at the sides, with the date and the motto, " Timor Domini fons 

 vitas," meaning " The fear of the Lord is a fountain of Life." It seems to 

 have been at first intended that the base state of the coinage, as left by 

 Henry, should be improved, but the way of doing it appears to have 

 been far from honest, for the whole of these testoons consist of 

 anything but good silver, as we shall presently see. Most of us 

 know that the young King kept a journal with his own hand, which 

 is still preserved in the British Museum. In it an entry appears 

 as follows : " It was appointed to make 20,000 pounds weight to 

 get ;^i 5,000 clear," and the silver coins which were then issued had nine 

 ounces of alloy to three ounces of silver. These shillings Bishop Latimer 

 alluded to in one of his sermons. " We have now," said he, " a pretty 

 little shilling, a very pretty shilling, but the fineness of the silver I cannot 

 see. Yet a fine sentence is printed thereon, ' The fear of the Lord is a 

 fountain of Life.' I would to God (said the good Bishop) that this 

 sentence was always printed on the heart of the King." In another 

 sermon the Bishop, in speaking of the baseness' of the coinage, says: 

 " Thy silver is turned into what ? testoons ! into dross." — using a text in 

 Isaiah. These remarks on both occasions, were made in the presence of 

 the King, and the question arose as to whether these allusions were not 



