Some of the coins of Edward the Confessor 

 were of more advanced skill than others. 

 They are represented by fifty-one different 

 mints, and between three and four hun- 

 dred distinct moneyers, with innumerable 

 varieties of the coins themselves. He adopted 

 the term Pax for the reverse of one of his 

 issues. Harold did the the same although his 

 short reign was a turbulent one, bO that 

 is a sufficient answer to those writers that contend 

 that the word was chosen by William the Con- 

 queror as conciliatory to his new countrymen. 

 The ornamental crosses upon the rev tsbs of coins 

 died out in Stephen's reign, thenceforth the design 

 was a simple plain cross, extending to the edge of 

 the metal, with one or two circles containing 

 inscriptions intersecting it, and this continued in 

 silver money until the time of Henry VII., who 

 placed the cross o%'er a shield with coat of arms, so 

 familiar to us. But if the beauty of the silver 

 thus stood still, it was far otherwise with the more 

 precious gold currency, which from the earliest 

 time was more greatly favoured, whether from the 

 metal taking the impression of the die easier, or 

 whether the more prized material was thought 

 worthier of skilled design we cannot say, but at 

 the date when Henry III. thought any coin 

 quite good enoxigh for the silver penny, that which 

 is known as his gold one was really elaborate. Of 

 the latter there are not many examples, and it is 

 generally supposed to be a pattern for a coin, 

 intended to be, but never actually issued from the 

 Mint. Most likely this was the case, for it has no 

 distinctive name, that of the gold penny having 

 been given it because in size it was almost 

 identical with the coin in circulation. Mr. 

 Montaguf-.'s specimen, the last offered for sale, 

 realised ^£300. This piece was. as I have already 

 said, not followed by any other gold money until 

 the reign ot Edward III., for as a sheep in those 

 days was only valued at nine-pence, a currency of 

 80 large a value was scarcely needed. Edward 

 the Third also broke the monotony of the penny 

 coinage by issuing groats or gross pennies, of four 

 times the value of the former ; he also put in 

 circulation pieces of smaller denominations, which 

 were much wanted, halfpence and farthings, these, 

 excepting those during Alfred's reign, having been 

 madebycuttingthe pennies in pieces to the size de- 

 sired. The dreadful penalties of mutilation enacted 

 by Henry against defacers of the King's coins seem 

 to have led to this innovation, as no doubt it 

 was felt an anachronism to deprive a man of 

 his life or a limb for clipping a piece 

 of money, whilst allowing him to cut 

 one in pieces for bartering purposes. The feeble 

 rule of Henry III in the latter years of his reign, 

 and the increasing power of his Barons had led to a 

 height of corruption of the money unknown before 

 in this kingdom and this continued until Edward 

 III.'s time, so much so, indeed, that foreign 

 merchants refused at last to briug over 

 their commodities, and every marketable 

 article for many years became very dear. 

 Edward Ill's first st«p upon ascending the 

 the throne was to remedy this issue of bad monies : 

 he inflicted severe fines upon the offenders, who 

 comprised all classes, even to the nobility and 



clergy, and of course the Jews, who were almost 

 signalled out for the purpose. Harding's chronicle 

 says : — 



The King then did great rislit and justice 



Upon clippers and peirers of tlie coyne 



And newe money maile. tbat then might suffice 



Of silver plate made out of Boloyne 



The grote, half-grote. all in newe coj-ne 



He coynd farst penny, halfpeny and fearthing. 



There U considerable poetical license in these 

 lines, the new coinage was made in 1344., the word 

 Boulogne is used instead of Calais, only to rhyme 

 with coyue, and Calais itself only surrendered to 

 Edward in 1347 whilst its mint was established 

 the following year, and he certainly first did not 

 coin pennies, but perhaps the rhymer wished to 

 imply that Edward issued these smaller denomin- 

 ations before proceeding- with the more important 

 gold pieces, the only issue to the public that had 

 been made since the old British darics. The style' 

 of niece now set up for the first time, because the 

 model for the gold monies of several reigns with 

 but slight modifications, thus the initial letter of 

 the King's name might be placed upon the side of 

 the vessel, or upon the flag, or even upon the mast, 

 or the latter might be supplanted by a cross 

 with the letter upon it. The reverse 

 bore a double ornamental cross with badge in the 

 centre with initial letter and leopards and crowns 

 between the arms of the cross, or a sun occupied 

 the centre. Early English gold coins from their 

 grand appearance received the name of nobles, and 

 equally in this country as upon the Continent the 

 smaller pieces were denominated, called either from 

 the places of mintage or the devices impressed 

 upon them. In this way we get the leopard, the 

 chaise, for the King seated, the salute, when a 

 picture of the annunciation occupies th*^ reverse, 

 the Angel for the same and the Angelot for a 

 smaller i->iece, the George for the patron Saint 

 slaying the dragon, the ryal or royal which sup- 

 planted the noble, the spur ryal from the sun 

 (adopted by Edward IV. as an emblem of his 

 success at the battle of Barnet, in 1471, when a 

 parhelion was visible through the morning mist 

 which partly covered the fleld) but misunderstood 

 by the people in general when they saw it upon 

 his coins, and thought to represent the rowels of a 

 spur, and numerous others. One of these is a coin 

 of Edward IV. 's successor, Richard II ,the inscrip- 

 tion calls him King of England and France, Lord 

 of Ireland and Aguitaine, the other belongs to 

 Henry VI. ; the great beauty of this coin is quite 

 in keeping with the age when architecture was at 

 its height, and the ornamented and elaborated 

 cross is most characteristic. The singular text of 

 scripture chosen for the reverse has never been 

 satisfactorily explained. It is taken from Luke, 

 chap. 4, V. 30, " Jesus pissing through the midst 

 of them went His way." VVeflrst see it on Edward 

 III.'s coins; some think the King upon a foggy 

 day sailed through the midst of an hostile fleet 

 upon his return from Scotland, others regard it as 

 a metaphor that in spite of opposition the 

 monarchy would pursue its course. There is no 

 historical ground for the first surmise, and the 

 second is too far fetched to be tenable, probably it 

 was only a short biblical quotation, without much 



