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king, and was only completed by Elizabeth in her second year. He then dis- 
cussed the various processes of coining which were tried in the reigns of 
Elizabeth, Charles I. and Cromwell, with the object of superseding the ancient 
mode of striking with the hammer : and the adoption of the screw press in 
1662. The principal objection to its earlier use seemed to be the fear of its 
quiet working giving encouragement to forgers, whereas the noise of the old 
process made it difficult to conceal it. Speaking of copper coinage, Mr 
Robertson said it was true that tokens had been issued under a patent granted 
to one Harrington during the reigns of James I. and Charles I., but the 
public dislike caused their withdrawal, and the general circulation of trades- 
men’s tokens “ for necessary change” was the result. These were decried in 
1672, when the first really authoritative copper currency was begun. The 
effigy upon it of Britannia was copied from a Roman coin struck to com- 
memorate the conquest of Britain, but the portrait was that of the celebrated 
Mrs Stewart. The “gun money” of James II. was only issued in Ireland 
after his expulsion from this country, and could not, therefore, be considered 
a debasement of the English coinage. Referring to the farthings of Queen 
Anne, he said that the ordinary type was not particularly rare, but there were 
several proofs which were so. Mr Robertson expressed his appreciation of 
the lucid manner in which Mr Ingram had dealt with his subject. 
The Rev. W. Bazeley referred to the interest and importance of the 
collection and study of coins, especially urging collecting in our own county. 
Mr John Bellows said the lecturer had mentioned the value of coins in 
helping us to a knowledge of history. A remarkable instance of this was 
the medallary history of Carausius, by Roach Smith, who had been able to 
deduce a great deal of what that Emperor had done after wresting Britain 
from the Roman rule, from the coins he had struck. More than 2,000 
different types of these had been found in this country. It would appear 
that one of the grievances under which the Britons laboured just before the 
reign of Carausius was the lack of coin, This was often the case under the 
Roman Empire, the soldiers sometimes going, it was said, for twenty years 
without their pay. Early traces of the law of distress were those in which 
military men seized cattle, etc,, for arrears of pay due to them. Another 
illustration of the aid rendered to history by coins, is furnished in the number 
of forged pieces of Claudius that have been found at Kingsholm, Gloucester. 
Lysons mentioned this as corroborating the very early occupation of this city 
by the Romans, for no forger would select the money of a bygone period for 
imitation. A coiner now, for example, would be certain to counterfeit the 
current pieces of Queen Victoria, and not those of William IV. or one of the 
Georges ; and, therefore, the discovery of these sham coins of Claudius, as well 
as of one of the moulds used for casting them (for they were cast, not struck 
with dies), is a strong proof that Gloucester was garrisoned during the reign 
of Claudius—that is, at the very outset of the invasion, which ended in the 
