CHAPTER VI. 



CURRENCY. 





WlTHIN the period comprised in these volumes, important, 

 even fundamental changes took place in the currency, whatever 

 be the interpretation given to the various indentures which the 

 ~~ crown and the master of the mint executed. The theory of 

 the currency is as follows. Up to 1300, the pound (Tower) of 

 silver was coined into 240 pence. This Tower pound con- 

 tained 5400 grains, and continued to be the pound of currency 

 up to the 1 8th year of Henry the Eighth (1527), when the Troy 

 pound of 5760 grains was, by proclamation, declared to be the 

 only legal weight for gold and silver. These 240 pence each 

 contained, according to the Tower weight, 22 1 grains, and had 

 the penny been measured by the Troy pound it would have 

 contained 24 grains. The standard of fineness was 1 1 ozs. 

 2 dwts. fine, and iSdwts. alloy, and this standard of silver was 

 continued, unchanged, till the first debasement of the currency 

 in 34 Henry VIII ; a debasement which was further practised 

 in varying proportions during the reigns of Edward the Sixth 

 and Mary, though both these monarchs, the former at the 

 conclusion, the latter at the beginning of their respective reigns, 

 strove to reform the currency. This reformation was effected 

 by Elizabeth, who restored the old standard, and is supposed 

 to have made a profit on the transaction. Since this reforma- 

 tion, which was the first act of Elizabeth's reign, the proportion 

 of fine silver and alloy has remained unchanged. The Irish 





