May, 1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



103 



be reniai-ked that in the numismatic histoi-y of the 

 world endless corabiuations of precious and base metals 

 have been represented. 



Gold and silver on account of their comparative soft- 

 ness and flexibility are never employed in a pure state, 

 but are almost universally alloyed with a certain pro- 

 portion of copper, the alloys being made up to definite 

 proportions or " standards." 



Although it is generally known that silver coins and 

 plate are not made of pure silver, few people have 

 very definite ideas as to the composition of the alloys 

 which are employed for these purposes, and still fewer 

 are aware that the amount of base metal added to the 

 silver is guarded with the most rigorous care. 



In the British Isles the projjortiou of silver in coin 

 and plate is regulated by law. It is enacted that 

 British silver coin and plate shall consist of 11 ozs. 

 2 dwts. of fine or pure silver and IS dwts. of copper in 

 the troy pound, or 925 parts of fine silver per 1.000 

 parts of alloy. This is termed sterling silver, and was 

 fii-st particularly defined by statute in 1576 {18th of 

 Elizabeth, c. 15). 



Many derivations haVe been offered with regard to 

 the word sterling, but the most probable and the one 

 now generally adopted is that given in a well-known 

 old book entitled '' A new Touchstone for Gold and 

 Silver wares,' published in 1679. In this very 

 interesting work the author states (on page 8) that the 

 expression sterling-alloy is derived " from the Easter- 

 lings, or men that came from the East part of Germany 

 in the time of King Richard the First, and who were 

 the first contrivers and makers of that alloy," The 

 purity of their money was famous, and it is supposed 

 that coiners were fetched from Eastern Germany to 

 improve the British currency. 



Stow, writing in 1603, | gives a similar explanation. 

 He says " the money of England was called of the 

 workers thereof, and so the Easterling jjence took their 

 names of the Easterlings, which did first make this 

 money in England in the reign of Henry II., and thus 



I set it down according to my reading in Antiquitie of 

 money matters, omitting the imaginations of late writers, 

 of whom some have said Easterling money to take that 

 name of a starre stamped on the border or ring of the 

 penie ; other some, of a bird called a stare or starling 

 stamped on the circumference, and others (more un- 

 likely) of being coined at Stiruelin or Starling, a town 

 in Scotland." 



With regai'd to the adoption of an alloy containing 



II ozs. 2 dwts. of silver in the pound troy as a standard 

 for the silver currency of this country. Sir Roberts- 

 Austen§ has pointed out that the adjustment of the 

 relative proportions of the pi-ecious and base metals is 

 undoubtedly guided by the particular system of weights 

 used. 



The fineness of alloys of silver has from very early 

 times been computed by divisions of the troy pound, 

 which weight is still retained in weighing gold and 

 silver. 



The Commissioners appointed in 1868 to enquire into 

 the condition of the Exchequer Standards]] state that 

 " the troy pound is said to have been derived from the 



t ■' A SuTTey of London," by Jolin Stow, p. 52, KiOS. (Jiioti'd l.y 

 Roberts- Austen , p. 14, Ibid. 



S Ibid., Cantor Lecture, p. 1.5. 



I Third Report of Comraissioneis. Pai-liaincntary P;ipcr. c. '■'■(>, 

 )). iii., 1870. 



Roman weight of 5759.2 grains, the 125th pai-t of tho 

 large Alexandrian talent, this weight, like the troy 

 pound, having been divided by the Romans into twelve 

 ounces," luid they add, " the troy weight is universally 

 allowed to have been in general use from the time of 

 King Edward I. The most ancient system of weights 

 in this kingdom was that of the moneyers' pound, or 

 the money pound of the Anglo-Saxons, which continued 

 in use for some centuries ;ifter the Conquest, being then 

 known as the Tower pound, or sometimes the gold- 

 smiths' pound. It contained twelve ounces of 450 

 grains each, or 5,400 grains, and this weight of silver 

 was a pound sterling. The Tower pound was abolished 

 in 1527 by a statute of King Henry VIII., which first 

 established troy weight as the only legal weight for 

 gold and silver. From that time to the present our 

 system of coinage has been based on the troy weight." 



In connection with the standard 925, it may be re- 

 marked that a Roman silver coin of the Triumvir 

 Antoninusll (n.c. 31) had almost the same composition 

 as British silver coin, as it contained — silver 925, 

 copper 71, lead 2, and gold 1. 



The standard 925 was probably first introduced into 

 England by the Saxons, as the Saxon pennies were of 

 the same standard. A number of coins issued before 

 the Norman Conquest have been assayed by Roberts- 

 Austen,** from which the following results have been 

 selected. A coin of Burgred, King of Mcrcia. 

 (852-874 A.D.), contained only 332 parts of silver in the 

 thousand, while one of Ethelred (978-1016 a.d.) con- 

 tained 918 parts of silver, and was probably intended 

 to represent the standard 925. A coin of Canute 

 (1016-1035 A.D.) proved to be of the standard 931, and 

 was also intended, in all probability, to represent the 

 English standard. 



Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman coins are believed 

 to have been of the standard 925 ; a coin of William 

 the Conqueror when assayed proved to be of the 

 standard 922.8. In England the standard 925 appears to 

 have remained unchanged until the thirty-foui'th year of 

 King Heni-y VIII. (ah. 1542), when, as will be seen 

 from the following table, a great fall in the fineness 

 took place. 



Table showing the AJlerations in Fineness of Knglish Standard Silver, 

 from tlie reign of William the Cnni|iieror to tliat nf Edw;inl \' 1 1 . 



; Fineness of Silver. 



*i "Die MetalUirgie. Melnllvcrarbcil iing." A. Ledebur, |i. H(i, 

 1882. 



** //till., Cantor l.eeture.'i, pnjii- 17. 



