October 1, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



217 



LONDON : OCTOBER 1, 1896. 



CONTENTS. 



^ PAGE 



English Coins.— 111. Bj G. F. Hill, M.A. (Plate) ... 217 



Our Fun Producers. — V. The Cat Tribe, Civets, and 

 Monkeys. l!v K. Ltdekkek, B.A.Cantab., F.B.S. 



{Illustrated) .'. 220 



The History of the Great Lakes and Niagara. By 



Andrew J. IIebbeetson ... ... ... ... ..". 223 



The Transition from Stem to Root. Bv A. Maslen. 



{Illustrated) ." .-. 22t 



Philological Note on the Constellations Ursa Major 



and Ursa Minor. By J. H. Reynolds 226 



Total Eclipse of the Sun. By 'Mauy Proctob 



{Illustrated) 226 



Clavius and his Neighbours. By K. W. Maundee, F.R.A.S. 



(Plate) ... .. ..'. 227 



The Reception of Dr. Nansen at Christiania. {Illustrated) 228 

 Letters: — T. W. Backuou.se ; David Flanebt ; Samuel 



Baebee; Albeut Collison; J. Ceeaou 230 



Notices of Books 231 



Runes and Oghams. By Geetkude Buefoed Kawlings 232 



The Ash. By Geoeqb Paxton {Illustrated) 234 



Waves. — X. Rippling. By Vaughan Cobnish, M.Sc. 



{Illmtraled) 235 



The Face of the Sky for October. By Heebeet 



Sadler, FR.A.S " 239 



Chess Column. By C. D. Locock, B.A.Oxon 239 



ENGLISH COINS.-IIL* 



By G. F. Hill, M.A. 



THE union of the English and Scottish Crowns in 

 1603 did not lead to any nnificatiou of the currency. 

 James I. continued to strike separate series for 

 both parts of bis kingdom, but there are frequent 

 allusions in his coinage to the union of the two 

 countries. The most important is found in the shield, which 

 now bore, in the first and fourth quarters, France and 

 England quarterly ; in the second, Scotland ; in the third, 

 Ireland. James's first gold coinage consisted of sovereiitus, 

 half-sovereigns, crowns, and half-crowns, all of which have 

 the Scottish thistle for mint-mark. But this was replaced 

 in the same or the next year by a gold coinage, the largest 

 piece in which, though of the same value as the old 

 sovereign, was known as the "unite" (Fig. 1). On this 

 coinage the king is called " King of (treat Britain, France, 

 and Ireland," and the legend of the reverse (faciam 

 EOS IN GENTEM vnam) gave rise to the name of the 

 coin. In 1011 these pieces were given a value of twenty- 

 two shillings, the weight remaining the same (about one 



* Tliefirot of these artielc3 appeared in the May and the second in 

 the August numbers of Kmowledqb. 



hundred and fifty-four grains troy) ; but in 1619 the old 

 value was restored, the weight being reduced propor- 

 tionally. At the same time for the old crowned bust was 

 substituted a laureated one (Fig. 2), which gave the name 

 of " laurel " to the coin. Yet a third name was the 

 " broad. " Besides the unite, we may mention among the 

 gold coins of James I., the " Britain crown," with the 

 motto HENRicvs ROSAS (conjunxit) REGNA IACOBVS 

 (" Henry united the Roses, James the Realms"), and the 

 " thistle crown," bearing a rose on one side, a thistle on 

 the other, with tveatvr vnita deVS (" God protect the 

 United Kingdoms " ). This was worth at first four shUhngs, 

 but was raised in 1011 in proportion to the unite. The 

 denomination was not issued again La gold. An excep- 

 tional place in the coinage of this reign is occupied by 

 the rose ryal" of thirty shillings (afterwards raised to 

 thirty-three), the spur ryal of fifteen shillings (lOs. 6d.), 

 the angel of ten shillings (lis.), and its half. " Spur ryal" 

 is a misnomer, occasioned by the rose on a sun, which 

 appears on the reverse, and has been taken for a spur. 

 These coins belong rather to the series of James's prede- 

 cessors than to the new type of coins which he introduced. 

 From this time onwards there is a tendency towards 

 reducing the number of denominations ; Charles I. coined 

 no ryals, and was the last to coin angels. 



In silver, James made an alteration in the type of 

 the crowns and half-crowns, which now represented the 

 king riding on horseback to the right (Fig. 3), a rose 

 (crowned) on the housings, and the motto exvrgat 

 DEVS DissiPENTVR iNiMici (Psalm Ixviii. 1), or qv/e 

 DEVS CONIVNXIT NEMO SEPARET (Matt. xix. 6, again 

 an allusion to the union of the kingdoms). On the 

 shillings the king's bust to the right is the type. From 

 this time we may note in the English coinage the 

 principle that each sovereign reverses the direction of the 

 obverse type adopted by his predecessor. Thus the types 

 on the coins of Elizabeth and Charles I., when profiles, 

 look to the left, those of James I. to the right. The rule 

 was broken by Charles II. and James II., but thenceforward 

 has been rigidly observed. 



In 1013 a patent was granted to Lord Harrington of 

 Exton to coin copper farthings (Fig. 1). They are very 

 common, and equally common were the forgeries which 

 were made of them at the time. The obverse type is a 

 crown over two sceptres in saltu-e, the reverse a crowned 

 harp, which gives them an Irish appearance. Owing to 

 the number of counterfeits which were made, these coins 

 were exceedingly unpopular, but they were forced upon the 

 public throughout the reign of James and the first ten 

 years of that of Charles. 



The reign of Charles 1. did not see any important 

 alteration in the coinage, but at the same time the troubles 

 of the reign could not but be refiected in the coins, and 

 lend them an unusual interest. The legends employed by 

 James were replaced by others, as on the angel here 

 figured (Fig. 0), which reads amoR popvli pr/esidivm 

 REGIS. The facts of the reign lend a peculiar irony to 

 this as to many others of the legends of Charles I.'s 

 coinage. Another legend of interest is that relating to the 

 declaration made by the king, in 1012, that he would pre- 

 serve the Protestant religion, the laws of England, and the 

 freedom of Parliament. This is recorded, for instance, on 

 the fine three-pound pieces, which read RELlGio PROTestans, 

 LEGes ANcliii' LiBERtas PARhamenti, with a motto revived 



• The I'val, or rial (from roi/al), was a gold coin Vfhich lUietuated 

 in value from ten shillini;s sterling '" tl'* T»\ga of lleury VI , and 

 liKeen sliillings in that of Elizabeth, to the amounts mentioned iu 

 the text. 



