October 1, 1896.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



219 



Some of the gold coins of Anne have an elephant and 

 castle placed under the bust, in token of the fact that they 

 are made of gold brought to England by the African 

 Company. Other pieces, both of gold and silver, struck 

 in 1702 and 1703 out of metal captured at Vigo, 

 in 1702, bear the name of that town. After the union 

 with Scotland in 1707 an alteration was effected in 

 the arms. These had been represented on four shields 

 placed crosswise : the arms of England at the top, of 

 France at the bottom, of Scotland to the right, and of 

 Ireland to the left. The arms of England and Scotland 

 impaled were now placed in the top and bottom shields, 

 and France transferred to the right. 



The accession of George I. brought about some slight 

 alterations in the coinage. The letters F D (Fidei Defensor) 

 were now for the first time added to the king's title. 

 Besides this, a string of letters denote George's title as 

 Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg, Chief Treasurer and 

 Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The arms of Hanover 

 are now placed in the left-hand shield and the Irish harp 

 in the bottom one, the others remaining as before. 



In 1717 the value of the guinea was fixed at twenty-one 

 shillings, which it retained until the re-introduction of the 

 sovereign. In the next year quarter-guineas were also 

 struck for the first time. 



George II. 's coinage hardly calls for remark. After 

 Crocker's death in 1710, .John Sigismund Tanner was made 

 Chief Engraver to the Mint ; and it is possible that the 

 slang term for a sixpenny piece is derived from his name. 

 Some of the gold coins of this reign, either because they 

 were issued for the East India Company or because they 

 were made of gold from India, bear the letters El.c. 

 under the bust. Others, both gold and silver, of the years 

 1745 and 174G, read LIMA. The metal for these pieces 

 came from Peru, whence Lord Anson had brought a 

 quantity of bullion in 1744. 



The reign of George III. is perhaps the most disgraceful 

 period in the history of the later English coinage. In 1762 

 the issue of quarter-guineas was temporarily revived ; in 

 1797 a new denomination of seven shillings, or one-third 

 of a guinea, was issued. But the coinage of five and two 

 guinea pieces was dropped, and even the ordinary gold 

 currency was allowed to deteriorate to a very serious 

 extent. As to the silver, it was excessively scanty and in 

 a worn condition. With one small exception (one hundred 

 pounds worth of shillings struck in 1763 for a special 

 purpose) no silver beyond the usual Maundy money was 

 issued until 1787. 



The issue of 1763 was made on the occasion of the Earl of 

 Northumberland's first public appearance as Lord Lieu- 

 tenant of Ireland, when the shillings were distributed among 

 the Dublin populace. By 1787 the silver coinage had become 

 so worn that pieces on which nothing could be made out 

 passed current. The shillings and sixpences now issued 

 were quickly melted down, and now the Government 

 resorted to the device of countermarking Spanish dollars 

 to make them legal tender in England (Fig. 13, with the 

 king's head), or even of completely re-striking the Spanish 

 coins. It was not till 1817 that an entirely new coinage 

 was issued. Guineas, half-guineas, and seven-shilling 

 pieces were last coined in 1813 ; the sovereign, of 

 123-27447 grains (Fig. 15), and the half-sovereign, were 

 now introduced. The dies for the early coinage of 

 George III. had been engraved by Lewis I'ingo. lie was 

 now replaced by Thomas Wyon, but the designs of a 

 number of the coins were made by I'istrucci. To this 

 somewhat over rated artist the design of St. George and 

 the Dragon, which now appeared on the reverse of the 

 sovereign and crown, was due. It is not wanting in spirit. 



but has many faults. The admiration it excited at the 

 time was partly due to the excellent way in which it was 

 produced by the ilint. The reverse of the half-sovereign 

 bore the royal arms. 



No copper coinage was issued until the year 1770. 

 From 1775 to 1797 there was again a cessation of copper 

 coinage. The last year saw the first and last coinage 

 of the " cart-wheel " type, including the only two- 

 penny piece ever ofScially issued in copper. These pieces 

 have a broad rim raised above the level of the rian and 

 bearing the inscription. The coins were designed by 

 Kiichler. Another extensive copper coinage was issued 

 in 1.S06 and 1807. 



The new gold coinage of 1816 differs from the earlier 

 issues in that the coins are smaller and thicker, and that 

 the rim assumes a greater importance. The sovereigns 

 will pack together more firmly than the old guineas, in 

 which the rim was not raised to any appreciable height. 

 The change is an improvement only from a commercial 

 point of view, for it detracts from the value of the relief, 

 such as it is. .At the same time, the execution of the 

 coinage of thi? period is an improvement on the last 

 century, and infinitely superior to that of the present day. 



The union of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland 

 in 1800 caused a further change in the arms. They were 

 now quarterly — first and fourth England, second Scotland, 

 third Ireland ; the Hanoverian arms were borne on an 

 escutcheon of pretence, and the arms of France abandoned 

 with the title. 



The coinage of George IV. is lacking in interest. It is 

 only necessary to mention that in this reign a double 

 sovereign was struck. Pistrucci engraved the dies. In 

 1824 he was ordered to engrave a portrait from a bust by 

 Chantrey, but refused to work from any but his own models. 

 The task was therefore given partly to Wil'iam Wyon, 

 partly to the Frenchman, J. B. Merlin. 



Under William l\. some experiments were made with 

 the coinage. The Masters of the Mint have been abused 

 for abolishing the armorial device on the shillings and six- 

 pences, and substituting the name of the denomination. 

 The value had long been indicated on the smaller coins, 

 and the art of the period was so bad that we can hardly 

 find fault with the authorities for introducing what was at 

 any rate a practical improvement. 



In 1836 groats were once more issued for general cir- 

 culation. They were continued into the next reign, but 

 since 1856 have only been issued for Maundy purposes. 

 The copper coins of this reign are somewhat rare, only a 

 comparatively small number having been struck. 



Pistrucci's St. George and the Dragon disappeared from 

 the coins at the beginning of the present reign, and was 

 replaced by a shield of arms, from which, of course, the 

 arms of Hanover were removed. The portrait is by 

 William Wyon, and is not uupleasing. Pistrucci's design 

 was revived in 1871 for the reverse of the sovereign, in 

 1887 for the crown, in 1893 for the half-sovereign. In 1849 

 the llorin was first coined. The bust was represented 

 crowned, a revival from the times of Charles II. For 

 some reason the words Dt'i Gratia were omitted on the 

 first florin, which therefore goes by the name of the 

 "godless florin." The mistake was rectitiod in the next 

 and succeeding issues, in which the legends are in Old 

 English characters. 



From 1815 onwards the threepenny piece, of the same 

 type as the Maundy money, has been issued at intervals 

 for circulation. 



In 1860 a change was made in the copper coinage, 

 bronze (ninety-five parts of copper to four of tin and one 

 of zinc) being substituted for copper, and the size of the 



