64 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



The reason why coins are always struck, and not cast in a 

 mould is from the fact that gold, silver and copper, sustain a con- 

 traction in their transition from the liquid to the solid state, and 

 cannot therefore be cast to the figure of a mould, consequently their 

 impression must be stamped. 



The coinage of a country is ever on the change, a new coin 

 being produced while another is called in. In England the follow- 

 ing coins have disappeared — the silver groat and half groat, 4d. and 

 2d, introduced by Edward III., the testoon by Henry VII ; Eliza- 

 beth's three half-penny and three farthing pieces; the mark, noble, 

 royal, spur-royal, angel and angelet, and the tin-half pence and farthing 

 coined by Charles II. Less than a century ago, five guinea and two 

 guinea gold pieces, and twopenny pieces in copper, were in general 

 circulation ; guineas succumbed to the necessities of political ecomo- 

 my, whilst crowns and fourpenny " bits " have died out within quite 

 a recent period. The florin is a comparatively new coin, but is not 

 often seen in this country, whilst the seven-shilling gold piece is 

 only found in the collections of the numismatist, or forming an orna- 

 ment to a watch chain, along with the old spade guinea. Even the 

 large copper penny of our father's time is supplanted by a smaller 

 coin of bronze, and to give a more familiar illustration at our own 

 door, it is quite within the memory of us all when our Banks had to 

 recall all their paper issue under five dollars, and these notes were 

 supplanted by a government issue of Dominion Notes of one, two and 

 four dollars value respectively. The " Sous" of Lower Canada and 

 the Bank token of Upper Canada are becoming scarce, with the 

 larger coinage and circulation of the cent, and Canadian silver cur- 

 rency has now driven from trade the various silver coins which for- 

 merly were current all through our land. 



The earliest coinage that can be called American was ordered 

 by the Virginia Company, and was minted in the Bermudas in 161 2, 

 when, and for many years after, the standard currency of Virginia 

 was tobacco. In 1645 the Virginia Assembly provided for the issue 

 of copper coins of the denominations of 2d,, 3d., 6d. and gd. Seven 

 years later, in 1652, the general court of Massachusetts passed an 

 order creating a '• Mint-House " at Boston, and which directed "the 

 "coinage of lad., 6d. and 3d. pieces, which shall be for form flat, 

 " and stamped on one side with N. E., and on the other side with 

 " 12, 6, 3, according to the value of each piece, in Roman numerals." 



