326 



"Of the ten spurious coins, five are from different dies, a 

 fact which proves that forgery was carried on to a great extent, 

 and in a systematic manner ; nor is it at all surprising that they 

 should be found associated with genuine coins, for one of the 

 most notorious swindlers of the present day is in the habit of 

 offering for sale genuine coins mixed up with forgeries. 



"The spuriousness of those coins is at once detected by 

 the separation of the metallic discs at the margin, but inde- 

 pendent of this evidence, their deficiency in weight would 

 enable a well-informed numismatist to pronounce without he- 

 sitation that they were not genuine regal coins. The central 

 piece of copper was evidently intended to impart weight and 

 solidity, yet, even with this addition, most of them are little 

 more than half the legal weight of the groats of David and 

 Robert, which should be about sixty-one grains, whereas the 

 average weight of the ten false coins is a fraction less than 

 thirty-seven grains, the heaviest being forty-eight grains, and 

 the lightest thirty-one ; of the four genuine coins, one groat 

 weighs fifty-seven grains, and one of the half-groats weighs 

 thirty grains. 



" To determine, as near as possible, the period at which 

 these forgeries were fabricated, it is necessary to refer to a few 

 particular dates. David II., when only five years old, suc- 

 ceeded to the throne of Scotland in 1329. He was dethroned 

 within a couple of years and retired to France, from whence he 

 was recalled in 1342. On the 17th of October, 1346, he was 

 taken prisoner at the battle of Neville's Cross, and committed 

 to the Tower of London, from which imprisonment he was 

 released in 1357, by Edward III., for a ransom of 100,000 

 marks. He died in 1371, and was succeeded by his maternal 

 uncle, Robert II., who died in 1390. 



" In 1347, it was ordained by Act of Parliament that all 

 good money of England should be received within the realm 

 of Scotland, according to its true value in England. 



"In 1358, David, King of Scotland, came in person to 



