260 Mr. J. Hardy on Silver Coins found at Blackburn. 



Alexander III., not much impaired, being of the number. As 

 being the oldest, these claim first to be noticed. The obverse 

 presents a crowned profile of the king — a grave and dignified 

 personage — with the sceptre, which is tipped with a fleur-de-lis 

 in front. The legend is + ALEXANDER DEI GRA. 

 On the reverse is a rectangular cross with a star in each of the 

 four angles : Leg. REX SCOTORVM+. The cross is 

 so deeply impressed, that the piece, if bent, would snap in two ; 

 whence the usage of such coins as troth-pledges. The workman- 

 ship of these coins surpasses most of the English pieces in the 

 collection. These, for we have no guide in the inscriptions, from 

 their association with the Scottish coins, appear to have belonged 

 to Edward I. They are pretty uniform in type ; none of them, 

 however, are from the same dye, and hence the features show con- 

 siderable diversity. The obverse presents a full face of the king ; 

 the crown is open like that of the Scottish king. There is no 

 sceptre. The general inscription is+EDWARD R ANGL' 

 DNS HYB. [Edward King of England, lord of Ireland]; 

 sometimes only E D W orEDWA: in one instance EDVA; 

 and H B occurs for H Y B. On the reverse, a cross divides the 

 disc into four compartments, in each of which are three pellets 

 in a triangle. As most of them have issued from the Mint in 

 the Tower of London, they are inscribed CIVITAS LON- 

 DON. At this period many of the principal towns and boroughs 

 in England had the privilege of coinage, subordinate to the 

 Mint in the Tower. Of the provincial pieces, there are several 

 examples in the collection, as denoted by the inscriptions ; the 

 coins being in other respects similar to those of the metropolis. 

 Thus we have CIVITAS CANTOR, i.e. Canterbury, (two 

 of the Canterbury coins look like the essays of an apprentice) : 

 CIVITAS EBORACI, i.e. York: CIVITAS DVN- 

 E L M, i.e. Durham (very rudely lettered) : V I L L A BRIS- 

 TOL L I E, i.e. Bristol : VILLA SCI EDMVNDI, i.e. 

 Bury St. Edmunds. One may be a baronial coin, or that of a 

 bishop, but like some of the others it has been clipped, which 

 renders part of the inscription doubtful. Like the others it has 

 the king's effigy, and the cross and pellets. The obverse inscrip- 

 tion is G. DOMINVS DEi LINI. Perhaps the last I 

 may be a rubbed D ; and if so, it may be intended for Lincoln 

 {Lindum). Reverse: MONETA SCR EN...; the last 

 letter is effaced. " Moneta sacra " is the classical phrase for 

 coined money. Two of the coins are Irish, and are superior both 

 in lettering and graving to the English. On the obverse is a 

 triangle, enclosing the face of the king, which is similar in ap- 

 pearance to that on the English coins. The triangle divides the 

 margin into three compartments. The first contains + E D W R. ; 



