Money and Money ers. 41 3 



, of the last-named monarch is the only one now known to be in 

 existence, and it is of an elaborate, minute, and curious cha- 

 racter; it is entitled "The Establishment of the Courte and 

 Office of the Queues Highnes Mynte within the Towre of Lon- 

 don, made the 6th day of December, in the thirde yere of our 

 Soveraigne Lady Queue Elizabeth/' and did space allow we 

 should certainly quote from it at some length. As a specimen 

 of its phraseology and orthography, we give the following : — 

 " Item, the Queues Highnes is pleased that the under-treasurer, 

 comptroller, and assay-master, for the more perfecte and sure 

 doinge of all her Highnes affayers in the sayde Mynte, shall 

 appointe these inferior offycers hereafter specifyed, so that they 

 be skylfull : that is to saye, one clerk e, to make the dayly 

 indentures and other wrytyngs betwyxt the sayde under- 

 treasorer, comptroller, assay-master, and moneyers, and he to 

 have for his wages £1 : Item, one syncker, to syncke the irons 

 (dies), and to have for his yerlye fee £20." In this quaint 

 fashion the whole document is couched, and it defines very 

 closely the duties and emoluments of all employed in " ye 

 sayde Mynte." 



Before passing forward from the period included between 

 the years 1544-71, it would be unjust to omit mentioning the 

 following convenient Mint arrangements of Queen Mary's. 

 Queen Mary, in reforming the currency, which she commenced 

 doing within two months of her accession, did not restore 

 exactly the old standard from which Henry VIII. had so dis- 

 gracefully deviated, and which consisted of 11 oz. 2 dwt. of 

 fine silver to 18 dwt. of alloy, but instituted a new standard of 

 11 oz. fine to 1 oz. of alloy. Had this excellent plan been 

 allowed to continue, we should now have had in Great Britain, 

 as in British India, a uniform alloy in both silver and gold 

 coinages, namely, 1 1 parts fine to 1 of alloy. Queen Elizabeth 

 unfortunately undid these regulations, and reverted to the old 

 standard, and hence has arisen the difficulty of comparing the 

 relative values of gold and silver. 



So much has been said against Queen Mary, that it is a 

 satisfaction to have something to say in her majesty's favour, 

 and this we can conscientiously do in reference to the coinage. 

 Queen Mary ordered that the pound weight of silver should be 

 coined into sixty shillings, whereby every crown weighed pre- 

 cisely an ounce, and every subordinate coin became an aliquot 

 part of a pound, or an ounce. Elizabeth, by debasing the silver 

 currency to sixty-two shillings in the pound, destroyed this 

 convenient arrangement. In restoring the old standard of 

 gold agaiu, Queen Mary cut the pound weight into £36, so 

 that three sovereigns weighed an ounce. In her reign too 

 the complete consolidation of the Hoyal Miuts was first effected, 



