MONEY. 
660 
ufed, in an uncoined (late, which was fometimes the cafe 
with filver ; l'o that there were two (pecies of money, the 
coined and uncoined. Our author thinks that the man- 
ci is was not a coin; and he confiders the two forts of pen¬ 
nies as the only coins of the Anglo-Saxons above their 
copper coinage, and all their other denominations of mo¬ 
ney, as weighed or fettled quantities of uncoined metal. 
That money was coined by the Anglo-Saxons in the hep¬ 
tarchy, and in every reign afterwards, is clear, as Mr. 
Turner apprehends, from thofe which remain. Moll of 
them have the mint-mailer’s name; nor does it appear 
certain, that they had coined money before their inva- 
f!on of England, and converfion. The feyllinga, or Hul¬ 
ling, our author prefumes to have been a quantity of fil¬ 
ver, which, when coined, yielded five of the larger pen¬ 
nies, and twelve of the fmaller. The fceat denoted a de¬ 
finite piece of metal originally in the uncoined Hate, and 
the fceat and the feyllinga feem to have been the names 
of the Saxon money in the Pagan times, before the Ro¬ 
man and French ecclefiallics had taught them the art of 
coining. The value of the (ceat in the time of Ethelbert 
feems to have been the twentieth part of a Ihilling. 
About three centuries later it was raifed in value, and 
appears to be like o’ t e of their fmaller pennies ; for the laws 
of Ethelllan gave 250 feeatta to a pound, or n|toa fcyl- 
ling. Perhaps we may juftly Hate the J’ceat to have been 
the fmaller penny, and the pening, properly fo called, to 
have been the larger one. The word pening, pfening, or 
penning, occurs in many countries for coin ; and, if we 
confider the Saxon pening as their only filver coin, it 
may be derived from the verb pnnian, to beat, which may 
be applied to metal coined. There has been a variety of 
opinions about the value of the Saxon pound. In the 
time of the Confefior it confifted of 20 folidi, or /hillings ; 
but Dr. Hickes contends that the Saxon pound confifted 
of 60 ftiillings; and other authors aflert, that the pound 
contained only 48 Ihillings. The ftyca, the helfling, and 
the feorthling, were copper moneys. The thrymfa is rec¬ 
koned by Dr. Hickes to be the third part of a /hilling, or 
four-pence. From other paffages, the thrymla and the 
feeatta appear to have been the fame. 
The Danes introduced a way of reckoning money by 
ores, per oras, mentioned in Doomfday-book; but whe¬ 
ther they were a feveral coin, or a certain fum, does not 
plainly appear. This, however, may be gathered from 
the Abbey-book of Burton, that twenty ores were equi¬ 
valent to two marks. They had alfo a gold coin called 
byzantine, or bezant, as being coined at Conftantinople, 
then called Byzantium. The value of which coin is not 
only now loft, but was fo entirely forgotten even in the 
time of Edward III. that, whereas the bilhop of Norwich 
was fined a byzantine of gold to be paid the abbot of St. 
Edmund’s Bury for infringing his liberties, no man then 
living could tell how much it was; fo it was referred to 
the king to rate how much he ffiould pay. Which is the 
more unaccountable, becaufe but one hundred years be¬ 
fore, 200,000 bezants were exacted by the foldan for the 
ranfom of St. Louis of France; which were then valued 
at 100,000 livres. 
Though the coining of money be a fpecial prerogative 
of the king, yet the ancient Saxon princes communi¬ 
cated it to their fubjebls 5 infomuch that in every good 
town there was at leaft one mint; but at London eight; 
at Canterbury four for the king, two for the archbiihop, 
one for the abbot at Weftminfter, fix at Rochefter, at 
Haftings two, &c. 
The coinage of William the Conqueror was on the fol¬ 
lowing fimple plan : The pound in weight and the pound 
in tale (i.e. in reckoning) were the fame. The pound in 
tale was divided into 20 Ihillings, and each Ihilling into 
12 pence or fterlings; and the pound weight was divided 
into 12 ounces, and each ounce into 20 dwts. Thus the 
weight of each penny or ilerling was one penny-weight, 
or 24 grains. This plan of coinage is faid to have been 
firft adopted by Charlemagne, in France, in the eighth 
century; and it probably gave rife to the livre, which is 
divided into 20 fous, and each fou into 12 deniers. 
The Norman kings continued the fame cuftom of coin¬ 
ing only pence, with the prince’s image on one fide, and 
on the other the name of the city where it was coined, 
with a crofs fo deeply imprefled, that it might be eafily 
parted and broken into two halves, which, fo broken, they 
called halfpence-, or into four parts, which they called 
fourthings, or farthings. Larger filver pieces of four-pence 
were loon after coined, which were called greats or groats. 
As to gold coins, the firft after the Norman conqueft, 
according to Snelling, was (truck by order of Henry III, 
in the year 1257. It was of pure gold, weighing two¬ 
pence of filver, and was to pafs for twenty pence ; it was 
called the gold pennie. The fame author obferves, that 
the king tried this expedient of coining gold through ne- 
ceflity, and that the city of London made a reprefenta- 
tion again ft the meafure. 
King Edward I. who firft adjufted the meafure of an 
ell by the length of his arm, was the firft alfo who efta- 
blilhed a certain ftandard for the coin, which is exprefled 
to this effect by Greg. Rockley, mayor of London, and 
mint-mafter : “ A pound of money containeth twelve 
ounces: in a pound there ought to be eleven ounces, 
two eafterlings, and one farthing; the reft alloy. The 
faid pound ought to weigh twenty (hillings and three 
pence in account and weight. The ounce ought to weigh 
twenty pence, and a penny twenty-four grains and ahalf.- 
Note, That eleven ounces two pence fterling ought to be 
of pure filver, called leaf -filver ; and the minter muft add 
of other weight feventeen pence halfpenny farthing, if 
the filver be fo pure.” 
About the year 1320, the dates of Europe began gene¬ 
rally to coin gold; and among the reft, our Edward III. 
The firft pieces he coined were called florins, or Jlorenccs, 
fuch pieces having been firft coined at Florence as early 
as the year 1252. It was afterwards coined in mod coun¬ 
tries of Europe; in Germany it was called the gulden, 
and in Holland the guilder, on account of its being gold. 
The florin, however, has been long a filver coin; and, in 
fome places it is adopted as the unit for keeping accounts, 
like the pound fterling in England. The fame fovereign 
afterwards coined nobles; then rofe-nobles, current at 
6s. 8d. half-nobles, called half-pennies, at 3s. 4d. of gold ; 
and quarters at 2od. called farthings of gold. The fuc- 
ceeding kings coined rofe-nobles, and double rofe-nobles, 
great fovereigns, and half-nobles, angels, and (hillings. 
King James I. coined units, double crowns, Britain 
crowns; then crowns, half-crowns, &c. Guineas were 
introduced in the reign of Charles II. and thofe pieces, 
the more diftinftly to mark them as a new defeription of 
money, and to compliment fir Robert Holmes, received 
this appellation, from their having been made of the gold- 
duft brought from the coaft of Guinea by that commander. 
To Charles’s partiality for his graceful and accompliftied 
coufin, Frances Stuart, we owe the elegant reprefentation 
of Britannia on our copper-coin : he admired, and even 
almoft idolized, this celebrated beauty, but could not fe- 
duce her, as he was bafe enough to eflay, though he af- 
failed her with compliments which he confidered were 
likely to fucceed. And it was from one of the medals, 
(truck to perpetuate his admiration of her delicate fym- 
metry, that Britannia was (lamped, in the form (lie (till 
bears, on our pence, halfpence, and farthings. 
We may now refer to the article Medal, vol. xiv. 
p. 820-23, for farther particulars upon the lubjeft of Bri- 
tifti money. Under that article, Plate II. fig. 40, we gave 
an engraving of a guinea of his prefent majelty Geo. III. 
Guineas may now indeed be confidered as medals, not 
coin, fince they are no longer current, and we are to have 
gold of another denomination in their (lead. 
The filver coinage, which was then preparing, (p. 821.) 
has fince been iflued. The exchanging of it for the old 
coin began, (imultaneoufly, at the Bank, and at various 
offices appointed by government in London and every' 
principal 
