380
LAWS PROTECTING THE COIN. chap. xiv.
basing, or clipping the coin, of secretly intro-ducing foreign money, or of committing forgeryor usury.
The whole history of the period tends toshow, that the money in England of domesticcoinage formed but a small part of that whichwas in existence within the kingdom, and it hasbeen dwelt upon here at greater length than itwould have otherwise been entitled to occupy,because it appeared necessary to account for theenormous difference in the extent of English coinage between the series of years which pre-ceded the discovery of America, and the samelength of time in the present and two precedingcenturies.
END OF VOL. i.