COINAGE. 57
subsequently given to the silver penny, anti now applied toall our lawful coin.
The following statement will evince the depreciation ofour silver coin from William !, to Elizabeth, which is owingto a variety of causes, but chiefly to the discovery of mines ofthe precious metals in various parts of the world: becauseit is the same with these, as with other commodities, the morethere is in the market, its value is proportionably reduced.This observation should be also made, that troy weight, orthe pound of twelve ounces, was not used before HenryVIII. ; before that period, gold and silver were weighed bywhat was called the Tower pound, which had been used bythe Saxons , lighter than the pound troy by i of an ounce.
The Tower pouud, coined, s. d.
anno 1066 into
20
0
1300 • • • •
20
3
1344 .....
22
2
1346 • • • •
22
6
1353 ••••
25
0
1412 • • • •
30
0
1404 • • • •
37
6
1527 • • • •
42
2| pound troy 45
0
1500 ••••
56
3 . 60
O
1601 • • • •
58
. 62
O
The coinage of the first William was upon a very simpleplan. The Tower pound and the pound in tale were dividedinto 20 shillings, and each shilling into 12 pence, or sterlings;and the pound weight was divided into 12 ounces, each ounceinto 20 dwts. The weight of each penny, or sterling, wasone pennyweight, or 24 grains. This plan of coinage was,as is 1 said, adopted from Charlemagne , who regulated hiscoinage thereby in the eighth century.
In 1257, it is recorded, that the first gold coin in thiskingdom was struck by order of Henry III . It was of puregold, weighing two-pence, or sterlings of silver, and was topass for twenty-pence. This gold pennie, as it was called,was near the weight of a seven-shilling piece. Snellingsays, “ the king tried this, through necessity, and also thatthe city of London made a representation against the mea-sure.” 1 The next gold coinage was in 1344, when the goldflorin was struck, which took its name from Florence, whereit had been first coined, anno 1252. This coin was matricedin most of the European mints. In Germany they called ita golden, in Holland , a guilder. This coin had been long-used a sa silver coin, in many places: its value is still preserved,
1 Snelling on Gold Coins, p.2.