according to their weight or size, were given in exchange like other marketable articles,* long before money, with a particular stamp or engraving, was known. The use of money speaks a considerable degree of civilization. The arts give birth to commerce, and commerce, when it spreads itself extensively abroad, cannot be carried on without the introduction of symbols, as a substitute for those articles of value and necessity which might be too ponderous or bulkly to be transported with facility from one place to another. The state of Ireland, from accounts left us by ancient historians, appears not to have been so far improved at the period to which these writers allude, as to warrant us in supposing, that its inhabitants had adopted this commercial talisman. A learned author says, that the first mint in Ireland was erected by the Ostmen, or Danes, who, about the ninth century, invaded the country; but their coins were current only among themselves. He asserts also, that English money did not circulate in Ireland till the middle of the 14th century, when Edward III., in the fifth year of his reign, considering that the trade of that kingdom would be greatly benefited by the introduction of coin, and that the revenue would be more productive, ordered a new coinage for that part of his dominions, as he had for England; but as there are no specimens of this coin, it is likely that his intentions were never carried into effect. That the Irish, continues he, did not adopt money as a standard for estimating the value of things, about seventy years after, we have evidence in Mac Murrough, the Prince of Leinster's horse, being rated at 400 cows, The relator of this expressly adds, in Ireland they barter by exchange, one commodity for another, and not for ready money. "They exchange," says Campion, in 1570, "by commutation of wares, for the most part, and have utterly no coin stirring in any great lords' houses." This demonstrates that coin was long scarce in Ireland; and that the Irish, at the times mentioned, adhered to their old habits and (nv οιον ὁ σίδηρος καί ἄργυρος κ' αν ἔι τι τοιετον ἕτερον· το μὲν πρῶτον ἁπλῶς ὁριςθὲν μεγέθει και σαθμως το δε τελευτᾶιον και χαρακτῆρα ἐπιβαλλόντων ἵνα απολύςη της μετρήσεως αυτός· γαρ χαρακτὴρ ἐτέθη τε ποςου σημείον. Arist. Polit. lib. i. cap. 6. p. 39. Francof. 1601. According to Strabo, the ancient Lusitanians had no money, but in commerce employed silver, which they cut according to the value of the articles purchased. ̓Αντὶ δε νομίσματος δι δὲ λίαν ἐν βαθει φορτίων άμοιβη Xpärτai, vẽ ȧpyúpu thaoμatos áπOTEμVOTES didoaσi. Geograph. lib. iii. edit. Almel. Amst. 1707. vol. i. p. 155. The people of the Gymnasian or Balearian islands, used no money, and they even prohibited the introduction of it among them. ̓́Αργυρῶ δὲ καὶ χρυσῶ νομίσματι το παράπαν ἢ χρώνται και καθόλ8 ταυτα εισαγειν εις τον or xwhú. Diod. Sic. lib. v. edit. Wesseling, Amst. 1746. vol. i. p. 343. Brass money was first known at Rome in the reign of Servius Tullius; coins of silver were not employed till the year 525, after the building of the city, and those of gold were not introduced till sixty years later. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii. cap. 3. Lugd. Bat. 1669. vol. iii. p. 451, 452. + Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, 4to. Dublin, 1783. p. 216. Ibid. p. 216. customs, as is their practice to this day in some parts of the country. But as it is not my object to enter into a disquisition on the antiquity of coins, and money in Ireland, I shall leave the subject to those who feel a pleasure in such researches, and who have leisure to consult the documents, and examine the remains of antiquity which may be deemed necessary for that purpose. They will find much curious information on this head, in Ledwich's Antiquities, and in Simon's Work on Irish Coins, pub lished at Dublin in 1749. The first certain account of money being coined in Ireland, is in the reign of King John, when the government of that kingdom was intrusted to John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, who, in 1210, caused pennies, half-pennies, and farthings, to be coined of the same weight with those of England; and they were made current in the country by proclamation.+ Henry III., in 1247, ordered stamps to be graven of a new cut, and to be sent to Canterbury, Divelin, (Dublin) and other places, forbidding the use of any other stamp than that employed at the exchange, or mint of London. The same prince, in 1251, caused pennies and half-pennies to be struck in Ireland, as is supposed, to pay the large and frequent subsidies then demanded of that kingdom by Pope Innocent IV. Whether his son Edward I., to whom he made a grant of Ireland, coined money in his father's life-time, is uncertain; but on his accession to the crown he found his treasure empty, and the current coin of the kingdom reduced to a very bad condition, by clippers and the importers of base money. To remedy this evil, he established in 1275, a standard,** by which the mints in Ireland were also to be regulated ;++ and four years after, a new kind of money was ordered to be struck there under the government of Stephen de Fulborn, bishop of Waterford, then lord deputy, which according to Sir James Ware,§§ consisted of groats, at four-pence; half-pence and farthings to be current throughout England and Ireland. In the twenty-ninth year of the reign of this prince, that is, in 1300, basé and * An Essay towards an Historical Account of Irish Coins, by James Simon, of Dublin, merchant, F.R.S. Dublin, 1749. 4to. + Simon, p. 12. Leland's History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 193. London edit. Rymer, vol. i, p. 462. edit. London. Stow's Annals, London, 1631. p. 187. Matt. Paris, London, 1684, p. 631. Matt. Westm. Francf. 1601, p. 335. Sir James Ware says in his Annals, edit. 1704, p. 46. The clergy of Ireland sent Irish curses after their money, for they were driven at the worst to sell unto their merciless merchants (the nuncios) their cows, hackneys, cuddoes, and aqua-vitæ, to make present payments, and were driven in that extremity to sell their cups, chalices, copes, altar clothes, and vestments. ¶ Rymer, vol. i. part i. p. 187. Dutch edit. +Rot. Turr. Birm. 9. 10 Edw. I. ** Camden's Remains, chap. Money. Davis's Reports, p. 21. mixed moneys, called crocards and pollards,* were, by the King's proclamation, decried in Ireland, as their importation into England had been there prohibited, on the forfeiture of life and goods. This proclamation was transmitted to Ireland, and is still extant, it is said, in the red-book of the Exchequer, Dublin.§ About this time, the circulation of so much defaced and mixed money being stopped, four new furnaces were erected in the mint of Dublin, to supply the great demand for good money; and Alexander Norman de Luce was constituted master of the coiners.|| This prince was the first, who, on his Irish coins, added to his title of Rex Anglia, that of Dominus Hibernia; and instead of the minter's name, ordered the name of the city where the coin was struck to be stamped on its reverse. He is likewise said to have been the first that coined round half-pennies; but this appears to be a mistake, as there are still preserved round half-pennies and farthings of John, and Henry III. From the end of the reign of Edward I. till the ninth year of Edward III., nothing occurs in history on the subject of coins; but at the latter period, the ounce of silver, which then had been cut into twenty deniers, or pennies sterling, was ordered to be cut into twenty-six.** By a roll of the year 1336,++ it appears also, that a proclama tion was issued by the King and Council, for the coinage of pennies, half-pennies, and farthings, in Ireland. On this occasion bullion was received at the King's. exchange, at the rate of twelve ounces troy-weight, to the pound. But it was. returned coined, at eleven ounces four penny-weights only, which was the weight of the pound of the tower. However, notwithstanding the addition of one ounce, two penny weight alloy in a pound of silver, the Irish coins, were the best struck in this reign; for the English pennies, at the rate of twenty-six to the ounce, did not weigh above nineteen grains. Silver, passed then in Ireland at the rate of Is. 9d. the ounce. Two years after, by a writ Rex custodi suo Hibernia, the black money, called turneys, which were in use before in that country, were * These crocards, pollards, and other foreign coins, called mitres, lionines, rosaries, rosaines eagles, from the stamps on them were privately brought from France and other foreign parts, and uttered for pennies, though not worth a halfpenny. According to Hollingshed, (Chron. Eng. ad Ann. 1300.) they were made of a mixture of silver, copper, and sulphur. + Aunal. Anonim Biblioth. Cotton. No. 16. Camd. Annal. Hib. An. 1760. Davis's Reports, p. 21. Stat. de falsâ monetâ. 27 Edw. I. Ware's Antiq. by Harris, p. 909. ¶ Annal. Anonim. Bibl. Cotton, M. 16. ** Annals of Rob. Aversbury Rastal of Money, p. 345. Ware's Antiq. by Harris, p. 210. Irish Hist. p. 162. Davis' Reports, p. 26. Simon, p. 17. These black moneys were probably the French deniers, or double deniers, of mixed metal, struck at Tours in France, whence they were called Turrononsis monela, Tournois, and in Ireland Turneys. prohibited, although permission was given that they should be received in payment, until sterling money could be provided to replace them. In the year 1386, Richard II. created Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, his favourite,* Marquis of Dublin and Duke of Ireland, granting to him the fullest powers and prerogatives of sovereignty, among others was that of coining money of gold and silver, and all other kinds before used in the island; but whether he really had any made there in his name is uncertain, if not improbable, as he did not go over, being next year forced to fly to Holland, and thence to Louvain, where he died three years after.+ In the reign of Henry V. there is little to remark on this subject; but in that of Henry VI. many parliamentary regulations were adopted in Ireland, relative to money. Most of these acts as well as those of the three preceding reigns, have been either lost or destroyed. But we are told by Sir James Ware, that in Feb. 1459, mints were established in the castles of Dublin and Trim; and about the same time, not only silver, but brass money, was coined by the king's command. By the statue which was enacted on this occasion, at a parliament held at Drogheda, it was ordained, that two coins should be struck, of different forms, in the castles above-mentioned, one of the weight of half a quarter of an ounce troy, that is, sixty grains; on which was to be imprinted on one side a lion, and on the other a crown, called an Irelandes d'argent, a silver Hibernia, to pass for the value of one penny; the other of the weight of about seven grains and a half, to have on one side the impression of a crown, and on the other a cross, called a Patrick, eight of which pass for one penny. It was also ordered, that a gross or groat should be made of the weight of three-pence sterling, or forty-five grains, to pass for four-pence sterling; on which should be imprinted on one side a crown, on the other side a cross, and about the cross an inscription, exhibiting the name of the place where the coin was struck.§. In the fifth year of Edward IV., that is, in 1465, a parliament was held at Trim before Thomas, Earl of Desmond, deputy to George, Duke of Clarence; when it was enacted, that all the gold coins struck in England in the time of Edward III., Richard II., Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI., should be raised in value, viz. the noble to ten shillings, the half noble to five shillings, and the quadrans, or quarter noble, to two shillings and six-pence; whereas before this act they passed in Ireland as in England, the noble for eight shillings and four-pence, the half noble at four shillings and two-pence, and the quarter noble at two shillings and one penny, though there was a real difference both as to weight and intrinsic value in the nobles of these different coins. Selden's Tit. hon. p. 41. Simon, p. 11. Antiq. p. 74.. f.Simon, p. 20, 21. Ibid. p. 24. In the seventh year of this prince, that is, in 1467, an act was passed, by which the price of silver was enormously raised in Ireland, for it was ordained, that a piece of silver should be struck, called a double, to pass in that country for eight-pence; ten such pieces to go to the ounce, according to the rightful standard of the Tower of London, and twelve such ounces to the pound; another piece called a gross, to pass for four-pence, twenty such pieces to go to the ounce of the Tower weight; and a piece of silver of two deniers, or half a groat, of the same proportion, forty of them making an ounce; likewise a piece of silver called a denier (penny), eighty of them to the ounce, besides the alloy; halfpennies and farthings were to be made to accord with the same proportion, and the whole to be struck in the castles of Dublin and Trim, the cities of Waterford and Limerick, the towns of Drogheda, Galway, and Carlingford. "Hence it appears, that the value of silver was at this time. raised to double what it was in the last reign, that is, from three shillings and fourpence the ounce, to six shillings and eight pence; when the groat weighed as much as the double groat, struck in virtue of this act. The consequence, however, was, a sudden rise in the price of provisions, and other necessaries; so that the next parliament, in 1470, thought proper, in order to remedy this evil, to enact, that the master of the mint should strike in the castles of Dublin and Trim, and the town of Drogheda, five different sorts of silver coins, viz. the gross, the demi-gross, the denier, the demi-denier, and the quadrant, or farthing; eleven of these groats were to make an ounce troy weight, and every one of them not clipped to pass for fourpence; the same proportion was to be observed in the inferior denominations. From this period we may date the difference in the currency between English and Irish money; for by this statute, the pound of bullion is to be shorn into one hundred and thirty-two groats, or forty-four shillings by tale; whereas in England, the like pound was cut into one hundred and twelve groats and a half, and thirty-seven shillings and sixpence; by which means the difference was six shillings and sixpence in the value of a pound of silver, or seventeen and one-third per cent, and not twenty-five per cent or a fourth part.*" By another act passed in 1472, it was enacted, that all grosses should pass in Ireland, as they did in the days of Edward III., Richard II., Henry IV., and Henry VI. in England and Calais; every piece not clipped for five-pence, the half-groat for two-pence half-penny, and the denier at one penny farthing; the noble of gold to pass for ten shillings; the crown for five, and the quadrant for two shillings and sixpence each; whatever they might be deficient in weight to be made good in current silver, and that whoever refused to take them should lose his debt. Notwithstanding the care taken by the legislature to preserve the coin of the kingdom in a state proper for circulation, it appears that much light and bad * Simon, p. 27. + Madden's MSS. Trin. Coll, lib. c. 1. F tab. 4. No. 24. |