50

II.-Othe IrishCoinsofHenry theSeventh.ByAQUILLASMITH,M.D.,

M.R.I.A.
Read14th 1841.
June,
INTRODUCTION.
ASthe which
coins Iam abouttodescribe,
belongtosomeoftheHenrys,it
tome
appears thatthebestcoursewhichcanbeadopted, inthe
is, first
placeto
whether
inquire, anyofthem can tothe
beassigned ofHenry
predecessors the
who
Seventh, borethesamename ;for by inthis
proceeding the
manner, period,
towhichthecoinscan will
beappropriated, bereduced
tothesmallest
possible
and
limit, the which
inquiries followinthesubsequent will
pages begreatly
facilitated.
Simon"has
pointedoutthe mistakecommitted
byBishop who
Nicholson,
saysthat HenrytheFourth, inthe 1404,
year ordered
thenobleofhis
five
immediate topass
predecessors inIreland
forten ; from
and,
shillings that
time,
allsorts
ofcoinwentatahigher valuehere
thaninEngland."
The wordsreferred
toby
"the learned who
Prelate, from
quoted Sir John
Davis's are
Reports, these, Mes leprimer
difference les
enter
etinequalitie
standards
delEnglishmoneys etIrish
moneys en5Edw.
esttrove 4. Car
donquesfuit
declare
enparliamenticy,
quelenoble
fait Edw.
entemps 3.R.2.
Hen. 4.Hen.5.etHen. decest
6.serroit tempsenavant encest
currant realm
pur 10s.
etissint
ledemy noble,ettoutsauters
comes mesme
solonque lerate.
Vide Rot. 5Edw.
Parliament, 4.cap.40.et11Edw. 6.et15Edw.
4.cap. 4.
cap.5.inleoffice
delRollesinCastroDublin."t
The error
ofBishop inwriting
Nicholson HenryIV., of
insteadEdwardIV.,
issopalpable
fromhisreference
toDavis,that
itwouldnotrequire
any notice
Irish
Historical 8vo.
Library, p.162.tDavis's
1724, fol.
Reports, p.22.
1674,
 Dr.SMITHonthe IrishCoins ofHenry theSeventh.51
here,hadnotSimon that
remarked, "thislast Act (15Edw.IV.seems tohint,
thatsomekindofmoney was
coinedhereinthis reign,(HenryIV.,aswellas
inthatofHenryV."He also
conjecturesthatthegreat ofmoney
scarcity in
Englandseemstohavebeena reasonfor the
coining60 more moneyinIreland,
andtherefore
believes
thatthegroats,
figs.56,57,58, 59, inhis 3rdPlate,
belongtoHenrytheFifth. "that
The Actof1475,fromwhichSimon drew his ordains
inference, the
coin the
called made
gross, inthereigns ofEdward theThird,&c.not
clipped,
shall
beofthevalueofsix
deniers.The gross made in in
England thetimeof
thepresent not
king, shall
clipped, passforfive and
deniers, allthe
moneysstruck
inIrelandtobeofthe
same value
asthey now are."-f
The latter
partofthis isthe
extract onlypassage intheActwhich could
giveany tohis
support ;
opinionbutitappears
"struck tome tohave reference
onlyto
thenumerouscoinsofvarious
types, inIreland"inthe fifteen
first
yearsofEdward's
reign,
duringwhichperiod hisIrish
money wasconsiderably
invalue
less than
hisEnglish.t
In1421,theninth
yearofHenry theFifth, inaparliament
heldatDublin,
beforeJamesEarl
ofOrmond, theLords and Commons tosend
agreed apeti
tiontotheking,
prayingfortheredressofseveral The
grievances.
" petition
contains
nineteen the
articles, thirdofwhich prays, that
certain
moneybe
struck asinEngland,
inDublin and thatthe necessaryofficers, &c.
moneyers,
beappointed."
From this itisprobable,
evidence thatnolegal money was inIreland
coined
for
some time tothe
previous dateofthe and
petition, itleaves what
nogrounds
everforSimon's of
appropriationanyIrish coinsto Henrythe who
Fifth, died
am on
IEssayIrish
indebted
to p.19.
Coins,
learned theRev.RichardSimon,
tButler,
of No.
Appendix,
for XIV. atten
to
tion several my friend,
records
ofthe of theFifth Trim,
and directing
which
Sixth, my
have
hitherto
been important
unknown
towriters
onIrish reigns
and
coins, whichHenry
may be in
found the"Rotulorum et
Patentium
Cancellaria3
Clausorum Hibernia
3.Petunt certemonete vol.
Calendarium,"i.in
cudantur I. sicut
pars
Dublinia in cumomnibus
" Art. quod Hen.
necessariis."--Rot.
Pat. V. Anglia,
111.for
officiariis,
Inthemonetariis,
&c.
from
extractsthe the
Calendar,words 9,
in
fullhave cap.
been
substituted
thecontractions,
which
it
would
be and
useless toretain.
inconvenient
g2
 52 Dr. SMITH ontheTrishCoins
ofHenry the
Seventh.
in1422 ;butthissubject
may bemore discussed
conveniently when
hereafter,
Ishallendeavour
tosupportMr.Lindsay's ofthe
appropriation inquestion,
coins
toHenry theSeventh.
Awrit, directed
tothe ofDublin,
Sheriff
"that inthefirst
year ofthe reign
ofHenry theSixth,recites, the had
king learned
that
many merchants
broughtinto
Irelandlargesumsofcounterfeit, and
washed, clipped
gold,and
that
they carried
" away the silver
king's money." And arollofthesameyear,
after
reciting,thatHenry the had
Fifth been that
informed, there
were coun
terfeiters
ofgoldand and
silver, washers, and
clippers, ofthe
weighers samein
and
Ireland, thathehad caused tobemade
proclamation such
against practices,
underthe ofloss
of
penalty such life
and and
limbs, that
no should
personpresume to
weighorrefuse
gold (except aswascounterfeit
orwashed Janie
;appoints
Nicholas
Dartas, Daly,and Richard
Talloun, and
jointly toinquire
separately,
after
thosewhopresumedtoweighthe gold,
king's andalso
ofthose
who dared
tocarry washed,
clipped, orcounterfeit from
gold into
England Ireland,for
the
of
purpose the
accumulating silver
king's money,andfurther
givestheaforesaid
officers toarrest
power such offenders, with
together their
money,and commit
them toprison."f
"Brevevicecomiti
Dublinie inad
directum, recitatur
quo ex
regem, gravi
querela
ligeorum
Hibernie,
accepisse
et
vendendi quod
maximas mercatores
quamplures
summasauri Hiberniam
venientes
et hueportant
addictum causa
secum,de
emendi,
et controfecti,
Regis
ad loti,
tonsi,
subdole depopulum
die
in non
die
pecunias
cipiendum, Regis
desistunt."-Rot. 1
Claus.
Hen.VI. hinc,
argenteas
40.
cap. suum,
opus extorquendum
t'C
alium
ettemporalium
ac H.
quahter
(recitatur V.,cum,
comuaunium etclamosa
exgravi
Hibernie
in insinuacione
dominorum
existentium,
parliamento spiritu
accepisset
quod
nonnulle extiterint
persone
deratores moneteinfra eune
monete
controfectores null
et
sun
brevia ac
lotores,
argenti,
fecerit ne et
tonsores,
pon
sub
viteejusdem
et foret
membrorutn, Hiberniatn,
per
controfector,
lotor, vel
tonsor, proclamari
dicte quod
et
monete, quis,
ne
penainrecepcionibus,
aurum &c. et
lotocontrofectoponderator
seu
excepto)ponderare quod
denegare quis
presumeret,
Janico
assignavit Dartas (auro Nicholaum
armigerum, Daly,Ricardum
et Talloun, etdivisim,
conjunctim
ad deeis
inquirendum
de aurumcum
qui aurum
belanciis in
Regisvendicionibus
seu &c.ponderare
extra presumpse
infiber
ac
riot,
niam illis
cariarequi ad tonsum,
Regis lotum,
[ant
monetam controfectum,
Angliam
vel modo
alio accumu
landum presumpserint,
cum
etculpabiles,
una mone Regis
argenti
pro
sic auro,
hujusmodi
in
accumulata, manibus
;
existat, etipsos
capiendum, [ta argenti
Regis 10
committendum.
prisone Dub, quorumcumque
Pat.1Hen.
VI.
Julii."-Rot.Dorso,
109,b.
cdp.
 Dr. SMITH ontheIrish
Coins ofHenry theSeventh.53
Inthesecond yearofthis inagreat
king, held
council, onthemorrow ofAll
before
Souls, Edward BishopofMeath,
deputy ofEdmund EarlofMarch,itwas
that
ordained, thenoble, and
half, noble
quarter (exceptcounterfeit
gold should
received
beuniversally byweight,andthat a standard should
weight depo. be
inthe
sited Irish and
Exchequer, thatallthe sheriffs,
mayors, &c. throughout
the should
land, haveweights with
agreeing thesaidstandard,and that
every
subject
liege shouldhave access
tothestandard weight asoften ashepleased,
andthatnoperson shouldrefuse
gold
contrary totheaforesaid under
ordinance,
apenalty
often tobepaid
shillings, totheking, andthat anyoffendermightbe
togaol,
committed and
kept there
until
hemade redemptionandfine."
Itdoesnotappearthatthe for
petitionthe of
establishmenta mintinDublin,
intheninthyearofHenry the was
Fifth, granted beforethethird
yearofHenry
theSixth,for onthe 6th ofFebruary
in that year,agrant of the of
office
masterofthe inthe
coinage Castle
ofDublin, was made toJohn Cobbham,
the
during king'spleasure, that
provided the money bemade ofthesame weight,
and
allay, assay,asthesilver
moneywhich ismade inLondon, and that
the said
Johnmay receivefor
the makingofone
lb.
ofmoney, tobemade inthe aforesaid
Castle,
onlyas much,and thatheshall to
pay theking asmuch, asthemasterof
the
coinageinLondon receivesand
paysforone lb.ofthe same and
sort, heshall
"Inmagno coram
consilio, Edward Midie,
episcopo Edmundi
deputato comitis
Marchie
locum
tum inbrevia
tenentis,
consilium A
Crastino
nimarum ordinatum
tent, est,ad communiurn
supplicacionem
et addic
per
secundum Regis
et electorum,
valoremquodnobilis,
ac obolus,
alias ad auri
quadrans
Hiberniam(atmcontrofecto
confluentes
excepto
antur
perpondus pondus
universaliter
:in
et per
quodligeos
unum gentes
standardum dicti
ponderis auri recipi
standardo
Anglie
concordanset
sit,
rernaneret:
et inthesaurocustodia
thesaurarii
etcamerariorum
saccarii
et decetero
Hibernie,totam
ad quod
eorum
terram, vicecornes,
quilibet habeantballivus,
major, senescallus,
dicto superior,
standard
recte prepositus,
: per
et
concordancia
quod
quilibet prosecucionem
terre
ligeus predicte pondera
habeat
cursum
addicta loco
inquolibet
standarda ubiinsuper,
assistunt,
ad adstandardi
pondera sibi
quociens
Hiberniam placuerit
confluentes :
faciendumet
licet eciam,
tonsumquod
seu et
ligei, etali
indigene,
secundum
enigene
valorem
et aurum,
hujusmodi
in :
futuro
et nullus lotum,
per
pondus,
aurumcontra
ordina
cionempondusejusdem
predictam percipiant
refutet
sub lOs
pena ad quod
Regis
opus hujusmodi
:etet
solvendum quodcorpus delin
ejusdem
quentis
Rot. committatur
gaole
2Hen.
Claus. VI. inea moraturum
quousque
27. redempcionem finem
indefacial
&c.
prima
pars.
cap.
54 Dr. SMITH onthe Irish
Coins ofHenrythe Seventh.
beboundbyindenturetoperformthe inthe
premises, samemanner andform as
the inLondon
master isbound."
Inthe
thirdand fourthyearsofHenry, agrantofonehundred a
shillings
year, the
during king's was
pleasure, made toWilliam the striker
ofthemoneyintheCastleofDublin.t Goldesmyth,
Ataparliament
heldatTrim, in1447, anAct waspassedagainst
"that clipping
and the
counterfeiting king's and
coin, itwasordained nomoney so
bereceived
clipped inany placeofsaidland,fromthe
first ofMay
day next to
come,nor
the moneycalledtheO'Reyly'smoney,oranyother
unlawful money,
one
sothat coynerbereadyatthe said
day tomake the
coyn."t
In1456,aparliament
was
"whereas heldatNaas, and
itwas atthe
enacted, requestof
theCommons,that nomean couldbefound
" tokeepthe king's coin
within
thelandofIreland,"allforeign
merchants shall for
ofsilver
thattheyshall
carryoutofIreland, ofpay
forty-pence
every
to
custom the pound
king's
tothe
customer, use
ofthe king; andifany manshalldothecontrary in con
ofthe
cealing said
custom,heshallpay for every
penny,twenty tothe
shillings
said tothe
customers, king'suse,"and fromthetwelfth of
chapterthe same Act
that
itappears Ireland
was impoverished
greatly by
"the thedaily ofsilver,
exportation
andthegreat ofthe
clipping and
coin, that Irish
money, the
called O'Rey
increased
daily
ley's," ;itwas therefore that
enacted, any carrying
person silver
outofIreland
"except shall
pay forcustomtothe for
twelve-pence
king every ounce;
lordsandmessengersgoingtoEnglandupon ofthe
business public,who
may carry withthem,
plate according totheirdegrees."11
"Rex
concessit
Johanni
Cobbham officium
magistri incastro
cunagii Dublinie
faciendi,
durante
neta beneplacito,
in proviso
quod
Londonio moneta sit
operata
et ejusdem
dictus ponderis,
Johannes
tantum et
allaie,1 sicut
assaie,
libre
factura mo
monete
in argenti
que
castro
predict
operate est,
operata
et
percipiat, quod
tantum
Regi reddat, pro in
monete
niagister
quantum terra
pre
dicta
pro libra
hujusmodi et
percipit
eisdem
modo etquod
etreddit,
forma idem
Johannes
ad
in facienda
premissa
terra perin
denturam
obligetur,
existit. 6 quibus
3
Pat.
Feb."-Rot. magister
Hen.VI. cunagii
21. predicta
pro tempore
obligatus
"Rex
t100s Trym,
eisdem
mandatquodWillelmo cap.
Goldesmy[th?], monete
percussori incastro
Dub
linie,
anni annum
per eiper
Regem
3
Claus.a 4 durante
concessos beneplacito
35. solvant.
annuatim Julii,
predicti."-Rot.
No.III.Hen.VI.cap. 2nd vol.
edit.ii.p.341.
1:Simon,
Appendix,
No. IV. Ruding,
BSimon,
Appendix,
 Dr.SMITH onthe Irish Coins ofHenry theSeventh.55
The next andlastAct ofthis reign tothe
relating coinagecontainsmuch
is
that
Atimportant.
aparliamentheldatDrogheda, inthe year1460,itwas that
enacted, the
value
ofEnglish
goldcoinsshouldbe raised
one-fourth and
inIreland, thatthegross
ofLondon,York,and not
Calais, clippedwithintheextreme should
circle, pass
"And
for inIreland,
five-pence and the smaller inthe
pieces sameproportion.
asnotonlythe Dutchy ofNormandy, but also
the Dutchy ofGuienne, when
theywere under the obedience ofthe realm ofEngland, yet were noless
from
separate the laws and Statutes of England, and had alsocoynes for
themselves
different
from thecoyne ofEngland ;soIreland,
though itbeunder
theobedience
ofthe same isnevertheless
realm, separate fromit,and fromall
the
lawsand Statutesofit,onlysuchasare thereby thelords and
spiritual tem
poral
freelyadmittedandaccepted ofinparliamentorgreat bywhich
council, a
coyne
proper separatefrom the coyne ofEngland, waswithmore convenience
tobehad
agreed inIreland under two forms;the one ofthe weightofhalfa
ofanounce
quarter troyweight, onwhich shall
beimprinted onone sidealyon,
andontheothersideacrown,calledan Irelandes topass
d'argent, forthevalueof
onepenny ;the otherofVII.ob. oftroy onone
ofitasterling
part and
crown, onthe other partacross, ahaving
weight,
called imprinted
Patrick,ofwhich eight
shall for
pass onedenier. That agross bemade ofthe weightofthree deniers
and
sterling, topassfor fourdeniers which
sterling, shall
haveimprinted onit
ononeside'acrown,and onthe other sideacross the
like coyneofCalais,
bear
ingaboutthe in
cross the
writing, name ofthe wherethecoin
placetoreceive ismade; and
that
everyperson,who bringsbullion tothemint,ought and havefor
ounce
every ofsilver,
troy weight,nine ofthesaidgrossesofthevalueofthree
That
deniers. the coynecalledthe Jack, behereafter
ofnovalue andvoid,and
the
that above copes bemade intheCastlesofDublin and
"Trymme ;"and atan
ofthe
sitting
adjourned same parliamentitwas enacted, that
the denierwith
thecrosscalledIrelandesbe utterly and
void, thatinlieu ofitapenny be
in Having
itlately some
seen
occurred
tome copper
that of
"pieces Jacobus
the
"mentioned ofScotland,
Second which
werefound
Ireland,
whowas with the
theJacks
Sixth. inthe
Act,
mightbethese
coins
of
James,
contemporary
Since
this
note
was Henry
Ifind
written thatthe
same term
was tothe
applied brass ofJames
shillings
theSecond.See44
The Jacksputtotheirtrumps,"
p.123,in
theHistorical
SongsofIreland,
for
printedthePercy 1841.
Society,
56 Dr. SMITH onthe IrishCoins
ofHenry theSeventh.
insilver,
struck havingtheweightofthefourth
partofthe
new ofIreland,
gross
tobeimprinted
and inscribed
asthe newgross."
Fromthe toCobbham,
grant inthe 1425,
year which that
provides themoney
tobemadeinDublinshall
beofthe sameweight, and
allay, asthe
assay, silver
moneymadeinLondon, andthe inthe
appointment following ofamoneyer,
year
withanannual ofone
salary hundred itismore
shillings, than that
probable some
moneywascoined
inDublin aboutthat
time.
Iknowofonly
one coinwhichIcan venture
toassign
toHenrytheSixth,
the
during early
partofhisreign. Ithas
onthe the
obverse, head
king's with
anopencrown within
fleury, acircle
ofpellets,
astarofsix atthe
rays left
side
ofthe mint
neck, mark across,
legendHENRICVS
DNS anannulet
HIBNIE, atthe
endofthe aplain
;reverse,
legend cross
with
three ineach
pellets legend
quarter,
CIVITAS
DVBLINIE
;there isanannulet
after
cm. Itweighs
twelve
grains a
and
quarter.

This which
coin, isofthehighest and
rarity,infine
isintheinteresting
ofthe
cabinet Rev.
J.W. Martin,ofKeston,
towhom Ipreservation,
amindebted
fortheloanofitandseveral
otherIrish
coins
ofgreat
rarity.
That this which
coin, ofthe
onaccount ofthe
absence tressure
ontheob
tobeapenny,
Ibelieve
verse, wasstruckintheearly ofthe
part reignofHenry
theSixth,isvery ;evidence
probable isnow,for first
the time, which
adduced,
proves in1425
that Irish was
money ordered
tobemadeofthe samestandard
astheEnglishmoney,and
the
weight ofthis
piece, isequal
which tomanyofthe
English ofHenry
pennies the and
Sixth, more
considerably thanthefourth
part
ofanyoftheIrish
groats the
ofHenry which
Seventh, never
Ibelieve exceed
thirty
two and
grains, somuch,
weigh
rarely shows that
clearly itmusthavebeen
coined
duringthe ofHenry
reign theSixth.The mark
mint issimilar
tothat
whichoccursonsomeofthe coins
English usually toHenry,
assigned the
annulets
and the
also, star, are marks
which connect
itwith
the same reign.The
Simon, No.
Appendix,V.
 DR. SMITHonthe IrishCoinsofHenry theSeventh.57
occurrence
ofthe Roman Ninthreeplacesinthe ofthis
legends isvery
coin,
Ihave
remarkable, not
seen anyotherIrishcoinfromthetimeofEdward the
tothat
Third, ofHenrytheEighth,which hastheRoman Nflitslegend,
ex
a
ceptDublin of
groat thethird of Edward
year was theFourth.
Itisvery whether
doubtful, anymoney coined
under the of
authority
the
Act of]447, inwhich theprovisionforanew coinage
dependedonthe
coiner
being ready a
againstcertain
day;and thegreat of
scarcity silver,
together
with
the daily of"the
increase Irishmoney, called
the mentioned
O'Reyley's,"
intheAct of1457,could have
scarcely happened,hadanylegalmoneybeen
inthe
coined meantime.
The Act of1460 to
appears warrantthe that
inference, ifanymoney was
inIreland
coined tothat
previous time,itmust havebeen similar
" in typeand
tothe
standard penny described
already ;for thesame
byconvenience a
Act,proper coyne
separate
from thecoin
ofEngland,was withmore agreedtobehad
inIreland."
The type andweightofthecoinsorderedtobemade in1460,aresofully
inthe
described Act,thatitwouldappearthere belittle inde
could
terminingwhichcoins
should
"beassignedtothisdate. difficulty,
The penny called
theIrelandes d'argent,"hasnot hitherto
been dis
covered. The Act which itto
ordered bemade, cameinto onthe
operation
of"March,
17th andonthe MondayafterTrinitySunday(8th the
June), penny
called Irelandes"was dto"beutterly
declare void."
Afew copper
"Patricks," ofthe
coins, type inthe
ascribed Acttothe called
half-farthings
havebeen but
found, most of them byseveral
exceed, the
grains,
weightfixedby theAct. Thereisonefwhich Iam inclined to
toappropriate
Henrythe because
it
Sixth, weighs onlysix and
grains, theform ofthecross
onthe reverseisdifferent
fromthat
onthe heavier which
coins, were
Ibelieve
mintedearlyinthereignofEdward theFourth.
The type ofthe inthis
asdescribed
groat Act,agreessofarwithsomeof
thecoinsofEdward the that
Fourth, itisstill which
doubtful ofthemaretobe
considered
asbelonging
toHenry.
Taking for that
granted thegroatpublishedbySimon (P1. 61is
IIIfig.
SeeIrish
Coinsof
Edw.IV. I.
Pl. 18,
fig. R.
Trans. I. vol.
Academy, xix.
tIbid.
P1.1.
Vol,.XIX.
15.
fig.
58 DR. SMITH ontheIrishCoins
ofHenry theSeventh.
accurately ashaving
represented, atressure
oftwelvearches
roundthecrown,
whichisvery and
shallow, atrefoil
ateach
pointofthe Iassign
tressure, itto
Henry the
Sixth.Itismuch toberegretted
that
thiscoincannot
nowbefound
inthenumerousand collections
extensive towhich Ihave hadaccess
;butthat
suchapiece
was inSimon's can
possessionhardlybedoubted,asthe
pennysub
sequently
published
bySnellinginhis
supplement(P1.I. with
it
inthenumberofarchesinthe and
tressure,intheform offig.
16
the agrees
crown,andsuch
a
coincidence
canhardlybe a
attributed
to mistakeoftheartist
this
; penny Ialso
toHenry
appropriate theSixth.
Iam awarethat
adistinguished inEngland
collector does
not believe
that
a
groatwith
twelvearchesinthetressure
everwas inexistence,
onthe grounds
thatnosuch isatpresent
piece known; butashort time the
since, sameargu
ment mighthavebeen toacoin
applied ofJamesthe Second, asnospecimen
ofitwas known
then twohoweverhave
been discovered
;oneinpewter,
whichwasfoundina;sewerinDublin, lately
isinthe cabinet
ofthe
lateDeanofSt.
and
Patrick's, another inagood
inbrass, state
ofpreservation,
isinthe
possession
oftheauthor.
Ishall
now proceedtothe ofthe
investigation coins, Iconceive
which be
longtoHenrythe atask
Seventh, Ienter
which onwith much asit
diffidence,
difficulties
presents atalmost
every of
step the inquiry.
THEREare
manycoinswhich
may, without
any to
beappropriated
doubt,
the
Henry Seventh,
although few
very documents tohis
relating Irish
coins
have
been isitlikely
nor
discovered, that
any have
others been from
preserved, which
direct can
beobtained.
evidence
The
almost
total
absence with
connected
ofrecords the ofthis
coinage reign,
isthe
more asthe
remarkable, greater ofthe
part numerousActs, to
relating
coined
money the
during of
reigns immediate
Henry's Edward
predecessors, the
and
Fourth,Richard
the are
Third, still among
preserved theState in
Papers
Ireland.
onthe
Ruding, ofSnelling,
authority
"Robert that
states,
"Maister inthefirst
yearofHenry
theSeventh Bowley"was ofthe Cunageand
Mynt within
the ofDyvelin
Cities (DublinandWaterford.1
Pl.
VIII.
Simon, 177. tAnnals,
fig. i.p.90.
vol.
 Du. SMITHonthe Irish Coins
ofHenry theSeventh.59
On
ttmade the9th ofMarch,1491, Nicholas
Flintwasbythe king's
appointment
ofthe
overseer mintsofDublinand ;"and
Waterford on the15thof
April
following, was
aproclamation
"tocause issued
by the
kingatGreenwich,authorizing
Gerald EarlofKildare andprescribe laws
certain for the
prevention
offalseormixt silver
incoinwithin that
his ofIreland.1
Lordship "The
The EnglishAct ofhisnineteenth 1504,
year, states
that es
coins,
peciallyofsilver,
weresoimpaired aswell
by ascounterfeiting
clipping thesame,
and bybringing intotherealm thecoin that
ofIreland, greatrumourandVa
riancedailyincreased
among his for
subjects, and
taking the
refusing same;"and
"of
inthe same yearitwas that
enacted, should
noperson into
bring England
thecoin ofIreland,abovethesum ofthree and
shillings four
pence,onpainof
forfeiture
and and
imprisonment, fineand atthe
ransom, king's
p1easure.1
In1506, theking to
granted Thomas alias
Galmole, Archibold,ofDublin,
Goldsmith, theoffice
ofMaster ofthe and
Coinage Monies,made within
the
CastleofDublin,and toholdthe said
office orby
himself, his
deputy, the
during
king'spleasure.
These recordsandthe coins arethe sources
from
scanty themselves,
the numerous only
coinsofHenry
which evidencecan bederivedrespecting which
have been and before
;whether
preserved onthe
Ienter ofthem
description itwillbe
convenienttoinquire,itbepossible todetermine
thestandard
bywhich
thecoinage was regulated.The wantofany direct
evidenceonthissubject
compels me toreverttosuchfactsasmaybecollected
from the ofthe
history
precedingreigns.
This heheld
person several
offices
"Contr. connected
Monete with
the inthe
mint,
English
Turrim
Lond.""early of
partthis
reign
1485-1487, was,
de
Sculptor
Cunagii"-" et
pro "et
ferris,"
infra
Cunagii
Monete
Campsor et infra
Cunagii
Assaiator
Tur. Monete
et
London"--and
on
the17thofMay, he
1486,
and was
iv. appointed of
KeepertheKing's vol.
i.
Exchange.-Ruding,pp.98,
106,119,161, vol. p.194.
ofIreland,
Annals A.D. ii.pp.
vol. 397
and399.
tWare's
18.Rex Thomae
concessit 1491.
Galmolede 1Ruding,
Dublinia, alias
goldsmyth,ThomaeArchibold,
magis
terium etnumismatum
cunagii durante infra
castrum
6 Dublinie
Rot.
Julii." Pat.
21 habendum
fiendorum,
Hen.VII.officium
18.predictum
per
sevel
deputatum,
This Thomas beneplacito.
Galmole
was thesame who "master
was cap.
andworker
of
the
ofthe probably person
ofDevylyn
and in1483. money
of ii.p.and
silver,
vol. keeper
376. inthe
exchanges cities Waterford," Ruding,
h2
60 DR. SMITHonthe IrishCoinsofHenry theSeventh.
Ihave alreadyshewn, thatinthe thirdyearofHenry the Sixth(1425),
themasterofthe coinageinDublinwasbound, tomake
byindenture; thecoins
ofthesame weight,allay,andassay,asthe silver
money,which was made in
London,from which time until
the year
thirty-eighth ofthesame reign(1460),
itdoesnotappear,norisitprobable,
thatanychangeinthe standard
"ofthetookplace;
butinthelatter the
year Irishgroatwas tobemade
ordered weight of
threedeniers
sterling."The penny,or"deniersterling"ofthattime,
weighed
fifteen
grains,
consequentlytheIrishgroatof1460 shouldweigh onlyforty-five
and
grains, was "athe
fourth
lessinweightand than
value theEnglish groat.And
fromthistime and
difference
first betwixt
inequality thestandard ofthe
EnglishandIrish monies" is
to bedated,andnot,asSirJohn Davissupposed,
fromthefifthyearofEdward the atwhich
Fourth, time,however,thestandard.
inIrelandwasagainchanged,while to
itsproportion theEnglish groatwaspre
which
served, had beenreducedin1464 from toforty-eight
sixty grains.
During
thesubsequent
years ofEdward's
reign,thestandard
of hisIrishmoney was fre
quentlyaltered, tothe
according exigenciesofthetimes,and inthe first
year
ofRichard the Third,1483,hisIrish was orderedtobemade according
tothe standard ofthetwelfth
year ofmoney
Edward theFourth, atwhich time the
weight ofthe Irish
groat wasabout grains,
thirty-two orathird lessthanthe
English.
Ithas been that
Edward reducedthe toforty-eight
which stated,
just toinEngland, English
untilthegroat of
grains, standardwas adhered eighteenthyear
Henry the The Irish thelatter
part ofEdward'sreign
and ofEighth.
that Richard,was aboutgroat,
a during
third
less
than theEnglish,and that
the same
was
proportion observedintheearlypartofthereign ofHenry the Seventh,is
from
evident, apassageinaletter,
written
by Octavian,ArchbishopofArmagh,
tothe kingin1487, "recommending Arthur Magennis tothat for
prince, the
ofDromore,
bishopric whereinhesays,thattherevenue ofthatdioceseis,not
worth abovefortypounds,ofthecoin which
ofIreland, isless
bythe thirdpart
than thecoinsterling.1 Fromthis and
evidence alsofromthefact,thatsome of
Henry's
groats, wheningood preservation,
weigh thirty-two which
grains, Ibe
lievetheynever Iconclude
exceed, thatthestandardinIrelandwas notaltered
the
during reign ofHenry, andthathisIrish
groatwasalways athirdless
than
the
Englishofthe same period.
Seep.50. p.31.
fSimon,
 DR.SMITH ontheIrish
CoinsofHenry theSeventh.61
Some arrangement for
isnecessary, thepurposeofattempting
todetermine
order
the inwhichtheseveral were
coins issued
fromthemints.
Intheabsence
ofdocuments
by which thedatesmight befixed,
the safe
only guidewhich
are
remains thecoins and
themselves, from deliberate ofthe
considerationtypes
andnumerousvarieties
which havecome under my Ihave
observation, se
the
lected onthe
cross asthe
reverse, character
whichbest the
distinguishes
three into
sections which todivide
Ipropose them.
THE FIRSTSECTION.
The coins
includedinthis have
section ontheobverse
ashield, the
bearing
arms
ofEngland andFrance, byaon
quartered
annulets
the
cross, of
extremities
which
crowns
are
inpale
terminated
generally bythree ;and :
the
all
three
reverse,
whichI have
arms
(the oneofIreland),witha similar
cross thegroats seen
have
(withexception theletter
Hunder thecrowns;theyusually
weigh
about
twenty-eight
grains,and Ibelieve
never exceed
thirty.
The ofthe
description numerousvarieties
ofthis
typewill
befacilitated
by
them
dividing intothreeclasses
:1st,coins
mintedatDublin
;2nd,those
which
bear
the name ofWaterford;3rd,coinswithoutthename oftheplaceof
mintage.
Ofthe Dublinmint there
are and
The V.Fig. groats,
hasthe half-groats,
HENRIC pennies.
DI andCIVITAS
groat
DVBIANIE. (P1.
The lions
onthe1shield legends GRACIA,
inamanner
have their doubled
tails back
which this
distinguishes coinfromthethreecrown
money ofEdwardthe
Fourth
andRichard
theThird. The uppercrown onthe has
reverse adouble
arch,
surmounted
by aballand cross.
Itisevident
thattheartist inserted
atfirst the
Einthe
letter name ofthe and
city, afterwards his
toconceal
attempted blunder
over
bypunching itthe v.
letter
Agroat hasbeen found
lately atTrim, the ofwhich
obverse isfrom
the
same
die asfig.
1,thereversehasthecrossandarches
over
the crown,
upper
but
the isdivided
legend asfollows with
: CIVIT-ASDV-BLIN-IEE,afleur-de-lis
after
thelast
letter.The isinthe
coin cabinet
oftheRev. asmall
R.Butler,
isbroken
portion off,and itweighs
twenty-seven
grains.
SeeIrish ofEdward
Coins p.37.
IV.,
62 DR. SMITHonthe IrishCoins
ofHenry theSeventh.
ItisnotunlikelythatthecoinwhichSimonpublished III.
(Pl. 63was
fig.
and
defaced,
partly thatinthe torestore
attempt the REX
legend, was substituted
for
ACIA ; the inthe
fleurs-de-lis are
legends also and
omitted, atthe
ends
ofthe
cross
thereare instead
pellets ofannulets.
All the have
half-groats annulets
attheendsofthe cross
oneach but
side,
havenot the letter
Hunder thecrowns;theyweigh fromtwelve
tothirteen
grains.2has the HENRICVS DI and CIVITAS
DVBBL-.Theletter
Fig.
ohas legends ORAL,
been substituted
forG, asisalso
veryevident
ontheobverse
offig.
3,which
isundoubtedlyfromthesame die; thelegendonthereverse
ofthelatter
coin
isCiV-ITA
DEB-1111.On fig.4,the are
legends D,and
HENRICVS CIVITAS
DEBLIN,
andfig.5reads HENRICVSDIO, and DEBLI.
CIVITAS
The half-groat
publishedbySimon (P1.III.
fig.
67),with
the remarkable
legendHENRIC DOM OBAR, ifcorrectly should
represented, beDOM
perhaps VBER,
anabbreviationofDOMINOS VBERNIE,the on of
several the
tobedescribed. legend
sently
groats
pre
The penny (Fig.
6 has acircleofpellets
oneach and
side, atthe
pellets
ends ofthe the
cross, legendsarehe-NRICVSREXAN,and DVBLIN
CIVITAS -,it
weighssevengrains.
Groats are theonlycoinswhich areknown fromthe mintatWaterford.
The shieldonthe obverseiswithinatressure
offour outside
arches,
single
which isacircle,sometimesformed but
ofpellets, more aplain
generally line.
The legend,initsmostcompleteform,is,HENRICVS
DI GRACIA
REX,and
onthe
CIVITAS
reverse,WATERFORDE, one letters
ormore are omitted.
generally The
crowns onthe reversearewithin ofdouble
atressure the
arches, numberof
whichisgenerallynine;the marks whichoccur
inthe are,
legends atrefoil,
a
star
offive rays,andasmall cross.
Fig. 7has thelegends HENRICVSGRAIAREX,andCIVITAS the
wA-terfor-DE,
armsofthe crossareterminatedby asonsome
pellets, ofthethree
crowngroats
ofEdward theFourth,the onthe
tressure reverse
hasonly there
arches,
eight
aresmalltrefoils and
atitspoints, inthe outside
angles anda at
it, fleur-de-lis
eachside ofthemiddlecrown ;another
ofsimilar
typehasthe
legendHENRICVS
DIGRACIA RX.
Fig. 8has thecircle
on eachsideformed the
ofpellets, are
legends HEN
RICVS
DGRACIA REX,and CIVITASWATERFORD.
 DR. SMITH onthe _Irish
CoinsofHenry theSeventh.63
Fig.9hasacircle onthe
ofpellets and
obverse, aplain circle
onthe reverse;
the
legendsare
HENRICVS DIGRACIREX,and CIVTASWATERFOR.
The oneach
circle sideofalltheother
varieties
isformed by aplain line;
the
legendsOnfig.10are HENRICVSDI GRACIAR,andCIVITASWATERFORDE, in
twoofthe outside
angles thetressure
ontheobversethereisastaroffiverays.
On 11the
fig. legendsareHENRICVS DIGRAE,andciv-ITAsWATERFORD.
Fig.12hasastar offive raysateach sideofthe lower crown, and the
are
legends HENRICVS DI and
GRACIA, CIVITASWATERFOR.
Figs.13and 14are ofruderworkmanship,and haveacross inthe lower
angles the
outside tressureontheobverse;onthe reverse
ofone,the legend be
and
below,
gins onthe atthe
other, left
ofthecrowns,whileonathird specimen
the
legendcommences intheusual ;
place theserudecoinsweighfrom twenty
five
totwenty-six
grains. Fig.14isthe only which
groat Ihave seen without
the
letter
Hunder thecrowns.
There areother which
varieties differ from those inthe
ofthe
arrangement inthe
letters ofonly
quarters the cross.described,
Ofthe without
coins thename oftheplaceof thereare
mintage,groats, half
and
groats, pennies.
Thereareseveral ofthe
varieties groats. Fig.15isaremarkably finecoin,
itweighs grains
thirty ; afleur-de-lis in
occurs three
places inthe legends
HENRICVS
DIGRACIA, andDOMINOS VBERNIE. Fig.16reads REX ANLIE FRANC,
andDOMINOSVBERNIE. Fig.17isremarkableforhavingDOMINOS VBERNIE on
both and
sides, themint mark ontheobverseisacross
formed by fivesmallpel
lets.
The next 18,has thebordersofthe and
shield, the circles
formed ;variety,
ofpellets
the fig.are
legends REX ANGLIE and
F-rancie, DOMINOS VBERNIE ;
and
fig.19,whichisof asimilar
type,hasonthe reverse
DOMINVS HIBERN. ;it
weighs
only
These twenty-two
fourlast grains.
have
the tails
ofthelionsdoubled back inthe same
mannerasonthe groats
Dublin
20PLVI. has groat.
the arms
ateachsideofthe the
Fig.
REX
are ANLIE and Fitzgerald
DOMINOSVRERNIE. Theletter shield,
Hunder thelegends
crowns
FRA,
itfrom
distinguishes similar
coins
mintedinthe ofEdward
reign the Fourth.
The name
king's isinvariably
found
on the ofDublin
groats and while on those
without
theplace-of itoccurs
mintage onlyon groat. Waterford,
this
64 DR. SMITH onthe IrishCoins ofHenry theSeventh.
Every groatofthistypewhich Ihaveseen, eitherofEdwardtheFourth or
Henrythe has
Seventh, VRERNIE onthe reverse,but Simongives P1.
one, HI.
65,
fig. which hasHYBERNIE, and 66ofthe
fig. sameplatehasatressureon
each
sideliketheWaterford and
groats, the legends thesameashis 64.
fig.
Very few are
half-groats known ;fig.21has on the across
obverse terminated
by and
pellets, arose beforethelegendREX ANGL FRANCIE DOMNOS
reverse
; instead
NIE,the iiunder
letter thecrowns,and over themacrosspatee,The of
three
annuletsasatthe ends
other ofthe cross; itweighsthirteen
grains.
cross
pateeon thereverseseemstoidentifythis
coinwiththeDublingroat, 1,
fig.
while
theobversecorrespondsexactlywith some ofthe ofEdward
half-groats
theFourth.
Simon's 68, tohave the sameobverse
asthecoin
but
described, the fig.
half-groat,
legendontheappears
reverseisDO1V1HIBERNIE.just
Pennies arealso
veryrare;fig.22has acircleofpellets
oneach the
side, cross
ontheobverseiswithouteither orannulets
pellets the
atitsextremities,legend
was
probably Rexangl-IE. On the which
reverse, isnot by
quartered across,is
thewordVRERNI,divided byasmall
equally cross;itweighssix and
grains, were
itnot
forthe Hunder the crowns,itwould bedifficult this
toassign coin toits
proper
placeinthe Irish
series.
Mr. Lindsay haspublishedapenny,witHunder the the
crowns, legends
are
REX ANGLIE and DOM if
Simon didnot to
hesitate all
appropriate
"Whether the precedingcoins
toHenry the
for
Sixth, his wordsare, thesecoins were struck
beforethe year
orafter
1460, year the 1470,duringthe shorttime this had
prince reassumed
thecrown, ishardtoascertain
;but bythe letterH,which isonallthe pieces
with
thethree crowns,onemightbetempted tobelieve, that
theywere coined
that
during short
period,asitseems tobeadistinguishing markfromthoseof
EdwardIV. struck
beforethattirne."T
SeeIrish
monarchs
was Coins
not ofEdward
unusual the
Fourth, 88,
figs. 89.The of
practice the
using dies
ofdeceased
father's
dies;andIhave ;itiswell
seenaknown
coin that
in
the Henrythe
cabinetofMr. in
Eighth,his
first
which a
affords used
coinage,
more his
inte
illustration
resting of
thelately
fact
ofolddies altered.
Mr. Cuff,
Cuff's is
coin a of
Richard
the struck
Third, fromadie being
usedbyEdwardthe which
Fourth, was
altered groat
Drogheda
punching
the
letters
RIC,over the
Envy, remains
ofwhichare
veryevident. by
P1.
VI.
f fig. 135. :r.
Page22.
 Dr. SMITHonthe IrishCoins ofHenry the Seventh.65
Thatthe nwas
letter placedunderthe crownsasadistinctive
mark, isvery
but
probable, thereisnotanyevidencewhatevertosupportthe of
appropriation
these
coinstoHenry the who
Sixth, diedeight years tothe
previous introduction
ofthe threecrown typeintotheIrish
coinage.
"were
Simon's that
conjecture thesecoins intended
probably for three
penny
and three-halfpenny
pieces,"fappearstohave been groundedonSir James
Ware'sstatement,
" ofthree in
that, 1478, was
liberty granted tothemaster ofthemint
tocoin two and apenny,"tthatis,inthe
tion of3,pieces
2,and
pence,
1,while the pence,
weightsofthe coinsareas4,2,and
propor
1,orgroats,
and
half-groats, asthey
pennies, are
denominated in1Ric. III.
cap. 8,inwhich
the typeisparticularly
described.
The of
appropriation thesecoinsto Henry theSixth,wasnot questioned
untilMr. Lindsay,inhis"View ofthe Coinage transferred
ofIreland," them
toHenry the Seventh,and that were
they struck inhis
early reignisprobable,
-from the styleofworkmanshipand correspondenceinweightbetween them
and thecoinsofEdward theFourthand Richard theThirdofthe same type,
from the
fact ofone ofEdward's dies
having been used the
for obverse ofthe
half-groat,
fig.21,-andthe inthe
appointment first
yearofHenry theSeventh
ofamaster ofthecoinageinthe cities
ofDublin andWaterford.
Thisisthe most convenient tonotice
place asmallcoin,whose typeisvery
different
from any other
known coin
ofany ofthe Henrys. The mint markis
acrosspiercedinthe and
centre, the
legend HE-nri.cvsDNS RIB,the wordsse
parated
by smallcrosses
; aplain
reverse, crosswith arose CIVIT
onitscentre, is
allthat
remains ofthe itweighs
legend, five
grains.-(Fig. 23.
Thiscoinismuch but
defaced, from thesizeofthe and
circle itsweight,it
tohave
appears been intended
forapenny ; itisdifficult ittoany
toassign par
ticular the
date, rose that
proves itwasnot struckprevious time
tothe ofEdward
the
Fourth,and asRichard
the coined
Third pennieswitharoseonthe reverse,11
and threecrown itisnot
groats, that
unlikely his coined
successor moneyof
different
types. The rose
penniesofEdward and Richardhavesuns androses
Ware's
Ibid. by p.215. fPage
Harris,
Antiq. 22. No.
II p.215.
ISnelling's
toSimon,
Suppl.Pl. 27. Simon,
I.fig. XVIII.
Appendix,
VOL.
XIX.
66 Dr. SMITH ontheIrishCoinsofHenu the Seventh.
onthe
alternately field
ofthe while
obverse, onthiscoin
QfHenryneither
ofthese
badges
On appear.
theother itisnowbelieved
that theSixth
coined at
hand,
and Henry money
London,Bristol, York, his
during briefrestoration
in1470,and although
nodocumentaryevidence exists
toprovethatHenry exercised
his in
prerogatives
Ireland
in1470, itisnot that
impossible thispennymay havebeenmintedin
that
year.Without presumingtodecide thisdifficult Imay
question, remark
that
the Dublin penniescoined
byEdward, in1470,have onthe
arose of
centre
thereverse.
THE SECOND SECTION.
The cross patee tothe
extending edge ofthe with
reverse, three in
pellets
each is
quarter, the character
commonto all
the coins
inthis which
section, com
two
prises types ; onehavingthe head
king's withanopen crown-theothera
crownwithadouble arch.
The Dublin groatswiththe
open crown several
present varieties,weigh
they
fromtwenty-sixtothirty-one
grains.Fig.24has thelegendHENBICVS
DI GRA
DNS HYBEhNIE,one ortwo between
pellets the no
words, atthe
trefoils of
points
thetressure two
;reverse, before
pellets the motto DEVM
POSVI ADIVTORE'MEVM,
intheinner CIVITAS
circle, DVBLINIE.Fig.25has amintmark offour
pellets,
andDE' inthe apellet
;reverse, after inwhich
CIVITAS, Ehas sub
been
stituted
forc.legend
The legend offig.
26is,HENRICVSDEL GRADNSHYBEB,there
aretrefoils
atsome ofthe ofthe
points tressure
; mintmarkonthe a
reverse,
cross
piercedinthe centre,andintheinnercircle DVBLNNIE.
CIVITAS
The fourfollowing have
groats asmall atthe
cross ofthe
beginning legend,
whichisHENBICVS orHENRICVS DE1GRA DNSHIBER, small between
crosses the
words,andtrefoils
atthe ofthe
points tressure. Themint markonthereverse
offig.
27, isa smallcross on
; fig.
patee 28,atrefoil
;fig.29,hastwosmall
before
crosses, the motto POSVIDEV ADIVTORE MEV. Fig.30has CIVITAS
DVBLIN,and iswithoutamint markonthe reverse.
The name ofthe cityonfig.30has beenreadDVBLYM,but itappears
to
me tohave been blunderedbypunching theletters
INtwiceonthe die
; the
taken
letter forY, isonlytheIdoubled; andthattakenfor
m,isadoubleN,as
isevident
from the atthe
projection top ofthe onthe
letter the
whereas
left, Ai
Hawkins*Silver
CoinsofEngland,
p.108.
 Dr.SMITH onthe Irish
CoinsofHenry theSeventh.67
isalways
roundedatthetop;thecoin
isevidently and
blundered, does
notwar
rant
the ofareading
adoption for
whichthereisnootherauthority.
Simon to
assigns Henrythe Sixtha groatofthe
"before sametype now
asthose
and
described, that
conjectures itwasstruck thisunfortunate was
prince
dethroned
byEdward theFourth."
"afterMr. Lindsay tothe
assents appropriation,
butthinks
thecoin
was struck his in1470,"
restoration aswell
asanother
which
groat hehaspublished.f
itcannot
Although beprovedthat
the coins
already inthis
described section,
toHenry
belong theSeventh,there
aremany against
objections them
assigning
toHenrythe
Sixth.
isnoevidence
There thatanycoins
were mintedinIreland
during
Henry's
brief noreven
restoration, thathistemporary was
authority inthis
recognized
and
country, ifcoins
had beenstruck
atthattime,itisnot that
likely hewould
have to
venturedreducetheweightofthegroatwhichin was
1470nearly forty
one tothirty-one,
grains, the greatest
weight ofanyofthesecoins
Ihavemet
with.
Until
very itwas
lately that
believed,
universally Henrythe did
Seventh
notcoin
anymoneywith anopencrown, butthis isnow
opinion knownto
"be
and
erroneous, toquotethewordsofMr. Hawkins, itmaybeconsideredas
established
beyond that
controversy, Henry theSeventh did
strike
coins
with
an
opencrown."1
Thecoin
whichledMr. Cufftothis isaYork
ofThomas who was discovery,
important
ofthatseefrom 1480topenny
1504.
Rotherham, archbishop apennywiththe
Mr. inhis
Hawkins, ableand valuable
work, describes " king's
nameonthe and
obverse, ashavingthe a
initial,
archbishop's Tatoneside
of
the and
neck a(fleur-de-lisatthe with
other, an Hinthe centre
ofthere
verse
;"butasthe ofthe coin 367 isdefective,
inasmuch
as
ithas
notthe"Tatrepresentation
onesideoftheneck,"I(fig.
subjointhe ofone
figure which
has come
lately into
my possession.

P.22,P1.
and III.70. P.37,P1.
andV. 104.
fig.
tSilverof
Coins p.120. fP.120.i2
fig.
England,
 68 Dr. SMITHonthe IrishCoins ofHenry theSeventh.
Thislittle
coin from
differs thethreevarieties
described
by Mr.Hawkins,in
asmall
having atone
cross sideofthe neck ;and itpossesses
additional
interest
inrelation
tosome other
IrishcoinsofHenry, aswillappearhereafter.
Itmaynot beamisstonoticeafew ofthe
particulars coins
themselves.The
small
crosses
onfigs.27,28,29, asmint
30, marks,aresimilar
tothose
oncoinsto
bedescribed
hereafter.The letterBisfrequentlysubstituted
for
R, ablunder
which
Ihave not onany
observed ofthe coinsofEdward the struck
Fourth, in
orabout
1470,fromwhich thesecoins arealso bythe
distinguished absenceof
the
hairontheking's common
apeculiarity
forehead, totheundoubtedEnglish
andIrish
coinsofHenry the Seventh. The word FIIBERinthelegendisalso
and
remarkable, Imay add,itisnotprobablethatsuchavarietyofmintmarks
would
havebeenadopted,
during thevery short
period,withinwhichthese
coins
could
have
been struck
byHenry theSixth.
One ofthe
groat Waterfordmint isknown ; the which
letters arepreserved
ontheobverse
are sufficient
just toidentifyitasbelongingtoone oftheHenrys.
Thelegend
appearstohave been tiENRICDE1 GRA REX ANGLIFRANC ;reverse,
&c.
Posy!, and CIVITASWATERFORD ;itweighs 31.
grains.-(Fig.
thirty-two
Thelast
coin inthis
divisionhasalarge mint
cross, mark, andthelegend.
HENRICPEIGRA REX ANGL FR,withsmall between
cinquefoils thewords;re
verse,
rosy',
&c. andCIVITASDVBLINIE. The cisrepresented
byE,and then
byan Breversed
This
;itweighs
tobetwenty-nine
the asgrains.-(Fig.
to 32.
betweenthe coins,
and groat
those
withappears link, type, preceding
the double-arched
crown inthenext division.
Thecoinsinthe second divisionofthis are
section, bythe
distinguished
double-arched
crown,surmountedbyaball andcross. The number ofarches
in
thetressure and
varies, somehave apellet ateachpointofthetressure.
Thelegendonthe groatsisHENRIC DE1GRA REX ANGL FR. The cinthe
name
king's isinmostinstances
reversed,and thewordsare either
divided bya
small
cross
ortwo ; reverse,
cinque-foils POSVIDEVM AIVTORE MEVM,andin the
inner CIVITAS
circle, DVBIINIE
;when ingood they
preservation weighfrom
thirty
tothirty-two 33,
grains.-(Figs. 34."with
Simon
sayshehad somegroats asingle, and with
others adouble
arched
crown." Idonot know ofany such and
variety, Ihave doubt
little but
his 97isincorrectly
fig. represented.The legendisHENRICVSDI GRA.
REX AM.
P.32,
 Dr. SMITH onthe Irish
CoinsofHenry theSeventh.69
AFR, and ateach point ofthetressure
there isasmall cross
; nowinallthe
arched
crown ofHenry
groats whichIhave seen,theyhaveonlyHENRIC,nor
haveanyofthem atthe
crosses pointsofthe
tressure;inthenext his
place, coin
hasthemottoPOSVIDEVM which
AIVTORIVM, Ihave observed
onlyoncoins
with
across
fourcheeonthe reverse.
All differences
these can, beaccounted
perhaps, for,
by that
supposing Simon
had beforehimagroat similar
tomy 40,and
fig. itisvery that
remarkable the
relative of
position theletters
on thereverses
ofhis coinandminearethesame;
thus Posy'and1NIEareinthe same ofthe
quarter instead
cross, ofPosy'and
crvtasonmost othercoins.Itisprobable,
thatthe onthe
legend was
obverse
and
imperfect, thatthe was
deficiency supplied
bycopying from agroatwith
the archedcrown,and the archesofthetressuremay havebeenmistaken
for
thoseofthe crown.
The has
half-groat thecrown with
apparently asinglearch,surmounted
with
aballand the
cross, hair inlong curls,
flowing trefoils
atthe ofthe
points tres
sure,andon thebreastthelettervinverted.The legendisHENRIC DIGRA
REX ANLIE POSVI DEVM
; reverse, ADIVTOR, and CIVITAS DVLIN,withacross
DV.
after Itweighstwenty-one and
grains ahalf.-(Fig. 35.
Thearchesofthecrown,which are the
plain, ofthe
arrangement the
hair, v
onthe breast, themeaning ofwhich Icannot the
explain, and
legends, the
at
trefoilsthepointsofthe tressure, this
distinguish coinfromthegroats.The
small
crossintheinner has
circle beentakenforanx,but asimilar
cross
occurs
attheend ofthemotto,andalsoonthereverse
ofthe penny, 22,
fig. onwhichit
does
certainly not a
representletter.The weight ofthispieceisconsiderably
morethan halfofthegroat;anotherspecimenwhich Ihave seenweighs
only
fourteen
grainsandahalf.
Henry the Seventh,inhisfifth introduced
year, thetypeofthe arched
crownonthe English and
coins,t after
shortly (1491 Nicholas who
Flint, held
several inconnexion
offices withthe mint,
English intheearly
part ofHenry's
was
reign, master
appointed ofthemintin Dublinand Waterford.
From data
these Iinferthat thearched-crown
groatsweremintedbyFlint,
ifMr. mentions
Hawkins aDurham ofEdward
the
Fourth, avon
with thebreast.---Silver
Coins p.115. penny
ofEngland,
p.107.
tHawkins,
70 Dr. SMITHontheIrishCoins ofHeny theSeventh.
and this issupported
conjecture bythe very closeresemblance
between the
English andIrish intype
coins, andworkmanship.
The half-groat, allitspeculiarities,
notwithstanding appearstobecontem
porarywiththe groats.
Mr. Lindsay the
supposes Waterford 31tohave beenstruck
the
Iletiry Sixth"after
his ingroat
restoration (fig.
1470." The legendofthe
coin,
by
how,
isnot
ever, infavourofthis and
appropriation, theform oftheletters
have some
resemblancetothoseonthecoins
whichIconceive werestruckwhile
Flint was
master ofthe mintsofDublinand Waterford. This coinisremarkablefor
having thehaironthe forehead.
king's
Ialso consider 32tobethe
fig. work ofanEnglish itresembles
artist, some
ofthe arched-crown inalmost
groats everyparticular
exceptthe and
crown, even
inthis thereissome for
resemblance, ifthe crosswas onaball, the
archesofthetressure
might betaken
readily forthoseofresting
the crown.
THETHIRD SECTION.
All thecoinsinthissection
(withone exceptionhave the head
king's on
theobverse,and across with
fourchee three ineach
pellets onthe
quarter, re
verse.They may be divided
intotwoclasses
; those
first,having a double-arched
crown ;second,thosewith
anopencrown.
The
cross
inthe
coins
thearches
first
are
class
have
the
formed
archedcrown,
ofpellets,butinsome byaball
surmounted and
are
;lines usually
number in
ofarches thetressure
round thehead they
specimens
and there
plain
are ;thethree ateach ofthe varies,
some have
annulets
generally pellets point tressure,
withinthe and
tressure, also
betweenthewords ofthelegend;thehair
isalways
inlong curls, inthis the ofHenry.
Allthe hanging resembling
which
specimens Ihaveseenhave respect
the HEnglish
letter inthe groats
centre
ofthe re
verse,theyarerudelyexecuted
andthelegendsare moreorlessdefective
;they
appear tohavebeen and
clipped, weighfrom totwenty-eight
twenty-six grains.
Aboar's
headisvery
neatly asoccupying
represented
99.Inthis thecentre
Isuspect
that
heofthe
mistook ofaagroat,
reverse
Hfor
the boar's
and by
published Simon,
the V.
Pl. fig.
to
seems instance,
the
coinin than
the sus
head, engraving
ifnot
issupported, represent
his
confirmed,own greater
;perfection
he the ;my
original
last
of
these
picion has
crowngroats onthe inby
the
reverse, description
of
centrethe a says,
boar's
cross, mint
head, mark
; (arched
andthough
much and
clipped worn,
they from
weigh tothirty-one
twenty-seven 32.
grains."--p.
 Dr. SMITH ontheIrishCoinsofHenry theSeventh.71
Fig. 36has the legendHENRIC DE1GRAREX ANLIEFR, andonthereverse
CIVITAS DVBLINE;the motto tohave
appears beenintended
forPOSVIDEVM
ADIVTORIVM.
The on
legend fig. 37isHENRIESDEI GRA RIES ANLI, on
and thereverse
CIVITASDVBILINI.
On 38the
fig. legendsare HENRIESDI GRREX A E,and CIVITAS
DVBLINIE.
Ido notknow ofany ofthis
half-groats
The penny,fig.39, hasonthe atype.
obverse double-arched and
crown, theletter
Hunder it,the
legend isHENR across
.;reverse, ateach
pierced extremity,
and thelegendCIVITVS itweighsfive and
grains ahalf.
The piercedcross onthiscurious
little itwith
connects
piece, the
coinsin
this
section,butitismore with
identified
particularly them,bythe formofthe
Hinthe king'sname, which seemstobeidentical
with thefirst
letter
inthe
legendonthe obverseoffig.38.
Itisdifficult
toaccountfor the ofthis
peculiarities penny. The artist
per
hapsdidnot sufficient
possess skill
to ahead
execute onsosmall
ascale,
andasa
substitute
for
it,transferred
theinitial
ofthe king'sname fromthereverse
to
the the
obverse, crown onwhich, that
resembles onthe inthe
coins first
section,
whilethearches
are the sameasonthegroat, 34.
fig.
The archedcrown, thelonghanging and
curls, thecross
fourcheeonthe
allconcur
reverse, inestablishing
the ofthese
appropriation toHenry.
groats It
isnow that
admitted, theplain was
cross notabandonedon the
Englishcoins
until
some timeafter the of-Henry
accession theSeventh andin
; the Scotch
itdoes
series notappear, that
the cross was
fourchee adopted tothe
prior reign
ofJames theFourth,who wascontemporarywithHenry;nordoesanyinstance
ofitoccuronthe numerous coins inIreland
struck the
during of
reigns Edward
theFourth andRichard theThird,whileitinvariably more
occurs, orless
onallthe
modified, Irish ofHenry
coins theEighth;henceIconclude
that
these
were
coins struck
subsequenttothe arched-crown
groatsdescribed
inthesecond
and
section, theideaof the
placing initial
ofthe name
king's onthereverse
may
havebeen derived
from Rotherham'spenny. Therudemannerinwhichthey
areexecutedmakesitprobablethat were
they not theworkofanEnglish
artist,
Seep.67.
72 Dr. SMITHonthe IrishCoinsofHenry the Seventh.
while
theoccurrenceofthewordsHENRIES and RIES,implythat were
they exe
cuted
by aFrenchman.
Thecoinsinthesecondclass
have anopencrown, and maybedividedinto
those
having atressure
round the head,and thosewithoutatressure.The
varieties
ofthefirst
kindarenumerous.
Fig.40(P1. VII. hasthelegend HENRICVSDEI GRACIA REX
ALIE;reverse,
POSVI
DEVM AIVTORIVM,and inthe innercircleCIVITASDVBLINIE. 41,
Fig.
reads
henri-cvsDEIGRATIAREX ANLIE;themotto is and
blundered, intheinner
ithas
circle SIVITASDVBLINE,the Dbeingrepresentedby aninverted
G.Fig.
42isengravedtoshowthe towhich
degree itisblunderedonthereverse.
The number ofarchesinthe tressure
onthese coinsvaries
from to
eight
and
eleven, ateach there
point isasmall the
cross, hairisinlong
hangingcurls,
asitappears
just ontheEnglishgroatsofHenry withthearched
crown;they
from
weigh totwenty-eight
twenty-seven grainsandahalf.
The groatwhichSimon published III.
(P1. fig.69 asbelonging
toHenry
the isevidently
Sixth, ofthe sametype asmy fig.40.
Fig.43has acrossmint mark,the legendisHENRIC D-ei REX
gra-CIA AGL,
with
smallcrossesbetween
thewords,therearethree within
crosses thetressure,
andthehairisinlong
hanging ;the
curls motto isPOSVIDVM ADIVTORIV
MEVM,
andinthe inner circle
CIVITAS
Eissubstituted
inverted for
DVBLINIE.
D;itweighs
The byE,and
cisrepresented an
44 hasthehair
in short thirty
curls
close grains.
the is de-I
HENRI-C GRACIA
Fig. ; legend
REXANGLE, withannulets
onsome
betweenthe
ofthree-crown
words; theletter bya
Lisrepresented
and CIVITAS
1,as
double
letter
Hinthe
;treverse,
groats
ofthe
POSVI,
and
&c.
;ithas
DVBLINIE the centre reverse, weighs
twenty-nine
grains.
The mint markonfig.45isasmall the
cross, tressure
has sixarches,
the
crown isvery and
flat, thereisacrossateach side
ofthe only
neck.The
dei REX ALIE FR POSVI DEVM legend
and
isHENRIC gr-AciA ; reverse, ADIVTORIVM,
DVBLINI
CIVITAS ;itweighsonlytwenty-three
grains.
Ofthe groats the
without round
tressure the head the are
varietiesverynu
merous.
46
Fig. hasa at
crosseach sideofthe crown,and the hair
inlonghanging
See 16,
figs. 18, PLY.
19,
 Dr. SMITH ontheIrish Coins
ofHenry theSeventh.73
curls
;thelegendisHENRICVS D1 GRACIA REX AN ; SIVITAS
reverse, DVBLINIE;
themotto
isblundered;itweighstwenty-nine
grains. Fig.47isofthesametype,
butthelegendsonboth are
sides ;itweighs
unintelligible twenty-seven
grains.
coin
Simon.'s III.
(P1. fig.
59 isidentified
with this bydetails
type, wantingthe
and
tressure, havingthe cross
ateach side
ofthe crown ;butifthe ofhis
are the coin
is different
from Ihaveseen.
Fig.48isacorrect,
engraving remarkable
very
very
coin, ithasarose orany ateach
cinquefoil sideof
the and
crown, alsoasamint mark, thehairisinlong full and
curls, thebustis
concealed
by drapery,
resemblingacloak,HENBIC isall
thatremains
ofthelegend;
the isaltogether
reverse unintelligible, it
andweighs onlytwenty-four
grains.
The coininSimon'sthird
Plate 60
(fig. isofthis type,andisrepresented
asbeing inevery
perfect ; itismuch
respect toberegrettedthatmany ofthe
mostcurious
coinswhich hepossessedcannotnow bediscovered.
The coins
remaining inthisdivisionarechiefly
distinguished
by theabsence
ofthetressure
roundthe head. The crownisopen and shallow-the
very hair
isinshort,
close which
curls, stand outfromthe face-the shoulders
aremore
than
displayed onany of thepreceding and
coins, are without
drapery-and the
mintmarkisacross. The legendonthe obverse, initsmost form,
perfect is,
HENRICVSDI GRACIAREX AGL1EFR POSVI DEVM and in
theinner MIMS
circle DVBLIN1E; a;few
reverse,
have SIVITAS;
ADIVTORIVM,
name
the ofthe cityis
and
abridged,
generally several
are blunderedtoanextreme degree;theyweigh
from totwenty-nine
twenty-four grainsanda;lalf.
No or
half-groatspenniesofthistypeareknown, and isthe
Dublin only
place
ofmintage.
The list
following exhibits
the legendsofthe most remarkable
varieties
:
49,
Fig. IIENRCVS
HENRCVSDI
DI REX
GRACIA AGLIE
TR. POSVI-DEVM CIVI-TAS
-ADIVT-ORIVM. -DVBL-INIE.
50,IIENRCVS
DIGRACIA
REX AGLIE
FR. POSVI-DEVMA
-DIVTO-RIVM. -DVB
CIVI-TAS -LIM.
51,
52,HENRCVSDIGRACIA
REX AGNIE. POSVI-DEVM CIVI-TAS
-ADIVT-ORIVM.
CIV
-ITA-DVB
-SDV-LIN.
-BL.
GRACIA
REX ACME. -IDEV
POSV -1VIADI
-VTOR. -ITA
CIV -SDV-BLI.
53, DI
IIENRICVS REX
GRACIA AGM. -IDEV
POSV -MADI-VTOR. -ITA-SD -VB.
54, DI
IIENIUCVSGRACIAREXAGNL POSV
-IDEV -MDEV-TORIV.
CIV -LINE.
SIVI-TASD-DVB
55,IIENRICVS
DIGRACIAREXAGN. POSVI-DEVMI
-ADIVT-ORIVM. -DVB
CIVI-TAS -LIE.
56,
HENRICVS
DIGRACIAREXAGN. IEMA
-3IIVI-TASD-VBLA. -ITAS
-DYE
Blundered. Blunderedcry
57, -JAIL
VOL.XIX. k
74 DR. SMITH onthe IrishCoinsofHenrythe Seventh.
Ihavehad inmore
occasion, thanone todoubt
instance, theaccuracyof
Simon's ;and
engravings itisplain
thathesometimeserredinattempting
to
restore
thelegend ofadefaced coin. His 56,
fig. hasGRA,butmy 55has
fig.
GRACIA,andisidentified
with byhaving the
letters
NE inthenameof
thecityunitedexactlyasbeSimon's,
has them;
represented and my the
friend, Rev.
J.W. Martin,has agroatwhich has
certainly beenstruckfromthesamedieas
mine,butdefectivein the legend inthe
exactly where
place Simon's
differs
from 55.Mr.
fig. Martin'scoinhasbeentraced
toSimon'spossession.
Ofthemany coins withoutthe tressure
whichIhaveseen,Ihave notmet
withanysoperfectasthoseengravedinSimon'sEssay.The for
errors, suchI
mustconsider
them, which appearinthe &c.
legends, of 56,57,
58,
figs.while maybe
accounted
forbyhisattemptingtorestore defaced
partially coins, the
letters
intheinnercircle
correspondwith known atpresent.
Inmaking these Ipieces
observations,byno means toinsinuate
intend that
Simon
intentionally
misrepresentedthe legendsonanyofhis onthe
coins, I
contrary,
am satisfied
thathis errors
aretobe attributed
to
" thewant of en
opportunities
joyedbyhis and
successors, hiswork,whichhemodestlystyledan only,"
Essay
has
"Annals awell
received merited eulogiumfromtheable
and author
impartial ofthe
ofthe Coinage ofBritain."
Mr.Lindsaywas the first
writer
who the
questioned correctness
of Simon's
ofthe
appropriation without
groats thetressure
toHenrythe and
Fifth; asseveral
numismatists
distinguished arestill
ofopinion, these
that are
groats theearliest
intheIrish
series,itisnecessary
toenteratsomelengthinto
the discussion
of
this
Iquestion.
first
shall laybefore my anabstract
readers, ofMr. Lindsay's
opinions,
and then
proceed toinvestigate
the which
objections have beenurgedagainst
them.
"Itmust inthe first
placebeobserved," Mr.
says "that
Lindsay, norecords
havehitherto
been which
discovered, oreven
direct, referto,anIrishcoinage
fromthereignofEdward III., the
until 38thHenryVI., 1459-1460."
Inthe Introductiontothis I
essay,havequotedarollofthe9 HenryV.,
and anotherofthe 3Henry VI., which, unknown
although toMr. Lindsay
ViewoftheCoinage p.31.
ofIreland,
 DR. SMITHonthe IrishCoinsofHenry the Seventh.75
whenhewrote, tendtosupport hisopinionthat
Henry theFifth
did notcoin
moneyinIreland. "this would seemtoimply a
Henext observes, Act (38Henry VI. that
coinage
separate forIreland,ofatype and different
standard fromthat
ofEng
was
land, then
forthefirsttimeadopted; ifso,
the coins toHenry
assigned V.,
Nos.
viz., 60,ofSimon,
7,8,9,in
56, could not
have been struck
before
that
asthey
period, differ type,and more
still inweightfromanyEnglishcoins
hitherto
struck."
Ihave shown,
already thatifanymoney was
coined inIreland
duringthe
early
part of
the reignofHenry theSixth,itoughttobeofthe sameweight,
and
allay, as
assay, thesilvermoney made in London. The difference
intype
will
benoticedhereafter.
Atan adjourned
sitting
" pass ofthe of
parliament the38Henry it
VI., wasordered
that
the "itisshall
groat for and
five-pence," onthese words,Mr.Lindsay
remarks, nearlycertainthatthese
coinsmust have beenofthe
English
then
standard, sixty
grains tothe groat,otherwise
they would
not havebeen
ordered
topassattherate ofapenny more thanthenew (Irish offorty
groat
five and
grains, couldnot have
possibly meant orincludedthegroats
givenby
SimontoHenry V.,"and adds,"letusnow consider
thecoins and
themselves,
them
compare withtheEnglish coinsofthe Henrys.The first which
peculiarity
isthe
"isitself,
presents want ofthedouble round
tressure"thethe head"-the
king's
next,
"their thecross
fourchy onthe reverse,"
then, and
title,"
king's lastly,
weight."
Mr. withthe candour ofanenlightened
and
dudes Lindsay, con
writer,
impartial
bysaying,"having thusgiventothe anappropriation
coins different
very
fromthatofSimon,orindeed Iwilladmit ofanyotherwriter
who has
noticed
Ithink
them, itfair
tolay beforemy the
readers, opinionofalearned
friend
on
whosejudgmentinmatters tothe
relating EnglishandIrish Ihave
coinage, the
reliance."
greatest
With theargumentsofMr. insupport
Lindsay, ofhis Ifully
appropriation,
and
concur, therefore
Ifeel called
imperatively upon arigid
toinstitute inquiry
into
the ofhis
objections learned whose
friend, opinionsare entitled
deservedly
tothehighest
respect.
See
p.53.
k
76 DR. SMITHontheIrishCoinsofHenry theSeventh.
The first istothe
objection workmanship,ofwhichbesays,"comparing
thosegroats bySimon
assigned toHenry V.,with theundoubted of
coinages
Edward IV. andHenryVII.,Ishould
say thatthe and
design of
workmanship
theformerissovery
poor, and
imperfect, barbarous,thatcomingfromthe
same
mintofDublin,Icannotconceive
them
subsequent toEdward and
IV., still
less
supposethem with
contemporaneous thoseofthe archedcrown ofHenryVII.
Tome they are the
evidently first inthe
groats Irish the
series, of
workmanship
veryrude, who
artists,
ignorant hadvery
imperfectcommandofthe could
graver,
design and
little, less.""
execute
The ofthe
appearance bust-theformofthe letters-the
blundered
legends
"I
-theflat crown-the round
circle thehead, areallnoticed
;and headds,
cannotbut that
repeat, their and
appearance fabric tome
appear toexclude
them
from
altogether thecoinageof
Henry VII."
The ofthe
appearance bustandthe
workmanship onthese
"coming coins
iscertainly
veryrude ;yetthe difference
between
the coins, fromthesamemint
ofDublin," may,insome
"sculptor be
measure,accounted for,
by the that
fact, Nicholas
who
Flint, was
"overseer de etpro in
ferris,"the mintof in
London, was
1486,
made ofthemintsofDublinand Waterford"in1491,andwassuc
ceededinhis inDublin,
office in1506,
by Thomas Galmolealias a
Archibold,
goldsmith
"The inDublin.
are
lettersthinanduncertain"
yet when are
they comparedwith
those
ontherude ofHenry
coins theSeventh,withthe archedcrown 36,
figs.
(see
37,38),itwill
beadmitted, ifthey
that arenotidentical,
theybearavery
close
to
resemblance
"The them.
erroneous are
legends," notmore remarkable
thantheblunders
which
onsome
occur oftheIrish ofHenry
groats the and
Eighth,f are similar
very
tothelegendsonfigs.
42and 47,which,inmy are
opinion, identified
withthe
"of
time HenrytheSeventh, the
byhaving hairinlonghangingcurls.
The crownisquite butitis with
identical thatonthe tressured
(fig.
groat 45),and alevel,"
bears resemblance
close tothecrownsonsomeofthegroats
"The in
described thefirst
division
ofthesecondsection.
headisencircled
byamereline,ana notadotted such,
circle," no
doubt, tobethe
appears caseonafewofthesecoins, onmost
but ofthemwhich
p.34.
Lindsay, tIbid.P1.VII. 148.
147,
figs.
 DR. SMITHonthe IrishCoins ofHenry theSeventh.77
Ihavemet with,the ismore
circle orlessindented
; onfig.
53itiseven
andseveral
othershaveacircleofpellets
very marked.roped,
distinctly
Mr.Lindsay's relying
correspondent,
"this onthe which
objections Ihave endea
vouredtorefute,
says, iswhat may betermed theinternal
evidencefur
nished
by
"The thecoin and
itself, tome completely the
decides question."
arrayofActs ofParliament,weightofcoins,"
&c.arenotallowedto
beofmuch ;but
importance Icannot consent togive uptheevidencederived
fromsuch for
authorities, the Irishcoins ofEdward theFourtharegenerally
foundtobeinstrictaccordance
"the with the standard bythe
fixed Acts;and while
itisadmitted,that groatofHenry V.should weighsixty
grains,"it
to
appears me that
incredible anygroats shouldbe issued
byhim at solow a
weightas"twenty-eight"
grains. "
Itisalso that
asserted, nocoinage tookplaceinIreland
"after fromthedeath of
Edward II.totheaccession
ofHenry V.,"and that suchalapseoftime
ahundred
(nearly the
years), attemptatacoinage maybeexpectedtobevery
and
wretched, soitis.Supposing, asisnatural,thattheTrish
engraverwould
make thecurrentEnglish
groat hiscopy, asnearashiswantof would
ability
allow the
him,copy, as
such it,we see is more Edwardthe Third's and
Richardthe than
Second's, Edward the the
Fourth's,-in alarger
former, space
wasleftunoccupiedbythebust than onthe latter
;and wheretheartist
could
scarcely
attemptthe circle
plain surroundingthehead,itisnowonder thathe
abandonedthe tressure."
Here again,the of
authority authentic is
records for
disregarded, in 1336
(10
the
Edward
ofIII."aproclamation wasthen issued
inby the and
king for
council,
coining pennies, and
halfpennies,
"Decuneis farthings ;".and
Ireland
issued
in1339,
and ifit
a
be
writ,
entitled, inHibemiam was
mittendis,"" ;t
admittedthatthe coins
English which havethe name Edwardus"belong to
Edward the Third,this
questionissettled the
respecting Irish
coins
;for inFe
1841,
bruary-, afarthingwas foundatTrim, onthe ofwhich
obverse isahead
withinatriangle,andthelegend EDW-ARDV-SREX ;of cross
reverse, and pellets,
withCIVITASDVBLINIE."This coinisinthe cabinet theRev.RichardButler,
ofTrim. And if"nearlyahundred years"elapsedwithout
any
coinagetaking
placeinIreland,itdoesnotfollowthat thefirst
attemptshould be
necessarily
p.16.
Simon, tIbid. No.
Appendix, II.
78 DR. SMITH ontheIrishCoins ofHenry theSeventh.
4very wretched,"for theearliest
groatsminted inIreland,ofwhich wehave
anyauthentic
records, wereaswell executedasthe Englishcoins
of"thesame
;
period norcan Iperceivethatthe coinsinquestion aremorelike thecur
rentEnglishgroat" thantheIrishcoinsofEdward theFourth;for
onallthe
London ofRichard
groats the
Second,and Edward theThird,whichIhave seen,
theRoman Nisused inthename ofthe while
city, ontheseIrish
coinsofHenry
itneveroccurs.The formoftheletteriisalsodifferent
;onHenry's coinsit
isalwaysmoreorless and
forked, never squareattheends,asisinvariably
the
onthe
case supposed models.The ofthe
objection plaincircle
round thehead,
hasbeen answered,
already andthe resemblance
striking inalmost
every respect
(exceptthetressure
and crosses
ateach sideofneck), between 45,and
fig.
"abandoned the
untressured
groats,inducesmetobelievethat theartist the tres
rather
sure," me from choicethan to
inability execute sucha ornament.
trifling
Italsostrikes asvery that
extraordinary, anartist
so ashas
ignorant been
should
supposed, inventacross
fourcheeforthereverse
"could ofhisrudecoin
;and how
didthe artist
illiterate (whoitisconjectured notspell"learnthatthe
GRAonthe supposed was
models, onlyanabbreviationfor which
GRACIA, isfound
without on theuntressured
groats,as well
as on someothers
of which
ifexception
little,anydoubt can that
exist, theybelong toHenry the asthe
Seventh, half
fig.
groat, 35,and the tressured
groats 40and
figs. 45;and why did not the
adopt
copyist the usual but
motto, insteadofitengraveonhisdie,POSVI DEVM
ADIVTORIVM. "
authorities
Several are toshow
cited thatREX AGL may havebeenalsoused
inIrelandbeforethe reignofHenry VII. ;"but the Act of10
onbEdward IV.,
whichorderedthatREX ANGLIE
shouldform part ofthelegend thecoins,has
notbeen and
noticed, there
isnotany Irish
coin known withthis which
title, can
toanearlier
bereferred date.The of the has
Sixth the
HENRICVS DNSHIBNIE. penny Henry legend
Inbringingthese observations Ifeel
toaconclusion, boundtoacknowledge,
ifIhave
that, been atallsuccessful
inestablishing different
from those
ofprecedingwriters,ithasbeen owing
chiefly toopinions
the Ienjoyed
advantage of
havingsolargeanumber ofcoinsofthe different
types me
before atone view.
Itnow onlyremains forme toassignsuch reasons asappeartowarrant the
ofthe
appropriation coinsinthelast toHenry
plate the Seventh.
Seep.56.
 DR. SMITHonthe IrishCoins ofHenrythe Seventh79
Assumingthatitwillbeadmitted thatthe with
groat thearched and
crown,
theHinthe centre
ofthe reverse(fig.36belongstoHenry theSeventh,itcan
bedoubted
scarcely that 40,
figs. 41,42, arenearlycontemporary withit
GRACIAinthelegend-the arrangement ofthehair-and the crossfourcheeon
the are
reverse common toboth. The crossonfig.43over thecrown, which
seemstohave arches,
single and thewords REX AGLin thelegend,connectthis
coinwiththedouble-archedgroats 33,34,
figs. while the crosseswithinthe
the
tressure, wordGRACIA, and the long show
curls, how itisto
allied
closely
40
figs. and44,thelatterofwhich is remarkableforthe H inthe centre of
thereverse.The crossateach side ofthe neckand the tressureonfig.45,
connectitwith 43, and inevery other itisalmostidentical
with
50. fig.
fig.
particular
allthe
Notwithstanding objectionswhichMr. Lindsay'scorrespondenthas
made the
against toHenry
appropriation " theSeventh,ofthe "groatsassigned
by Simonto Henry he the
V.,"admits, groat curious in(Mr. Lindsay's col
without
lection, atressure, tobeanearly groatofHenry VII." To me this
isimportant,
admission yetImust insome measuredissent
from inexpressing
it,
my that
belief, thecoinwas struckinthe latter
partofHenry's reign;thehair,
and the ateach
cross sideofthecrown connectitwith
fig.41, theabsenceofthe
with
tressure 55,
fig. and theword SIVITASoccursonthe threecoins 47is
; fig.
onlyablunderedvarietyoffig.
46,and fig.48isavery remarkablecoin.
Ofthe remainingcoins
little
need besaid theblundered
; andand on 57
arenotmore
isthe
than
remarkable thoseonfigs.42,47, 48,legendsthewantfig.
ofthe
tressure chiefdistinction
between themand fig.45 ; theword GRACIA
ontheobverse-SIVITAS onthree and
varieties, the cross fourcheeonthe
reverse-andtheform ofthe concur
letters, inmaking itprobable,thatallthe
coinsinthe last
Platewere minted about thesametime ;and from themany
oftype,
varieties and the badstyleofworkmanship ofthesecoins,itisevident
thatthemintofDublinwas inavery unsettled
state
;under thesecircumstances
itisnot tofind
surprising the arched crownabandoned,and theopen crownre
sumed in ofit.
place
Ifeellittle
hesitation
now these
inappropriating coins tothelatterpart of
thereignofHenrythe Seventh. Itisnot improbablethatmany ofthem were
See 46.
fig.
so Da. onthe
SMITH Irish
Coins
ofHenrythe
Seventh.
struck
by was
who
Gal-mole, appointed ofthe
master mint onthe
ofDublin 6th
ofJuly, and
1506, that
heabandoned
the inimitation
tressure ofHenry's
latest
English
coinage.
Icannot
conclude
without and
tothose
gratitude whohavesoacknowledging
my
me
favoured
kindly
obligations,
withthe expressing
means my
ofillustrating
this obscure
very ofthe
period Irish
ofthe
History coinage.
 %Ye-IA.-VOL
,xrx. SPLATE
Una,5.
-AITTIQ
1

6
7

8 9

112 13

15 116

18 19

J.Sn.z.chlt_PDel
 SMITH
DR. onthe
Irish
Coins the
Seventh.81
ofHenry

OF
THE
PLATES.
EXPLANATION
I.
PLATE
NO.DENOMINATION.MINT. PAGE.
WEIGHT.
._.... DubJin. REFERENCE.
2I.Groat. ,, grs.14
27
121 15 Mr.
Cuff.
55
3 ,,Half-groat. 13 55
,,,, 12 Dr.
A.Smith.
546 ,,59 13
55 12
7
55
55
,, Dean
of55
St.Patrick's.
7 Penny.
Groat, 26
Waterford. ,, Mr.
Sainti:ill.
89 ff,,55 55 28
28 16
,,55 30 Dean
ofSt.Patrick's.
,,55
10
112 I ,,57 95 28 73
,, Dr.
A.Smith.
,,55 28
26 ,,55 Dean
ofSt.Patrick's.
13
14
15
,,,,
,, 25
554130 55Mr.
.35
Sainthill.
Mr.
Lindsay.
Dean
ofSt.Patrick's.
16
17 59 ,,55 30 ,,,, Dr.
3., 27 A.Smith.
18
19 ,, 28
22 ,, DeanR.
Rev.Butler.
ofSt.Patrick's.
...

VOL.
XIX.
82 DR. onthe
SMITH Irish
Coins the
Seventh.
ofHenry

PLATE
II.
NO.
I DENOMINATION.
MINT. PAGE.REFERENCE.
WEIGHT.
20
21Groat. 26
13grs.16 ofW.
DeanSt.
Patrick's.
Martin.
22
23
Half-groat.
Penny.
1, Dublin 6 17
5 53Rev.
18
J.
Rev.
R.Butler.
53
24
25Groat.
/3 26
Dublin.
53 30 19
53 Dean
of
Dr.
A. St.
Patrick's.
Smith.
26
27 ,,/3 ,5
35 28
30 99
53 Dean
ofSt.
Patrick's.
53
28 39 53 30
31 33
29
30
31
93
9,, 55
35 31
32
Waterford. 59Mr.
55
21
Sainthill.
32
33 ,,/3 Dublin.
29 35
35 32 Dean
ofSt.
Patrick's.
34
35 ,,
Half-groat. 30
21-1, 35Mr.
55
22
Sainthill.
Rev.
J.35
Martin.
W.
36Groat. 33 27 24 55Dean
ofSt.
Patrick's.
37
38 395
39Penny. 33 26
32 28
5- 3355Mr.
Sainthill.
Rev.
R.Butler.
 22 23SPLATE
(3
ANTIQUITLE
21

29

35

'36 39
o2o0

I.SnaL
71f.
_Del,
 001,1_7:3
7.
_LI17I:TIIIE

ocb.
SIDN
'ot.cfc'
46 48
q2
1"T
;P,

50 51

56

Ci
actA
.174-.%.
7),
 DR. onthe
SMITH Irish
Coins the
Seventh.83
ofHenry

PLATE
III.
NO. MINT.
DENOMINATION.WEIGHT.
PAGE. REFERENCE.
40
41Groat.
9, Dublin.
7, 27grs.25
28 ,, Dean
ofSt.
Patrick's.
99
42
43 /,
99 1,
99 27f
30 59Rev.R.19
Butler.
44 ,I ofSt.
Patrick's.
45 99
46 59
9, 99 29
9,
,, 23
29
951Dean
,, Mr.
Lindsay.
47
48 f)9
f 27
,, 24 7,
,,7, 26 Dean
ofSt.
Patrick's.
7,
49
50 ,, 26 ,,
24 !YDr. 99
51 9,
52 ,,39
,,99 28
,, .25 A.Smith.
of Patrick's.
53
54 1,
,, 59
,, 28
251 ,,,, Dean
Mr.
Mr.
St.
Saintbill.
Lindsay.
55
56 91 !, 29i
,,fP 28 Dr.
A.Smith.
Dean
ofSt.
Patrick's.
57 91
,, 29 Dr.
A.Smith.