Page:Archaeologia Volume 13.djvu/44

24 fourth quarters France and England quarterly; in the second Scotland, and in the third Ireland; the bars of the shield extend to the extremities of the coin, and terminate in ornaments. Round the piece is the king's usual motto upon his silver money. . Over the shield is in smaller letters, and the mint-mark upon both sides is a lion passant guardant.

This curious piece of money is of very elegant workmanship, and appears to be from a dye of that great artist Briot. Both the letters placed over the shield upon the reverse and the mint-mark evince that it was coined in the city of York; and the numerals. behind the king's head, that it was struck for a three Shilling piece.

Snelling, in his view of the silver coin and coinage of England, acquaints us that about the year 1629 there was a mint erected in York, but he supposes that the silver-money, consisting of the penny, half-groat, threepence, groat, sixpence, shilling, half-crown, and crown, were all coined in this city in 1633, or later, and that all these sorts are very common, owing to the quantity of each being great that was issued from this mint.

The same author, speaking of the gold coin of this monarch, says, "There is not so great a variety of the gold money coined by this king as there is of the silver, he having but two mints wherein any gold was coined, which were those in the tower of London and at Oxford." The different kinds of gold money were angels, value ten shillings; the unitie, or twenty shilling piece; the half unitie; double crown, or ten shilling piece; and the British crown, or five shilling piece; besides these he coined at Oxford the treble unitie, or three pound piece. So that there is no money of gold that was coined of less value than the British crown, or five shilling piece, that had come to the knowledge of Mr. Snelling; nor did he know of any gold money coined but in the tower of London, at Oxford, Rh