London . third may be assigned the first real coin havinga direct connexion with our present system. The silver 2^e»iij is first mentionedin the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, who reigned from 689 to most probably derived its name from the word pendo, to weigh, being then,as now, the 240111 part of a pound. Its weight was 22i grains, and would nowbe worth 2j(l. This coin was for several centuries the chief circulating medium. The silver penny of Alfred, says Ruding (to whom we must express our obli-gations), is the first authentic coin yet discovered which can with certainty beap
London . third may be assigned the first real coin havinga direct connexion with our present system. The silver 2^e»iij is first mentionedin the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, who reigned from 689 to most probably derived its name from the word pendo, to weigh, being then,as now, the 240111 part of a pound. Its weight was 22i grains, and would nowbe worth 2j(l. This coin was for several centuries the chief circulating medium. The silver penny of Alfred, says Ruding (to whom we must express our obli-gations), is the first authentic coin yet discovered which can with certainty beappropriated to the London Mint. The history of the silver penny offers agood illustration of the disgraceful as well as foolish system adopted by our oldersovereigns of depreciating the real value of coin, in the hope of preserving at thesame time the original current value. From 22^ grains, in the Anglo-Saxonperiod, it had fallen to 18 grains by the reign of the third Edward, to 12 grains SlLVEH
Size: 2348px × 1064px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1844
