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• Preface.
• Vaughan, a Discourse of Coin and Coinage
• Chap. I.: Of the First Invention and Use of Money.
• Chap. II.: Of the Matter of Money.
• Chap. III.: Of the Forms of the Money Anciently and Now In Use.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Proportions Held Between Gold and Silver, Antient and Modern.
• Chap. V.: Of the Raising of the Price of Money Both of Silver and Gold.
• Chap. VI.: Of Base Money.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Inconveniences In General Grown In the Matter of Money.
• Chap. VIII.: Of the Low Price of Our Silver.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Prohibition of Forrein Moneys, Especially Spanish.
• Chap. X.: Of the Unequal Coinage of Our Moneys.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Great Increase of the Proportion Between Gold and Silver, and the Things Valued By Them; By Which There Is Grown a Greater Want of Money In England Than Was In Antient Times, and of the Causes Thereof, and of the Remedies Which May
• Chap. XII.: Of the Raising of the Price of Moneys By Our Neighbours, and the Defect of Our Not Raising of Our Moneys Accordingly.
• Chap. XIII.: Of the Benefits Which Do Grow Unto the State By the Raising of Moneys, and the Prejudices Which Do By Not Raising of It.
• Chap. XIV.: The Benefits Which Do Grow to the State By the Not Raising of Money, and the Prejudices Which Do Grow By the Raising of It.
• Chap. XV.: Examinations of the Reasons For the Raising of Money.
• Chap. XVI.: Examinations of the Reasons For the Not Raising of Money.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Contracting With Forrein Nations By Ambassadors to Keep Their Moneys At a Certain Standard.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Ordaining of Solid Payments.
• Chap. XIX.: Of Equalizing the Exchange.
• Chap. XX.: Of Reducing Moneys to the Lowness of Ancient Values.
• Chap. XXI.: Of Raising Our Moneys According to the Raising of Our Neighbours.
• Chap. XXII.: Of Introducing Two Different Species of Money.
• Chap. XXIII.: Of Coining of Moneys Without Distinction of Weights.
• Lord Coke’s Account of Coin and Coining.
• Cotton, a Speech Touching the Alteration of Coin.
• The Answer of the Committees Appointed By Your Lordships to the Proposition Delivered By Some Officers of the Mint, For Infeebling His Majesties Monies of Gold and Silver.
• The First Part. the Preamble.
• Questions to Be Proposed to the Merchants, Mint Masters, and Goldsmiths Concerning the Alteration of the Silver-monies.
• Certain General Rules Collected Concerning Money and Bullion Out of the Late Consultation At Court.
• Advice of His Majesty’s Council of Trade, Concerning the Exportation of Gold and Silver In Foreign Coins and Bullion. (concluded December 11. 1660.)
• Reasons Aud Arguments For the Free Exportation of Gold and Silver In Foreign Coin and Bullion.
• Sir William Pettys Quantulumcunque Concerning Money, 1682.
• Questions.
• A Report Containing an Essay For the Amendment of Silver Coins
• The Second General Head Concerning the Present State and Condition of the Gold and Silver Conis.
• The Third General Head Discusses This Question, Whether It Be Or Be Not Absolutely Necessary At This Time to Re-establish the Coins.
• The Fourth General Head Is to Propose the Means That Must Be Obtained, and the Proper Methods to Be Used In and For the Re-establishment of the Silver Coins.
• The Fifth General Head Considers What Must Supply the Commerce, Pay Taxes, &c. Whilst the Clipt Money Is Under Its New Fabrication.
• In Quodam Libro Vocato Nigro Scripto Tempore Regis Henrici Secundi, Per Gervasium Tilburiensem, De Necessariis Scaccarii, Remanente In Curia Receptæ Scaccarii, Inter Alia Sic Continetur.
• A Computation of the Common Weight of a Hundred Pounds By Tale, In Ordinary Silver Money At This Day, Taken From a Medium of the Bags, Weighed At the Receipt of Exchequer, In May, June, and July Last.
• Note On the Re-coinage of 1696-99.
• Representations of Sir Isaac Newton On the Subject of Money. 1712-1717.
• Representation First
• Representation Second.
• Representation Third.
• Tables Illustrative of the Successive Changes In the Standard, In the Weight of the Coins, and In the Relative Values of Gold and Silver In England, From the Conquest Down to 1717.
• Note On Scotch Money, With Tables Showing the Successive Changes In the Standard In the Weight of the Coins, and In the Relative Values of Gold and Silver, From 1107 to 1707, When Scotland Ceased to Have a Peculiar Coinage.
• Observations On Coin In General, With Some Proposals For Regulating the Value of Coin In Ireland.
• Essays On Money and Coin I
• Part I.: The Theories of Commerce, Money, and Exchanges.
• Chapter I.—: Of the Nature and Origin of Wealth and Commerce.
• Chapter II.—: Of Money and Coins.
• Chapter III.: Of Exchanges.
• Essays On Money and Coin Ii
• The Preface.
• Part II.
• Chapter I.: A Summary Account of All the Alterations That Have Been Made In Our Standard of Money, From the Norman Conquest to the Present Time, With the Opinions of Some Very Eminent Men Upon Those Kinds of Measures.
• Chapter II.: The Established Standard of Money Should Not Be Violated Or Altered, Under Any Pretence Whatsoever.
• Postscript. of Standard Measures.
• Reflections On Coin In General
• Raper, an Inquiry Into the Value of the Ancient Greek and Roman Money.
• Introduction.
• § 1.: Of the Attic Drachm.
• § II.: Of the Eginean and Euboïc Talents.
• § III.: Of the Roman Money.
• § 4.: Of the Value of Gold In Greece and Rome.
• § V.: Of the Value of the Ancient Greek and Roman Money.
• Conclusion.
• Tables Showing the Denominations of the Principal Greek and Roman Coins, and Their Values In Sterling Money,

§ V.

Of the value of the ancient Greek and Roman money.

IT does not appear that either the ancient Greeks or Romans allayed their money, but coined the metals as pure as the refiners of those times could make them: for though Pliny mentions two instances of the contrary at Rome,§ the example was not followed, till the later Emperors debased the coin: and his expression, miscentur æra falsæ monetæ, shews he thought the practice illegal.

Though the ancients had not the art of refining silver, in so great perfection as it is now practised, yet, as they mixed no base metal with it, and esteemed what they coined to be fine silver, I shall value it as such.

Sixth-two English shillings are coined out of 11 ounces 2 p. wt. Troy of fine silver, and 18 p. wt. allay. Therefore, the Troy grain of fine silver is worth ths of a Farthing. Hence the Attic Drachm of 66½ grains will be found worth a little more than Ninepence farthing; the Obole, a little more than Three half-pence; and the Chalcus, about th of a Farthing.

But, for the reduction of large sums to English money, the following numbers are more exact.

Hence the Mina expressed in Pounds Sterling and decimals of a Pound will be £3.869; the Talent £232.15.

The Romans reckoned by Asses before they coined silver, after which they kept their accounts in Sesterces. The word Sestertius is an adjective, and signifies two and a half of any substantive to which it refers. In money matters its substantive is either As, or pondus; and Sestertius As, is two Asses and a half; Sestertium pondus, two pondera and a half, or 250 Denarii.*

When the Denarius passed for ten Asses, the Sesterce of 2½ Asses was a quarter of it; and the Romans continued to keep their accounts in these Sesterces long after the Denarius passed for sixteen Asses; till, growing rich, they found it more convenient to reckon by quarters of the Denarius, which they called Nummi, and used the words Nummus and Sestertius, indifferently as synonymous terms, and sometimes both together, as Sestertius nummus; in which case, the word Sestertius, having lost its original signification, was used as a substantive; for Sestertius nummus was not two Nummi and a half, but a single Nummus of four Asses.

They called any sum under 2000 Sesterces so many Sestertii, in the masculine gender; 2000 Sesterces they called duo or bina Sestertia, in the neuter; so many quarters making 500 Denarii, which was twice the Sestertium; and they said dena, vicena, &c. Sestertia, till the sum amounted to a thousand Sestertia, which was a million of Sesterces. But, to avoid ambiguity, they did not use the neuter Sestertium in the singular number, when the whole sum amounted to no more than 1000 Sesterces, or one Sestertium.

They called a million of Sesterces Decies nummûm, or Decies Sestertiûm, for Decies centena millia nummorum, or Sestertiorum (in the masculine gender) omitting centena millia, for the sake of brevity: they likewise called the same sum Decies Sestertium (in the neuter gender), for Decies centies Sestertium, omitting Centies for the reason above-mentioned; or simply Decies, omitting centena millia Sestertiûm, or centies Sestertium; and with the numeral adverbs, Decies, Vicies, Centies, Millies, and the like, either centena millia, or centies, was always understood.

These were their most usual forms of expression, though for Bina, Dena, Vicena Sestertia, they frequently said, Bina, Dena, Vicena millia nummûm* ; and Cicero, in the passage quoted in the margin, hath used Mille Sestertia, for Decies Sestertium. But Gronovius says, that expression is not to be found elsewhere, and supposes it to be a false reading.

If the Consular Denarius contained 60 Troy grains of fine silver, it was worth somewhat more than Eightpence farthing and a half Sterling; and the As, of sixteen to the Denarius, a little more than a Halfpeny.

To reduce the ancient Sesterces of 2½ Asses, when the Denarius passed for 16, to pounds Sterling, multiply the given number by 5454, and cut off six figures on the right hand for decimals.

To reduce Nummi Sestertii, or quarters of the Denarius, to pounds sterling; if the given sum be Consular money, multiply by 8727, and cut off six figures on the right hand for decimals; but for Imperial money, diminish the said product by one eighth of itself.

For example, Cicero says, Verres had received Vicies, ducenta triginta quinqe millia, quadringentos decem & septem nummos, or 2.235.417 Sesterces: this being Consular money, multiply by 8727, and cutting off six figures from the product, £19508.484159, or £19508. 9s. 8d. will be their value in English money.

But Budæus supposes, that for Quadringenties millies, we should read Quadragies millies, which reduces it to £30.544.500, and is a much more probable sum.

If the Miliarenses of 60 in the pound were fine silver, and weighed 84 Troy grains, they were worth 46.918918. . Farthings and decimals, or almost 11 pence 3 farthings Sterling; and the Solidus passing for 12 of them, was worth a little more than 11s. 8d. 3f.

The Pound of gold was worth 864 of these Miliarenses amounting to 40537,94 Farthings and decimals, which, divided by 1000, give 40,538, or above 10 pence and half a farthing for the value of Constantine’s Miliarensis in English money.

The Constantinopolitans kept their accounts in Solidi, which are reduced to pounds sterling, by multiplying the given number by 58648, and cutting off five figures on the right hand for decimals.

[§ ]Pliny Nat. Hist. L. XXXIII. c. 3. & c. 9.

[* ]See Gronovius, De pecunia vetere, L. I. c. 4.

[* ]Suetonius in Julio, c. 38. Cicero in Verrem, L. I. § 14.