The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

HAVE WE NO IRISH COIXS OF EDWARD VI. ? 57
the same." This was the beginning of the end. For
next comes, in August, " a book of check of the
A 1 main miners from the commencement of their work,
17 July, 1551, till 1 August, 1552, at Clonmines and
Ross," together with " a Declaration of the state of the
mines, taken by Sir Edward North, Sir John Mason, Sir
James Croft, and Sir Martin Bower," by which is shown
how the King's profit mas only 474 ; while his charges
amount to 3478 15s. Id., "besides 2,000 paid
to the
Almains before they wrought a day."
I do not think it necessary to add anything more about
the mines in Wexford. Enough has been produced to
demonstrate the worthless nature of the mining operations
there, and how it came to pass that the reconstituted mint
in Dublin languished and decayed. King Edward died
on the 6th of July, 1553, and with his death expires our
interest in these notices of the contents of the Irish State
Papers, so far as any present purpose is concerned.
Sum up their net results, and it is evident that some-
thing
the Irish mint. Abstracts, as these calendared papers are,
is now to be added to our stock of information about
sketch for us a view of it which we did not obtain in
they
the pages of Simon and Lindsay.
We learned from those
writers that the mint was in operation, and gradually
decayed ;
J but here we learn, besides the names of the mint
officials, one or two important facts of distinct usefulness
when we approach the question at the head of this paper.
Recorded in these notices we have both the value of certain
specified sums paid into the mint as bullion and withdrawn
as coin, together with the exact period which the operation
1
"After a while, for want of bullion, by little and little the
"
work decayed (Simon, " Essay on Irish Coins," p. 84). This
appears to be a quotation from Ware.
VOL. I. TI11KD SERIES. I