W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

Catalogue of European Denominations 2 1 5
Marque, a special designation for coins struck at Bellac by Hugues,
Comte de la Marche, in and after 1211, with Ugo Conies Marchie.
Masse (for, a French gold coin first introduced under Philip III.
(1270-85), and owing its designation to the mace, which the king holds in
his right hand. The type was continued by Philip IV. only. Comp.
Reine d'or.*
Masson, a silver coin of Lorraine, i8th c. It was struck under
Leopold I., 1690-1729, but only between 1728-29, as its name was derived
from Masson, the director of the mint in succession to D'Aubonne
(1728).
Matapan, the Venetian grosso. See Grosso.
Matthiasgroschen, a billon coin of Goslar, Hanover.
Mattier, a coin of Brunswick- Luneburg =13 deniers of copper of
small module, i8th c. Whelan says that it was = ^ mariengroschen.
Mechalaer, a Brabantine .coin of the I5th c., equal to i groot.
There was the double.
Afedaglia. At Bologna under the Bentivoglio family (i5th c.) it
seems to have been the practice to combine, as in Germany, the medal
with the coin. See Cat. Rossi, 1880, Nos. no, 773-74.
*Medjedeer, Turkish, silver, value 35. 5d., 20 piastres.
*Meissner Gulden, Saxony, money of account at Leipsic.
Merovingian money, a term somewhat loosely applied
to an
extensive series of coins, usually of barbarous fabric, and in gold, the
metal often of a pale colour, which was concurrent with the Byzantine
gold solidi and besants, and evidently aimed at copying the types of
Justinian and other emperors. They are uniformly thirds of the solidus
(tiers de sot), and vary more or less in execution. They were very widely
diffused over the western portion of the continent of Europe, and were
intended to supply a convenient medium of exchange for higher values.
In Southern Italy and in Visigothic Spain the same type was current in
silver. But the Greek besant itself was also employed for special purposes
at Venice, and possibly elsewhere. There is a piece of this
kind wjth the name of Canterbury as the place of mintage. One
result of a comparative absence in England of the Merovingian system
on any appreciable scale, and of the apparent failure to employ
Roman the
small brass, was that in that country the indigenous silver penny
and copper styca commenced at a far earlier date than on the Continent,
and in Southern Britain were probably supplemented by the plentiful
remains of the anterior British money in copper, tin, and billon. See
Merovingian Mints in Cat. of M.
Merovingian moneyers. See Blanchet tibi supra. The names are
extremely numerous, and many more or less doubtful. In Blanchet's
list the same person
is often cited under variant forms of his name.
Metica, a native African denomination, adopted, like the parddo, by
the Portuguese Colonial Government in some of the currency for Mozambique
or for East Africa. Compare Barrinba.