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

Introduction 39
placed on the coinage, in lieu of the Dei Gratiti, the motto
La Nation,. La Loi, Le Roi ; and in 1874 the younger Don
Carlos struck money with Dios, Patria, y Rey. Napoleon
never used the Dei Gratia, and was here followed by the
Orleanists and by his nephew. The usage was at all times
far from general on the Continent ;
and it seems to be falling
into desuetude.
Not merely did the titular designations of many-
European sovereigns outlive any actual or substantial
sovereignty over particular districts or regions, but the
names of emperors were retained during centuries after
their death on the coinages of those places which had been
accustomed to enjoy partial numismatic independence, as in
the case of many of the Italian republics and German
and Low-Country municipalities or seigniorial fiefs. The
Kings of Spain clang to the title of Kings of the Indies, the
Kings of England to that of Kings of France ; Henry III.
of France never discontinued the addition to his honours
of King of Poland ; princes of the House of Hohenstaufen
occur on the money of Italian cities long after the extinction
of the dynasty and in the seventeenth
; century Charles V.
is found on the ecus of Besangon and the daalders of the
Netherlands. The portrait of William the Silent is found
on a piece of 1687, struck in gold to pass for fifty guldens ;
and that of Dudley, Earl of Leicester, remained on the
Dutch money after his death and the abandonment by
Elizabeth of the cause.
The surrender of so many
of the mediaeval states of
Europe to the supposititious patronage of the names belonging
to the Christian hagiology, commencing with the St.
Michael types of the Lombard kings and dukes, and the
celebrated piece of Grimoald IV. Duke of Beneventum
(806-17), bearing the legend Archangelvs Michael, became
very detrimental to the original and artistic treatment of
coins, which, as media of general exchange and of every-day
transactions, were regarded, in a far larger measure than
medals, appropriate vehicles for the expression of the local
and for the assertion of the secular authority.
popular belief,