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

4 2 The Coins of Europe
in view, was where a prince favoured the association with
his currency of a saint his namesake, as we see in several
instances. Two members of one illustrious Dutch house, that
of Brederode, Henry of Brederode and Oswald II., introduced
upon their coinage St. Henry and St. Oswald. It brought
them at least one degree nearer to the Calendar.
XIII
The express notation of value on the face of a coin,
which is not found on the earlier continental money, seems
only to have been introduced, and then very sparingly, when
the enlargement of intercourse between States, and the changes
of frontier by conquest, gradually accomplished a revolution
in the old system, under which each limited currency was
restricted to a narrow and definite radius, and the worth, as
well as name, of every piece was well understood to the few
concerned. The multiplication of mints ordinarily meant
that of more or less variant types ;
and the light shed on
the origin of a piece by the legend conveyed no intelligence
to the popular mind. For instance, on the Merovingian,
Carlovingian, and Anglo-Saxon coinage we meet with
nothing but the names of the sovereign and the moneyer,
perhaps the former, perhaps the latter, alone in barbarous
and illiterate Latin. The inscription merely served as an
official record ; yet the general appearance and weight of
the denarius or penny may have sufficed as a passport ;
and the circulation was at first bound to be circumscribed.
The formal resort to convention-money long remained
exceptional on the Continent, and always continued to be
very incomplete. But practically, as is still the case with
very few reservations, money of recognised character and
weight in the more precious metals was accepted with or
without countermarks, and even early copper coins occur
with evident traces of having travelled far beyond their legal
boundaries. The mixed complexion of some of the large
hoards discovered in England testify to this practice.