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THE ELIZABETHAN COINAGES FOR IRELAND. 117martlet. 8 They were found to be agreeablestandard.to theIrish copper moneys in pieces of Id. and %d., amountingto 21b. 3oz. 7dwt. 18grs., were found to contain 15s. lOrf.in each pound weight and to be within the remedy.(ExcJi. Accounts, Proceedings on trials of the pyx,bdle. 3, vol. 1.)I believe that the trial of 1603 is the one knownoccasion on which a copper or brass currency wasaccorded the honour of being tested at the StarChamber in the presence of the Privy Council.The form in which the warden, Sir Thomas Knyvett,presented the figures relating to the transactions of themint (supra) brings into sharp contrast the differencebetween the face value and the intrinsic value ofElizabeth's third issue for Ireland, which was in trutha token coinage. The so-called silver moneys wereto be current at the rate of 62s. for the pound weight,the actual cost of the metal being 16s. l^d. The poundweight of copper coins was rated at 16s. and valued at6|rf. It may, I think, be regarded as a sign of gracethat some of these documents use the phrase "whiteIrish" instead of "silver Irish" when reference ismade to the coins which contained only 2oz. 17dwt.of silver in the pound Troy. At all events. I do notrecall an instance of such becoming candour in any ofthe mint accounts of the earlier Tudors who permittedsimilar debasements in their English or Irishcurrencies.A letter from Richard Martin, undated but pre-8In Num. Chron., 4th ser., vol. xvi, p. 105, line 1, 1 inadvertentlywrote " mullet " instead of "martlet" when speaking of this pyxtrial.