nobles were at once made current and tenderable along with silver, by proclamation; gold being ordered to be received in payment of 20s. and upwards.
By this indenture the ratio was at once dropped from 12.59:1 to 11.04:1. This attempt to determine the rate of exchange is a common feature in the legislation of France and Spain as well as of England. It stands to sense, and is apparent on every page of the monetary history of the period, that it was absolutely imperative. The friction which accompanied the process can now only faintly be imagined, but that is a secondary consideration. The essential point was, that such changes were normal and inevitable, forced by sheer necessity upon Governments, such an one even as our own, which has always been most jealously conservative in matters of coinage. Page 44
| Silver. | Gold. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date. | Weight of the Silver Penny in Troy Grains. | Date. | Coin. | Weight in Grains. | Value Declared. | Price in Pence per Grain of Gold. | |
| s. | d. | ||||||
| 1300 | 22 | 1344 | Florin | 108 | 6 | 0 | 0.6666 |
| 1344 | 20 1 ⁄ 4 | 1344 | Noble | 138 6 ⁄ 13 | 6 | 8 | 0.5777 |
| 1346 | 20 | 1346 | ... | 128 4 ⁄ 7 | 6 | 8 | 0.6222 |
| 1351 | 18 | 1353 | ... | 120 | 6 | 8 | 0.6666 |
| 1412 | 15 | 1414 | ... | 108 | 6 | 8 | 0.7407 |
| 1464 | 12 | 1460 | ... | 120 | 8 | 4 | 0.7500 |
| 1470 | Angel | 80 | 6 | 8 | 1.0000 |