[1393/10/1]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
Ordinance made by the king and council during the reign of King Robert III concerning coin
Robert, by the grace of God king of Scots, to all his good men to whom the present letters shall come, greeting. Know that in our general council held at Perth it was ordained that our gold and silver coin will be made henceforth by Bonachius of Florence, our moneyer, in the following way: namely, twenty-one shillings will be made from six Troy ounces of pure silver, from which there will be groats of four pennies and half-groats of two pennies of good silver like [those] of King David. And pennies will be made in which there will be as much silver in four pennies as in one groat, but they will weigh six pennies by reason of the metal alloy which is inserted in them. And half-pennies will be made from the same material and weight proportionally according to the size of the penny. And a fifth part of this coin will be made in pennies and half-pennies. Furthermore those écus which have hitherto had course will be forbidden by public proclamation, but it will be proclaimed that anyone who has écus should travel to exchange [them] with our moneyer, and there he will receive four shillings for the écu, if it is adequate, and they will not have course otherwise henceforth. Furthermore it was ordained that gold half-pennies, namely mails, will have course sufficient for thirty-two pennies of new money. Also a coin called the Lion will be made from good gold, and it will have course for five shillings of coin so that two Lions will be worth ten shillings of the same money. And nobles will be better by the value of three pennies. And the noble of good gold and weight will have course for nine shillings and sixpence, namely the noble of England and the noble of Flanders for nine shillings and fourpence of the same money, and no other nobles will have course. For making which same money in all ways, as aforesaid, both in gold and silver, we commit our power to the said Bonachius, our moneyer chosen and ordained for this by us and our council, by tenor of the present [letters], under all penalty which may pertain on this behalf. Given under our seal at Perth on 24 October in the fourth year of our reign [1393].
[1393/10/2]*[print] [email] [cite] [preceding] [following]
The same king's ordinance concerning the same subject
Item, it was ordained that a man discreet, faithful, adequate and mighty in riches will be chosen who will guard the coin, and who will be sworn under oath, in the form which follows: namely, all gold and silver that will be brought to the moneyer for fashioning will first be presented to him in order that he may cause it to be weighed and write down the quantities in his paper and he will retain [it] in his hands and accept [it] all day until evening and put [it] in secure keeping and under the key equipment of the moneyer, from which he makes coin until the following day, and so he will do every day. And he will receive the money made each day from the moneyer and guard it under seal and key in a chest each week from the beginning until the end. And then he will see with sufficient evidence how much has been made from silver and gold in a week, and then he will accept of each coin, both gold and silver, certain pieces for approval; and he will cause those pieces to be guarded well and diligently until the time of the approval of the money, which approval will be done within forty days on each occasion. And he who is guardian of the coin will stand and answer for the weight of the coin, and will take his fee for his work from the king according to the custom hitherto. And if the guardian, the examiner or the moneyer should happen to fail in their duty in any way concerning the coin, or if it should be found that any of them made false coin or knowingly used forbidden false coin within the kingdom, he will be punished according to the laws without any favour or remission. And if the king shall have granted any remission on account of the said reasons, or any of them, to persons failing in their duty, it will be of no value and have no effect. Item, it was ordained for the common usefulness that no-one will procure any privilege from the king contrary to this ordinance of coin, nor give counsel or procure the king to ordain or act to the contrary of any point or article of this ordinance. And if anyone does the contrary he will be arrested by the constable by the precept of two or more of the lords delimited by council under the forewarning of fifteen days as [...] for undergoing a charge of life and of [losing] all which he can lose [by acting] against the king.