Black Money Público Deposited
A general term for coins ostensibly issued for silver, but which actu- ally contain a large proportion of base metal alloy, the latter soon giving them a dark appearance. See Billon and Korten.
The principal coins thus debased were the silver pennies, and from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries there is fre- quent mention of the Denier Noir of France, the Schwarze Pfennige of the Ger- man States, and the Swarte or Zwarte Pen- ninge which originated in Brabant and the Low Countries. They are also found in the coinage of Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, and in the Anglo-Gallic series.
In the reign of Richard II Ruding (i. 457) states that " among other expedients to procure money, a writ was issued for the discovering of black money, and other subterraneous treasure hidden of old in the county of Southampton, in whosesoever hands it might lie, and to seize it to the King's use. He afterwards claimed black money to the amount of 150 pounds of full weight, which had been found in that county, as belonging to him in right of bis crown. "
As early as 1331 an ordinance was passed " that all manner of black money which had been commonly current in the King's realm, should be utterly excluded."
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)