定義

• A large gold coin of the value of twenty Shillings, first issued by Henry VII of England in 1489. Being twice the weight and value of the Rose Noble it was frequently called the Double Ryal. This beautiful coin contained only one half grain of alloy, and weighed two hundred and forty grains. On the obverse was a representation of the King on a throne and on the reverse a rose charged with the English shield.

  In 1526 Henry VIII advanced the value to twenty-two Shillings, but in 1543 the old value was restored, and the fineness debased to twenty-three carats. In 1545 the metal was still further debased to 20 carats, the lowest state of degradation which it has ever reached in England.

  The fourth coinage of the reign of Edward VI issued by virtue of an indenture of the year 1552, presents a new type with a half length figure of the King crowned and in armor, holding a sword and orb.

  Mary raised the value of this coin to thirty Shillings and the Sovereign of 1553 is the first English coin bearing a date. In 1561 the value was again reduced to twenty Shillings and the fineness made twenty-two carats, and finally, in the first coinage of James I, there is a Pound Sovereign, valued at thirty Shillings ; with the second coinage the Sovereign ceases and the Unite (q.v.) takes its place.

資源

• Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)

人际关系