he considered his royal
prerogative, and intimated to Sir Thomas Temple that they must be
punished, and the business stopped. Sir Thomas was considerable of a
wag, and showed the king one of honest John Hull's shillings, on the
reverse of which was the pine tree. The king asked him what sort of a
tree that was. Upon which Sir Thomas replied that, of course, it was the
royal oak, which had saved his majesty's life. The king smiled at the
courtier's wit; but it is not reported that he allowed Hull to continue
the coinage.

The proverbial misfortunes of Ireland have attended even her coinage,
and her troubles in that direction commenced as early as the reign of
Henry VII. He coined sixpences for Ireland worth only fourpence in
England. Mary issued base shillings and groats for Ireland, and
Elizabeth issued still baser ones, while she purified the coinage of
England. James I. struck copper farthings of two sizes, that if they
failed in England, they might be used in Ireland for pence and
halfpence. Charles I. established a mint in Dublin, but, in the
confusion attendant upon his death, the Irish lost it. Cromwell gave
them tokens in place of coins of the realm; and James II. base silver
money, made principally from brass cannon, and even this alloyed stuff
was gradually diminished in size. White metal followed, then lead, and
finally tin. George I. granted a patent to William Wood in 1737 for
coining pence and halfpence for Ireland, but he coined them of smaller
size than was stipulated in the patent. Dean Swift, with his merciless
satire, drove them out of Ireland, and his majesty, having no use for
them in England, sent them to his American colonies. Circulating media
were scarce here at that time, and anything in the shape of coins was
welcome. George II. did better for Ireland, and gave her honest coins.
In 1760 the famous _voce populi_ halfpenny appeared, a company of
gentlemen in Dublin having obtained permission to issue them. There was
a bit of quiet revenge in this halfpenny. The head of the sovereign,
though apparently done in the usual manner of the king's portrait, was
in reality a portrait of the Pretender. The coins attained a
considerable circulation before the trick was discovered, and then they
were suppressed.

Coins have figured in sermons. Bishop Latimer, on the 8th of March,
1549, delivered the following sarcastic sermon. On a previous occasion
he had spoken jestingly of the new currency of Edward VI.