[33]. Etudes sur la condition de la classe agricole en Normandie au moyen age (Leopold V. Delisle, 1851).
[34]. The difficulty in representing the sound á, ah, in English letters led to a general substitution of aw. Hence ‘cawny, maund, ghaut (steep), pawni (water), cawn (khan),’ &c.; all these words having an a, or ah, vowel. The Anglo-Indian also says seer for sér.
CHAPTER XIII
MEASURES OF VALUE
1. English Money
In all times money has been the weight of a certain amount of copper, silver or gold, in the form of coins the fineness of which is guaranteed by the stamp of the State. The weight of coins used in payments may change in course of time, but the nominal unit of weights often continues, the pound, or livre, or marc, &c. Thus, the original Roman unit, the As, or mint-pound of copper or bronze, reduced gradually to 1/24 of its primitive weight, persisted as a money of account long after it had been replaced in the currency by the silver Denarius. This was originally coined at a time when it represented the value of 10 As; hence its name deni-aris, ten of copper.
The French livre, or livre d’estelins, reduced gradually to a coin about 1/74 of a 12-oz. livre, retains its name as a synonym of the franc.
The English pound of silver, once a Tower pound = 5400 grains, reduced long ago to 1745 grains, in 20 shillings, persists as a money of account, though the silver is superseded in payments over 40 shillings by a gold coin weighing 123-1/4 grains. Prices over 40s. are still often stated in shillings.
The Roman denarius originally weighed 60 grains, afterwards reduced to 52-1/2 grains. A golden denarius was also coined, which afterwards became the Arabic dinar.