Solidus Gallicus, &c.
—Will any of your correspondents kindly construe for me the following sentences?
"Valebat siclus sanctuarii tetradrachma Atticum: quod Budaeus estimat 14 solidis Gallicis, aut circiter: nam didrachma septim facit solidos, sicuti drachma simplex duos, et sesquialterum, minus denario turonico."
What was the value of "solidus Gallicus," or French sol, or sous; for this I presume to be its meaning in 1573, the date of the passage? And what was the value of the "denier Tournois," if that be the meaning of "denarium Turonicum?"
References are useless, for I have no access to libraries.
C. W. B.
[A numismatic friend, to whom we referred this Query, writes, "If it were not for the context, 'nam didrachma septim facit solidos,' I should suppose the 14 to be a misprint for 4. Where could this passage be taken from? The shekel was worth a tetradrachm. The French 'sol' was the twentieth part of a pound. The 'denier Tournois' was a penny. The whole passage, after the first line (which is plain enough), is to me unintelligible.">[
Sept.
—What is the etymology, and what the correct use, of this Anglo-Irish word?
A. N.