Notes and Queries, Number 26, April 27, 1850 | Page 4

of

King H. I. and H. II., though possibly in ancienter times the species
whereof the coin was made might be pure gold or silver; and this allay
was that which gave the denomination of Sterling to that coin, _viz._
Sterling Gold, or Sterling Silver. Wherein there will be inquirable,
"1. Whence that denomination came?
"2. How ancient that denomination was?
"3. What was the allay that gave silver that denomination?
"For the former of these there are various conjectures, and nothing of
certainty.
"Spelman supposeth it to take that denomination from the Esterlings,
who, as he supposeth, came over and reformed our coin to that allay.
Of this opinion was _Camden. A Germanis, quos Angli_ Esterlings,
_aborientali situ, vocarunt, facta est appellatio; quos_ Johannes _Rex,
ad argentum in suam puritatem redigendam, primus evocavit; et ejus
modi nummi_ Esterlingi, in antiquis scripturis semper reperiuntur.
Some suppose that it might be taken up from the _Starre Judæorum_,
who, being the great brokers for money, accepted and allowed money
of that allay for current payment of their stars or obligations; others
from the impression of a starling, or an asterisk upon the coin. _Pur ceo
que le form d'un Stare, dont le diminutive est Sterling, fuit impressit on
stamp sur ceo. Auters pur ceo que le primer de cest Standard fuit coyn
en le Castle de Sterlin in_ Scotland pur le Roy Edw. I. And possibly as
the proper name of the fourth part of a Peny was called a Farthing,
ordinarily a Ferling; so in truth the proper name of a Peny in those
times was called a Sterling, without any other reason of it than the use
of the times and arbitrary imposition, as other names usually grow. For
the old Act of 51 H. III., called _Compositio Mensurarum_, tells us that
_Denarius Anglice Sterlingus dicitur_; and because this was the root of
the measure, especially of Silver Coin, therefore all our Coin of the
same allay was also called Sterling, as five Shillings Sterling, five
Pounds Sterling.
"When this name of Sterling came first in is uncertain, only we are
certain it was a denomination in use in the time of H. III. or Ed. I. and
after ages. But it was not in use at the time of the compiling of {412}
Doomsday, for if it were we should have found it there where there is
so great occasion of mention of Firmes, Rents, and Payments.
Hovended in _Rich. I fol. 377. b._ Nummus a Numa, que fuit le primer

Roy que fesoit moneies en Rome. _Issint Sterlings, alias Esterlings,
queux primes fesoient le money de cest Standard en_
Engleterre."--_Sheriffs' Accompts_, p. 5-9.
So much for the derivation of _Sterling_, which evidently applied
originally to the metal rather than to a coin. May I be allowed to hazard
a suggestion as to the origin of _peny_, its synonym? They were each
equivalent to the Denarius.
"_Denarius Angliæ, qui nominatur Sterlingus, rotundus sine tonsura,
ponderabit 32 grana in medio spicæ. Sterlingus et Denarius sont tout un.
Le Shilling consistoit de 12 sterlings. Le substance de cest denier ou
sterling peny al primes fuit vicessima pars unicæ._"--_Indentures of the
Mint_, Ed. I and VI.
May we not derive it from Denarius by means of either a typographical
or clerical error in the initial letter. This would at once give a new
name--the very thing they were in want of--and we may very easily
understand its being shortened into Penny.
G. Milford, April 15.
* * * * *
HANNO'S PERIPLUS.
"Mr. Hampson" has served the cause of truth in defending Hanno and
the Carthaginians from the charge of cruelty, brought against them by
Mr. Attorney-General Bannister. A very slender investigation of the
bearings of the narration would have prevented it. I know not how Dr.
Falconer deals with it, not having his little volume at hand; but in so
common a book as the _History of Maritime Discovery_, which forms
part of Lardner's _Cabinet Cyclopædia_, it is stated that these
_Gorillæ_ were probably some species of _ourang-outang_. Purchas
says they might be the baboons or Pongos of those parts.
The amusing, and always interesting, Italian, Hakluyt, in the middle of
the sixteenth century, gives a very good version of the [Greek:
ANNONOS PERIPLOUS], with a preliminary discourse, which would
also have undeceived Mr. Bannister, had he been acquainted with it,
and prevented Mr. Hampson's pleasant exposure of his error.
Ramusio says, "Seeing that in the Voyage of Hanno there are many
parts worthy of considerate attention, I have judged that it would be
highly gratifying to the studious if I were here to write down a few
extracts from certain memoranda which I formerly noted on hearing a

respectable Portugese pilot, in frequent conversations with the Count
Raimondo della Torre, at Venice, illustrate