Ceiniog

Last updated

The ceiniog (Latin : denarius; English: penny; plural: ceiniogau) was the basic currency of the medieval Welsh kingdoms such as Gwynedd and Deheubarth. Hywel Dda was the only ruler recorded as minting his own proper coins; however, the ceiniog was not a coin but a value of silver. The "legal penny" (Latin : denarius legalis; Welsh : ceiniog cyfreith) was the weight of 32 wheat grains in silver; the "curt penny" (Welsh : ceiniog cwta), the weight of 24 wheat grains. The latter was based on the old Roman pound; the former, Charlemagne's and Offa's. [1] The Welsh half-penny was the dymey of 12 wheat grains (roughly ⅓ the "legal penny") [2] and the farthing (quarter-penny) was the firdlyc of 6. [3]

Since the value in ceiniogau of most common goods and animals were regulated by the Laws of Hywel Dda, the system also simplified barter in Wales.

Related Research Articles

<i>Denarius</i> Ancient Roman coin

The denarius was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War c. 211 BC to the reign of Gordian III, when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very small quantities, likely for ceremonial purposes, until and through the Tetrarchy (293–313).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coins of the pound sterling</span> British current and historic coinage

The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories is denominated in pennies and pounds sterling, and ranges in value from one penny sterling to two pounds. Since decimalisation, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 (new) pence. Before decimalisation, twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hywel Dda</span> 10th-century Welsh king

Hywel ap Cadell, commonly known as Hywel Dda, which translates to Howel the Good in English, was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth and eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubarth, and proceeded to gain control over the entire country from Prestatyn to Pembroke. As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr through his father Cadell, Hywel was a member of the Dinefwr branch of the dynasty. He was recorded as King of the Britons in the Annales Cambriæ and the Annals of Ulster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny</span> Unit of currency in various countries

A penny is a coin or a unit of currency in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius, it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is the formal name of the British penny (abbr. p) and the de facto name of the American one-cent coin (abbr. ¢) as well as the informal Irish designation of the 1 cent euro coin (abbr. c). Due to inflation, pennies have lost virtually all their purchasing power and are often viewed as an expensive burden to merchants, banks, government mints and the public in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troy weight</span> System of units of mass

Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century Kingdom of England and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight, the troy ounce, and the troy pound. The troy grain is equal to the grain unit of the avoirdupois system, but the troy ounce is heavier than the avoirdupois ounce, and the troy pound is lighter than the avoirdupois pound. One troy ounce equals exactly 31.1034768 grams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny (English coin)</span> Coin introduced in England c. 785

The English penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 grams pure silver, was introduced c. 785 by King Offa of Mercia. These coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had preceded it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennyweight</span> Unit of mass

A pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass equal to 24 grains, 120 of a troy ounce, 1240 of a troy pound, approximately 0.054857 avoirdupois ounce and exactly 1.55517384 grams. It is abbreviated dwt, d standing for denarius –, and later used as the symbol of an old British penny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deheubarth</span> Term for the medieval realms of southern Wales

Deheubarth was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd. It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of Dinefwr, but that Deheubarth itself was not considered a proper kingdom on the model of Gwynedd, Powys, or Dyfed is shown by its rendering in Latin as dextralis pars or as Britonnes dexterales and not as a named land. In the oldest British writers, Deheubarth was used for all of modern Wales to distinguish it from Hen Ogledd, the northern lands whence Cunedda originated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solidus (coin)</span> Late Roman Empire gold coin

The solidus or nomisma was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. The early 4th century saw the solidus introduced in mintage as a successor to the aureus, which was permanently replaced thereafter by the new coin, whose weight of about 4.5 grams remained relatively constant for seven centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">£sd</span> Pre-decimal currencies

£sd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence", is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe. The abbreviation originates from the Latin currency denominations librae, solidi, and denarii. In the United Kingdom, these were referred to as pounds, shillings, and pence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pfennig</span> 9th century – 2002 German coin or note

The pfennig ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, it lost its value through the years and was the minor coin of the Mark currencies in the German Reich, West Germany and East Germany, and the reunified Germany until the introduction of the euro. Pfennig was also the name of the subunit of the Danzig mark (1922–1923) and the Danzig gulden (1923–1939) in the Free City of Danzig.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitland</span> Town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales

Whitland is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groschen</span> Name of various coins, often in Central Europe

Groschen is the name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in parts of Europe such as France, some of the Italian states, England, various states of the Holy Roman Empire, among others. The word is borrowed from the late Latin description of a tornose, a grossus denarius Turnosus, in English the "thick denarius of Tours". Groschen was frequently abbreviated in old documents to gl, whereby the second letter was not an l, but an abbreviation symbol; later it was written as Gr or g.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carucate</span> Medieval land unit from England and Scotland

The carucate or carrucate was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment.

<i>Cyfraith Hywel</i> Codification of Welsh laws from the time of King Hywel Dda

Cyfraith Hywel, also known as Welsh law, was the system of law practised in medieval Wales before its final conquest by England. Subsequently, the Welsh law's criminal codes were superseded by the Statute of Rhuddlan in AD 1284 and its civil codes by Henry VIII's series of Laws in Wales Acts between 1535 and 1542.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver coin</span> Form of coinage

Silver coins are one of the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 BC. Before 1797, British pennies were made of silver.

Welsh units of measurement are those in use in Wales between the Sub-Roman period and the 13th-century Edwardian conquest. Modern Wales no longer employs these units even for customary purposes but instead follows the custom as elsewhere in Britain of using a mixture of metric and Imperial units.

Unbennaeth or Unbeinyaeth Prydein was an Old Welsh composition that served as a kind of national anthem in Wales in the Early Middle Ages. The bards of the royal courts of Aberffraw, Dinefwr, Mathrafal, and Caerleon were required by law to follow the army and recite the song before and after every battle. For this service, he received the next-best beast from the spoils after the king's and was valued at 126 cows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolingian monetary system</span> Currency structure (Charlemagne, 8th C)

The Carolingian monetary system, also called the Carolingian coinage system or just the Carolingian system, was a currency structure introduced by Charlemagne in the late 8th century as part of a major reform, the effects of which subsequently dominated much of Europe, including Britain, for centuries. It is characterised by having three denominations with values in the ratio 1:20:240, the units of which went under different names in the different languages, but which corresponded to the Latin terms libra (pound), solidus (shilling) and denarius (penny), respectively.

The Carolingian pound, also called Charlemagne's pound or the Charlemagne pound, was a unit of weight that emerged during the reign of Charlemagne. It served both as a trading weight and a coinage weight. It had a mass of about 408 g and was introduced in as part of Charlemagne's monetary reform around AD 793/94. This stipulated that 240 denarii were to be minted from one pound weight of silver.

References

  1. Wade-Evans, Arthur. Welsh Medieval Laws . Oxford Univ., 1909. Accessed 31 Jan 2013.
  2. Lewis, Timothy. A glossary of mediaeval Welsh law, based upon the Black book of Chirk . Univ. Press (Manchester), 1913.
  3. Lewis, p. 150.