Jacobusn.
/dʒəˈkəʊbəs/ The current (but not official) name of an English gold coin, struck in the reign of James I. Originally issued in 1603, under the name of the Sovereign, and current for 20s. In 1604 there was a second issue known as the Unite, which being 1/ 10 lighter, the value of the Sovereign rose to 22s. In 1612 the current value of the Unite was raised by statute to 22s., and the earlier piece rose to 24s.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > unite or Jacobus
unite1604
Jacobite piece1611
Jacobine1612
Jacobus1612
piece1631
Jacob1662
sceptre1695
sceptre-piece1695
sceptre broad-piece1701
sceptre-unite1853
1612 in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1849) (modernized text) I. 197 The prince having entreated him to provide him £1000, in so many Jacobus pieces.
a1618 W. Raleigh Observ. in Remains (1661) 200 The English Iacobus goeth for three and twenty shillings in Merchandizing.
1678 A. Marvell Let. 15 Jan. in Poems & Lett. (1971) I. 209 The Jacobus's cost twenty three and eight pence a peece.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xiv. 113 In the second purse were 115 Jacobus's.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xv. 585 His salary was..eight thousand Jacobuses, equivalent to ten thousand pounds sterling.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
<
n.1612