The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 15, April 13, 2003, Article 9

QUIZ ANSWER: JONATHAN SWIFT AND NUMISMATICS

   Martin Purdy of New Zealand was quick with a response to
  last week's quiz question regarding Irish author Jonathan Swift's
  connection to U.S. coinage.  He writes: 'Off the top of my head,
  he objected to William Wood's planned coinage for Ireland,
  which subsequently found its way to the "Colonies" instead.  (I
  refuse to cheat by going to the bookshelf to look it up, so if
  the facts aren't quite right ...)'

  Carl Honore writes: "Jonathan Swift's influence on our hobby
  goes back to the colonial Era. His "Drapier letter" was instrumental
  in getting the William Wood coinage (Rosa Americana) minted
  and circulated in this country as it had been refused in his own
  country of Ireland."

  Tom DeLorey adds: "You mean besides 'Yahoo,' wherein
  many and diverse coins are sold?"

  [The term "Yahoo" was coined in Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"
  Last year, in the v5n12 issue of The E-Sylum (March 17, 2002),
  our Featured Web site mentioned Jonathan Swift's connection
  to numismatic history:
  http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/writings.htm

  "In 1725 the English Government had proposed to impose a
  debased copper coinage on Ireland; certain individuals
  including Mr. Wood, the manufacturer of the coins, stood to
  make a large profit.  There was an immediate outcry against
  the proposal but repeated representations from politicians and
  public figures in Ireland proved of no avail.   Swift entered the
  controversy with a series of letters written under the name of
  J.B. Drapier. With a mixture of scorn, satire and economic
  sense, the Drapier poured ridicule on the proposed coinage."

  Swift's "Drapier's Letters" have been published on several
  occasions.  I have a copy in the U.S. colonial section of my
  library.   -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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