MITRE is used by the writers of the Irish history
for a sort of bare money, which was very common
there about the year 1270, and for 30 years before and
as many after.
There were besides the mitre several other pieces,
called, according to the figures impressed upon them,
roaries, lionades, eagles, and by the like names. They
were imported from France and other countries, and
were so much below the proper currency of the king-
dom, that they were not worth so much as a halfpenny
each. They were at length decreed in the year 1300,
and good coins struck in their place. These were the
first Irish coins in which the sceptre was left out. They
were struck in the reign of Edward, the son of our
Henry III. and are still found among the other anti-
quities of that country. They have the king's head
in a triangle full faced. The penny, when well pre-
served, weighs 22 grains; the halfpenny 10½ grains.