Date: 1760-7
"Honours, like impressions upon coin, may give an ideal and local value to a bit of base metal; but Gold and Silver will pass all the world over without any other recommendation than their own weight."
preview | full record— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)
Date: 1785-7, 1791, 1792
"Yet are there some who think (but what a shame!) / Poor people's souls like pence of Birmingham, / Adulterated brass--base stuff--abhorr'd-- / That never can pass current with the Lord; / And think because of wealth they boast a store, / With ev'ry freedom they may treat the poor."
preview | full record— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)