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."

— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)

Date: 1790

"Yet what infuses his mind unstain'd and pure? / Nurtur'd in venal, sycophantic schools-- / Eras'd each sterling virtue of the soul-- / Debas'd--new coin'd in flattery's servile mint, / He may become a pander to a prince."

— Warren, Mercy Otis (1728-1814)

Date: 1796

"In London much false Wit is sold, / As Sheffield coin is pass'd for gold!"

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

Date: 1797

"To come a little closer to the point, we strongly suspect the fancy's coinage in this affair, and that he is, bona fide, the offspring of a Bristol brain, instead of a province of Persia."

— Anonymous

Date: 1805

"Your Worth and Talents will unfold, / Richer than Needlework of Gold; / The native treasures of the soul, / True--as the Needle to the Pole."

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)