Merchants unknowingly accepted underweight coins. Governments lost precious metal. Honest citizens paid the price through weakened currency.
As more clipped coins entered circulation, trust began to erode. Merchants became suspicious. Some refused coins altogether.
Others weighed or inspected them, slowing commerce. In extreme cases, entire regions experienced monetary instability as people lost confidence in the value of their money.
This was not merely theft—it was a form of economic sabotage.
By the late 17th century, England faced a severe currency crisis. Coin clipping had become so widespread that much of the nation’s silver coinage was significantly underweight. The economy suffered, trade slowed, and public trust in money weakened.
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