MAUNDY MONEY

This curious service dates originates from the story of Christ washing his disciples' feet on the day before Good Friday. The commandment to love one another is in the Bible (John XIII 34), and the Latin for commandment is mandatum.

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c.1274: Edward I is the first monarch to be recorded giving gifts to the poor and washing their feet.

c. 1399: Henry IV begins the practice of relating the number of recipients of gifts to the sovereign's age, and as it became the custom of the sovereign to perform the ceremony, the event became known as the Royal Maundy.

1662: Charles II becomes the first monarch to mint special Maundy money.

1698: William III stops taking a direct part in the service.

1736: The washing of feet is discontinued in the reign of George II.

c. 1830s: Allowances are substituted for the various gifts of food and clothing.

1920: The special Maundy money, like the rest of the 'silver' coinage, is debased to 50% silver.

1946: When normal 'silver coinage is debased to cupro-nickel, Maundy money is restored to its original 92.5% silver content.

1953: At her second ceremony, the Queen issues the first coins bearing her image. Unlike other coins, her image on Maundy money is never subsequently updated.

1971: Decimalization effects a 2.4% rise in the Maundy coins' value.

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Today's recipients of Royal Maundy, as many elderly men and women as there are years in the sovereign's age on her birthday that year, are chosen because of the Christian service they have given to the Church and community, usually from the local area around the chosen venue. For example, in the year of Queen Elizabeth II's 80^th birthday there were 160 recipients. At the ceremony, which takes place annually on Maundy Thursday, the sovereign hands to each recipient two small leather string purses. The red purse, contains - in ordinary coinage - money (currently £5.50) in lieu of food and clothing, whilst the white purse contains silver Maundy (4p, 3p, 2p and 1p) coins consisting of the same number of pence as the years of the sovereign's age. These latter coins are legal tender, though are worth much more than their face value.