“Most of them,” said Robert.
Wyn said: “Please put sixty pennies in a tray—it doesn’t matter which one.” As Robert did so, Wyn selected some small weights from a box. They were disc-shaped and looked, to Edgar, as if they were made of lead. “Sixty pence should weight exactly three ounces,” Wyn said. He placed three weights in the opposite tray. The tray immediately sank to the bench. Edgar gasped, shocked. Wyn said to Robert: “Your pennies are light.”
“What does that mean?” said Robert.
Edgar knew the answer, but he remained silent while Wyn explained.
“Most silver coins contain some copper to make the disk more hard-wearing,” Wyn said. “English pennies have nineteen parts of silver to one part of copper. Just a moment.” He removed an ounce weight from the tray and began to replace it with smaller ones. “Copper is lighter than silver.” When the two sides balanced he said: “Your pennies contain about ten parts of copper to ten of silver. The difference is so small as to be imperceptible in normal use. But these are forgeries.”
Edgar nodded. That was the solution to the mystery: Wynstan was a forger. And furthermore, Edgar now realized, gambling wasa way of changing bad coins for good. If Wynstan won at dice, he gained genuine silver pennies, but if he lost, he only sacrificed forgeries. Over the long run he was sure to come out ahead.
Robert’s face was flushed with anger. “I don’t believe you,” he said.
“I’ll prove it. Does anyone have a good penny?”
Edgar had Dreng’s money. He gave Robert a penny. Robert drew his belt knife and scratched the coin on the side with the head of Ethelred. The scratch was hardly visible.
Wyn said: “That coin is the same all the way through. No matter how deep you go, the color showing will be silver. Now scratch one of your own.”
Robert gave Edgar his penny back, took a coin of his own from the tray, and repeated the exercise. This time the scratch mark was brown.
Wyn explained: “The mixture of half silver, half copper is brown in color. Forgers make their coins look silver by washing them in vitriol, which removes the copper from the surface; but underneath the metal is still brown.”
Robert said furiously: “Those damned Englishmen were gambling with counterfeit money!”
Aldred said: “Well, one of them was.”
“I shall go and accuse Cynred now!”
“Cynred may not be the guilty one. How many were around the table?”
“Five.”
“Who will you accuse?”
Robert saw the problem. “So the cheat is going to get away with it?”
“Not if I can help it,” Aldred said resolutely. “But if you make a wild accusation now, they will all deny it. Worse, the villain will be forewarned and it will become difficult to bring him to justice.”
“What am I to do with all this false money?”
Aldred was unsympathetic. “You got it gambling, Robert. Have the forgeries melted down and made into a ring to wear to remind you not to gamble. Remember that the Roman soldiers at the Cross threw dice for our Lord’s clothes.”
“I’ll think about that,” Robert said sulkily.
Edgar doubted that Robert would melt down the counterfeit coins. More likely he would spend them in ones and twos so that their weight would not be noticed. But in fact that would suit Aldred’s purpose, Edgar saw. Robert would not tell anyone about the false money if he planned to spend it. So Wynstan would not know that his secret had been revealed.
Aldred turned to Wyn. “May I ask you to keep this to yourself, for the same reason?” he said.
“Very well.”
“I can assure you that I’m determined to bring the culprit to justice.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Wyn. “Good luck.”
Robert said: “Amen.”
Aldred was triumphant, but he soon realized the battle was not yet won. “All the clergy at the minster obviously know about this already,” he said thoughtfully, as Edgar poled the raft upriver. “It could hardly be hidden from them. But they keep quiet, and they’re rewarded for their silence with a life of idleness and luxury.”
