Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Merrey, Walter
MERRY, WALTER (1723–1799), numismatist, of Castle Gate, Nottingham, combined great knowledge of coins and medals with the practical experience of a manufacturer. Impressed with the evils which the scarcity of silver and the circulation of a base copper coinage brought upon the working classes, he signed an association with a number of masters not to offer any man more than 6d. worth of copper. In 1789 he published ‘Remarks on the Coinage of England, from the Earliest to the Present Times … to which is added an Appendix containing Observations upon the Ancient Roman Coinage, and a Description of some Medals and Coins found near Nottingham,’ Nottingham, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1794. In this work he attributes the scarcity of silver to the over-valuation of gold, in consequence of which, he alleges, silver was exported. He proposes, therefore, the reduction of the guinea to 20s. 6d. To illustrate his doctrines he gives an exhaustive sketch of the history of English coinage, in which he shows a wide acquaintance with the works of early writers on currency.
Merrey had a large and valuable collection of coins and medals. He died at Nottingham on 9 Aug. 1799.
[Gent. Mag. 1789 pt. ii. p. 728, 1799 pt. ii. p. 815; Monthly Review, 1791, iv. 234; Bailey's Annals of Nottinghamshire, iv. 175.]