gun money
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Base money issued in Ireland by James II, made from old brass cannon, with a small admixture of silver.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “gun money” mean?
Base money issued in Ireland by James II, made from old brass cannon, with a small admixture of silver.
Is “gun money” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.