This custom
appears to have continued to a late date. Thus, if O'Keeffe the
dramatist may be believed, there was in the centre of Limerick Exchange
a pillar with a circular plate of copper, about three feet in diameter,
called "the nail," on which the earnest of all Stock Exchange bargains
had to be paid. At Bristol there are said to have been four pillars
called "the nails" in front of the Exchange, the purpose being the same;
and similarly, at Liverpool, bargains were completed on a plate of
copper, also called "the nail," and standing in front of the Exchange.
It is probable, however, as Mr. Gordon observes, that, the phrase
"payment on the nail" did not originate from circumstances like these,
but was an adaptation of the Latin _super unguem_ or the French _sur
l'ongle_, by which is meant "paying down into a man's hand." It might
thus stand for a bargain the opposite of that of which God's Penny was
the usual symbol. It appears to have been the custom at Ipswich in 1291
for traders not to make writings or tallies if two witnesses were in
attendance to prove that the undertaking was to pay on a near day _ou
freschement sur le ungle_. The notion of immediate payment is still
conveyed by the expression, and would cover the entire amount, not
merely God's Penny. However, that payment was undoubtedly made "on the
nail;" hence some confusion may have arisen, especially where plates and
pillars were provided for the deposit of earnest money.
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