A retrospective view of the difficulties & embarassments occasion'd by the Coin Act, or Britania and her children in distress (BM 1868,0808.10050)

Lord North sits complacently at a table weighing guineas in a pair of scales. Before him on the table are a bag of guineas and a pair of shears. Behind him, among clouds, stands Justice (r.), blindfolded, holding up her scales and threatening him with her sword. At the table sit three men, owners of the coin, watching North with gestures of horror. At a side-table (l.) another man weighs guineas, holding a pair of shears to deface those which are defective. A countryman, hat in hand, protests in alarm; a mastiff snarls at him. A doctor (l.) threatens a patient with a raised syringe. A judge (r.) fights with a man on the ground, whom he is about to strike with a rolled document. In the foreground Britannia reclines, clasping her hands in despair; three ragged children weep beside her. 1 September 1773
Etching