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What English coinage plan did Jonathan Swift attack in the Drapierâs Letters?
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Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift, detail of an oil painting by Charles Jervas, c. 1718; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In The Drapierâs Letters (1724â25), Jonathan Swift attacked a monopoly granted to the English ironmaster William Wood to mint a debased Irish coinage, which was derisively known as "Woodâs halfpence."12
Swiftâs campaign was successful, and the patent was revoked in 1725.2