Meaning & Analysis
The proverb describes the act of reducing the value of a noble—a gold coin worth approximately six shillings—to only ninepence, signifying a dramatic loss of wealth or value.
Insights
Financial Ruin
Symbolizes squandering wealth through extravagance, mismanagement, or irresponsibility. The descent from noble to ninepence mirrors a fall from prosperity to poverty.
Decline of Fortune
Evokes the broader idea of a sharp decline in status, power, or reputation—whether personal, social, or economic—through one's own folly or bad luck.
Wastefulness and Folly
The phrase critiques excessive or foolish behavior, especially in spending, implying a cautionary tale about the consequences of living beyond one's means.
Economic Commentary
This proverb reflects anxieties of early modern England regarding credit, debt, and the volatility of fortune. It illustrates how wealth could evaporate quickly in a world without financial safety nets.
Moral Judgment on Improvidence
Used across centuries as a moral judgment on poor stewardship or intemperate living, the phrase functions as a rhetorical tool for reinforcing values of thrift, discipline, and responsibility.
Domestic Gender Dynamics
Later uses, such as Howell’s 1660 observation, target women as spendthrifts, revealing gendered assumptions about economic roles within marriage and the projection of financial blame in patriarchal contexts.
Rhetorical Devices
Hyperbole
Exaggerates the loss—from a noble to ninepence—to emphasize dramatic financial decline, making the warning vivid and memorable.
Metonymy
Uses the names of coins—'noble' and 'ninepence'—as stand-ins for broader economic conditions, social class, or personal fortune, simplifying complex transformations into tangible images.
Alliteration
The repetition of 'n' sounds in 'noble' and 'ninepence' gives the phrase rhythm and catchiness, aiding oral transmission and mnemonic appeal.
Transcription
Quotations
He maketh his martes with marchantes likely, To bryng a shillyng to nyne pence quickly.
Has The Marchant a shillinge so sone to nine pence brought?
Tomtos-pot . . Hath increased a Noble iust unto nine pence.
He ouercome with debts, hath brought a noble to ninepence, and hath made a spindle of a speare.
(Hee hath brought).
(to nine pence,—or no pence).
(He hath brought).
Many of you [women] are so lavish that you make the poor husband oftentimes to turn a noble to nine-pence.
(To decline, and waste in ones state by ill husbandry, to bring).
I shou'd soon bring a Noble to Ninepence then, as they say.
(to ninepence, and ninepence to nothing).
I have e'en brought a Noble to Nine-pence.
(You'll bring).
Cross References
Annotations
- about six shillings
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.