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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Maundy money
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Specially minted silver coins given by the sovereign to a selected number of poor people on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter). It is a survival of a medieval church ritual commemorating the Last Supper and the washing by Jesus of the disciples' feet; the name derives from the Latin mandatum, which was the first word of the foot-washing ceremony. The coins are minted in the values of 1, 2, 3 and 4 pence and nowadays the ceremony exactly reflects the sovereign's age. So for example in 2000, when Elizabeth II was in her 74th year, 74 men and 74 women each received coins amounting in face value to 74 pence.
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