Bronze Purse-Frames from Oxford: 15th century

Before copper coinage and small change became more common from the 17th century, only the well-to-do would have required a purse: in Medieval England a silver penny amounted to a day’s wages and would soon have been spent on the family’s provisions by the average labourer.

Medieval manuscript illustrations show us that men more often than women used the purses of fancy cloth, that would have been attached to such a purse-frame by sewing the shirred-up opening of the bag-like purse over the two bars. The loop slipped over the belt or girdle and the purse was not detached during wear.