Chapter 29
I. ii. 189-192. An angel was a gold coin, worth
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upwards of six shillings, which took its name from its device, the archangel Michael. Falstaff i3 here punning on the word, and in the phrases cannot go and cannot tell, he is perhaps using terms which re¬ fer to the circulation of money, meaning ‘I cannot pass current. I cannot count as good coin.’
