Alexander Dyce, A General Glossary to Shakespeare's Works

cross “if I did bear you—Yet I should bear no,” AS YOU LIKE IT, ii. 4. 10 ; “crosses love not him,” LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, i. 2. 33 ; “you are too impatient to bear crosses,” 2 HENRY IV., i. 2. 213. “The ancient penny, according to Stow, had a double cross with a crest stamped on it, so that it might easily be broken in the midst, or in the four quarters. Hence it became a common phrase when a person had no money about him, to say, he had not a single cross. As this was certainly an unfortunate circumstance, there is no end to the quibbling upon this poor word.” Gifford's note on Jonson's Works, vol. i. p. 134.