NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE
JOHN YONGE AKERMAN, F.S.A.,
SECRETARY TO THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY,
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OP ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND,
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY OP NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNB,
AND OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF FRANCE.
VOL. IV.
APRIL, 1841 JANUARY, 1842.
Factual abiit monumenta manent. Ov. Fast.
LONDON :
TAYLOR & WALTON, 28, UPPER GOWER STREET.
SOLD ALSO BY M. ROLLIN, BUK VIVIENNE, No. 10, PARIS.
M.D.CCC.XLI.
LONDON :
PRINTED BY J. WEKTHEIMBR AND CO.
tMKCUS PLACE, P1NSBURV CIRCUS.
TO
THE LORD ALBERT CONYNGHAM, K.C.H., F.S.A.,
ETC., ETC., ETC.,
AN ADMIRER AND COLLECTOR OF
BRITISH, SAXON, AND ENGLISH COINS,
AND
A ZEALOUS PROMOTER OF NUMISMATIC SCIENCE,
THIS,
OUR FOURTH VOLUME,
IS
MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
CONTENTS.
Unedited Autonomous and Imperial Greek Coins. By
H. P. Borrell, Esq. 1
Unedited Coin of Demetrius the Second. By Samuel
Birch, Esq. ........ 11
Unedited Coins of the Lower Empire. By H. P. Borrell,
Esq 15
Arrangement of Mercian Pennies, bearing the Inscription,
" Ceolwulf," or " Ciolwulf Rex." By F. D. 23
Legends on British Coins. TASCIORICON SEGO. CAMVL,
&c. By Daniel Henry Haigh, Esq. 27
Rude Coins discovered in England. By J. Y. Akerman,
F.S.A. 30
Remarks on the Numismatic History of East Anglia
during the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. By D. H.
Haigh, Esq. 34
On the Irish Coins of Edward IV. By Aquilla Smith,
M.D., M.R.I.A. 41
Coins of Romanus I. and II. By D. H. Haigh, Esq. 54
Remarks on a Paper entitled " Memoir on the Roettiers."
By B. Nightingale, Esq. 56
Remarks on Early Scottish Coins, and on the Arrange-
ment of those bearing the Name of Alexander. By
D. H. Haigh, Esq. ....... 67
Remarks on the Coins of Ephesus, struck during the
Dominion of the Romans. By J. Y. Akerman, F.S.A. 73
On the Gold Triens inscribed " Dorovernis Civitas." By
Daniel H. Haigh, Esq. 120
VI CONTENTS.
PAGE
List of Unedited Greek Coins, with Notes and Illustra-
tions, By Samuel Birch, Esq. 127
On a Supposed Penny of Stephen. By F. D. 146
On the Roman Coins discovered in the Bed of the Thames,
near London Bridge, from 1834 to 1841. By C. R.
Smith, F.S. A. . - 147,187
Note on the Change of Position in the Legend of the
Dollar of 1567, of John George II., Elector of Saxony.
By Walter Hawkins, Esq. ..... 169
Groats of Henry VII. with the Open Crown. By R. Saint-
hill, Esq. '.170
Further Remarks on the Numismatic History of East
Anglia, during the Ninth Century. By Daniel H.
Haigh, Esq. 195
On the Pennies of Henry III. with the Short Cross. By
Daniel H. Haigh, Esq. . . . . 201
The Irish Coins of Edward IV. By R. Sainthill, Esq. 205
Irish Base Groats. By Edward Hoare, Esq. 208
Notices of Thomas Simon. By B. Nightingale, Esq. 211
Remarkable Gold Coin of Offa. By A. de Longperier 232
MISCELLANEA.
The New Penny Pieces for England .... 62
M. de la Saussaye's Work on Gaulish Coins ... 63
Mr. Hawkins' Work on the English Silver Coinage ib.
M. de la Saussaye on the Autonomous Coins of Spain ib.
The Revue Numismatique for Nov. and Dec. - ib.
Discovery of Coins at Ipswich ... . ib.
Roman Coins at Knapwell in Cambridgeshire 64
CONTENTS. Vll
PAGE
Medal of Mehemet AH ... . . 65
Coins and Antiquities of Afghanistan .... 122
Letter from Thomas Rawlins to John Evelyn 123
Journal for the Study of Numismatics, Heraldry, and Seals 125
Forging Mexican Dollars at Sheffield 175
Letter from Adam Cardonnel to the Earl of Buchan - 179
J. Pinkerton to Dodsley, the publisher 180
Payments for Medallic work, Temp. James I. & Charles I. 181
Signor Carrara on a leaden coin of Theodora 182
Archers and Angels, from a Sermon preached at Paul's
Cross, A.D. 1594 ....... 183
Penny of Edred, struck at Exeter 184
Herr Bergmann, on Austrian Medals ib.
M. Holmboe on the Pennies of Henry II. and Henry III. ib.
The Gun Money " of James II. 235
Tower Mint, 1651, and 1679 . . . . ' M, 237
Letter from Dr. Stukely to Dr. Watson of the Royal
Society 238
An Otho in first Brass '/. 239
The Gallery of Antiquities . 243
Medal of the Pacha of Egypt 244
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.
Report from 19th November, 1840, to February, 1840, p. 1.
From 18th March to 17th June, p. 13. Report read at General
Anniversary Meeting, 17th June, 1841, p. 21. Report from
18th November to 23d December, p. 33.
Correspondence ' , 126, 185
ERRATUM: .Page 153, line 27, for Menassian read Menapian.
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE;
AND
JOURNAL
OF
THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.
I.
UNEDITED AUTONOMOUS AND IMPERIAL
GREEK COINS.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, 19th November, 1840.]
AEGOSPOTAMUS, CHERS. THRACIA.
No. 1. Female head, wearing earrings and a richly orna-
mented diadem.
R. AirOSIIO. Goat walking, to the left. &2%.(My
cabinet.)
The coins of this city are beautifully executed ; this in
my cabinet is of a much smaller size than those already
published.
AGATHOPOLIS, CHERS. THRACIA.
No. 1. Male juvenile profile, bound with a fillet, to the
. right.
R. ArA within an olive crown. JE 3. (Cabinet of M.
Stefano Garreri, at Smyrna.)
VOL. IV. B
'2 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
No. 2. Same head.
R. AFAO. An owl, standing. JE 2. (My cabinet.)
3. Same head.
R. AFAOO. Same type as last. IE 3. (Cabinet of
M. Stefano Garreri, at Smyrna.)
4. Same head.
R. ArAGO. An owl with two bodies attached to one
head. JE 3. (Same cabinet.)
5. Same head.
R. AFA0. Owl upon a spear head. IE 3. (My cabinet.)
The legend, in abbreviation, on these very singular coins
induces me to assign them to a city of the name of Aga-
thopolis, which I presume must have been situated in, or
near, the Chersonesus of Thrace. It is only mentioned by
Pachymere, lib. v. cap. iv., where he speaks of Michael
Palaeologus refusing to cede to Constantine, king of Bul-
garia, the cities of Mesembria, Anchialus, Sisopolis, and
Agathopolis. I am of opinion that this city must have
derived its name from Agathocles, son of Lysimachus by his
first marriage, and that it is his portrait which is represented
on the obverse of these coins. It is well known that Lysi-
machus changed the name of several cities in honour of
his family. We have Cardia, which adopted the name of
Lysimachia ; Ephesus and others, that of Arsinoe, from his
his wife ; and as Agathocles was the eldest and most valiant
of his sons, it is not improbable that a similar honour was
reserved for him. The fabric and type of these coins, as
well as the localities where they are found, concur in con-
firming my attribution.
ALOPECONESUS, CHERS. THRACIA.
Profile of Bacchus, crowned with ivy, to the right.
R' AAil. Diota, in the field, a symbol of a conic form.
JE 3. (My cabinet.)
UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 3
The only peculiarity of this coin is the cone, which ap-
pears as an adjunct, for the first time : they generally bear
a small figure of a fox, the logograph of the name of the
city. A coin attributed to Alopeconesus by Dumersan
(Description des Medailles du Cabinet de M. Allier de Hau-
teroche, p. 26, tab. iv., fig. 1), belongs to Alea, in Arcadia,
or, according to Millingen, to Alos, in Thessaly : the
legend should read AAE, instead of AAii.
CARDIA, CHERS. THRACIA.
Female head, front face.
R. KAPAIA. Lion, walking to the left, looking back-
ward ; beneath is a wheat-ear. JE 4. (My cabinet.)
The female head is probably that of Ceres. She is always
represented in profile on the published list of the coins of
Cardia.
CHERSONESUS, CHERS. THRACIA.
Female head, front face.
R. X P ^ P . An ear of barley. M\\. (In my cabinet.)
The coins of Chersonesus are extremely rare ; this of
mine is different from the few yet published. The coin
assigned to this city by Sestini (Descr. Num. Vet. p. 97,
No- 1), and Mionnet (Suppl. torn. ii. p. 525, No. 17), is
misplaced. On a fine example in my cabinet, I read dis-
tinctly KEP instead of XEP. It is the same coin, in my
opinion, as that in Mionnet, torn. ii. p. 348, No. 101, under
Cerasus, in Pontus. The coin in question is evidently of
Thracian origin ; the Diota, in shape, perfectly resembles
that on the coins of Cypsela and Philea, two cities of that
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
province, engraved in Cadalvene (pi. 1, figs. 4 and 9). Ses-
tini, in his Classes Generales, presumes Mionnet's coin may
belong to Crithosium or Crithote, in the Chersonesus of
Thrace ; but all the coins I have ever seen of Crithote read
KPI. I am at a loss to assign a place for the coins with
KPE. It must be observed, however, as the letters are
distributed thus they admit of more than one man-
ner of reading. They may be so placed for KPE or KEP.
I can vouch, however, that the first letter is a K.
CRITHOTE, CHERS. THRACIA.
Sestini has attributed to the city of Arisba, in Troas
(Lett, e Diss. Num. Con. torn. ii. p. 71, No. 7), a coin
which belongs to Crithote. He reads API ; the first letters
being imperfect led to the mistake. He classes also another
coin to Arisba (loc. cit. No. 6) equally incorrectly. Cadal-
vene, pi. i. No. 12, restores the former coin to its proper
place, which he was enabled to do from a fine coin once in
my possession, and now in the Bank of England. It stands
described in my catalogue as follows :
Helmeted head of Pallas, to the right.
R. KPI. Grain of barley. & 3J.
Sestini's second coin, No. 6, Cadalvene, pi. i. No. 13, also
assigns to Crithote; and he erroneously quotes my cabinet for
the examples he saw, instead of that of M. de Hauteroche,
having misconstrued a note I gave him on the subject.
That coin, however, belongs to Chersonesus, in the Cherso-
nesus of Thrace, and should read XEP. M. de Haute-
roche's coins were badly preserved. I saw them both at
Paris ; the first letter, which Sestini took for a K, is a X;
UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 5
the E is obliterated, and the third letter is, as described,
a p.
A beautiful coin of Crithote is also published by Sestini,
from M. de Hauteroche's cabinet, which he, as well as
Mionnet, reads KPI9OSIQN ; described as follows :
Laureated head of Apollo, front face.
R. KPIGOSKiN. Grain of barley. The whole within a
wreath of wheat ears. JEi 5. (See Sestini Lett, e Diss.
Num. Con., torn, vi., p. 24 ; Mionnet, Suppt. ii., p.
533, No. 59 ; and Dumersan, loc. cit., p. 27, tab. iv.,
No. 8.)
I merely refer to this coin, as M. de Hauteroche remarks
that both Sestini and Mionnet have omitted a letter in the
legend, and that it should read KPI90Y2K1N; but on
referring to his plate I cannot perceive the Y, nor is it
visible on a very fine specimen I saw and noted at Con-
stantinople, in the collection of a friend.
MADYTUS, CHERS. THRACIA.
No. 1. MAAY. Dog sitting, to the right ; behind is a star.
R. A bull butting ; above, a fish. JE 4. (Formerly in
my cabinet, now in the British Museum.)
2. MAAY. Dog, as last, behind is an ivy-leaf.
R. Bull butting (no symbol). M 3. (My cabinet.)
Millingen, I believe, is the only writer who publishes a
coin of Madytus (Ancient Coins of Greek Cities and Kings,
p. 43, pi. iii. No. 7), from the collection of the Chevalier
Paulin, at Rome. The two above described differ from the
one he cites by the adjuncts of the fish, star, and ivy leaf.
Madytus was the port at which Xerxes disembarked his
army from Asia when invading Greece: the fish upon
No. 1. marks its maritime situation, as the ivy leaf and
6 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
ear of corn alludes to the worship of Bacchus and Ceres.
The dog refers probably to the promontory Cynossema,
from the tomb of Hecuba, who threw herself into the
sea from this spot, and was transformed into a dog.
SELYBRIA, CHERS. THRACIA.
No. 1. 2A (very archaic letters). A cock, walking to the
left.
R. Four indented triangles meeting in the centre, forming
a square, giving the appearance of the sails of a wind-
mill. AR3. 66grs. {My cabinet.) See plate, fig. 1 .
2. Another ; the square on the reverse divided in four equal
square compartments. AR 3. 63 grs. (My cabinet.)
See plate, fig. 2.
3. A (the 2 obliterated). Cock, as the preceding.
R. Indented square, as No. 2. AR 1|. 25| grs. (My
cabinet.) See plate, fig. 3.
4. Head of Hercules, bearded, and covered with the lion's
skin ; to the right. (Very ancient style of workman-
ship.)
R. Cock, to the right, within a granulated square ; the
whole within a flat sunk square. AR 2. 25| grs.
(My cabinet.) See plate, fig. 4.
These coins might be supposed to belong either to
Himera in Sicily, or to Dardanus in Troas ; the cock be-
ing the principal type on the currency of both those cities.
I am, however, satisfied with the correctness of the attri-
bution I propose, from a certain knowledge of their all
having been found at different periods in the ruins of the
ancient Selybria, by an inhabitant of the now modern vil-
lage which occupies the same site, and is still called Sely-
vria. Another coin, found at the same place, is now in the
possession of a friend of mine, resident at Constantinople,
which reads SAAI, and bears the same type of a cock.
UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 7
Pomponius Mela alone writes the name of this city,
which was situated near Perinthos, " Selymbria" whilst all
other ancient geographers write Selybria, from Selys, who,
according to Strabo, founded the city, and Bria, which, in
the Thracian language, signifies " city" It appears, how-
ever, from our coins, that its correct orthography, at the
time they were struck, must have been SALYBRIA. I have
only further to remark, that the coins are of ancient fabric,
and that this is the first time any currency of this city has
been brought into notice.
SESTUS, CHERS. THRACIA.
No. 1. Head of Ceres, crowned with a wreath of wheat-ears,
to the left, and wearing ear-rings.
R. SH. A naked figure of Mercury standing ; the causia
attached and falling behind his head ; he holds the ca-
duceus in his extended right hand ; in front, a diota ;
behind, a grain of barley. M 4. (My cabinet.)
2. Helmeted head of Pallas, to the right.
R. 2H, Diota. JE 2. (My cabinet.)
3. Female head, to the left, her hair bound up gracefully
with a sort of reticulum.
R. 2H. Old terminal figure, front face ; in the field, a
monogram, j\|. JE 2. (My cabinet.)
4. Head, front face of Bacchus, crowned with a large ivy
crown.
R. SHS. An arrow ; in the field, fll. JE 2. (My
cabinet.)
All these varieties are new ; they were all brought to me,
together with many others, in bad preservation, from Ses-
tos, and amongst them were four coins like those given by
Hauteroche, Mionnet, and Millingen, assigned to Sala, but
which Strebor justly restores to Sestos. (See Sala.)
8 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
LEMNOS, INS. THRACIJE.
AHM. Helmeted head, to the right.
R. Male bearded head, to the right. JE 5. (Cabinet of
the Chevalier Ivanoff, Russian Consul-General at
Smyrna.) See plate, fig. 1.
HEPH.ESTIA, LEMNOS.
Bearded head, perhaps of Vulcan, to the left.
R. H<&A, between two torches. JE 3. (Same cabinet.)
See plate, fig. 2.
MYRHINA, LEMNOS.
No. 1. Bust of Diana, a quiver suspended over her left shoul-
der.
R. MYPI, within a laurel crown. JE 4. (Same cabinet.)
See plate, fig. 3.
2. Helmeted head of Pallas, to the right.
R. MYPI. Owl standing, front face ; in the field, an
olive branch. JE 3. (Same cabinet.) See plate, fig. 4.
The descriptions of the four preceding coins were kindly
communicated to me by their proprietor, the Chevalier
Ivanoff, with an accompanying note, stating that they were
all received by him from the place of their origin. That
with the letters AHM for Arjjuvtwv, which I assign, without
the least hesitation, to the island of Lemnos, is highly curious
and interesting, as it is the only coin that has yet reached
us bearing the name of the island. The three other coins
of Hephsestia and Myrhina are inedited.
PATRAUS. REX PAEONIAE.
No. 1. Laureated head of Apollo, to the right.
R. IIOAPTAY (sic). A horseman, helmeted and wear-
ing a cuirass, piercing with a lance a prostrate enemy,
who is defending himself with a Macedonian shield.
AR 6. 201 grs. (Cabinet of the Bank of England.)
ZS'/zGrs.
LEEfi W.
SULTS.
UNEDITED GREEK COINS.
2. Head, as last.
R. IIATPOY (retrograde). Type, as last ; in the field,
a helmet. AR 6. 192i grs. (My cabinet)
3. Another, with YOTIAII (sic). Type, as last; in the
field, an uncertain symbol of a conic form, with a ring
at the extremity. AR 6. 194| grs. (Cabinet of the
Bank of England.)
4. Another; in the field, the monogram, j^. AR 6.
196 grs. (My cabinet.)
A feeble light has lately been thrown upon the chrono-
logy of the kings of Paeonia, by the discovery of a remark-
able inscription a few years ago in the Acropolis of Athens.
(See Bulletin de FInstitut -Archeologique de Rome, for 1833,
and L'Ancienne Athenes de 'M. Pittakys, p. 314.) From
that authority we are informed that Patraus was the son of
Audoleon ; he consequently must take precedence in the
list of kings of Paeonia whose coins have reached us. (See
Numismatique des Rois Grecs. p. II.) The four coins
described above, of this prince, differ from those already
published, merely by the accessory symbols, or the strange
transposition of the letters of the legend on Nos. 1 and 3,
which shows the extreme negligence of those employed in
their execution.
AUDOLEON. REX PAEONIAE.
Head, front face of Pallas, helmeted and wearing a necklace.
R. AYAilAEONTOS. Horse walking to the right, his
bridle dragging on the ground ; beneath, a caducous.
AR 6. 193| grs. (My cabinet.)
I have nothing to remark on this coin, except to call
attention to its peculiar preservation and superior fabric.
VOL. iv. c
10 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
LYCCEIUS. REX PAEONIAE ?
No. 1. Laureated head of Apollo, to the right.
R. AYKKEIOY. A naked figure of Hercules, sitting on
the ground, strangling a lion, his left arm round the neck
of the animal, and his right lifted up in the act of strik-
ing. On the neck of the lion is the letter F in relief,
and below, a bow and quiver. AR 6. 196^ grs.
2. Naked youthful male head, to the right.
R. AYKK . . OY. A horse grazing, to the right. AR 3.
(My cabinet.}
This king, Lycceius, being unnoticed by any ancient his-
torians, has been ranged by numismatists in the series of
the kings of Paeonia, from the great similitude which
exists between his coins and those of Patraus and Audo-
leon, in weight, fabric, and peculiar appearance of the
metal; he may, however, have ruled over some other peo-
ple in the vicinity of Paeonia, of which we have no record.
Eckhel (Syll. tab. xiii. fig. 5), was the first to describe the
only coin then known of this prince, from the Museum at
Florence. On that example the final letter is obliterated
by a perforation, which raised a doubt in the mind of the
author of the Numismatique des Rois Grecs : he suggests the
possibility of the legend being AYKKEION, in which case,
instead of the name of a prince, it might with greater pro-
priety be assigned to the city of Lyncus, the capital of the
Lyncestae. The same author, however, rejects this opinion,
and attaches himself to the original attribution of Eckhel,
on becoming acquainted with the coin published by Cadal-
vene from my collection, and now in the Bank of England,
on which the perfect state of the legend admitted of no
further doubt.
The coin No. 1, described above, is another fine exam-
ple, also once possessed by me, but which has passed into
the collection of Mr. Stewart. It differs from that in the
UNEDITED COIN OP DEMETRIUS THE SECOND.
11
Bank of England by the addition of the letter r, stamped
in relief on the neck of the lion not as a counter-mark
impressed after the fabrication of the coin, but forming part
of the original type. The letter also, it must be remarked,
is of that peculiar form in use during the reign of Philip of
Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. What this
letter alludes to is a mystery ; and I am at a loss to offer
an opinion. With regard to the coin No. 2, a similar one
(except that the head of Apollo is laureated) is published by
Mionnet (Suppl. torn. v. p. 108, No. 68), and assigned to
the city of Alexandria Troas ; I presume on account of the
type a horse feeding : but I have no doubt it belongs to
Lycceius. It is worthy of remark, that my coin came to me
from Thessalonica, in company with three coins of Audo-
leon, and two of Patraus, all of this small size.
H. P. BORRELL.
Smyrna, 9th April, 1840.
II.
UNEDITED COIN OF DEMETRIUS THE SECOND.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, 18th Feb. 1841.]
DEAR SIR,
I have the honor to announce to the Numismatic
Society a new type of Demetrius II.
12 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
No. 1. Head of Demetrius, slightly bearded ? profile to the right.
R ....MHTPIOY...KATOPOS. Fortune standing to
the left, regarding a Parthian, who takes her hand ; on
his back a quiver ; between the figures, Y. JE-. 4$.
2. Ditto, unbearded.
R Ditto. 3L.\. British Museum.
Two coins of this type exist in the collection of the
British Museum, and they have apparently been unedited.
Their discovery is due to Mr. Doubleday a member of this
Society, whose practical knowledge of Greek and other
numismatics is so well known to its members and at his
request I have drawn up the following historical elucidation
of this truly valuable type. I shall first consider the
contemporaneous event, and then give its application to the
coin. Demetrius the second, the Theos Philadelphos
Nicator of the currency, entered Parthia 1 in the 173rd
year of the Seleucian era, about July, 139, B. C., in the
2nd of the 160th Olympiad, according to Clinton, who
differs in his chronology about two years from that proposed
by Frolich. 2 In his march into Media, towards Babylon, 3
to crush the rebellion of Diodotus Tryphon, he was captured
by a satrap of the Parthian monarch, about the commence-
ment of the Seleucian year 175, November 138 B. C.,and
after having been paraded in triumph through various cities,
was sent into Hyrcania, and retained captive, although not
treated with severity, 4 from motives of policy rather than
humanity, by Arsaces Mithridates and his successor
Phraates. During his captivity he was admitted into
1 Cf. Clinton. Fasti Hellenici. Chron. of Syr. Kings, c. iii. 328,
334.
2 Annales, p. 76, 132.
3 Cf. Joseph. Ant. xiii. 5, 11, 6, 1.
4 Justki. Lib. xxxviii. c. 9.
UNEDITED COIN OF DEMETRIUS THE SECOND. 13
alliance with the court of the Arsacidae, and married Rho-
dogyne, the daughter of the first and sister of the second
monarch. There are no means of determining the precise
date of this alliance, which probably took place when the
political state of Syria and preponderance of the power of
Diodotus Tryphon rendered it necessary to weaken the
influence of the de facto Syrian monarch by holding him in
check through fear of the restoration of the captive de jure
king. 5 His Parthian nuptials however excessively irritated
his wife Cleopatra, the widow of Alexander Bala, and she
married Antiochus VI. or Sidetes, Demetrius' brother,
in order to secure to herself the crown against the power of
Tryphon. These very nuptials were subsequently the
cause of the death of Demetrius before the walls of Tyre.
The duration of the captivity of Demetrius was about nine
actual, or ten current, years. On the present coins we have, on
the right, the figure of the fortune of the king, rj TOW /BatrtAswc
Tu^>j, which received among the Syrians divine honors, 6 taking
the hand of the Parthian monarch, who is represented
dressed in the usual costume of that people, with a quiver
on his back. This must allude to the hopes held out to De-
metrius of receiving his kingdom, and his alliance with Rho-
dogyne. A similar figure of Fortune, seated, and holding
a sceptre instead of a rudder, is the leading type of the
tetradrachms of Demetrius I., arid also appears on the
small brass coins of Alexander II. On the smaller silver
5 Justin, loc- cit. regnumque Syriae, quod per absentiam ejus
Trypho occupaverat, restiturum promisit-
8 Cf. Treaty between Magnesia, Ephesus, &c., A.C. 245,
in which the oath was by the Earth, Sun, Moon, Mars, Minerva, &c.,
KAI TEN TOY BASIAEiiS SEAEYKOY TYXHN. Marble
in the Sheldon Theatre, at Oxford. Cf. Not. ad Justin. 8vo.
Oxon. 1705, p. 297 ; and Frolich, Ann. p. 132, who gives it in
minuscule characters.
14 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
coins of the first Demetrius, the figure of Fortune is re-
placed by the Cornucopias, alluding to the Fortune of the
king. But the general type approaches more nearly that
seen upon the tetradrachms of the Arsacidae, where the
monarch is represented seated on a throne, while the figure
of a female in the mural tiara of cities, presents him with a
crown and holds in her hand a palm branch. From this it
is probable that the coin was struck by some one of those
cities, induced, by the insupportable tyranny of Tryphon
with the dislike to Cleopatra and her third husband, to cast
their eyes and wishes towards the restoration of Demetrius
promised, but never performed, by the occupiers of the
Parthian throne ; which at last rendered the restraint of his
captivity so unpleasant that he made three attempts to
escape, the last of which proved successful. The features on
the obverse are youthful and scarcely bearded, and his youth,
and probably Greek manner of shaving, were sarcastically
treated on his second attempt to leave his new connections,
golden tali being given him to upbraid his boyish levity 7
(talisque aureis ad exprobationem puerilislevitatis donatur).
On his return to Syria he wore the crisp curls and flowing
beard of the Parthians, a costume he preserved till his
decease.
I have stated this type to be unedited, for that described
by M. Mionnet, 8 if identical, must have been taken from a
coin too indifferently preserved to admit of its true expla-
nation. In the one described by him, reading jScrtnAewc
ATjjUjjr/oiou Nticarojooc, are two female figures standing, each
with a Cornucopias ; but an inspection will readily convince
^ Justin, loc. cit.
8 Vol. V. p. 62, No. 541, one also cited by him from the Mus.
Theupoli. No. 1231 has a figure holding in the right hand a long
torch, in the left a bow, a doubtful type.
UNEDITED COINS OF THE LOWER EMPIRE. 15
the examiner how easily, on a badly preserved specimen,
the Parthian attire and quiver might be supposed to repre-
sent an ample peplos and Cornucopias.
Believe me to remain,
Dear Sir,
Your's very sincerely,
SAMUEL BIRCH.
7, Hawley Terrace; Nov. 24, 1840.
To J. Y. Akerman, Esq., &c., &c.
III.
UNEDITED COINS OF THE LOWER EMPIRE.
THEODORE VATATZES-DUCAS-LASCARIS.
06 HO The Virgin and the Emperor Theodore standing,
OACt) "HC both front face, the Virgin wearing the stola, the
POC A AC circle of glory around her head, and placing her right
AG KA hand on the head of the Emperor. Theodore is richly
C P habited, and holds in his right hand the Labarum,
and in his left something indistinct. By the side of
the Virgin 6Y (the usual letters MP are omitted).
R IC.XC The Saviour sitting, front face, the circle of glory around
his head, his right hand elevated, and in his left he holds the
sacred volume. In the field is the monogram A. A con-
cave coin in gold.
ALL the earlier writers who have treated on the coins of
the Byzantine Emperors, have apparently shrunk from the
difficulty that exists in assigning to their proper owners
coins in various metals that bear the name of Theodorus.
Excluding Theodore Mangaphus, who reigned only one
year, from 1188 to 1189, there remain three others of that
name ; Theodore Lascaris, called the first Emperor of the
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Greeks at Nicaea, Theodore II., Angelas, who founded the
empire of which Thessalonica was the capital, and Theo-
dore Vatatzes-Ducas-Lascaris, grandson of the first, who
also ruled at Nicaea. The Baron Marchant (Melange de
Numismatique, Lettre xxiv.) is the first who was bold
enough to undertake the task : an intimate acquaintance
with this generally neglected series of coins, and a pro-
found knowledge of the history of the middle ages, afforded
facilities which enabled him to acquit himself with rare
success. M. de Saulcy (Essai de Classification des Suites
Monetaires Byzantines) follows in the more general classifi-
cation of the Byzantine series, and he approves fully Mar-
chant's way of disposing of the different coins of the
Theodori.
The coin described at the head of this notice is unpub-
lished) and is the more curious, as it bears the name of
"Lascaris" eGOAWPOC AECOOTHC AACKAPIC. The
latter name is imperfect on my coin, but no doubt can
exist, as by the aid of two others I have been enabled to
read the whole of the legend. There can be no doubt then,
that this coin belongs to one of the two Emperors of the
Greeks who reigned over that part of the empire of which
Nicaea was the capital ; but it remains to be determined if
it was struck by the founder of that dynasty, Theodore
Lascaris, or his grandson Theodore Vatatzes-Ducas-Las-
caris. M. de Saulcy observes, in his valuable essay, that
Lascaris not being descended from any of the great fami-
lies who had supplied so many sovereigns to the Byzan-
tine throne, and only being allied to one of them, the
Angeli, by his marriage with the daughter of Alexius III.
(Angelus) would probably prefer styling himself simply
Se<T7rorrjc on his money, rather than a name so unknown to
royalty as was that of Lascaris. This remark of M. de
UNEDITED COINS OF THE LOWER EMPIRE. 17
Saulcy is certainly spurious, and if correct, my coin must
be attributed to the grandson, Theodore Vatatzes-Ducas-
Lascaris, who would not have had the same motive for
suppressing a name that through his mother and grand-
father had already been sufficiently ennobled. I am the
more inclined also to prefer attributing it to the younger
Theodore from what is stated by Pachymere, where he
says, that ft under John Ducas Vatatzes (father of Theo-
dore) the standard of the gold coin was two-thirds fine
and one-third alloy." Hporepov /ucv yap eiri Iwavvov TOV
AOUKO TO SlfJlOlpOV TOV ToXdVTOV T(t)V VOjUKTjUaTWV \pV(TOQ TJV
aire^Oog. (Andron. Pal. lib. vi. cap. 8. quoted by Saulcy, page
596.) and further, the same historian, (lib. vi. cap. 8), says,
that " Theodore continued to use the standard for his gold
money as adopted by his father," and the coins exactly
correspond to this standard, as I have had proof by an ex-
perienced artist. Pachymere's remark may be still more
useful, for as he informs us that John Ducas Vatatzes used
a standard of two-thirds fine for the fabrication of his money,
it is permitted to suppose that he was the author of a new
system ; in which case, if any coins in gold of the first
Theodore should reach us, they may be distinguished from
those of his grandson by being of finer metal. It only
remains for me to speak of the monogram in the field on
the reverse of the coin, formed thus A ? which occurs also
on a silver coin of Theodore published by Marchant, and
which that writer imagined alluded to the name of Las-
caris, as it appears again upon the gold money, in com-
pany with the name of Lascaris on the obverse in full
length. It must be admitted that the author's application
is very ingenious.
Before dismissing the subject, it will not be out of place
to remark, that this coin, with half a dozen others exactly
VOL. IV. D
18 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
alike, and as many of Michael VIII. Paleologus, formed
part of a deposit of nearly a thousand gold coins found last
year near Smyrna. Besides those ten or twelve coins, all
the remainder were of an Emperor John, and similar to that
in Saulcy, pi. xxvii. No. 2. attributed by him to John II.
Comnenes Porphyrogenitus. I wish to call the attention
of the curious to this circumstance, because I cannot
satisfy myself why the coins of Theodore, emperor of
Nicsea, and Michael VIII., emperor first at Nicaea, and
afterwards at Constantinople, when the Latins were ex-
pelled from that capital, should be found in company with
such a large quantity of money of John Comnenes Porphy-
rogenitus, who reigned a century before. What adds to
the singularity is, that all these coins of the three Emperors
are in exactly the same state of preservation, which would
not have been the case had a portion of them been in
circulation so long; the same similitude is to be observed
in the quality of the gold, all of them being of the standard
of two-thirds fine to one alloy. 1 The type also of both
those of Theodore and those of John are so alike that they
cannot be distinguished but by the legend they bear ; and
whereas in many cases the coin has been struck carelessly,
and the letters are not visible, it is impossible to say to which
they belong. As to myself, I am imcompetent to explain
l his singular anomaly. If they are not of John Comnenes,
to whom can they belong ? Their resemblance with the
coins of Theodore Vatatzes Lascaris would settle the
question, if it were not for the presence of the legend
1 The gold coins of the Comnenes family are of higher standard
than these, if I may judge from a few coins in my possession of
Alexius and Manuel Comnenes his predecessor, and successor of
John Comnenes Porphyrogenitus.
UNEDITED COINS OF THE LOWER EMPIRE. 19
IIOP$YPYrENET. to which John Vatatzes of Nicsea could
have had no claim, as previous to his marriage with Irene
the daughter of Theodore Lascaris, he merely held an
eminent station at the court of his father-in-law. Neither
can we assign them to the John Vatatzes Ducas Lascaris,
son of Theodore II. of Nicaea, that prince having died in
his youth, whilst the Emperor pourtrayed on the coin
wears a strong beard ; a further proof they could not have
been struck for this last prince, is the quantity, which shows
they must have belonged to a powerful sovereign, whose
reign was of long duration. 2 In this state of perplexity I
must satisfy myself with having pointed out the fact, and
leave it to others to determine the question.
MICHAEL VIII. PAL^EOLOGUS.
X . OH The Saviour sitting between the letters IC.XC ; before
M AA him is the Emperor Michael kneeling, supported by St.
AG GO Michael; the beads of both tbe Saviour and tbe Saint are
CI1 A surrounded by a circle of glory. MP. 6Y the Virgin
seated on a richly ornamented throne, the circle of glory
round her head, and the infant Jesus on her breast. (A
gold concave coin in my possession.)
AT the death of the Emperor Theodore Vatatzes Lascar III.
his son and successor, John, being still a minor, was left to
the guardianship of the great domestic, George Muzalon ;
but Michael, the son of Andronicus Palseologus, by first
assassinating the guardian, took the charge upon himself,
2 There were two emperors of Trebizond of the name of John,
tbe first began to reign in the year 1275, and was the first who took
the title of King, his predecessors being satisfied with that of
Duke. The title of Porphyrogenitus, therefore, would not have
suited him better than John Vatatzes of Nicaea. The second John
of Trebizond is less admissible as a candidate for our coins, as he
is supposed to have reigned as late as 1449.
20 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
and by grasping progressively the various grades of power,
was finally proclaimed Emperor conjointly with his ward
John, at Nicaea, in January 1260. For a short time Michael
allowed his pupil to enjoy ostensibly some portion in the
government, but in the following year, after depriving him
of his sight, the young prince was led into captivity to a
castle in Asia, where he remained till death relieved him
from his misfortunes and sufferings. It was about the same
time (July 25, 1261) that the dynasty of the Latin em-
perors at Constantinople terminated, and Michael trans-
ferred his capital there in the same year, after having
reigned at Nicsea about eighteen months.
Pachymere (in Andron. Pal. lib. vi. cap. 8.) informs us that
Michael Palaeologus changed the ancient type of the gold
aureus and placed on the reverse the plan of the city of
Constantinople. Ycrrgpov Se trt Mt^atjX, TJC TroXcwc aXow-
OTJC, Sta rac TOTE KO.T ava-yKTjv &o<re KCU juaAAov
IraXoue, fJ.tTEytypcKfxi TO JUEV ra TWV TraXaiwv, rrjc
\apaTTOfjitvi\q oTTiOtv ; and this testimony is confirmed by
the coins which have reached us, as may be seen by those
published and engraved by Pellerin (Lettres, page 180) and
Saulcy (Suites Monetaires Byz. pi. xxxii. No. 1.) the pre-
sence of this type upon those just cited is a proof they
were struck after Michael had taken possession of Con-
stantinople.
The coin in my cabinet, described above, differs from
those published, it offers on the reverse an image of the
Virgin sitting. I am therefore inclined to consider that
it was struck previous to the others, and whilst Michael
was merely emperor at Nicaea : it therefore must be ranged
with the coins of the dynasty which was closed by Michael
transporting his seat of government to Constantinople,
and is particularly interesting, as it enriches the series of
UNEDITED COINS OF THE LOWER EMPIRE. 21
the Nicaean emperors, which is sufficient excuse for my
making it known to the curious.
With all due deference to M. de Saulcy, I must point
out what I consider to be an error : he says, " Pachymere
ajoute encore que Michel- Paleologue fit subir au titre des
Aureus un nouvel abaissement, et que sur vingt-quatre
parties ils n'en continrent plus que neuf d'or fin. Ce recit
s'accorde parfaitement avec le t6inoignage des monurnens
numismatiques." Instead, however, of the testimony being
confirmed by the coins themselves, I find, on the contrary,
that those of this emperor, both of the published type and
the one I describe for the first time, are exactly of the same
standard as the coins of Theodore Lascaris, and those I
have had occasion to mention of John, which are 16 carats
fine and 8 alloy, as I have ascertained by actual experi-
ment, executed by an eminent refiner of metals. It follows
then, that if Pachymere is correct, that the debasement of
the money he alludes to occurred at a later period, none
of which has yet been discovered.
My coin of Michael with this new type was the only
one that came to my knowledge, amongst the deposit found
near Smyrna, mentioned in my observations on the coins
of Theodore Lascaris, but I have seen another in the
cabinet of my friend, the Chevalier Ed. de Cadalvene at
Constantinople.
THEODORE, WIFE OF MICHAEL VIII. PAL^OLOGUS.
No. 1 . + -f- The Empress Theodora standing front
6EOA A8K face wearing a richly ornamented crown,
WPAG AINA with strings of pearls suspended on each
VCBG IIAAA side. She is closely enveloped in the
4ATHA AIOAO Stola which descends, so that her feet are
Vr8<I THN A not visible, and she stands upon a kind of
A cushion. In her right hand is a long scep-
tre, and her left is laid upon her breast.
22 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
R. ITTT OV. The Virgin seated front face, the circle of
glory around her head, with the infant Jesus on her lap.
(Piombo in my collection, magnitude 1 1 of Mionnet's scale.)
No. 2. Another similar, excepting some trifling difference in the
disposition of the legend, and that the Empress holds the
sceptre over her left shoulder.
Although these two monuments may be considered as
seals and not coins, yet some numismatists admit them in
their collections, with the view of completing their series,
and as they are unpublished, they will not be considered
out of place here.
Theodora, on these seals, adds to her own name, that of
Ducina and Palaeologena, which she was entitled to do,
being the daughter of John Ducas and wife of Michael VIII.
Palseologus. She died the 16th of February, 1304, leaving
two sons; Andronicus, who succeeded to the throne at
the death of his father, and Constantine, called Porphy-
rogenitus, on account of his birth occurring after the
usurpation of his father. I have nothing further to remark
on this curious seal, excepting that the reverse offers
exactly the same figure of the Virgin as is seen on the
gold coin of her husband, here given for the first time.
H. P. BORRELL.
Smyrna, 22nd March, 1840.
fTo Thos. Burgon, Esq., for the Editor of the Numismatic Chronicle.]
23
IV.
ARRANGEMENT OF MERCIAN PENNIES, BEARING
THE INSCRIPTION, CEOLWULF," OR CIOL-
WULF REX."
[Read before the Numismatic Society, February 18th, 1841.]
SIR,
A fresh arrangement of these pennies was pro-
posed some years ago by Mr. Hawkins, with the sanction
of another excellent numismatist, according to which the
order of Ruding is reversed, and those on which the king's
name appears with an E, are given to the successor of
Coenwulf ; those with the I, to the last of the Mercian
monarchs. In support of this arrangement, two arguments
were brought forward; one, from the workmanship of the
coins, the other, from the circumstance of one of them
having been minted at Canterbury.
It is with some reluctance (on account of the known
skill and judgment of these gentlemen,) that I venture to
offer my reasons for assenting only in part to this new
arrangement.
I do not see any objection to the assignment of those on
which 'the name of Ceolwulf is written with an E, to the
first king of that name. The type, indeed, of many of
them, resembles that used by Burghred, and this, I doubt
not, led Ruding to place them next to his coins ; but their
workmanship, and the names of the moneyers on them,
make such an arrangement very improbable.
So far, then, I agree with Mr. Hawkins ; but I cannot
agree with him in transferring all the coins on which the
letter I appears in the word Ciolwulf to Ceolwulf II. ; and,
24 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
in particular, I cannot think that that with the inscription
DUOBIRNEA CARTAS belongs to him. Mr. Hawkins
says, " Ceolwulf I., who only reigned one year, was, during the
whole of that short period, cotemporary with Baldred, king
of Kent, and could not, in any part of his reign, have had
the privilege or the power of coining money in the city of
Canterbury." Now, I confess, I do not see why he could
not: he reigned when the Mercian power was yet un-
broken ; he succeeded to the authority over Kent, which his
predecessors had acquired and maintained. Beldred was,
like Cuthred before him, but a tributary king ; and could
not have prevented the Mercian monarch from establishing
a mint in the capital of the subordinate kingdom. Besides,
there is a strong probability that Coenwulf and Offa exer-
cised such a power. Where were those coins minted which
have on one side the names and titles of those kings, and
on the other side, the names and titles of Jaenbuht and
Othelhaed, archbishops of Canterbury ? In all probability
they were minted in that city. Further, the moneyers of
Cuthred and Baldred are most of them also moneyers of
Coenwulf. Does not this look as if the latter king employed
Kentish moneyers while there were yet kings of Kent ? as
we are pretty sure (from the like evidence of moneyers,)
that Egbert died after their expulsion. On the other hand,
Ceolwulf II. reigned when Mercia had lost its high station
amongst the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. He was but the
nominee of the Danes, set up and put down at their
pleasure ; and it is not likely that he thought of extending
his dominion to any other kingdom beyond the confines of
Mercia ; and Kent, the kingdom in question, had long since
changed masters, and become subject to Wessex.
On these grounds I am inclined to believe that the coin
minted at Canterbury belongs to Ceolwulf I.
ARRANGEMENT OF MERCIAN PENNIES. 25
With respect to the other coins on which the king's name
is written with an I, I think there are reasons why most of
them should also be appropriated in the same manner. We
find on them (rare as they are,) several of the money ers of
Coenwulf; Ealhstan, Ceolhard and Sigistif are in Ruding;
one with the name of Dunn is in my possession ; but we
have not, as far as my knowledge goes, a single one of the
numerous moneyers of Burghred. This, to my mind, is a
very strong argument against their being appropriated to
the later Ceolwulf.
The types also are more of the period of the first king of
that name ; the large M, in the centre of some of them,
appears on one of the coins of his predecessor Coenwulf;
on a coin of his own, spelt with the E ; and on several of
those of Berhtulf : it does not appear afterwards. The cross
on the coin, engraved in Archaeologia (vol. xxiii. pi. 33,
fig. 16), is also of the earlier period; it is found on the
coins of Coenwulf and Beornwulf, but not on those of
Burghred. For these reasons, but chiefly on account of the
moneyers' names, I am inclined to give most of the coins in
question (as well as those which read with the E, which Mr.
Hawkins has already given,) to Ceolwulf I.
There are, however, some on which I should not, without
inspection, like to venture an opinion.
1st. That in Ruding, pi. vii. fig. 2, on which is the name
of Dealing, one of Alfred's moneyers, and of peculiar work-
manship, if the engraving is correct.
2nd. That found at Gravesend, and engraved in the
Num. Chron. The type, and the company in which it was
found, mark it as belonging to the later period; the
moneyer's name is no obstacle, for if it is not found on
Burghred's list, neither is it found on that of Coenwulf,
VOL. IV. E
26 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
or his immediate successors : the workmanship will probably
decide the appropriation of this coin.
3rd. I add that which appears in Ruding, pi. 27, because
the moneyer's name is the same as the last ; in other re-
spects, it appears like those which I think should belong to
the earlier period.
I have not said any thing as yet with respect to the argu-
ment drawn from the peculiar formation of letters and
features, observed as common to those coins, and those of
Burghred. I do not doubt the fact, stated by so good a
judge, probably with the coins before him ; but, admitting
this, is there not still a difference of workmanship? Are
not Burghred's coins neat in comparison of the others
(Mr. H. may smile at the idea of Burghred's coins being
neat, but all things are good in comparison with those which
are worse)? However, this part of the subject I leave to
those who have better opportunities of inspection, only
observing, that in a coin in my possession with the I, 1 there
is not that remarkable triangular formation of features and
letters.
I have written a great deal on a small subject, but I
must add one remark more; that the different mode of
spelling the king's name with an E or I, is no objection to
all the coins belonging to one king ; a variation precisely
similar is found on the coins of Egbert, where A and O
and on the coins of Baldred, where A and E are used
indifferently.
I remain, yours, &c.
F. D.
To the Editor of the Numismatic Chronicle.
1 It is fair to state, that the first letters of the word Ciolwulf
are read with difficulty on this coin, but I have always read it
in the same way, with an I, long before I thought of the subject
of this letter.
LEGENDS ON BRITISH COINSS. 27
P. S. Since writing the above, Mr. Hawkins has kindly
communicated to me the result of a comparison of the coin
found at Gravesend, with the engravings of pi. 33, vol. xxiii.
of the Archseologia, and with the coin itself, No. 14 in that
plate, and says that in workmanship it closely resembles the
latter, and is somewhat similar to No. 3. I should therefore
think, that to which the coin of Ceolwulf, No. 14, is given,
the Gravesend coin must be given also ; and that in Ruding,
pi. xxvii., will probably go with them.
V.
LEGENDS ON BRITISH COINS.
SIR, Coins of the type engraved in the last number of
the Numismatic Chronicle (Vol. III., page 152) are very rare;
the following notices of them are all that I have met
with :
Mr. Ruding mentions (note, page 99, vol. i.), although
he confesses his inability to explain, a coin with
TASCIOVRIOON ; and in the Gentleman's Magazine (1821,
January, page 66) one is engraved of similar type, though
of smaller module than that figured in the Chronicle ; on
this last also the legend vfifcoft * s vei 7 distinct. In a letter
to the Gentleman's Magazine (1838), I assigned these coins
to Uriconium, the capital of the Cornavii, a town which still
preserves some traces of its ancient name in Wroxeter ; and
those on which the word SEGO appears to another British
town, Segontium, now Caernarvon, instead of Segonax, the
Kentish chief. There can, I think, be no doubt of the
correctness of this attribution, but I must here observe, that
some time after I had communicated my remarks on this
28 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
subject to the Gentleman's Magazine, I discovered in a note
to Gough's Camden, that the latter class of coins had been
long since assigned to Segontium; so that the merit of
having first correctly explained their legends belongs not to
me, but to the learned Editor of that valuable work.
We have then on British coins the names of four of the
ancient cities of this island : CAMVL-odunum, Colchester,
on the money of Cunobeline ; SEGO-w^'ww, Caernarvon ;
VERLAMIO, near St. Alban's; and VRICON-zwwz, Wroxe-
ter. This list, we must hope, will ere long be considerably
augmented.
The next word, TASCIO, is frequently met with on the
money of this period. Many explanations have been offered,
but none that is entirely satisfactory. Perhaps the most so
is to be found in Mr. Fosbroke's Encyclopedia of Antiquities
(art. Coins}. That eminent antiquary seems to think that
the pieces on which this word appears were a recoinage of
more ancient money.
SOLIDO. This word, which occurs but once, has been
conjectured to be the name of a moneyer, and if so, is, I
conceive, not the only instance in the British series. The
other appears on the coins in Ruding, plate xxix. 3 and 4,
similar in their types, but different in execution. We read
in both BODVOG. I would refer my readers to a plate in
the Archceologiai vol. xxvii., of a patera, inscribed with the
name of the artist, BODVOGENVSF. The coincidence
between the legends on the coins and the inscription on the
patera is so striking, that I willingly hazard a conjecture,
that the artist who moulded the one, engraved the dies for
the others.
Yours, respectfully,
DANIEL Hy. HAIGH.
Leeds, 23rd Feb., 1841.
To the Editor of the Numismatic Chronicle.
LEGENDS ON BRITISH COINS. 29
[In thanking our correspondent for his ingenious commu-
nication, we take leave to offer a few remarks which have
occurred to us on perusing it. In the first place, the suppo-
sition that the name of a moneyer appears on these coins is,
in our opinion, and that of our best informed numismatic
friends, totally inadmissible. Although the original meaning
of the Greek types, from which those of the British money
were evidently borrowed, may have been misunderstood and
perverted, yet (with the exception of the coins of Cunobeline)
we have no evidence whatever that the British moneyers
invented the subjects they have represented : it is not, there-
fore, likely that they would establish the practice of placing
their names on the money they executed. Equally inad-
missible, in our opinion, is our correspondent's conjecture
respecting the meaning of the legend TASCIORICON and
its modifications. When coins bearing this legend are known
to have been dug up on the site of the ancient Uriconium,
we trust that we shall be the first to chronicle the discovery,
and to award to our correspondent the merit of having
appropriated another British coin to its locality ; but, until
then, until we have authenticated accounts of such disco-
veries, we shall continue to think that the coins with these
legends were struck in a more central part of Britain. The
same objections apply to the coin with SEGO, which, though it
may not signify Seffonax, is very likely to be part of the name
of a British chief. With regard to the words TASCIO and
TASCIA, we venture to remark, that with our present very
limited knowledge of British coins, it is exceedingly unsafe to
speculate on their meaning. Conjecture is a word positively
abhorrent to the ear of a sound numismatist, who will wait
patiently for more evidence, while others, less experienced,
will rush at once to conclusions. The word SO LI DO is
an enigma, especially when we consider that it is not
found on the coins of the Greeks, and that the style of the
British coin upon which it appears is after the Greek model.
30 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Our readers will recollect the coins of Honorius with the
legend EXAGIVM SOLIDI, but neither their type nor the
time of their issue can be cited in illustration of this remark-
able piece which is so entirely Greek in appearance.
Lastly. Interesting as is the legend BODVOGENVSF
on the patera described in vol. xxvii. of the Archaeologia,
offering, as it probably does, a Romanised British name,
it appears not sufficient to sanction our correspondent's con-
clusion. We trust these remarks will be received in the
spirit in which they are offered : our correspondent has excel-
lent qualifications for the task he appears to have imposed
upon himself, and we have little doubt he will ere long throw
some new light on this subject, so interesting to the British
Antiquary and Numismatist. Ed. Num. Chron.~\
VI.
RUDE COINS DISCOVERED IN ENGLAND.
THE eleven coins engraved in the accompanying plate are
well deserving the attention of the numismatist, although
he may, and indeed will, find their appropriation a matter
of considerable difficulty. As the localities in which some
of them were discovered are known, we shall offer no apology
for their figuring in a plate to the exclusion of pieces more
elegant of fabric, and more intelligible in legend. Should
their appearance here attract the notice and elicit the ob-
servations of our numismatic friends on the Continent, it is
probable that we may obtain some light by the aid of which
the origin of some of them may be ascertained ; but at pre-
sent we can do little more than place them upon record, in
accordance with the views of our valued correspondent, Mr.
Burgon, to whose paper (Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. I.,
RUDE COil^S DISCOVERED IK ENGLAND.
RUDE COINS DISCOVERED IN ENGLAND. 31
p. 36) we refer in justification of our proceeding. The
coins here engraved are as follow :
No. 1. For permission to make a drawing of this coin,
which is of gold and in excellent preservation, we are in-
debted to the Rev. E. Gregory, of Bridge, near Canterbury,
who at the request of Lord Albert Conyngham, kindly for-
warded it for that purpose. The style of workmanship
will remind the collector of Saxon Coins of the pennies of
Ciolvulf (Ruding, pi. vi. , No. 2) ; but the moneyer was in-
capable of forming an intelligible legend, if he really designed
to engrave one : in all probability the piece itself belongs
to the Visigoth Series. 1 The reverse bears a most barba-
rous travesty of Victory marching with a garland and palm
branch ! Pieces of a somewhat similar character are occa-
sionally discovered in England, and we lately saw one which
had a loop affixed to it, so that it might be worn as an orna-
ment, like the more elegant mounted medallions of the
Romans. This coin was found in a field near Canterbury.
No. 2. This remarkable piece is of gold, and in the
cabinet of W. H. Rolfe, Esq., of Sandwich, who states that
it was discovered a few years since at Sutton, near Dover.
The obverse presents what is no doubt meant for a helmeted
bust, with an attempt to form a legend. The reverse is
difficult to describe: it appears to bear the figure of a spread
eagle, charged with a harrow or portcullis; but what the
objects are really intended to represent it would not be easy
to pronounce. This coin does not appear to be of English
origin, but in all probability belongs to the Merovingian
series, of which numerous examples have from time to time
been published by M. Cartier in the Revue Numismatique.
No. 3. A skeatta, resembling this in almost every
1 See Lelewel, Numismatique du Moyen Age, pl.i., Nos. 22 and 26.
32 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
respect, is engraved in Ruding (pi. i. No. 25) ; but the piece
here represented is in such remarkably fine preservation,
and is so well struck, that we have been tempted to add it
to this lisfo Assuming, as we unquestionably may assume,
this coin to be of Saxon origin, we have here direct evi-
dence that the Saxon moneyers would have imitated the
Roman coins had they possessed sufficient skill. The proto-
type of this piece is evidently that little brass Roman coin
of the time of Constantine, with the galeated bust and
VRBS ROMA ; reverse, the wolf and twins. That coin is
constantly found in England, and there is no doubt that in
the time of the lower empire immense numbers were in
circulation in Gaul and Britain. The origin of the figure on
the reverse of this sceatta it is not so easy to discover. This
example (of which there are several in the British Mu-
seum) is in the collection of W. H. Rolfe, Esq., of Sandwich,
who obtained it at Richborough, where it was discovered.
No. 4. The figure on the obverse of this piece appears
to have been copied from some of the Byzantine coins ;
the reverse bears a figure of what has been called a dragon,
an object often represented on coins of this class. This
coin was discovered at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire, and is in
the collection of the Rev. Edward Trafford Leigh, by whom
it was, with others, obligingly sent for our inspection.
No. 5. The possessor of this curious piece (the Rev.
E. T. Leigh) mentions that it was found at Dorchester,
Oxon, and is of opinion that it is a Saxon coin, an opinion
from which, after due examination and deliberation, we,
with all deference, must dissent. The portion of the legend
around the rudely drawn crowned head presents the letters
CHVON, forming, in all probability, part of the name
CHVONRAD, Conrad. The reverse bears in tolerably well-
formed Runic characters the legend
RUDE COINS DISCOVERED IN ENGLAND. 33
With regard to the six remaining coins, which are in the
collection of the British Museum, we have the following
observations to make. Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, appear to bear regal
busts. No. 7 has a galeated head, which appears to be a
rude, though spirited, copy of the common small brass coin
of Constantino. It is very probable that Nos. 10 and 11
are prelatical money. The straggling letters which we
find in some of these pieces, appear to be attempts to
copy legends which the artists could not read, and which
they could but imperfectly imitate. Referring again to
No. 3, which has the representation of the wolf and twins,
we cannot help recording our opinion, that it may probably
be the origin of that nondescript delineation which has
puzzled so many of our English numismatists. (See the
plates of Sceattas, pi. 1, Nos. 5 to 16, in Ruding). The
very perfect preservation of the coin, No. 3, in the plate
accompanying this notice, shews that the whole body of the
figure intended for a wolf is formed by curved strokes. In
the types of the >ceattas given by Ruding, these strokes
are most barbarously imitated, and the original design is
lost in successive copies. No. 6, the reverse of which our
artist has by mistake placed upside down, appears to pre-
sent an earlier example of this copying. The animal's
head is bent downward like that of No. 3 ; but in this
specimen there appears to be no attempt to represent the
two figures beneath it, which we conceive to be intended
in the presumed rude copies given by Ruding. Referring
the reader to the very judicious remarks of the Chancellor
Thomsen, of Copenhagen (Num. Chron. Vol. III. p. 116),
who observes, that in the well executed copies we see the
earliest attempts to imitate well executed coins, and that
the ruder pieces are the latest, we think the opinion we
VOL. IV. F
34 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
have ventured on the hitherto puzzling type of the sceattas
in Ruding's first plate, will be admitted by our numismatic
friends, J. Y. A.
VII.
REMARKS UPON THE NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF
EAST ANGLIA DURING THE VII. & VIII. CEN-
TURIES.
VERY confused accounts are given in all the chronicles,
respecting the succession of the East Anglian princes,
during the eighth and ninth centuries. The following dates,
the result of careful enquiry, may, I think, be relied on :
A.D. 690. BEORNE ascended the throne and reigned
26 years. In
716. ETHELRED succeeded him.
738. ETHELRED II. (By Holinshed he is some-
times called Ethelbert ; but it is nearly certain
that Ethelred was his name.) After a reign
of 52 years, he was succeeded by
790. ETHELBERT, who, in 1793, was murdered by
Offa. To
BEORNE
it is probable that the Skeattas, which read BEONNA REX,
must be assigned, notwithstanding the difference in the
name. Of his successors, Ethelred I. and II., no coins
have yet appeared; the piece which in a former paper I
attributed to the latter, I have reason to believe belongs
to a more recent date. I shall recur to it shortly.
ETHELBERT.
I think it not unlikely that the penny in Ruding's 3rd
plate, so long assigned to Ethelbert, king of Kent from
NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF EAST ANGLIA. 33
748 to 760 (and by some antiquaries suspected), may
belong to this unfortunate prince. It may, indeed, be
doubted whether this form of the penny was in use at so
early a date as the reign of the Kentish Ethelbert, and the
elegance of the piece now before us is an obstacle to its
being appropriated to him. In the form of the letters, the
engraving of the portrait, and the braiding of the hair, it
resembles the money of Offa. The* Runic letters Ml t^
(LVL) which accompany the name of the king on the ob-
verse, cannot be explained otherwise than by supposing them
to be the name of a moneyer, (although not usually found
in such a situation), and this confirms my conjecture, since
the same name occurs on coins of Offa and Coenwulf. It
may easily be shewn that none of the coins of Offa in Ru-
ding's Plates, belong to a much earlier period than the
accession of the East Anglian Ethelbert j 1 it is very probable
that they were all minted during the last ten or fifteen
years of his reign. That the genuineness of the piece now
before us should have been questioned, merely from the
occurrence of the wolf and twins on its reverse, appears
strange, when we consider not only the different imitations
of Roman types upon Saxon coins, but the frequent find-
ings in this island, of the small brass money of the lower
empire, impressed with the same device. At any rate, the
East Anglian has fully as strong a claim, as the Kentish
prince, to this penny. The murder of Ethelbert in 793
was a fatal blow to the independence of East Anglia, and
though we are certain that kings did reign in that province,
between this prince and Edmund, their names have perished.
1 Ruding supposes those with the portrait, generally considered
the work of foreign artists, to be amongst the latest of his money.
I cannot entirely agree with that learned gentleman on this point.
36 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
In a paper printed in the Numismatic Chronicle (Vol.
II. p. 47), I endeavoured to supply the names of two of
these kings by means of the coins of Eadvald and Eanred.
Permit me here to state more explicitly the reasons which
led me to assign these coins to East Anglia; and first with
regard to the pennies of
EADVALD
assigned by Ruding to Athelbald, king of Mercia 716
755, and engraved pi. IV. figs. 1 & 2.
Now there was no king of Mercia, of the name of
Eadvald. One of Offa's immediate predecessors, indeed,
was named Athelbald, but as all the Chronicles and his
own charters, agree in the spelling of his name, and as the
coins in question read most distinctly Eadvald. they cannot
belong to him ; and as there is no other king of Mercia
who can claim them, they must be removed from that
series. Neither can they belong to so early a date as the
reign of Athelbald ; for since Offa held the Mercian sceptre
nearly forty years, it is reasonable to suppose that those of
his moneyers whose names appear on coins of Coenwulf, his
successor, and of Egbert, could hardly have worked for him
at the beginning of his reign ; and that such specimens of
his money as bear the strongest resemblance in types, &c.
to those of Coenwulf, belong to a period immediately
antecedent to that monarch's accession. Now, on ex-
amining the pennies of Eadvald, we remark on the first, a
very close resemblance in the arrangement of the obverse,
as well as the reverse, to a penny of Offa, figured in Sir A.
Fountaine's Tab. IX., No. 8 (not in Ruding), except that
the moneyer's name is LVL. One of Coenwulf (Ruding,
pi. 6, fig. 18), has a similar reverse, with the same moneyer
as the above cited coin of Offa. Several pieces of Offa
NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF EAST ANGLIA. 37
(Ruding, pi. iv., figs. 19 to 22, and v. 23, 24), and of Coen-
wulf (pi. vii. 29 ; pi. xxviii. 15, 16), have the king's name
and title in three lines on the obverse, as on this of
Eadvald.
The second piece presents a similar reverse to, and the
same moneyer's name as, the coins of Offa (pi. iv. 19;
pi. xxix. 14). The name Vintred appears also on a coin of
Offa (pi. v. 28), and on two of Coenwulf (pl.vi. 6 and 19).
The resemblance I have here traced between the pennies
of Eadvald and those of Offa and his successor, will warrant
the conjecture that the former were issued about the com-
mencement of the reign of Coenwulf, by some cotemporary
prince. I can, indeed, see no reason to alter the opinion
I have long entertained, that they present the name of a
king who reigned in East Anglia, during the early part of
the ninth century.
Ethelwulf, king of Wessex, is said to have appointed his
brother, Athelstan, regent of Kent, Essex, Surrey, and
Sussex, the kingdoms which his father had subdued. East
Anglia, which had placed itself under the protection of
Egbert, is not mentioned ; probably it was then governed
by an independent sovereign, who may have been
EANRED.
The exact correspondence of execution and type re-
marked between the penny of this king and the money of
Ethelwulf, Ethelbert, and Berhtulf, in my former letter, still
induces me to think that it is erroneously assigned to the
Northumbrian Eanred. The non-appearance of the mo-
neyer's name, DES, on any part of the stycas which have
yet come to light, is an obstacle to this appropriation.
Should any silver money of Eanred exist, I should expect
it would resemble the stycas, as does that figured in Sir A.
38 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Fountaine's tables, and the sceatta of his successor, Ethelred.
Until the year 867, we have sceattas and stycas of different
kings of Northumbria and archbishops of York ; whilst the
earliest pennies of this kingdom, if we remove this from
the series, are perhaps some of the Sancti Petri Moneta, then
those of the Anglo-Danish princes, Sihtric, Anlaf, and
Regnald.
We now come to consider the penny of
EDELRED,
unique in every respect as regards Anglo-Saxon numis-
matics. Its obverse presents the well-known Carlovingian
type of the Christian temple, surrounded by the name and
title of Edelred. On a former occasion, I supposed this
coin to have been struck by the joint authority of Edelred
and Beorne, about 758. It appears, however, that twenty-
two years elapsed between the death of Beorne and
the accession of Ethelred ; and indeed a fresh examination
of the piece under discussion has satisfied me, that the
penultimate letter of the reverse is not R, but A, of a
form frequently occurring on the coins of Aihelward and
Edmund ; so that instead of BEORNHRE, we must read
BEORNHAE, the name of a moneyer.
The Christian temple first appears on the coins of
Charlemagne, with great reason supposed to have been
minted posterior to his Italian expedition, and copied from
a Roman model. His money of this type is, however,
extremely rare ; not so that of Louis le Debonnaire, his son.
In the opinion of M. de Saulcy (Revue de la Numismatique
Francaise, 1837, p. 356), the type of the temple was
adopted on the currency of Louis, towards the middle of
his reign, about 830 ; in that of Charles le Simple it dis-
appears from the coinage of France.
NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF EAST ANGLIA. 39
The scarcity of the coins of Charlemagne impressed
with this type, prevents us from assigning this piece to
Ethelred his cotemporary, who died in 790 ; and if, as it
appears probable, it was a copy of some coins of Louis, we
cannot fix its date earlier than 830. The resemblance
which, in some respects, it bears to the coins of Athelward
and Edmund, excludes Ethelred of Northumberland and
Ethelred of Wessex from all claim to it, and the moneyer's
name BEORNHAE, which is found on coins of Edmund,
confines it to the East Anglian series.
Mr. Lindsay has conjectured that
BEORHTRIC,
a penny of whom is engraved in Ruding's third Plate, was
another of these unrecorded kings of the East- Angles;
and the close affinity which exists between it and the coins
of Athelward, shew the correctness of that gentleman's
opinion. The earliest coins of Egbert are undoubtedly
those figured in Ruding's fifth plate (moneyers, Babba
and Udd), these erroneously assigned to Ecgfrid, the son
of Offa, and that in plate xxviii. (moneyer Oba); then
those with the portrait ; and lastly, those in which his name
is spelt JEcgtberckt, and none of these bear the slightest
resemblance to this penny of Beorhtric. It is difficult to
account for the presence of the letter A on this, and the
pieces which bear the names of Athelward, Edmund, and
Ethelstan. It has been supposed the initial of Anglorum^ was
placed on the money of this kingdom, for the same reason
that 00 appears on that of Mercia, and this conjecture is
intitled to some consideration.
A coin of Coenwulf, on which this letter occurs (Ruding
Plate vi., Fig. 6), may have been minted in East-Anglia,
40 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
since the moneyer's name, Wintred, is found on one of the
above-mentioned pieces of Eadvald ; and those of Ceolwulf
and Berhtulf of the same type, may be admitted as evi-
dence that these princes had not relinquished their claim
to the sovereignty of that province. The appearance of
the same letter on some pieces of the West- Saxon Ethel-
wulf, may be accounted for on the supposition that they
were issued in Kent, under his authority, by his brother
Athelstan, and so marked with the initial of his name.
One of these has the name of the mint Doribi, in the field
of the obverse, a strong confirmation of this hypothesis.
On the Northumbrian stycas, however, we find both A
and CO) and this cannot be accounted for on the same
grounds.
There is a curious penny of Ethelstan (Ruding, Plate ix.,
Fig. 4), on which the letter A may have a different signi-
fication, being apparently connected with co in the field of
the reverse. Beginning with the obverse legend, the coin
must be read thus :
+ EDELSTAN + REX AND
H CO
I will reserve a few remarks on the coins of Athelward,
Ethelstan, and the Sancti Eadmundi Moneta, for a future
opportunity.
If the preceding remarks be correct, we have on coins
alone, the names of five kings, respecting whom history is
silent, to fill up the blank of sixty years in the East-
Anglian annals. They may be arranged as follows :
EADVALD, his coins, connected by types and names
of money ers, with those of Offa and
Coenwulf, will warrant us in supposing
that he reigned about A.D. 800.
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 41
EANRED, from the resemblance of his penny, in
type and style of execution, to the money
of Ethelwulf and Berhtulf. I should
place his reign about 840.
EDELRED, type copied from the deniers of Louis le
Debonaire, and moneyer of Edmund :
and
BEORHTRIC, the type of his penny connecting it with
those of
ATHELWARD, generally acknowledged to belong to this
series, must all have reigned between
840 and 855.
These coins become doubly important, considered as
monuments of kings not recorded in history, and the only
evidence that they ever reigned.
D. H. H.
Leeds, 6th March, 1841.
A drawing of the coin of Edelred (original in the British
Museum), was forwarded with a former paper.
VIII.
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV.
BY AQUILLA SMITH, M.D., M.R.I.A.
[Published in the Nineteenth Volume of the Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy. Dublin, 1840. 4to. pp. 49-]
THE study of the various coinages which took place in
Ireland during the reign of Edward IV., is peculiarly
attractive, from the number and variety of his coins
which have reached our times ; and the difficulties hitherto
in appropriating many of them to the precise period at
VOL. IV. G
42 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
which they were issued from the several mints, has added
considerable interest to the investigation. Dr. Smith has
observed, it is a remarkable circumstance, that during the
first seven years of this reign, seven distinct coinages were
issued from the Irish mints. Some of them present several
varieties of their types: but the history of the period is
much embarrassed by the gross frauds then practised in
the authorised, as well as the illegal Irish mints.
The solving of these difficulties, and the affording a more
lucid means for the appropriation of specimens of the
coinages in Ireland, during the reign of Edward IV.,
have been Dr. Smith's main object; and in this most ably
has that gentleman been both assiduous and successful.
He divides the history of the coins into four sections, each
distinguished by its peculiar type.
The first includes those coins, the type of which was
peculiar to Ireland.
The second, or Hiberno-English type, comprises those
coins, bearing devices peculiar to the Irish mint on the
obverse ; and on the reverse, the motto of the English
mint, " Posui Deum" etc.
The third, the coins similar in type to those of Edward
struck in the English mints ; and,
Fourthly, those denominated the Anglo-Irish type;
having on the obverse, a shield, bearing the arms of
England and France quarterly ; and on the reverse, three
crowns in pale, a device peculiar to the Irish coinage.
The type of the coins comprised within the first section,
are those having on the obverse, a crown within a tressure,
no legend ; and on the reverse, a cross, with pellets, within
the quarters, the legend denoting the place of mintage.
No coins of this type are known to have issued from any
other mint than that of Dublin.
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 43
Grafton, in his continuation to Hoarding's Chronicle,
printed at the close of 1542, in reference to Edward IV.'s
endeavours to reform and redress the public weal, in
the four years following the discomfiture of Henry VI.'s
adherents at the battle of Towton Field, in March
1461, adds, "Besides he coined money, as well gold as
silver, the which at this day is current. The which gold
was in royals and nobles, and the silver was groats, so that
in his time, this kind of coin came up." Grafton has here
blundered egregiously, as the groats of Edward III.
sufficiently testify; yet, it is certain, Edward IV., early
in the first year of his reign, in August 1461, ap-
pointed " German Lynch, of London, goldsmith, warden
and master-worker of our moneys and coynes within our
castle of Dublin, and within our castle of Trymme," to
strike certain pieces of silver, in Gal way ; l as appears by
the confirmation of the letter patent, by the parliament of
Wexford, in 1463. It is thus shewn who was the master-
worker of the Dublin mint at the accession of Edward IV.;
and in the first year of this reign, it was enacted by
the parliament held at Dublin, a maille, or halfpenny,
and a quadrant, or farthing of silver, with the crown on
the obverse, and the cross and legend on reverse, similar to
those of the last year of Henry VI., should be struck
in the Dublin mint, but no specimens of this type are
known.
In the next year, 1462, a farthing of copper mixed with
silver, having on one side a crown, with suns and roses
within the circumference of the crown ; and on the other a
cross, with the place of mintage, was ordered to be struck
in the castle of Dublin. The discovery of the only known
1 Simon, Append. No. viii.
44 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
specimen of this coinage, in the cabinet of Lieutenant-
Colonel Weld Hartstonge, by Dr. Smith, is announced in the
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. ii. pp.21 23.
The several varieties of the coins of this first section, are
minutely detailed in the first plate, beautifully etched,
from the exquisite drawings of Dr. Smith.
The second section, the Hiberno-English type, comprises
several distinct varieties. The first sort, on obverse, a
crown, with legend, the king's name and titles; reverse,
the cross and pellets, similar to the English groats. The
second, a rose' of five leaves on obverse, with legend of
king's name and titles ; on the reverse a sun in splendour,
charged with a rose of five leaves, or an annulet in the
centre, the legend being the place of mintage. A third,
on obverse, the king's head, with legend of name and
titles ; on reverse, the sun in splendour, with charge as
before, the legend denoting the place of mintage. Other
varieties approach the distinctions, in ornament and
arrangement, of the coins produced by the English mints
at London, York, and Durham.
Dr. Smith places the first issue of this coinage in the
year 1463, and we find them to have been struck at the
mints of Dublin and Waterford. The place of mintage in
the latter city, which Dr. Smith has omitted to mention,
was " in a place called Dondory, alias Raynold's Tower."
The groat, on obverse, a rose ; and on the reverse, the
sun in splendour, figured in Dr. Smith's plate 1., No. xxii.,
would seem to be a unique specimen. It was formerly in
the Grainger Collection, whence it was purchased with a
Trim groat of Edward IV., a half groat, and penny, with
the sun reverses, by Thomas Hollis, in March 1766.
Snelling engraved it in his first additional plate to Simon,
No. 19; and, again, in one of the plates to Archdeacon
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. % 45
Blackbourne's privately printed Memoirs of Thomas
Hollis, 1 780, 4to., in which work, p. 834, it is mentioned.
When the Hollis cabinet was dispersed by auction, in May
1817, it was purchased by the late Matthew Young, and is
now part of the superb collection of the late highly re-
spected Dean of St. Patrick.
The small copper piece (pi. 1. No. 21); on obverse, a
shield bearing three crowns, two and one, and on the
reverse, the sun in splendour, charged with a rose, is
doubtless a farthing of the coinage of 1463, and has been
very properly appropriated by Dr. Smith.
Ruding, in reference to the devices on these coins, has
stated, " the rose on the badge of the House of York, and
the sun was first introduced by Edward upon the coins.
This impress he adopted, in commemoration of an extra-
ordinary appearance in the heavens, immediately before
the battle of Mortimer's Cross, in Herefordshire, when
three suns were seen, which shone for a time, and then
were suddenly conjoined in one. As Edward was then
victorious, he took for his impress a sun, which stood him
in good stead at the battle of Barnet ;" 2 assertions, which
having obtained acceptation by some numismatists, may
deserve some particular notice.
The White Rose, said to have been derived from the
castle of Clifford, and the especial distinctive insignia of
the royal house of York, is supposed by some writers to
have been borne as a badge by Edmund of Langley, fifth
son of Edward III., created Duke of York by his nephew
Richard II., and from whom, by the marriage of Anne
Mortimer with Edmund's second son, Edward earl of
March, and the representative of the House of York,
2 Annals of the Coinage, edit. 1819, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 359.
46 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
claimed the crown of England as Edward IV. This
appropriation does not appear correct. The rose was cer-
tainly a badge of the Plantagenets, 3 and on the coins of
John, has a place on the obverse, within the triangular
form, which on the coins of that monarch, Henry III., and
Edward I., were symbols of the Trinity. That the white
rose was not the badge of Edmund of Langley, first duke
of York, is almost proved by the ancient painting at Wilton
House, near Salisbury, in which Richard II., kneeling
before St. John, St. Edmund, and St. Edward the confessor,
is attended by angels, who are represented as wearing
collars formed of white roses, intermixed with broom-pods.
Yet the device of a sun, charged with a white rose, and the
motto, " Dieu et mon Droit" was certainly one of the
badges of Edward IV.
On Edward IV.'s great seal, the rose and sun are
separately displayed; and the two figures formed the
ornaments of a collar given by that monarch to his
adherents. In the Rous roll, his brother, George, duke of
Clarence, is represented as holding in his hand such a
collar, to which is pendant a lion, a distinctive badge of
the house of March.
The sun, as a royal badge, was of much earlier use than
the time of Edward IV. The sun, in splendour, had
already appeared on the reverse of the coins of John,
subordinate, however, to another royal badge, the star of
five points, and a crescent ; and it is perhaps deserving of
notice, the star of five points on the obverse of the Irish
coins of Henry III., takes the place of the rose on those of
John. The star of five points, according to the religious
devices of early times, had reference to the star of
3 One of the badges of Edward I. was a rose or, the stalk vert.
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 47
Bethlehem, which led the magi to the place of the nativity.
Simon Fitz-Mary, sheriff of London, founded in 1247, at
Bishopsgate, near London, a priory called Bethlehem;
and on the breast of the capes of the monastic costume
worn by its inmates, was a star of five flaming points, gules ;
in the centre a circle, or annulet azure, or sky-colour. A
portion of the armorial insignia of the same house, was on
a chief azure, an etoile of sixteen rays. The number
sixteen further seems typical of the same allusion. Sir
John Maundeville, a traveller in the fourteenth century,
describing the chapel of the nativity at Jerusalem, says,
" Besyde the quier of the chirche, at the right side, as men
comen downward sixteen greces [or steps], is the place where
our Lord was born, that is full well dyghte of marble, and
fulle richly peynted with gold, sylver, azure, and other
colours : and three paces besyde, is the crybbe of the ox
and the asse."
Edward III., in 1376, in a grand tournament in Smith-
field, for the gratification of his lady-love, Alice Pierce,
caused her to ride by his side in a triumphal chariot, as
" the Lady of the Sun." In a contemporary illuminated
manuscript, describing Richard II.'s voyage to Ireland,
and his return in 1399, one of the paintings represents the
king's ship, on the main-sail of which, the sun in splendour
is spread forth in magnificent effulgence. Gower further
alludes to the same monarch, in an unpublished poem, yet
extant, under the device of the sun. By Edward IV.,
as a Yorkist, the sun appears to have been borne, as also
by Queen Elizabeth, a Tudor, as it constituted one of the
main ornaments among the royal devices, which decorated
the banqueting-chamber erected by her order in April
1581, for the reception and entertainment of her Gallic
gallant, the Duke of Anjou. These facts are sufficient
48 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
to shew, that as a royal badge, it did not originate from the
incident assigned in the quotation from Ruding.
A genealogical roll, deducing the descent of Edward IV.
from Henry III., and shewing his claim to the crown,
by deduction from Edmund of Langley, first duke of
York, and his wife, Isabella of Castile, from its illumi-
nations and paintings, appears to have been finished
soon after, if not immediately upon, his assumption of the
regal dignity. In this, the two parhelia, or fictitious suns,
formed in connection with the great luminary, as they ap-
peared previous to the battle of Mortimer's Cross, on Feb.
2nd, 1461, are distinctly delineated, as also the form of the
sun when eclipsed. The historians of the period seem to
have passed sub silentio the fact of the eclipse ; but another
and more pictorial illumination supplies further and more
interesting detail. Edward, in the midst of his army, 4 has
his eyes directed to an appearance of three suns in the fir-
mament, from which is directed towards him a stream of
rays bearing three crowns ; these are indicated by a line
above the painting " Sol in forma triplici : sic Edwardo R.
Anglic" In the illumination, a hand protruded from a
cloud, holds forth a label, on which is " Veni : Coronaberis,
de capite Amana t de vertice Sanir et Hermon" Another
label placed immediately over Edward's head has these
words " Due quid vis me facere" The first is deduced
from the Latin Vulgate, Canticles iv. 8 ; and the latter
from Acts ix. 6. Edward's claims are here specifically
4 Among the soldiery to the right stands a flag-bearer, bearing
a pennon, on which is painted a black bull, an early badge of the
house of Clare or Clarence, through which family the line of York
derived their right to the throne. On the front of the George
Inn, at Glastonbury, the arms of Edward IV. are supported, on
the dexter side by a lion, and on the sinister, by a bull.
ON THE HUSH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 49
detailed, as "Earl of March, son of Richard duke of
York, and heir to the crowns of England, France, and
Castile." The disputed point whether the three crowns
iii the after-coinage of Edward IV., and Richard III., im-
plied the armorial insignia of Ireland, is therefore set at
rest, notwithstanding the assertion by George Chalmers,
that a Commission, appointed in the reign of Edward IV.,
to ascertain what were the arms of Ireland, reported as
their answer, The arms were three crowns in pale. 3 Ed-
ward evidently assumed the three crowns as indicative of
his claims, and they were retained by his successor ; but
why continued by Henry VII. is somewhat problematical.
Mr. Lindsay, in appropriating to the latter monarch the
coins placed by Simon to Henry VI., is certainly in the
right, and establishes the fact of coins being struck ex-
pressly for Ireland by Henry VII. ; but the latter were
probably minted in the tower of London, in the same man-
ner as those of Henry VIII., bearing in the legend
" Civilitas Dublinie^ were issued from the Tower Mint :
he at no time having had any authorised mint in Ireland.
The conflicts which arose by the partial successes of the
Lancastrian party, for a brief period placed tf the sun of
York " in obscurity, and the imbecile Henry VI. was re-
instated on the throne, Oct. 25, 1470, only to be flung
down with fatal effect by the more powerful efforts of the
Yorkists. Edward again entered London as a victor on
April 11, 1471 ; Henry's short day of regality passed away,
and the representative of the house of York was restored.
That this was a period when many base unauthorised coins
were struck in Ireland, cannot be doubted; and, from
6 Caledonia, vol. L, p. 463. The commission referred to by
that historian, is not known by heraldic writers.
VOL. IV. H
50 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Dr. Smith's researches, we find many made in Cork,
Youghal, Kinsale, and Kilmallock, werq by the act of
1472, declared as false coins; and, in 1476, were further
declared void, and forbidden to be received in payment.
Of the seven cities and towns, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin,
Limerick, Trim, Waterford, and Wexford, in which the
coins described in the third section were minted, only four,
viz., Drogheda, Dublin, Trim, and Waterford, are re-
cognised as legal mints in the acts which have been pre-
served. In 1473, it was enacted that the coins should be
struck for the time to come within the Castle of Dublin
only, and in no other place in Ireland; yet it appears
Limerick retained or recovered authority to coin money at
a subsequent period ; and the power to coin money within
the castle of Trim was conceded in 1478, to Henry, Lord
Grey, Lord Deputy, by the name of Seneschal and Trea-
surer of theLiberty of Meath.
The class of coins constituting the fourth section, are, as
Dr. Smith observes, of " a very remarkable type," and may
be denominated the Anglo-Irish type : on the obverse, a
shield, bearing the arms of England and France quartered ;
and on the reverse, three crowns in pale : a device at no
time represented on the coins produced in the English mints,
but peculiar to the Irish coinage. Fynes Moryson, who
wrote after the accession of James I., and from his family
connections with persons of authority in Ireland, might be
supposed to speak of these coins with something like a
knowledge of the purport of the device, very vaguely de-
scribes them as " cross-keale groats, with the Pope's triple
crown ;" in fact, no further evidence is required to prove
his utter ignorance of the matter in point. Sir James Ware,
the most distinguished of the writers on the antiquities and
history of Ireland, was unable to solve the problem of the
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 51
meaning of the three crowns, beyond the conjecture of their
"denoting the three kingdoms of England, France, and
Ireland ;" an opinion in which Simon concurred. This
opinion Dr. Smith has, however, rebutted, by adopting the
suggestion of the Rev. Richard Butler, of Trim, that the
three crowns were the arms of Ireland from the time of
Richard II., to the time of Henry VII., founded mainly on
two points : on the grant of arms to Robert de Vere,
Earl of Oxford, created marquis, and almost immediately
after, duke of Dublin, viz., so long as he should be Lord
of Ireland Azure, three crowns or, within a border argent;
and, secondly, the crown for the first time appearing on
the first distinct and separate coinage for Ireland, authorised
in 1460, by the parliament held at Drogheda, before
Richard, duke of York, lord-lieutenant, which declared
the independence of Ireland, and enacting that it should
have a proper coin, separate from the coin of England. 6
The positions assumed by the Rev. Richard Butler are,
in the opinion of the writer, hardly tenable ; and for these
reasons : the coat granted to Robert de Vere, was doubt-
less the armorial insignia of the banner of St. Edmund ; and
as a royal coat could only be borne by a subject by the
monarch's special permission ; secondly, the bearing such
arms ceased with this individual, and they are not shown to
have been borne or displayed by any other person, or in
any way, as the armorial insignia of Ireland.
The assertion that the crown first appears on the coin
6 The reference is to Simon, Appendix V., which is dated 23
Hen. VI. ; but it should have been the 38 Hen. VI., that year
ending August 30, 1460 : Richard, duke of York, arrived in
London on the second day of the meeting of parliament at West-
minster, which assembled on Oct. 9th in that year, to obey, as he
believed, the call of that parliament to the throne of England.
52 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
authorised by the parliament held at Drogheda, in 1460,
and that the declared independence of Ireland were direct
proofs that the crown, or the three crowns, constituted the
armorial device of Ireland, is in no way capable of sup-
porting the position of that gentleman, within whose com-
prehension it appears not to have fallen, that the persons
constituting the parliament held at Drogheda, were favour-
able to the pretensions of Richard, duke of York ; and that
in that act they virtually severed the dominion of Ireland
from the crown of England. The act expressly describes
one species of coin "on which shall be imprinted, on one
side, a lyon, and on the other side, a crown, called an
Irlandes d'argent ; to pass for one penny sterling." Here
is directly and unblushingly told the duke's pretensions
he claimed the crown of England as heir of the house of
March. The lion was the badge of the house of March ;
and the crown was that of England, which he sought. The
separation of Ireland, if it had been carried into effect,
affording to the duke a species of sovereignty, which would
enable him to make head against the partisans of the house
of Lancaster, whose representative then occupied the
English throne, in the person of the imbecile and weak-
minded Henry VI. How then, can it be said, the crown
here found on the Irish groats and pennies ascribed to
Henry VI., affords proof that the three crowns were the
arms of Ireland ? The crown appears as part of the duke's
device ; but the time had not arrived when the armorial
badge of the house of March could be placed with safety
on the coins struck expressly for Ireland ; and the reverses
consequently show the place of mintage instead. Richard,
duke of York, father of Edward IV., was killed at the
battle of Wakefield, Dec. 31, 1460.
The three crowns, two and one, appear but on one piece
ON THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 53
of money, issued, doubtless, after the accession of Edward
IV., and have a close similitude to the arrangement of the
banner-device of St. Edmund, and to the arms borne on a
shield by Robert de Vere, duke of Dublin ; this fact would
no doubt occasion the arms in that form to be withdrawn,
and the three crowns, indicative of his right to the crowns
of England, France, and Castile, of themselves being
sufficient to occupy the field of the coin, were heraldically
displayed in pale. These observations will possibly frustrate
the qualification Dr. Smith has given to the suggestions of
the Rev. Richard Butler, when he observes (p. 39), " His
opinions appear to derive some support from Sir James
Ware's account of the three crowns, as denoting the three
kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland ; for if we take
into consideration the devices on both sides of the coin, we
find the arms of England and France quartered on the
obverse ; and on the reverse, the arms of Ireland [i. e. the
three crowns]. Now it is probable Sir James Ware knew
Ireland had been represented by arms of some kind, but
that he committed the mistake of supposing the device on
the reverse alone represented three kingdoms instead of
one."
With the Rev. Richard Butler's opinion, that the three
crown groats, bearing the title of Rex Hibernie, were
struck to further the pretensions of Lambert Simnel, in
his claim to the throne of England, in 1487, under the
title of Edward VI., and were not of the period or reign
of Edward IV., the writer begs to add his humble concur-
rence ; in his opinion, the point is fully established by the
facts already advanced.
Dr. Smith's investigation on the Irish coins of Edward
IV., has placed him in the first class of Numismatists, by
the unceasing patience of his enquiries, the good sense and
solidity of his arguments, and the urbane manner in which
54 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
he courts an examination of the positions he steps boldly
forward to maintain, when not altogether in concurrence
with opinions which have retained ground from misconcep-
tions, or previous mis-statements. The plates, beautifully
engraved by Kirkwood, from most exquisite drawings by
Dr. Smith, exhibit ninety-three varieties of the coins of
this reign, from the cabinets of the leading Numismatists
of Ireland, the Rev. Richard Butler of Trim, the collec-
tion of the late Dean of St. Patrick's, Lieut. Col. Weld,
Hartstonge, John Lindsay, Esq., of Mary Ville, near Cork,
and Richard Sainthill, Esq., of Cork. B.
IX.
COINS OF ROMANUS I. AND II.
THE correct appropriation of ancient coins being the prin-
cipal aim of all numismatic researches, the following may
perhaps be an acceptable contribution to the pages of the
Numismatic Chronicle.
A Byzantine coin of copper came into my possession
some time ago, on which I observe the common type of
Constantine X. 1 struck upon a piece of one Romanus, 2
1 Obv. + CONST BASIL
Bust of the emperor, his right hand on his breast, his left holding
a globe, surmounted by a cross.
Rev. + CONST
eNeeo BA
SILGVS R
oooeoN
See " Descriptive Catalogue of Roman Coins," vol. ii. p. 401.
*0bv. + RWCDAN BASILGVS RWGD
Bearded bust of Romanus, holding in his right hand the labarum,
in his left a globe, surmounted by a cross.
Rev. hRWCDA
NENeeOJBA
SILEVS RW
OOAIWN -
Figured in De Saulcy's work, pi. xxi. fig. 6.
COINS OF ROMANUS I. AND II.
55
certainly the first of his name, since the second could not
appear alone on the imperial money, until after the death
of his father Constantine.
The coins of this type, presenting on the obverse a
bearded bust, long assigned to the younger Romanus, were
restored by the Baron Marchant to Romanus I. M. de
Saulcy objects to this restitution, and assigns the following
reason for adopting the arrangement proposed by the
earlier commentators on Byzantine numismatics. That the
legend of the reverse is ROXOAN GN eGW BASILEVS
RWflQAIWN, whilst the pieces of Leo VI. and Constan-
tine X. almost always present the letter O, and the word
ROGOGON, instead of W and ROXCAIWN; and that since
the coins of Nicephorus Focas present the same reverse
legend, it is more probable that the pieces in question
belong to Romanus the younger, than to Romanus I. 3
An examination of the plates to De Saulcy's work
(xix. xx. and xxi), will shew that no argument drawn
from this source can have much weight, since it appears
that the forms RWOOAIWN and ROCOGON are used
indiscriminately on the coins of Basil I. and Constan-
tine VIII. (PI. xix. 2 and 3), and RWGOAIWN is found
on the silver money of Leo VI. (PL xix. fig. 8). The
piece now before us is decisive of the controversy,
3 " Essai de Classification," p. 228.
56 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
proving that these coins were issued previous to those of
Constantino X., consequently by llomanus I. ; and con-
firming the opinion of the Baron Marchant. Re-issued
coins, like the present, are, I believe, peculiar to the
Byzantine series. The assistance they afford to the
chronological arrangement of other coins, enhances their
interest and value in an extraordinary degree, a subject
ably discussed by M. de Saulcy in his truly elegant work 4 .
Another coin, in my possession, presents the same type
of Romanus, struck upon one of Constantine and Zoe
(PI. xx. fig. 3.) D. H. H.
1st March, 1841.
X.
REMARKS ON A PAPER ENTITLED " MEMOIR ON
THE ROETTIERS."
MR. EDITOR, In the last number of the Numismatic
Chronicle you have published a Communication entitled a
" Memoir on the Roettiers," the writer of which, in the
slashing Pinkerton style, impeaches the testimony of all
who have written on the subject Horace Walpole, Martin
Folkes, John Evelyn, Mr. Bindley, and even questions
the correctness of the date in an ofticial paper (the Roettier
Petition and Accompt) which is in your own possession,
and was printed verbatim et literatim under your own eye.
When a writer professes to correct others he should give
evidence that what he himself puts forth is capable of
being substantiated, but the Author of the " Memoir" gives
4 Ibid. pp. 63, 250, &c.
REMARKS ON A " MEMOIR OH THE ROETTIERS." 57
no authorities for many of his assertions respecting the
Roettiers, except a few unimportant extracts from the Mint
records arid the parliamentary journals, which of course
do not bear at all upon the family history.
The Bindley Paper states that Joseph Roettier did not
return to France until 1678, which is borne out by the
petition from John in behalf of the three brothers (see
Num. Chron. Vol. II. p. 198). for making a great seal
in 1677. 1 The author of the " Memoir" asserts that
it was in 1672 that Joseph left England, and therefore as-
sumes that the date in the petitioner's account is an error,
but he gives no authority in confirmation of his statement ;
whereas Bindley derived his information from Snelling,
who had it from one of the family, a chain of evidence we
conceive in every way satisfactory. True it is that Joseph
Roettier succeeded Warin in the Paris mint, and as the
latter died in 1675, (according to Walpole) it is not impro-
bable that two years more might elapse before the election
of his successor was finally settled, or Joseph had completed
his engagements in England.
The Bindley MS. states that "John would not come
over without his two brothers, Joseph and Philip." This
the Author of the " Memoir" considers "erroneous," but
advances no authority in support of his assertion his
1 The correctness of this date is in some degree corroborated by
an official note, of which the following is a correct copy :
" TO THE AUDITORS OF THE IMPRESTS.
" Gentl n The Lords Com ns of his Ma b Treasury direct ybu with
what convenient speed you can to certifie them whether it appears
by any accounts before you that any money hath bin paid to John
Rottier Engraver of his Ma te Mint and Scales, for working and
making two Great Seales one in the yeare 1671 and the other in
the yeare 1677.
I am Gent" Your most humble Servant
Treasury Chamber, HEN. GUY."
5th June, 1684.
58 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
objection resting only on the fact that Philip was twelve years
younger than John, an objection which must go for nothing,
since it fails to shew that the youngest brother was not
arrived at manhood.
Walpole's statement of the connection between Cha s II.
and the elder Roettier previous to the Restoration, is treated
by the Author of the "Memoir" as a "mere fable unde-
serving of any credit," as is also Folkes' story to the same
effect, but as we have only his own ipse dixit, and not a
shadow of proof advanced to substantiate it, we must be
allowed to distrust a mere flippant denial. Walpole, as well
as Bindley, had his information from members of the
Roettier family, which in common fairness ought to be
considered the most authentic we know that Charles II.
acted generally less from regard to merit than from per-
sonal favoritism or obligation, and yet, with all his faults,
we believe that he would never have given John Roettier,
a foreigner, a preference over Simon an Englishman, unless
from some principle of that kind, which must have arisen
from services rendered to him by Roettier when abroad.
Thus Walpole's story is not an improbable one in account-
ing for the king's patronage of the Roettiers.
The Author of the *' Memoir" goes on to say that Thomas
Simon had a brother named Lawrence; but we can find no
evidence of any other brother than Abraham, of whom there
are some interesting notices in Vertue's " Works of Simon."
Neither Walpole nor Vertue appear ever to have heard of
any Lawrence Simon, and Abraham alone, as far as we can
learn, was assistant to Simon at the Mint.
Thomas Simon was not " appointed by patent, chief
engraver on the 2nd June, 1660," only three days after the
king's entry into London. It was on the 2nd June 1661.
that his appointment as " one of his Ma les chief gravers"
REMARKS ON A " MEMOIR Off. THE ROETTIERS." 59
took place; it is so stated in two instances by Vertue, and
we have ourselves seen an official copy of the patent!
The Author of the " Memoir" calls Simon " a stern old
republican," though he omits to inform us how he obtained
a knowledge that such were his political principles, when
all contemporary accounts of Simon are so extremely meagre.
It does not follow that because he wrought under the com-
monwealth and the Protector, that he therefore held Repub-
lican opinions; for we see him equally willing and eager to
work under the royal patronage, as is in evidence by the
Petition Crown. But the Author of the " Memoir" seems
to have had a point to obtain a wish to throw some obloquy
on Evelyn 2 for Simon's republicanism is put forth as the
occasion of Evelyn'senmity to him, though the one is equally
with the other, as destitute of proof as we believe them to
be false in fact. The amiable and all-accomplished John
Evelyn, the scholar, the Christian, and the numismatist,
could not have been insensible to the great merits of Simon
as an artist, and his claims as an Englishman ; and it would
require something more than vague insinuations or conjec-
tures to satisfy our minds on a point so much at variance
with our notions of Evelyn's character. 3
2 His sneer at Evelyn in the note at page 169 of the " Memoir"
is undeserving of any notice.
3 In a recently published work, " A Modern Pyramid to a Sep-
tuagint of Worthies," the writer of which is a well-known mem-
ber of the Numismatic Society, Evelyn is thus noticed:
" A more admirable character than that of John Evelyn is not
readily to be met with. Religion, Patriotism, and universal be-
nevolence were the Lares and Penates of his home. Born and
bred in an age hypocritical or enthusiastic, Evelyn preserved the
quiet tenor of his way as a pious and persecuted churchman ; a
devoted royalist, he inveighed with indignant grief against ' the
execrable villains who murdered our excellent king ;' he lived con-
sistent, respected and beloved, and went to the reward of a faith-
60 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
By the author of the " Memoir" it is stated, that he
"had some reason to believe" that Simon, after " quitting
the Mint" in 1665, " retired to Yorkshire, and was living
there several years after the supposed date of his decease."
It would have been more satisfactory had he acquainted
us with his reasons ; for by omitting them we are unavoid-
ably led to suspect that they are very slight. Whatever
they are, they are annihilated by the circumstantial evi-
dence afforded by the " Petition" of his widow, and other
official papers, read before the Numismatic Society on the
18th of February last, that Simon died in the latter part of
1665, or in the beginning of 1666, which agrees with the
prevalent and popular tradition, that he was among those
who perished of the plague. We are moreover convinced,
from the same sources, that, though part of the work that
belonged to his office was given to Roettier, Simon never
received an " abrupt dismissal" from the Mint, or a dis-
missal in any shape that he never " retired in disgust"-
but remained in full work, in seal and medal-making,
to the day of his death, which is further confirmed by the
large claim of 3,0001. his widow had on the Government.
At page 172 of the " Memoir," an extract from Evelyn's
Diary (in 1678) is given, relative to Roettier, who "was
now moulding a horse for the king's statue, to be cast in
silver, of a yard high." Of course, this must have been a
statue of the reigning king, Charles II., and it is not very
clear to us what connection the author of the " Memoir"
finds between this statue and Le Soeur's statue of Charles I.,
which had been cast in bronze many years previously, and
on a scale considerably larger.
ful servant of God at the advanced age of eighty-six. The moral
of his epitaph is worth recording, from its truth : " All is vanity
that is not honest, and there is no solid wisdom but in true piety."
REMARKS ON A "MEMOIR OH THE ROETTIERS." 61
The passage in the " Memoir" relative to Mr. Stothard
and the Roettier dies, is in the main particulars erroneous.
Mr. Stothard himself, and we use his name advisedly, is
our authority for the contradiction.
On a careful perusal of the " Memoir," it appears to us
to contain little information relative to \heprivatehistoryoi
the Roettiers that was not already known to us from
" Walpole's Anecdotes," and the Bindley MS.* Though
the author questions their testimony, he is indebted to them
for his main facts. Wherein he differs from them he is
supported by slight authorities, or by no authorities at all ;
and we cannot give him credit for having had any new or
exclusive sources of information. If he had, he would
have surely told us who Francis Roettier, born at Paris in
1702, was. No such name appears in his genealogical
table. Our conclusions are that many things he asserts are
either assumed or speculative : we have shown in several
instances that they are so. B. N.
London; 1st March, 1841.
* First printed in No. X. of the Numismatic Chronicle.
MISCELLANEA.
THE NEW PENNY PIECES. The following paragraph
appeared in the " Times " newspaper of the 18th January,
from whence it was copied into the " Mirror " of the 23rd of
the same month. "NEW COINAGE FOR 1841. A beautiful
specimen of new coins has just been issued from the Mint,
consisting of penny pieces. They are materially different
from those now in use, as there is no lettering upon them,
with the exception of the date. On one side is a most ex-
cellent medallion likeness of her present Majesty, richly and
elaborately finished, and as it nearly occupies the whole of
one of the sides of the pieces, has a magnificent effect. On
the obverse is a figure of Britannia, similar to those on the
fourpenny pieces, under which is placed the date. The out-
side of the rim is perfectly smooth, but it is raised in such a
manner as to afford ample protection to the figure on the body
when in use. The die from which this new issue has been
made is highly creditable to the advanced state of the arts in
this country, and the finish of the coins produced in working
from it cannot be excelled in the most valuable metals."
It is quite clear that the writer of this paragraph had
never seen the coins he pretends to describe, or he was
practising a stupid hoax upon the editor. There is lettering
upon them ; on the obverse " Victoria Dei Gratia," and on
the reverse " Britanniar : Reg: Fid: Def:." The head
does not occupy nearly the whole of one side of the coin,
being no larger than on those of William IV. The figure of
Britannia is on the reverse, and not on the obverse, and the
date is not placed under the Britannia, but under the portrait.
The " outside of the rim " is not raised more than (if so much
as) in the copper coins of the two last reigns, and scarcely pro-
tects the lettering, much less the " figure on the body when
in use."
Editors of newspapers and other periodicals subject them-
selves to serious animadversion when they propagate these egre-
gious mistakes. Inthepresentinstance, it could only have arisen
from their not taking the trouble to be correctly informed,
which might have been easily done, for at the very time that
the above paragraph appeared in the " Times " hundreds of
these pennies had been issued, and were in the hands of the
public. B. N.
MISCELLANEA. 63
MONSIEUR DE LA SAUSSAYE'S WORK ON GAULISH COINS is
at length announced as in the press : it will be published in
quarto, with an Atlas of fifteen plates, containing representa-
tions of a vast number of pieces executed under the expe-
rienced eye of the author, whose knowledge and attention to
this class of coins encourages the hope that his work will be
found most serviceable to the English numismatist. We feel
assured that many of our friends, who possess what they
suppose to be British coins, will discover their error by
means of this work, which will shew us what pieces really
belong to the Continent.
MR. HAWKINS' WORK ON THE ENGLISH SILVER COINAGE
is completed, and is announced for publication. It is an
octavo volume, containing 308 pages, and 47 plates of British,
Saxon, and English coins, engraved under the accurate and
practised eye of the writer, whose long experience and prac-
tical knowledge have enabled him to produce a work which
must find a place on the book -shelves of every collector of our
English money. We shall shortly render a detailed account
of this volume.
AUTONOMOUS COINS OF SPAIN. We have merely time to
announce the appearance of a new work by Monsieur de
Saulcy , entitled " Essai de Classification des Monnoies Autonomes
de I'Espagne," in 8vo., with twelve plates of legends and
alphabets. We hope shortly to render some account of this
work, which must tend to raise these hitherto neglected coins
in the estimation of the numismatist.
THE REVUE NUMISMATIQUE for November and December,
which has just reached us, contains the fallowing Memoirs
and Dissertations. 1. Types des Medailles Grecques Le
Taureau a Face Humaine ; par M. de Witte. 2. Restitution a
la Lycie de Medailles attributes a Rhodanusia; par M. Adr.
de Longperier. 3. Eclaircissements sur le Systeme Monetaire
de TEgypte, sous les Lagides; par M. Letronne. 4. Lettre a
M. Adrien de Longperier, sur une Monnoie Inedite attribuee
a Theodebert ; par M. Millingen. 5. Essai d' Attribution du
Tiers de Sol Merovingien de Vindovera ; par M. A. Chabouil-
let. 6. Observations sur quelque Monnoies des Dixieme et
Onzieme Siecles, frappees Senlis, Chinon, Orleans, &c. ; par
M. du Chalais. 7. Observations sur les Monnoies de Hay-
naut au Nona de Guillaume ; par M. L. Deschamps.
DISCOVERIES OF ROMAN BRASS AND OF ENGLISH SILVER
COINS. The Ipswich Journal of March 20, gives accounts of
64 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the discovery of Roman brass coins at Holbrook, on the river
Stour, and of silver of Edward VI., Philip and Mary, Eliza-
beth, James and Charles, at Hadleigh. The former are said
to be of Diocletian, Maximian, Constantine, Constans and
Constantius in middle brass and in fine preservation, and the
latter are asserted to comprise all the varieties of the mint of
Charles I., some having mint-marks and distinctions not
mentioned in Ruding, and hitherto unpublished. It is to be
hoped that the owners will permit their examination by the
Numismatic Society or by some competent collector.
ROMAN COINS AT KNAPWELL IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
On Friday, January 17th, 1840, in the parish of Knapwell,
County Cambridge, some men hollow-draining in a field
now pasture (ten years since arable land), about 18 inches
below the vegetable soil, in strong clay, discovered a quantity
of Roman coins not contained in any box or vessel, much
corroded and having the appearance of old buttons with the
shanks off. On collecting them together, washing them, steep-
ing them in vinegar, and scouring them in salt they discovered
them to be of silver. Their subsequent history is contained
in the fact of their being eventually committed to my care,
and on examination they proved to be Denarii of the follow-
ing Emperors and their consorts,
Varieties.
Vespasian 4
Titus 2
Domitian - 4
Nero - 2
Trajan ^- - 10
Hadrian - 13
Sabina - - 3
^Elius Caesar - 1
Antoninus Pius - 11
Faustina the Elder 7
Marcus Aurelius 3
Faustina the Younger 7
Verus 2
It would be difficult to discover beyond all controversy the
circumstances connected with the deposit of these coins, there
being no traces of encampments, fortifications or tumula in
the immediate vicinity. At Eatenford, upon the banks of the
Ouse and within a mile of the town of St. Neots, Hunts, was
a campa (estiva of the Romans, recently illustrated by the
Rev. G. C. Gorham in his history of St. Neots. From this
MISCELLANEA. 65
camp was a road or trackway for military purposes, which
still remains connecting it with Camboritum (Cambridge) and
from thence with Camulodunum (Colchester). Knapwell Lord-
ship is situated on the north side of this road, six miles N. W.
of Cambridge. About four miles N. W. of Knapwell, the
road is crossed by the British Ermine Street, subsequently
adopted by the Romans, which commencing in London,
(Londinium) passed through Royston two miles and a-half
from the Ustrinum at Littington, described by Mr. A. J.
Kempe in the 26th vol. of the Archaeologia. After] crossing
this road at the distance of four miles from Knapwell, it pro-
ceeds through Godmanchester (Durolipons) to Lincoln,
(Lindum).
In the year 1818, two British celts (granite), and a Roman
spur in my collection (the former answering to the description
of those delineated and described in the Gentleman's Maga-
zine, 1784, Vol. I. p. 15). were discovered lying together, in
digging a hole for a gate-post at Hartford, close to the river
Ouse, a fordway leading from Durolipon, across the Ouse,
into the fens of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshire, de-
fended by a mount of considerable elevation.
This fact will perhaps assist in throwing some light on the
subject.
The Iceni, who occupied this tract of country, were always
jealous of the Roman usurpation, and, frequently rising in
revolt, must have had many skirmishes with their oppressors ;
after one of which the celts and spur might have been lost, and
during the same, or a similar event, a detachment of Roman
forces may have been temporarily established at Knapwell to
guard that military pass, and the coins secretly deposited for
safe custody; and, from the chances of civil war, never until
now exhumed. The village of Knapwell is in the hundred
of Papworth's Deanery of Bourne, about seven miles S.E. of
Godmanchester.
I am your obedient servant,
ROBERT FOX.
MEDAL OF MEHEMET ALT. A Medal of Mehemet Ali,
pacha of Egypt, is being engraved in England as a memo-
rial of respect for his character as a promoter of science and
commerce, and as an advocate of religious toleration.
His highness had long endeavoured to cultivate a friendship
with England. He had revived commerce, and had thrown
open an overland route to India. Travellers were protected ;
emigrants encouraged. The Royal Society of England were
being accommodated with an observatorv on the banks of
66 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the Nile, built at an enormous cost, at the expence of the
Pacha. In short, as fast as the influence of the previous
long and tyrannical Turkish rule could be counteracted,
Egypt was being regenerated, Alexandria was once more
likely to become the seat of learning.
The medal will be executed in bronze at 15s. and in silver
at 30s. each. One of our first artists (Mr. A. J. Stothard,
Medal Engraver to the Queen) is employed to engrave it from
an original painting of his Highness. Subscribers will be
pleased to send their names and address to Mr. Charles Roach
Smith, 5, Liverpool Street, City, London, as early as possible,
as the die for the obverse is completed.
C. R. S.
67
XI.
REMARKS ON EARLY SCOTTISH COINS, AND ON
THE ARRANGEMENT OF THOSE BEARING
THE NAME OF ALEXANDER.
WHETHER we have coins of any Scottish king prior to
William the Lion, has been a question long agitated, and
never satisfactorily settled. Nothing has been produced,
which can, with any degree of probability, be assigned to
Alexander I. ; and the piece engraved in the Pembroke
Plates, and copied by Anderson and Snelling, as of Dfivid I.,
is generally considered a blundered penny of William,
whose money at present takes precedence in the numismatic
series of Scotland. That, however, coins do exist of his
predecessors is very probable; but so imperfect are the
specimens which have reached us, that more or less uncer-
tainty attaches to them all.
Dr. Jamieson, in a very interesting memoir, printed in
the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, (vol ii.
p. 304,) has published the description of some coins of
David I. and Malcolm IV., in his own possession. The
reverse type of those of David is a cross with one large
pellet or three smaller ones in each angle (the last appa-
rently minted at Roxburgh) ; that of Malcolm presents a
small cross in each angle of the larger one, as in the cotem-
poraneous coins of Henry II. The heads are to the left.
Of the five pennies found together in the Isle of Man,
and figured in p. 41 of Snelling's Miscellaneous Works,
No. 1 is, perhaps, of Stephen (of the type, pi. i. 25) ; No. 2
belongs to William the Lion, of Scotland ; as Cardonnel,
pi. i. 1 and 15, and 3, 4, and 5, have been generally con-
L
68 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
sidered of Scottish origin. Nos. 3 and 4 have the same
reverse, and a similar bust on the obverse, except that on
No. 3 it regards the right, and on No. 4 the left. It is almost
futile to speculate on the origin of coins in such wretched
condition, but if No. 3 be correctly engraved (and from Snel-
ling's well-known accuracy we may suppose it is), the second
letter is an K ; so that, considering the company in which
it was found, and that the type resembles one of Henry (in
Ruding, Siipp. part ii. pi. ii. fig. 6), and perhaps those of
David published by Dr. Jamieson, we cannot be far wrong
in assigning this coin and No. 4 to Malcolm, the cotem-
porary of Stephen, and predecessor of William. No. 5,
evidently of the same age, might be given to David, but
that the second letter seems to be an O.
In Ruding's second supplement, pi. ii. there is another
coin, figured No. 21, which I have long thought might
belong to Scotland. It was found along with coins of Ste-
phen, William his son, and Henry I or II. near Salisbury,
and by its first possessor, Mr. Woolston, was considered a
relic of the Baronial mints in the reign of Stephen. In
this opinion Mr. Ruding most certainly did not concur, but
conjectured that it might be Danish. The type of its
reverse occurs on the money of Stephen and Henry II. ;
its obverse presents a bust to the left holding a sword, and
the letters COCO. I do not doubt, that if entire, we should
have the name CDALCOCO on this piece. We must, how-
ever, be content to wait for more perfect specimens of
early Scottish money ; so, leaving conjecture, we will proceed
to tread on safer ground, and take history for our guide.
I entirely concur with Mr. Lindsay in the opinion ex-
pressed in his interesting communication to the Gentleman's
Magazine (1828, part ii. p. 116), that the pennies in Car-
donnel's pi. i. 1 and 15 were the first, and those with his
EARLY SCOTTISH COINS. 69
head to the right and long sceptre, reverse, short double
cross and hexagonal stars, (Cardonnel 16 and 18, Snelling
4 and 14), the second coinage of William. The latter
must have been that of 1195, when, as Sir James Balfour
informs us, " King William altered the stampe and standard
of his coyne." We have next, as the latest, and for the
rarest, of William's money, those which present his head to
the left, with or without a small sceptre, and on the reverse,
a short double cross, and hexagonal stars. This type appears
on the money of Alexander II., and was continued through-
out his reign ; for I consider att the pennies with the long
cross, whether double or single, to belong to Alexander III.
In thus differing from all who have hitherto written on this
subject, I am supported by the authority of Sir J. Balfour,
who in his " Annales," under the year 1250, says, " This
year King Alexander renewed the stamp of his coin,
making the cross to touch the uttermost point of the circle,
which in his predecessors' reigns it did not." To Alexan-
der III. then, we must give all the coins which have a long
cross on the reverse, and they must be arranged as follows :
I. Head to the left, crown of pearls, and long cruciform
sceptre.
II. Head to the left, crown and long sceptre fleury.
III. Head to the right, crown and sceptre as the last All
have the same reverse, a long double cross, with hex-
agonal stars in the angles. In each variety we note a
gradual improvement in the execution.
IV. Head to the right, crown and small sceptre fleury ;
reverse, a long single cross. Of this type, acknow-
ledged to belong to Alexander III., there are five
varieties, distinguished by the stars and spur-rowels in
the angles of the cross.
That the single cross was adopted from that of the coins
70 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
of Edward I., of the issue of 1279, is highly probable ; and
this gave rise to the doubt expressed by Snelling and Mr.
Lindsay, whether some of the long cross money, hitherto
assigned to Alexander II., might not belong to his son.
Undecided, however, where the line of distinction should
be drawn, they did not seem to consider themselves jus-
tified in disturbing the old arrangement.
It is curious to observe, that each change of the form of
the cross on English money was nearly cotemporary with a
similar change on that of Scotland ; and here let us revert
to the reign of Henry III.
Numismatists, I believe, are not agreed, whether the
pennies bearing the name of Henry, and having on the
reverse a short double cross, with a cross of four pellets in
each angle, were the latest coinage of Henry II. or the
first of Henry III. Were not the evidence in favour of
their appropriation to the third Henry irresistible, I should
have great hesitation in offering an opinion contrary to that
of one so eminent in numismatic science as Mr. Hawkins.
Under the year 1248, Matthew Paris, speaking of the great
recoinage of that year, says, " Cujus inquam monetas forma
a veteri diversicabatur in tantum, quod crux duplicata limbum
literatum pertransibat. In reliquis autem, pondere, capitali
impressione, cum literate titulo, permanente ut prius;"
proving that a short double cross distinguished the earlier
money, and that, with this exception, the later coinage
much resembled it. It is hardly possible that evidence,
that too of a cotemporary writer as was Matthew Paris,
could be more explicit. Were any confirmation wanting,
we have it on consideration of the moneyer's names. For
instance ; on the long cross money of Henry III., we have
the names of DAVI, HENRI, IOHAN, NICOLE, PHELTP,
REINAVD, WALTER, and WILLEM, as moneyers in
EARLY SCOTTISH COINS. 71
London, and with the exception of Phelip, I have found all
these names on the pennies with short cross. On the Can-
terbury money I have met with five, ION, NICOLE
ROBERT, WALTER, and WILLEM, names common to
both coinages. Further ; ILGER ONLVNDE occurs on a
penny with the short cross, llger was appointed one of the
Custodes Monetae of London in 1221. In the year 1230, the
king granted to William, his Tailor, the custody of the
money die which Simon Chick, lately deceased, had had in
Canterbury, to hold the skme during the king's pleasure
(Ruding, vol. ii. p. 177, 3rd edit.). On the short cross
pennies of Henry, we have SIMONONCANT and WILLEM
7WONC, doubtless the persons mentioned above. That
others of the same family as Simon were employed in the
mint at Canterbury appears from a penny which reads,
IOANCHICONCA. In the same year Adam de Bedleia
occurs as a moneyer in London. As far as my experience
goes, we find ADAMONLVNDE on the short cross money
only.
It can no longer be doubted to whom this short cross
money belongs; it is evidently the first coinage of Henry III.
There is, however, a fair presumption that the same type
was used in the money of his predecessor, King John,
for in 1220, the fourth year of Henry, a writ was issued,
ordering the legend of the coins to be changed from John to
Henry, whence we* may conclude that the type was un-
altered. Besides, among the foreign imitations of the
English sterling, Snelling has published two of Otho IV.,
emperor of Germany, who died in 1218, two years before
any coins with the name of Henry were issued.
Whether, then, the short double cross was adopted on
the money of England, in imitation of that of Scotland,
must, till specimens of the English currency of Richard I.
72 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
and John come to light, remain matter of doubt. The
reverse is certainly more probable, and if so, we can only
suppose that the uniform coinage ordered by Richard I. in
1194 (one year before the alteration of type took place on
the money of William the Lion), was of this or a similar
type, continued through the reign of John, and part of
Henry III. Be this as it may, the long double cross was
certainly adopted in the mints of Alexander III., imme-
diately after its first appearance on English money, 1 and
probably for the same reason. On the later coins of Alex-
ander, and his cotemporary, Edward I. we first observe the
long single cross ; and after the lapse of another century
we find the type of the English money adopted without
alteration by the Scottish kings.
D. H. H.
i Leeds, April 20th, 1841.
1 Along with some pennies of Henry III., found at Bantry in
1834, of his second coinage, were one of William the Lion's later
coins, and ten long double cross pennies of Alexander ; none with
the single cross.
D M P
Qt 08
XII.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS, STRUCK
DURING THE DOMINION OF THE ROMANS.
[Read before the Numismatic gociety, May 20th, 1841.]
IN bringing before the Numismatic Society an account of
the coins struck at Ephesus, while that city was under the
dominion of the Romans, I am well aware that I am
risking the charge of attempting to teach many of its
members better versed in the subject than myself. Still,
believing that I see before me some who are but imper-
fectly acquainted with the remarkable and important series
to which those I am about to describe belong, I shall
proceed to notice, in chronological order, such examples
as appear to warrant particular description and illustration.
Leaving to the learned in classical geography and this
society reckons among its members those who are well
qualified for the task to settle the question of the origin
of the city of Ephesus, let us see what ancient writers say
of it.
Scylax 1 just glances at the city and its port, and gives
us no details of its condition in his time. From Plutarch 2
we learn, that it was a populous and flourishing city in the
days of Lysander; and we have a much earlier notice of
it in Herodotus, who informs us, that when Croesus laid
siege to Ephesus, the inhabitants stretched a cord from the
walls to the statue within the temple, dedicating the city
to their favourite goddess. 3
cat Xip/v. 2 In Vita Lysand.
3 "Ev6a Sj; ol 'E^tffioi TroXiooKtofitvoi VTT' avrov, aviQeaav rrfv
7ToA.iv 717 'Aprem^i, t^atpavree in row VTJOU aypiviov eg TO Ti\og.
Clio. i. 26.
74 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Strabo 4 says that Ephesus was originally named Smyrna,
from an Amazon of that name; a portion of the people
also being called Sisyrbitae, from another of the Amazons ;
that the ancient city was about the Athenaeum, which, in the
time of this writer, was without the walls, at a spot called
Hypelaeus, between the cliffs called Tracheia and Lepra ;
and that a party of these people went out and founded
Smyrna. He speaks of Miletus and Ephesus as the best
and most illustrious of cities: apiarai iroXtig KCU vSoorar<u.
Then, after noticing Miletus and other places, he proceeds
to describe the port of Panormus, the temple of Diana,
and the city of Ephesus. 5 On the coast, at a short distance
from the sea, was the beautiful grove called Ortygia,
abounding in all sorts of trees, but especially the cypress,
the river Cenchrius flowing through it, where Latona puri-
fied herself after childbirth. Above the grove is the
mountain Solmissus, where the Curetes, by the noise of
their cymbals, prevented Juno from hearing the cries of
Latona. The same author informs us, that the city was
first inhabited by the Cares and the Leleges; that the
chief part of these were expelled by Androclus 6 , who settled
his colony about Mount Athenaeus and the fountain Hy-
pelaeus, occupying a district adjacent to Mount Corrisus,
and that it was thus inhabited to the time of Croesus ; that
the people afterwards, descending from the mountain tracts,
dwelt around the temple to the time of Alexander, and
that Lysimachus changed the name of the city to Arsinoe\
4 Lib. xiv. c. 1.
5 Elrct \ififlv Ha.vopiJ.oe
' AprefJiiSog eld' fj TroXie-
6 Eusebius says, that Ephesus was founded by Androclus, in
the reign of David. Chronic. Canon. Ed. 1G58. p. 100.
7 See an article on the coins of Ephesus while called Arsinoe.
Num. Chron. vol. ii. p. 171.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 75
in honour of his wife; Strabo calls Ephesus the largest
emporium within the Taurus. 8 Pausanias^ says, that
the supposition that Ephesus is older than the colonization
of the lones is not well founded ; and that Pindar is wrong
in stating that the temple was built by the Amazons,
when they fought against Theseus and the Athenians.
These women, he observes, sacrificed to Diana Ephesia
even at that period, and that the temple had been known
from remote antiquity. He then proceeds to state, that
Crossus, a native of the country, and Ephesus, the reputed
son of the river Cayster, built the temple, and that the
city received its name from the latter. The same author
says, that Androclus drove out the Leleges and Lydians,
who lived in the upper city, but suffered those who lived
about the temple to remain.
Pliny speaks of Ephesus as the work of the Amazons,
and also of its several names ; 10 and from him, we learn
ptyitTTOv T&V Kara T^V A.triav rftv ivTos TOV
Taupou.
9 Ov /zj/j/ Travra ye. is TTJV deov iirvdeTO (t/zoi ^OKEIV) Hivcapoe,
og 'Afj.a6va.s TO lepov <j>r) TOVTO iSpvaaffdai ffrpaTevofj.lras f-irl
A&i]vaq re KOI Qrjcrea. at ce CLTTO QeppwdovTOs yvvalKes tdvtrav
p.ev KOI rore rrj 'E^>OY 0ew, are iiriaTa.p.evai re IK iraXaiov TO itpov,
KCU fjviKa 'HpaKXea e^uyov atcie, KOI Aiovvaov TO. ETI ap^aiOTepa,
licences ivTUvQa. eXdovcrai. ov fj.^v inro 'Afj.a6v(i)v ye IcpvvOr).
Kpijffos %e aiiTo^dwv rls Kat"E0rog (Kauorpou fie TOV Trora^tov TOV
E<f>eaov Troika eivai vofii^ovirev) OVTOI TO lepov elcriv ol ifipvcrafjievoi,
teal a7ro TOV 'Etyeffov TO OVO/JLO. etrri rrj voXei. Lib. vii. c. 2.
10 In ora autem Manteum, Ephesus Amazonum opus, multis ante
expetita nominibus : Alopes cum pugnatum apud Trojam est, mox
Ortygia et Merges vocata est, et Smyrna cognomine Trachea et
Samornion et Ptelia. Hist. Nat., lib. v. c. 29. Solinus, also, in his
Polyhistoria says, " Epheso decus templum Dianae, Amazonum
fabrica," &c. ; and Justin, lib. ii. c. 4, attributes the foundation
of Ephesus to the Amazons. Mela's account confirms these:
" Ibi Ephesus et Dianse clarissimum templum, quod Amazones
Asia potitae consecrasse traduntur." Lib. i. c. 17.
M
76 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
more of its pride and ornament, the temple, than from
any other ancient author. He states that the building of
this edifice occupied two hundred and twenty years, and
that the expense was defrayed by the contributions of all
the cities of Asia. 10 It is well known, that this famous
structure formed one of the seven wonders of the world;
that it was resorted to by devout Greeks in swarms, and
that the worship of the Ephesian Diana was cultivated by
all the people of Asia; a fact which is indicated by the
figure of the goddess on the coins of several neighbouring
cities.
In the 19th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we find
that the preaching of St. Paul at Ephesus, provoked to
fury a multitude of artizans who gained a livelihood by
making " silver shrines for Diana," and that it was only by
the prompt and energetic conduct of the officer, termed
by the translators of the New Testament " the town clerk,"
that the uproar was allayed. Of this officer, whose name
occurs on many of the coins of Ephesus, we shall soon
have occasion to speak.
The words of Dionysius Periegetes, who is supposed to
have flourished in the time of Augustus, clearly refer to a
very early, if not the earliest, worship of Diana, whose
primitive representation was set up under a tree. 11
10 Magnificentiae vera admiratio extat templum Ephesiae Diana?
ducentis viginti annis factum k toto Asia." Hist. Nat., xxxv.
c. 14.
11 HappaXirjv 'E00w, fjieyaXriv iroXtv 'lo^eaiprfs
'Ev0a Qtrj TTOTE vr\ov Ap.a.ovi$t; TETV^OVTO
Ylpefj.vtji 'ivi TTT\lrjg, Trepiwffiov avSpaffi 6avp.a.
Orbis Descriptio, v. 827-28-29.
Callimachus, however, in his Hymn to Diana, says it was a
beech tree :
"Ev KOTE irappaXlri 'E0t<rov
VTTO TrljLv. v. 238.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 77
After being under the rule of the Syrian monarchs,
Ephesus eventually submitted to the Roman yoke : never-
theless, she continued to maintain her high rank among
the cities of Asia, which is attested by many authorities,
but especially by the numerous coins which have descended
to our times.
The Ephesians appear to have been a very credulous
and superstitious people, and to have been much addicted
to the study of magic. Of this we have interesting evi-
dence in the Acts of the Apostles, 12 when many " which
used curious arts," came and burned their books on the
preaching of St. Paul. Among other superstitions, was a
belief in the power of certain letters termed Estate
ypafjLfjLara. Suidas 13 says, that when Milesius and Ephe-
sius wrestled together, Milesius could not throw his adver-
sary because the Ephesian letters were tied to his heel,
but having deprived him of this magical assistance, he was
soon overcome. It was supposed that whoever pronounced
these letters, obtained the object of his wish ; and that on
hearing them, evil spirits forsook the bodies of those whom
they possessed. Plutarch 14 says, that these letters were
written on the girdle, the feet, and other parts of the
statue of Diana Ephesia, hence their appellation.
The riches of the temple appear to have excited the
18 Chap. six. 19.
13 Ephesiae literae : carmina qusedam obscura, quae et Croesus
in rogo recitavit : et Olympiae Milesio et Ephesio certantibus,
Milesium lucturi non potuisse, propterea quod alter juxta talum
Ephesias literas haberet. Quibus compertis et demptis, concidisse
Ephesium perhibent.
1 ilffTrep yap ot payoi rove latfiovi^Ofjifvovs KtKtvovai TO.
E^ttrta ypa/xynara Trpoe OVTOVC ntraXEyet? icat ovo/nafciv
K. r. \. These words are described as TUV hpiav rat
Symp. L. vii. q. 5.
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
cupidity of Nero; 15 and at an earlier period C. Scipio
intended to plunder it of its pictures and statues, when he
suddenly received orders to join Pompey. 16
The types of the coins of Ephesus bearing the imperial
effigy are numerous and interesting, and there appears to
have been an uninterrupted issue from the reign of Augus-
tus down to that of Gallienus, when the series of Imperial
Greek Coins terminates. The following descriptions are
necessarily confined to the most remarkable types.
MARCUS ANTONIUS, OCTAVIUS, AND LEPIDUS.
No. 1. Obv. The heads of the Triumvirs, Antonius, Octavius,
and Lepidus.
R. APXI6PGYC TPAM. TAAYM1N GYOYKPATHS
G$G. (Money) of the Ephesians. Glaucon Euthycrates,
Highpriest and Scribe. The statue of Diana Ephesia with
supports : at the base, two stags. M 4. (Vaill. Num.
Graeca. Mionnet, Descr. vol. iii.)
This rare and interesting example shews that at an early
period the Ephesians were anxious to flatter their Roman
13 At Baream Soranum jam sibi Ostorius Sabinus, eques
Romanus, poposcerat reum, ex-proconsulatu Asiae, in qua offen-
siones principis auxit, justitia atque industrial at quia portui
Ephesiorum aperiendo curam insumpserat : vimque civitatis Per-
gamenae, prohibentis Acratum, Csesaris libertum statuas et picturas
evehere, inultam omiserat. Tacit. Annales, lib. xvi. c. 23.
16 Praeterea Ephesi a Fano Dianas depositas antiquitus pecunias
Scipio tolli jubebat, ceterasque ejus Deae statuas. Quum in
Fanum ventum esset, adhibitis compluribus Senatorii ordinis,
quos advocaverat Scipio literae ei redduntur a Pompeio, mare
transisse cum legionibus Caesarem. Bell. Civil, iii. c. 33.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 79
governors, by placing the heads of the Triumvirs on their
common coin. The reverse indicates that at that period, the
office of FjoajUjuaTtucj o r Scribe, was held by the high-
priest ; but it does not appear by other coins of Ephesus
that it was customary to confer that office on individuals
of the priesthood only. This officer, who in our version
of the New Testament 17 is called "the town clerk," 18 was
a very important personage among the Greeks, as is shewn
not only by numerous coins inscribed EIII TPAM. 'ETTI
r/oaftjuaTt'we, but by two coins of Nysa in Caria, on which
the people call Tiberius Caesar their scribe. 19 The office
was held for a year, like that of the Archons ; and we some-
times find the second and third year recorded by the
addition TO B., TO T., &c.
The figure represented on the reverse of this coin is that
of the far-famed goddess Diana; not in that classic form
by which she is more generally known, and under which
she was worshipped by so many cities of Greece, but dis-
tinguished by characteristics, which are best explained by
the passage in Hieronymus cited, by Eckhel: 20 " Scribebat
(Paulus) ad Ephesios Dianam colentes, non hanc vene-
tricem quae arcum tenet, et succincta est, sed illam
multimammam, quam Graeci TroAujuatrTov vocant, ut silicet
ex ipsa quoque effigie mentirentur omnium earn bestiarum
et viventiam esse nutricem." It was, no doubt, models of
17 Acts xix. 5.
18 In Wiclif s version of the New Testament,
rendered literally scribe, " and whanne the scribe hadde cesid
the puple." Tyndale and Cranmer render it " Towne clarcke,"
the Rhemish version " Scribe," but in our authorised version of
1611, "Towne clarke " is again used.
*9 Frb'lich, Quatuor Tentara, p. 154.
20 Doct. Num. Vet. vol.ii. p. 512.
80 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the building, containing representations of this extraordinary
figure, which Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen made for
the visitors to the temple. 21 Our version of the New
Testament 22 says " shrines," and it is not improbable that
the coins which will be noticed hereafter, containing the
figure within an octostyle temple, were representations of the
memorials made by the silversmiths of Ephesus for those
who came to wonder and to worship at the shrine of the
great goddess. The small silver medallions of Claudius, Ves-
pasian, and Domitian, with the legend DIANA EPHESIA,
which must be well known to Numismatists, were, in all
probability, struck with the same object. In this con-
jecture I am supported by Beza, in his commentaries on
the New Testament. 23 ^
Diana Ephesia was unquestionably one of the most im-
portant deities of the Greeks. Pausanias 24 says, she was
privately honoured more than any other divinity; and the
same author speaks of several statues of her which he saw
in various cities of Greece : one at Corinth 25 was of wood,
gilt, and the face painted vermilion colour. We have no
minute description of the statue of the goddess at Ephesus ;
but her form is handed down to us on numerous coins,
and there is every reason for believing that the figure
which Pausanias saw at Corinth, was painted and orna-
mented in imitation of the original idol. Pliny 26 gives us
21 Acts xix. 24.
a2 The words of the original are, TTOI&V vaovg apyvpovs, &c.
23 Oxford Edit. p. 355. 24 Mess. lib. iv. c. 31.
25 Cor. lib. ii. c. 2.
26 Hist. Nat. lib. xvi. c. 11., "De ipso simulacro deae," he
observes " ambigitur. Caeteri ex ebeno esse tradunt : Mutianus
ter Consul, ex his qui proxime viso eo scripsere vitigineum et nun-
quam mutatum'septies restitute temple"
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 81
an account of the statue, but it is not satisfactory. Vitru-
vius s 7 says, it was formed of cedar ; while from Xenophon 28
we gather, that it was of gold ; hence it may be inferred,
that both these materials were used in its fabrication : that
the bulk of the image was of wood, plated with gold, and the
hands and face painted or plated with ivory, like the statues
of other divinities mentioned by Pausanias. The private
worship rendered to Diana, seems to explain the meaning
of the "shrines" which Demetrius made: there can be
little doubt but that they were representations of the god-
dess and her temple, and that they were kept in the houses
of the devout, as Penates: hence the alarm among the
silversmiths of Ephesus, when their profitable trade was
threatened by the apostle, and the artful speech of the
crafty Demetrius, to whose conduct the remark of Epic-
tetus OTTOU TO avfjHjitpov EKft KOI TO fvo-fjStCj 8 s noticed by
the learned Witsius, 29 may be appropriately applied. The
statue of Diana at Ephesus, was preserved by the applica-
tion of resinous gums, which were inserted in cavities made
for that purpose, a practice alluded to by Pliny as well as
by Vitruvius. 30
27 De Architectura, lib. ii. c. 9.
28 De Exped. Cyri., lib. v.
2 9 Meletemata Leidensia, p. 82.
30 Item cedrus et juniperus easdem habent virtutes et utilitates,
sed quemadmodum ex cupressu et pinu resina, sic ex cedro oleum,
quod cedrium dicitur nascitur, quo reliquae res cum sunt unctae
(uti etiam libri) a tineis et a carie non laeduntur. Arboris autem
ejus sunt similes cupressae foliaturae ; materies vena directa.
Ephesi in sodc, simulacrum Dianse et etiam lacunara ex ea, et ibi
et in caeteris nobilibus fanis propter aeternitatem sunt facta. De
Architect, lib. ii. c. 9.
82 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
AUGUSTUS AND LI VI A.
2. Obv. The heads of Augustus and Livia.
R. TPAMMATEYS MEONilN 0EYAH2 E$E. (Money)
of the Ephesians. Meonon Theudes, Scribe. A stag
standing: above, a quiver suspended. JE 5|. (Mionnet
from the Cabinet of Cousinery.)
The Stag frequently occurs on the autonomous coins of
Ephesus, which is noticed by the Sophist Libanius 31 and
the meaning of the type is obvious : Strabo 32 calls Diana
Elaphia from "EXa^oe a stag. Pindar styles her 'EXa^t]-
|3oXoe and the name of 'EXa^rjjSoXtwv was given by the
Athenians to the month of February, when they sacrificed a
stag to Diana. It appears from Pausanias 33 that the stag
was sacred also to Proserpine, and that writer mentions
one of great age, very sagely concluding that the stag
lives longer than the elephant.
LIVIA.
3. Obv. IOYAIA SEBASTH. Julia Augusta. Head of the
Empress.
R. APTEMIS EfcESIQN. Diana of the Ephesians. The
same head. Faill. Num. Grceca. /E 5.
Both the obverse and reverse of this coin bear the head
of Livia. On the obverse she appears as the wife of the
Emperor, but on the reverse, by a species of adulation very
common with the Greeks, she is styled Diana of the Ephe-
sians. Eckhel describes a coin of Julia Domna wife of
E^cirtotc ^c Kal TO vofiifffia rrfv \a<j>or efyepev. Orat. xxxii.
This author also tells us, that the earth produced Deer, Bows
and Arrows, when Diana was born !
32 Lib. viii.
33 Lib. viii. c. 10,
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 83
Severus, struck at Azotus in Judaea, on the reverse of
which the bust of the Empress appears with the legend
AOMNA TYXH ACWTIWN, Domna the Fortune of the Azotii. 3 *
Many similar examples might be cited.
DRUSUS AND ANTONIA.
s
4. Obv. The heads of Drusus and Antonia.
ft. KOYCINIOC TPA. E*E. (Money) of the Ephesians.
Cusinius, Scribe. A stag standing : in the field, a
monogram. (Mionnetfrom the Cabinet of Cousinery.) M 4.
GERMANICUS.
5. Obv. E$E, i. e. EQetnidv. (Money) of the Ephesians. Bare
infant head of Germanicus.
R. KOYSINIOS TO A. Cusinius, Scribe for the fourth
time. Within an olive garland. (Idem.) ^E 4.
It appears from the first of these coins, that Cusinius
was the Scribe ; and from the second, that he held the
office for the fourth time. Some writers have proposed
Cancellarius, others Recorder, for the word Scribe.
NERO.
6. Obv. NEPON KAISAP. Nero Caesar. Laureated head of
Nero.
R. AIXMOKAH AOYIOAA AN9YIIATO E*. NEQKOPQN.
(Money) of the Ephesians, Neocori, Aechmocles Aviola,
Proconsul. Side view of a Temple. IE 7 .
The legend on the reverse of this coin, shews that the
proconsular authority was established in its full power at
Ephesus, in the reign of Nero. The proconsul here named,
is supposed by Eckhel 35 to have been Consul in the year of
34 Cat. Num. Vindob. p. 250. Sestini, Desc. p. 546.
35 Doc. Num. Vet. Vol. ii. p. 159.
84 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Rome, 807. Aviola was a cognomen of the consular family
Acilia. Acilius Aviola chastised the Turones and Andecavi
in the reign of Tiberius. 36 The name of Aviola appears on
the coins of Smyrna and of Pergamus under Caligula. 37
These coins, with the ProconsuTs name, are especially inte-
resting, from the circumstance of their shewing that the Scribe
was no longer the important personage he had once been at
Ephesus. Indeed, the words of the Scribe to the riotous
mob, when St. Paul preached in that city, prove this. 38
They not only shew that he himself was amenable to a
higher power, but also that the Roman law, which punished
with death those who raised a tumult, was in full force at
Ephesus. "We are in danger to be called in question
for this uproar," are the words of our version ; and further,
" The law is open, and there are deputies." 3 9 The utilitarian
will smile at my adding, that, but for the substitution at
this period of the name of the Proconsul for that of the
Scribe, we might probably have learned the very name
of the " Town Clerk " who so promptly suppressed the
commotion raised by the Ephesian craftsmen. That the
office of Scribe was one of the greatest importance may be
inferred from the Syriac version of the New Testament,
where Scribe (6 ypafifiarevg) is rendered JA^u >X>> J-A^V
(reesho dam deetho), the chief, or prince, of the city. But
in the Syriac version of the Old Testament, the word
"1D1D is always rendered simply Jjsico (sophro), Scribe; a
very good proof that the Syriac translators were aware of
the nature of the office of Scribe in the Greek cities.
36 Tacit. Annales, iii. c. 41.
3 7 Doc. Num. Vet. ii. p. 519.
38 Acts xix. 40.
3 9 'Aydpmot ayevrai rat 'AN9YIIATOI titriv, Acts xix. 38 ;
earlier versions have " Rulers" for the word Proconsuls.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 85
DOMITIANUS.
7. Obv. AOMITIANOC KAICAP CGBACTOC rGPMANIKOC,
Domitianus Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Laureated
head of the Emperor, with the paludamentum.
R. GDI ANOY. KAICGNNIOY ILAITOY OMONOIA e<J>G.
ZMYP. Concord of the people of Ephesus and Smyrna,
under the proconsul Ccecennins Pcetus. Two Amazons
joining hands ; in the left hand of each a Bipennis. IE 8.
(Mionnet from the Cab. of Cousinery.)
The legend of the reverse commemorates the alliance of
the Ephesians and Smyrnaeans, under the Proconsulship of
Psetus. The type alludes to the origin which tradition
assigned to the Ionian Cities. An Amazon is often repre-
sented on the coins of Smyrna, armed with the Pelta and
BipenniS) or double-edged axe, the favourite weapon of
these women : hence Horace * says
Amazonia securi
Dextras obarmet.
Pliny speaks of the statues of the Amazons in the temple
of Diana.
No. 8. Obv. Same head and legend.
R. em. ANOYIIATOY POYOINOC OMONOIA e$e.
ZMYP. Concord of the people of Ephesus and Smyrna
under the proconsul Ruso. The figure of Diana Ephesia
between the two Nemeses. JE 9. (Sestini. Descriz.
p. 328.)
The two figures, between which the Ephesian goddess
stands, frequently appear on the money of Smyrna, and
would alone explain the type of this coin without the word
OMONOIA. They represent the Nemeses, divinities held
in the highest veneration by the Smyrnaeans 41 for the fol-
40 Lib. iv. carm. iv.
1 Like Diana of the Ephesians, the epithet " great " was given
to them, as appears by the Oxford marble: MEFAAiiN OEiiN
NEMESJEQN.
86 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
lowing reasons : Pausanias 42 informs us that Alexander
the Great built the city of Smyrna in consequence of a
vision which appeared to him in a dream; that, fatigued
with hunting, the monarch fell asleep under a plane
tree by the side of a fountain which watered a temple
dedicated to the Nemeses, when these divinities appeared
and commanded him to build a city on the spot. The
oracle having been consulted, and a favourable answer re-
turned, the divine injunction was obeyed; and the figures
of the Nemeses consequently appear perpetually on the
coins of Smyrna. Coins of Marcus Aurelius and of Gor-
dian, struck in that city, have on the reverse a representa-
tion of this dream of Alexander, who appears asleep under
the plane tree, his head resting on his shield, and the two
Nemeses standing near him. 43 Ancient writers are not
agreed as to the parentage of the Nemeses. Pausanias,
Ammianus, Euripides, and Hesiod, all differ, and they
are variously portrayed by the Greeks. On some of the
coins of Smyrna, one of them is represented with a wheel,
the other with a sling, and the latter has been called
Adrastia. The figures of the Nemeses are often repre-
sented with their fingers on their lips and in company with
a griffin, and they sometimes hold a cornucopias. From
these attributes, it is evident that Fortune or Providence is
intended.
The learned Buonnaroti 44 has cited two very remark-
able representations of Nemesis, one on Sard, where she
appears winged, with a wheel at her feet, and holding a
serpent which she feeds out of a patera, just as Hygeia is
42 Lib. vii. c. 5.
43 Mionnet Descr. de Med. Ant. tome iii. p. 231, and p. 250.
44 Osservazioni Istoriche di Medaglioni. Roma, 4to. 1698.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 87
represented on many Roman and Greek coins. This
seems to illustrate the description of Eschylus, who gives
golden wings to Fortune. These appendages to a figure
given by Gruter, have led some antiquaries to suppose that
it was a representation of Aurora with wings. Pausanias,
however, says that the famous statue of Rhamnusia and
the most ancient figures of this deity were wingless, 45 but
that he found those at Smyrna had wings, so that the figures
of the Nemeses seen on the coins of Smyrna, were probably
copied from the most ancient statues of the goddesses.
That the original Nemesis was no other than Fortune,
and that good and ill-fortune were implied by the double
personification, will at once be seen by a reference to Sim-
plicius' Commentaries on Aristotle. 46 It is well known
that the Athenians erected a statue to Nemesis after the
battle of Marathon, and that it was executed by Phidias
from marble, which the Persians had brought with them to
erect a trophy in Greece. 47
No. 9. Obv. Same legend and head.
R. GfcGSKlN MAPNAC. (Money) of the Ephesians.
Mamas. The usual representation of a river god ;
namely, a male figure seated on the ground, holding a
cornucopia in his right hand, and the left elbow resting
on an urn reversed. JE 6.
Antiquaries are not agreed as to the precise meaning of
this type; and various conjectures have been offered on the
word MARNAS. Some have supposed it to allude to
Jupiter, to whom the name of Marnas was given by the
people of Gaza. The learned Tristan 48 quotes an account
Lib. i. c. 33.
46 Lib. ii.
47 Pausanias, lib. i. c. 33.
48 Com. Historiques, tome ii. p. 250.
88 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
of the destruction of several Pagan temples at Gaza, in
the days of Arcadius and Honorius, by St. Porphyry, bishop
of that city, among which was one of Marnas. 49 Stepha-
nus 50 speaks of this deity, who was the same as Jupiter
Craetaeus, the word t?3~) D Marnas being Syriac and sig-
nifying the lord of men ; and it has been conjectured, that
Mdjovae 'E^eortwv signifies the Virgin of the Ephesians,
Marnas being also the Cretensian word for Virgin. The
Numismatist will decide how far these recondite illustra-
tions apply to the coin before us. Havercamp 51 and Vail-
lant 52 see only a river god in the recumbent figure.
Later numismatists, however, have supposed it to be the
representation of a sacred fountain. Now as meadows and
fountains were peculiarly sacred to Diana, as mountains
and high places were consecrated to Jupiter, 53 it seems by
no means improbable that the word Marnas may be re-
ferred to that goddess to whom the fountain in question
might have been sacred.
DOMITIANUS AND DOMITIA.
No. 10. 060. AOM1TIANOC KAICAP AOMITIA CGBACTH.
Domitianus Ccesar, Domitia Augusta. The heads of the
Emperor and Empress face to face.
4 9 Erant autem in civitate simulacrorum publica templa octo,
Nempe, Solis, Veneris, Apollinis, Proserpinae, et Hecates, et
quod dicebant Hierion, sen sacerdotum templum ; et Fortunae
urbis, quod dicebant Tycheon, et MARNION, &c. &c. Marcus
the deacon, who gives this account, says, " Dicebant (Gazaei)enim
Marnam esse dominum imbrium"
50 De Urbib. voce Gaza.
51 Medailles de Christine, p. 343.
52 Num. Graeca, p. 23. The same author, p. 22, gives a coin
of Smyrna with MAPQNOS.
53 'lepct e)e 'Apre^u^or, Trj/yat va^tarwv (cat /coTXat vaTrat, KCU
Maximus Tyrius, Diss. xxxviii.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 89
R. NGIKH AOMITIANOY 6*6. The Victory of Domi-
tianus. (Money) of the Ephesians. Victory, standing,
with garland and palm branch. JE 5|.
It is to be feared that none of the coins of this tyrant,
which record a victory, will serve the purpose of the his-
torian ; and it was said of Domitian especially, that when-
ever fortune frowned on his arms, he seized on the occasion
to proclaim a victory, a practice not altogether abandoned
in modern times !
HADRIANUS,
No. 11. Obv. AAPIANOC KAICAP OAYMHIOC. Hadrianu*
Ccesar Olympius. Laureated head of Hadrian with the
paludamentum.
R. e$GCKlN. (Money) of the Ephesians. The statue
of Diana Ephesia within an octostyle temple, the front
ornamented with a bas-relief, representing a sacrifice, &c.
#;io.
Long before the days of Hadrian, the Greeks had been
in the habit of paying divine honours to the worst of
princes. Magnificent temples were built in honour of, and
the most fulsome adulation was offered to, men who prac-
tised every species of vice that can debase human nature.
Hadrian was unquestionably possessed of qualities which,
if rightly exercised, might have rendered him without a
parallel in the history of the Roman Empire, but these
were obscured by vices which will neither bear description
nor comment. Why and on what occasion the people of
Ephesus gave to Hadrian the title of Olympius is, I be-
lieve, unknown. That odious system of Polytheism, which
associated Jupiter with Ganymede, might have suggested
the epithet. While the Ephesians were bestowing a sur-
name of the king of the gods upon their emperor, other
cities of Greece were erecting temples to Antinous !
90 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
The various styles of the temples which appear on the
coins of Ephesus perplexed the Count Caylus, 54 who ob-
serves, that they do not agree with the description of Pliny;
and he assigns, as a reason, the fact of the many restora-
tions of this edifice. It is somewhat singular that Pliny 55
and Vitruvius 56 differ as to the order of its architecture,
the first declaring it to be Doric, and the other, Ionic.
The name of the first architect of the temple of Diana,
laccording to Strabo, 57 was Chersiphron; but it was en-
arged by some other person. This structure was burned
by Erostratus on the night of the birth of Alexander the
Great, a calamity which the Greeks attributed to the ab-
sence of Diana in her quality of Lucina at the delivery of
Olympias. 58 But another temple was soon built by the
Ephesians; and this greatly surpassed the former, the
funds being supplied by the contributions of the citizens,
which included even the personal ornaments of the women. 59
Alexander offered to build the temple at his own expense,
on condition that his name should be inscribed upon it.
This offer they declined, alleging that it would be impos-
sible for a god to make offerings to the gods ! The archi-
tect of the new edifice was Cheiromocrates (or Deinocrates)
the same who offered to cut down mount Athos into a statue
of Alexander.
54 Recueil d' Antiquites. tome iv. p. 154.
55 Praeter has sunt quae vocantur Atticce columnae, &c. Hist.
Nat. xxxvi. c. 23.
56 et Ephesiae Dianae lonica. De Architect, lib. iii.
57 Lib. xiv. c.i.
58 Vide Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii. c. 27. Plutarch, in vita
Alexand. Ammian. lib. viii. 14.
59 Strabo refutes the statement of Timaeus, the Sicilian histo-
rian, who says that the expense of the rebuilding was defrayed by
the deposits of the Persians.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESU8. ^""T 91
Pliny informs us that the temple was built in the plain
in preference to a more elevated situation ; in order that
it might not be affected by the shocks of earthquakes to
which the country was subject. 61 The foundations were
laid on charcoal, rammed, and the skins of beasts. The
building occupied two hundred and twenty years : it had
one hundred and twenty-seven columns, executed at the
cost of so many kings. One of them was sculptured by
the famous Scopas. 62 Among other curiosities within the
building was a staircase which led up to the roof, formed
of a single vine. The altar was covered with the sculp-
tures of Praxiteles, and the temple contained some of the
finest works of the artists of antiquity.
No. 12. Obv. Same legend and head.
R. G^ecmN AIC NEilKOPQN. (Money) of the Ephe-
sians, twice Neocori. The temple of Diana Ephesia
containing her statue. JE 10.
No. 13. Obv. Same legend and head.
R. Same legend. Two Octostyle Temples. JE 11.
It is this title of Neocorus to which the Scribe or " Town
clerk" alludes in his address to the Ephesians "AvSpsg
rig jap eortv avOpwirog, oc ov ytvwcrica TTJV
TroXtv NEiiKOPON ovaav TTJC jtieyaAijc Otag
. 63 The primitive signification of the word was
temple sweeper ^ ; but it afterwards became a title of great
importance, and was boastfully assumed by several Greek
61 In solo id palustri fecere, ne terrse motus sentiret, aut hiatus
timeret. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 14.
62 Scopas is mentioned by Pliny, Cicero, and Horace ; and
Pausanias speaks of several statues which were executed by him.
63 Acts xix. 35.
64 From VIUQ a temple, and vwpew to sweep.
92 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
cities, and especially by the Ephesians, whose greatest
pride was that they were the Neocori of the great goddess
Diana. Several learned dissertations have been written
on this title and its repetition 65 ; on the precise meaning of
which antiquaries are not quite agreed. It appears, by the
Oxford marbles, to have been sometimes awarded by de-
cree of the Senate, and by a coin of Alexander Severus
(Vaillant, Num. Grceca), that the title of Neocorus was, in
some ^cities, conferred on individuals M EYFENHC
NGilKOPOC Atycwv.
No. 14. Obv. OAYMHIOC AAPIANOC. Olympius Hadrianus.
Head of the Emperor.
R. APTEMIC e$eCIQN. Diana of the Ephesians.
Diana overpowering a stag which she seizes by the horns,
her knee pressing on its back. JE 6.
Hercules is represented on Greek coins seizing the hind
of QEnoe in a similar manner. Among the surnames of
Diana was that of QripoicrotoQ, or destroyer of wild and fero-
cious Jbeasts ; and she is thus characterized by Horace :
et saevis inimica Virgo
Belluis.
Cicero 66 informs us that there were several Dianas,
the first being the daughter of Jupiter and Proserpine,
said to be the mother of Cupid; the second, daughter
of Jupiter and Latona; the third, daughter of Upis and
Glauce, and that the latter was the Diana to whom the
Greeks gave the name of Upis. But this goddess is gene-
rally considered the daughter of Jupiter and Latona ; and
that such was the prevailing fable at Ephesus will be seen
in the remarks on another coin of the city noticed hereafter.
65 See especially Pellerin, Melanges, vol. ii. p. 266; Cuper.
Lett, de Critique, p. 479 ; and Eckhel, Doc. Num. Vet. vol. iv. p. 289.
66 De Nat. Deor. lib. iii. c. 23.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 93
She is here represented in her appropriate hunting costume
as described by Ovid : 6?
Nuda genu, vestem ritu succincta Dianae.
Quotations innumerable might be cited from ancient au-
thors who speak of this goddess ; but to notice one half of
them would swell these remarks beyond the limits assigned
to them ; yet I cannot refrain from mentioning a very re-
markable inscription, said to have been discovered in Spain
some years since, in which Diana is styled " Mother," an
epithet which, though strictly applicable to this goddess in
her Ephesian character, is, in other respects, difficult to be
reconciled with the description of the poets.
TEMPLVM DIANAE
MATRI D.D. APV
LEIVS ARCHITEC
TVS SVBSTRVXIT.
The same type is found on a coin of Commodus in the
British Museum.
No. 16. Obv.ATT. KAI. TPA. AAPIANOC C6B. The Emperor
Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus. Laureated head.
ft. EfcECIQN KAYCTPOC. (Money) of the EpJiesians.
Cayster. A river-god seated on the ground, holding
ears of corn and a cornucopia. JE 7.
The reverse of this coin has the most common representa-
tion of a river-god. Pausanias * informs us, that he saw
in a temple at Psophis, several figures of river-gods; some
of which were, no doubt, thus represented. They were all
formed of white stone, except that of the Nile, which was
black, because that river passes through Ethiopia in its way
to the sea. Aelian 69 speaks of the various forms under
67 Metam. lib. x.536.
68 Lib. viii. c. 24. 69 Var. Hist. Lib. ii. c. 33.
94 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
which the river deities of the Greeks were personified, of
which we have many examples on the coins which have
descended to our times, the most elegant of which is that
of the seated figure on this specimen.
The overflowings of the Cayster formed what Virgil
terms "Asia Palus," 70 to which he also alludes in the
lines,
Jam varias pelagi volucres, et quae Asia circum
Dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata CaystriJ 1
This stream appears to have been the resort of flocks
of swans : Homer T2 compares the martial array of the
Greeks to the clustering of the swans and cranes on the
windings of the Cayster, and the plains of Asius which it
watered :
KavffTpiov ap.<f>t peeOpa.
And Ovid 73 alludes to the river and its feathered denizens
thus :
- non illo plura Caystros
Carmina cygnorum labentibus audit in undis.
While Martial, 74 rating the plagiarist Fidentinus, says,
Sic Niger in ripis errat cum forte Caystri
Inter Ledaeos ridetur corvus olores.
L. AELIUS.
No. 17. Obv. Bare head of jElius.
ft. EfcECmN AIC NEUKOPON. (Money) oftheEphesians,
twice Neocori. An octostyle temple, ornamented with
busts of Hadrian and Aelius, and containing a statue of
the Ephesian Diana. JE 9.
70 Aen. vii. 701. 71 Georg. i. 383-4.
72 II. ii. 460. 73 Metam. lib. v.
74 Epig. i. 54.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 95
Of this favourite, and adopted son, of Hadrian we have
several fine coins, not only of the Roman, but also of the
imperial Greek series ; and the present example is interest-
ing, as shewing in what estimation the Ccesar was held by
the Ephesians.
ANTONINUS PIUS.
No. 18. Obv. T. AIA. KA1CAP ANTQNGINOC. Titus Aelius
Caesar Antoninus. Laureated head of the emperor.
R. nei&N $eCK!N. Jupiter seated on what appears
to be a rock, or the rugged peak of a mountain, holding
in his right hand a cornucopia reversed, from which a
shower (of rain ?) is descending, his left hand grasping
a thunderbolt ; in the distance, to the right, a temple
and a cypress tree, and in the foreground, a reclining
bearded figure. .ZE 10.
This remarkable coin, engraved and described by
Seguin, 75 has been elegantly illustrated by the learned
Eckhel. 76 Seguin renders the unusual legend, Piorum
Ephesiorum, and conjectures that the emperor himself is
represented under the form and attributes of Jupiter, who
holds the fulmen " non minax sed quietum," and that the
Ephesians meant by this type to flatter their virtuous ruler
in a manner very common to the Greeks. Eckhel, how-
ever, sees in the type an allegory of Jupiter Pluvius, and
the earth, and quotes the following lines of Virgil 7T in il-
lustration of it :
Turn pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus aether
Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit, et omnes
Magnus alit, magno commixtus corpore, foetus.
Other illustrations may be found in various ancient au-
75 Sel. Num. p. 154.
76 Doct. Num. Vet., vol. ii. p. 514.
77 Georgic, ii. 325. There is a very remarkable figure of
Jupiter Pluvius on the Antonine column.
96 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
thors, 78 and the description given by Pausanias 79 of the
statue which he saw at Athens, representing the Earth
imploring showers from Jupiter, must not be overlooked.
Seguin supposes the reclining figure to be symbolical of
the province of Ionia; but as the coin appears to be not
in the best condition, it is more likely to be the ordinary
representation of a river-god, and probably typifies the
Cayster. The emperor, M. Aurelius, 80 speaks of a prac-
tice of the Athenians, who, when supplicating Jupiter for
rain, addressed that deity with the words wo-ov, vaov, <j>i\
Ztv ! rain, rain, dear Jupiter.
With regard to the remarkable legend 'EQtaiw Tlctwi/,
Eckhel 81 considers the word Iletwv as an epithet assumed
by the Ephesians in honour of the Emperor Antoninus
Pius " Ephesios se dixisse Iletoue ex nomine Imperantis
turn Antonini Pii." Now the only reason which can be
assigned for the explanation of that great numismatic au-
thority, is the circumstance of the word nGIilN being found
solely on the coins of Antoninus Pius ; but, as the walls of
the city of Ephesus extended over mount Pion, and traces
of them were seen by Chandler when he visited the spot,
it seems more probable that the legend is intended to
include the inhabitants of the mountain, who were con-
sidered joint citizens with the Ephesians. The rise of
several streams in the Cilbian heights is noticed by
Chandler, and this with Pliny's 82 description, seems admi-
rably to illustrate the type.
78 Vide, especially Tibullus, Eleg. viii. ; Statius, Theb. iv.
79 In Attic, lib. i.
80 Ilpoe tavrov. lib. v. c. 7.
81 Doct. Num. Vet. ii. p. 316.
82 " Attollitur (Ephesii) Monte Pione. Alluitur Caystro in Cyl--
bianis jugis orto, multosque amnes deferente et stagnum Pega-
seum, quod Phyrites amnis expellit." Hist. Nat. lib. v. c. 29.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 97
No. 19. Obv. AY. K. T. AI. AAPIA. ANTQNeiNOC. The
Emperor Caesar Titus JElius Hadrianus Antoninus.
Laureated head of the Emperor.
R. KOINON ACIAC 6*6CmN. The community of Asia.
(Money) of the Ephesians. The statue of Diana Ephesia
crowned by Victory; by her side, a female figure, with a
turreted crown, holding the hasta; at her feet, two stags.
M 10.
The female figure with the turreted crown is doubtless
the province of Ionia; and the coin was probably struck to
commemorate some victory obtained by Antoninus, which
the Ephesians were desirous of attributing to the inter-
vention of their favourite goddess; but the absence of any
record of the Consulship, or the Tribunita Potestas, on
Imperial Greek coins, often deprives us of all means of
even guessing at the event they are intended to record.
No. 20. Obv. T. AI. KAICAP ANTQNGINOC. Titus Aelius
Caesar Antoninus. Laureated head of Antoninus.
R. ZMYP. nerr. e*ecmN OMON. Concord of the
people of Smyrna, Pergamus, and Ephesus. Diana
Ephesia with her attributes standing between ^Escu-
lapius and Nemesis. JE 11.
The three figures on the reverse of this coin are the
tutelary deities of Smyrna, Pergamus, and Ephesus, and
are therefore very appropriately brought together to com-
memorate the concord of the three cities. Of the Ne-
meses I have already spoken, and I shall reserve my
remarks on the deity of Pergamus for a paper on the coins
of that city.
No. 21. Obv. Same head.
R. AHOAAiiN EMBACIOC e*6CIQN. Apollo Em-
basius of the Ephesians. A Galley. (Vaillant, Num.
Greeca.) JE
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Among the numerous surnames which the Greeks gave
to Apollo were those of Embasius and Ekbasius, derived
from 'Ejuj3atvo> (/ embark] and 'EicjSaivw (/ land}. This
deity is often thus named in the argonautics of Apollonius,
as noticed by Eckhel, 83 who observes that his worship was
very appropriate in a maritime and commercial city.
" Numen urbi opportunum, cujus amplum fuit mari com-
mercium."
No. 22. Obv.T. AIAIOC KAICAP ANTQNGINOC. Titus
Mlius Ccesar Antoninus. The laureated head of An-
toninus.
R. GfceCKlN AIC NeQKOPiiN. {Money) of the Ephe-
sians, twice Neocori. Three temples, each having
within it a statue, the centre one being that of Diana
Ephesia. ^E 10.
It is obvious that the title " twice Neocori " here refers
only to the Neocori of the Emperors; that of the Great
Diana, " whom all Asia and the world worshipped," ^
being considered as a thing well known to the surrounding
cities.
It is further quite clear from this type that the Ephesians
at this period did not always include in their records of the
number of times they were declared Neocori the Neocorus
of the Great Diana. They probably considered it a title
which they enjoyed by consent of all the civilized world,
and therefore not to be confounded with recent favours
and benefactions. But, if this be admitted with regard to
the coins of the times of the Antonines, it will not establish
a rule for those of a later period, since we find on the
83 Doct. Num. Vet. vol. ii. p. 516.
84 Acts xix. v. 27.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 99
money of subsequent reigns, T6TPAKIC NGQKOPilN, the
Neocorus of Diana included, and evidently alluding to the
four temples represented on the reverse.
No. 23. Obv. T. AIA. KAICAP ANTilNGINOC. Titus Mlius
Ccesar Antoninus. Laureated head.
R. AYPHAIOC KAICAP efcGCmN. Amelius Casar.
(Money) of the Ephesians. Marcus Aurelius on horse-
back. (Mionnet from the cabinet of Cousinery-)
JEW.
This coin was probably struck in honour of the em-
peror's visit to Ephesus.
No. 24. Obv. AYF. K. HO. AIKIN. BAAEPIANOC. The
Emperor Ccesar Publius Licinius Valerianus. Laureated
head.
R. EfcEEIQN T. NEftKOPflN. (Money) of the Ephe-
sians, thrice Neocori. A woman walking to the right,
holding in each arm a child. JE 7.
As will be noticed hereafter, the Ephesians maintained
that Apollo and Diana were not born at Delos, but in the
Ortygian grove, near their city. Of course such a tradition
became hallowed by time ; and we accordingly find it illus-
trated by this type as late as the days of Valerian. A coin
of Tranquillina, wife of Gordian, has a similar representa-
tion of Latona with her twin children ; but one of them
holds his bow and the other a globe, a symbol very signifi-
cant of the universal worship of the goddess.
No. 25. Obv. AYT. K.AI. AAPI. ANTilNGlNOC. The Emperor
Ccesar Adrianus Antoninus. Laureated head of Anto-
ninus with the paludamentum.
R. Gill 6CTIAIOY OMONOIA. Concord under EstiUus.
Diana Ephesia and Diana Lucifera standing. JE 10.
There is another coin of this type with the bare head of
Antoninus. The figures on the reverse are exceedingly
VOL. iv. p
100 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
curious as representing Diana in her Ephesian character,
and also as Hecate. The first is evidently a very ancient
figure. Its stiffness and formality indicate a primitive
origin; and the rigidity of the arms, which project from the
side of the image, is so remarkable, that they appear to
have been the adjuncts of a succeeding age, while the props
or supports do not terminate in tridents as on other coins.
The other figure may possibly be a representation of that
which Pliny 85 describes, which was of marble, and of such
dazzling lustre, that the beholders were cautioned to shade
their eyes from its effulgence.
No. 26. Obv. Same legend and head.
R. IGPA AHHNH GfceCKlN. The Sacred Car of the
Ephesians. The Theusa or Sacred Car drawn by two
mules. JE 10.
The Theusa or Divine Car, called also Carpentum, and
by the Greeks a7rrjvj, appears more frequently on Roman
coins. It is figured on those of Agrippina and Domitilla,
having, as would appear by the legends, been used to
convey the remains of those empresses to their last resting
places. They were employed also in the sacred proces-
sions when the images of the gods were paraded in public.
Though the animals, harnessed to the car on this example,
are more like horses (for which, indeed, Vaillant mis-
took them) than mules, it appears by a passage in Athe-
naeus, quoted by Eckhel ^ that the latter animal was used
on these occasions.
85 Et Hecate Ephesi in templo Diana? post aedem, in cujus
contemplatione admonent ffiditui parcere oculis, tanta marmoris
radiatio est. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 5.
86 'ATTJ/VOU vfi fyutoywv dyo/ifveu Theusae a mulis tractae.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 101
No. 27. Obv. Same legend and head.
R Gill IIAITOY rPAMMATGOC APT6MIC 6*6-
CIliN. Under Pcetus, Scribe. Diana of the Ephesians.
Statue of the Ephesian Diana. IE 8|.
This coin is remarkable, merely from the circumstance
of the re-appearance of the name of the Scribe, a fact which
invites the inquiries and conjectures of the antiquary and
numismatist. If this Paetus be the same personage as the
Proconsul whose name appears on the next coin, it is another
proof of the importance of the office of Scribe.
No. 28. Obv. Same legend and head.
R. AN9Y. KAIC6N. IIAITOY 6$6. CMY. OMONOIA.
Concord of the people of Ephesus and Smyrna under the
Proconsul Ccecennius Pcetus. Diana and Apollo stand-
ing with their attributes. IE 9. (Sestini, Descriz.)
The type of this coin requires little explanation. It was
natural that Apollo should be figured in company with a
deity so highly venerated by the Ephesians ; and it is some-
what remarkable that, as the brother of the great goddess,
he does not appear oftener on the coins of Ephesus.
No. 29. Obv. OYHPOC KAICAP $AYCT6INA C6. Verus
Ccesar, Faustina Augusta. Heads of Marcus Aurelius
and Faustina Junior.
R. em CTPA. IOYAIANOY 6*6CmN. (Money) of the
Ephesians, under the Prcetor Julianus. A river god
seated on the ground, holding in his right hand the
image of Diana Ephesia. JE 5. (Vaillant).
Sestini 87 gives a coin of Ephesus, struck during the
reign of S. Severus, on which Jupiter Olympius is represented
seated, holding the image of Diana Ephesia ; and Vaillant 88
describes another of the same emperor, on which that deity
is figured standing and holding a similar image.
This coin is remarkable on account of its bearing the
87 Lett. Num. Cont. iv. p. 77.
88 Num. Graeca.
102 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
name of the Sroarrjyoe or Praetor, instead of that of the
Proconsul or the Scribe ; and it should be observed, that it
was struck previous to the year A. D. 161, while Aurelius yet
bore the names of Marcus Annius Merits, and was merely
CcBsar ; though his consort, as the daughter of Antoninus
Pius, is styled Augusta.
MARCUS AURELIUS.
No- 30 OZw. AY. KAI. AY. ANTiiNGINOC. The Emperor
Ccesar Aurelius Antoninus- Laureated head of Aurelius.
R. - EfcESIQN AIS NEilKO[PiiN] nPQ[TON] A2IAS.
(Money) of the Ephesians, twice Neocori* the first of
Asia. Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus sacrificing
at an altar, with the fire kindled, before the statue of
the Ephesian Diana. JE 11.
Several cities of antiquity assumed the title of UpwroQ
or First, and its signification has been discussed by Eckhel, 89
who has cited the conflicting opinions of various learned
men. Pergamus, Samos, Smyrna, and Tralles are among
those cities whose coins most frequently boast the title of
Protos, which appears to have been assumed simply as a
title of excellence, and not in the sense of Metropolis, an
epithet which we find perpetually recorded on the coins of
Antioch. It is remarkable that, although there are many
numismatic records of the friendship and alliance between
the cities of Ephesus and Smyrna, they both inscribed on
their coins the boasted title nPQT&N ACIAC.
No. 81. Obv.AV. KAI. M. AYP. ANTON. The Emperor Ccemr
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Laureated head of Marcus
Aurelius.
R. e$ecmN KAI lepAiioAerraN OMON. Concord
of the people of Ephesus and Hierapolis. Diana
Ephesia between two stags ; on her left, Apollo stand-
ing. JE 101.
89 Doct. Num. Vet. vol. iv. p. 282.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 103
It does not appear from the coins of Hierapolis in
Phrygia, that Apollo was the tutelary deity of that city,
for the types comprise, among many others, representa-
tions of Jupiter, -ZEsculapius, Pluto, Lunus, Nemesis,
Hygeia, &c. Apollo, however, occasionally appears ; and
on a coin of Commodus 90 he is represented in a female
habit playing on the lyre. Besides these, there are the
figures of Diana Ephesia and of an Amazon on horseback,
armed with the bipennis.
No. 32. Obv. Same legend and head.
R.e*ecmN KAI. CAPAIANSIN OMONOIA. Concord
of the people of Ephesus and Sardes. Diana Ephesia
standing : by her side a female figure. JE 10.
It appears from this coin, that the city of Sardes in
Lydia was amongst those who entered into alliance with
the Ephesians, the figure of whose celebrated deity some-
times appears on the coins of Sardes. Sardes boasted the
titles of Neocorus and Metropolis, and a coin of Elagabalus
shows that the former was twice repeated. 91
No. 33. Obv. Similar legend and head.
R. 6*eCIQN KAI. TPAAAIANQN OMONOIA. Con-
cord of the people of Ephesus and Tralles. Diana
Ephesia and Jupiter Nicephorus.
From the coins of Tralles in Lydia, Jupiter appears to
have been the most important, if not the tutelary deity
of that city. To give a particular account of those cities
with whom the Ephesians formed alliances, or rather, who
formed alliances with the Ephesians, would swell these re-
marks beyond their prescribed limits.
90 Mionnet, Descrip. torn. iv. p. 303- 91 Ibid, p* 133.
104 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
LUCIUS VERUS.
No. 34. 060. AYT. KAI. AOYKIOC AYP. OYHPOC. The Em-
peror Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus. Lztureated head.
ft. OMONOIA G*ecmN. The statue of Diana Ephesia
on a pedestal between the figures of Aurelius and
Verus, each in the toga. Medallion. (Sestini, Lettere,
torn, viii.)
If the words of the legend of the reverse are to be read
independent of each other, the o/uovota would appear to
allude to the emperors, who are thus represented in the
toga, and joining hands on many Roman coins with the
legend CONCORDIA AVGVSTORVM a type and legend
which seem almost to justify the supposition of some anti-
quaries that the senate, in attributing virtues to vicious
princes, thus delicately hinted that they ought to practise
them. Doubtful as this may appear to some, the conjec-
ture does not seem to be altogether groundless; for the type
of the Roman coins alluded to was copied by several Greek
cities. But, if we are to consider with Sestini 92 that this
coin of Ephesus was struck to commemorate the concord
of the Ephesians " concordia inter se ipsos," the words of
the legend must be read together, and signify the internal
harmony of the Ephesians. 93
No. 35. Obv. AYT. KAIC. A. AIA. OYHPOC AYrOYCTOC. The
Emperor Casar Lucius Mlius Verus Augustus. Lau-
reated head.
92 Classes Generales, p. 81.
93 These alliances, inter se, are strongly urged on the Athe-
nians by Demosthenes. Ep. ii. (Hepl rife 'O/zovo/ae) Ae7 Se'
vfj.5.Q, <3 avdpeQ 'Adrjvaioi irp&Tov p.ev airavTwv IIPOS 'YMAS
AYTOIS OMONOIAN c TO KOIVTJ crvfi<j)fpoi> rf) wo\t irapaa-
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 105
R. 6*eCIQN AAOAIKGQN OMONOIA. Concord of
the people of Laodicea and Ephesus. Diana Ephesia
between two stags, and Jupiter, seated, holding the
hasta. M 11.
From this type we learn, that the Ephesians were on
terms of amity with the citizens of the Phrygian Laodicea.
No. 36. Obv. M. AYPHAIOC OYHPOC KAICAP. Marcus
Aurelius Verus Caesar. Bare head with the paluda-
mentum.
R. ANAPOKAOC KTICTHC G^GCKiN. Androclus the
founder of the Ephesians. Androclus in military cos-
tume, holding (as it appears) a bow in his extended
right hand, his left grasping a spear. M 6.
This very interesting type shows, that whatever were the
opinions of ancient writers, the story of the foundation
of Ephesus by Androclus was generally received as the true
one by the Ephesians, in the days of the Antonines.
Pausanias, who is supposed to have flourished in the suc-
ceeding reign, tells us that the tomb of the Ionian leader
was in the road leading from the temple of Diana, and that
upon it was the figure of an armed man 94 ; and it is highly
probable that the dress and arms of the figure on this coin
were copied from the statue in question.
It is very true that a coin of Augustus, struck at Ephe-
sus 95 gives the honoured title of K-non?? to that emperor;
but in this, as in many similar instances which might be re-
ferred to on Greek coins, it must be considered as mere
hyperbole, simply signifying that the emperor was the
the benefactor or restorer of the city. It should be observed
that a coin of Antoninus Pius bears two heroic figures,
with the names of Cyzicus and Ephesus, but without any
designation.
94 Lib. vii. c. 2. 95 Vaillant. Num. Graeca.
106 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
COMMODUS.
No. 37. Obv. M. AY. OAYM. KOMOAOC. Marcus Aurelius
Olympius Commodus. Laureated head of Coramodus.
R. 6*eCION B. N6O. (Money) of the Ephesians,
twice Neocori. Diana, the huntress, overpowering a
stag. M 6.
2. Another, with a river god seated; in the exergue,
QKGANOC.
We here find the title of Olympius bestowed on the
worthless Commodus. This was a little in advance of the
emperor's vanity; since at home he was content with that of
Hercules, as many Roman coins testify. The sea is typified
in the same manner as a river god according to the general
practice of the Greeks.
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS.
No. 38. Obv. AY. KAI. A. CGH. CGOYHPOC UGP. The Em-
peror Ccesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pertinax. Lau-
reated head of Septimius Severus.
R. e$eCmN B. NeiiKOPilN. (Money) of the
sians, twice Neocori. The figure of Diana Ephesia
between the rivers Cayster and Cenchrius. JE 7.
The signification of this type is obvious. The river
Cayster has already been noticed. The stream, called the
Cenchrius, was held in veneration by the Ephesians for the
reasons mentioned at page 74.
No. 39. Obv. CGOYHPOC CIGIOC AYF. Severus Pius Au-
gustus. Laureated head.
R. efcGCIilN B. N6OKOPQN. (Money) of the Ephe-
sians, twice Neocori.- Two children suckled by a wolf.
JB5|.
The type of the founders of Rome is probably intended as
a compliment to Geta and Caracalla, the sons of Severus ;
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 107
but it may merely signify the respect which the Ephesians
affected to feel for their Roman masters ; for imperial Greek
coins of other emperors bear the type of the wolf and twins,
a type which was revived in the days of Constantine the
Great, as is shewn by innumerable examples preserved to
our times. We learn from Livy 95 that these images were
erected over the public buildings at Rome ; and we know
that they are figured on the divisions of the Roman As, as
well as on the coins of Campania.
' JULIA DOMNA.
No. 40. Obv. IOYAIA CGBACTH. Julia Augusta. Head of
the Empress.
R. e*ecmN TPIC NeoKOPiiN KAI THC APTG-
MIAOC. (Money) of the Ephesians, thrice Neocori
and (also) of Diana. A female figure, wearing the
stola and a turreted crown, standing ; in her right hand
the hasta, her left holding an ox ; before, the figure of
Diana Ephesia. JE 9.
This coin is given by Mionnet, 96 who has transposed the
legend of the reverse, an error which he has rectified in his
sixth supplemental volume. 97 It is remarkable as shewing
that apart from all other honours, and the repetition of the
title of Neocoros, the Neocoros of the Great Diana was
their chief and permanent boast; and a right which time
had confirmed and hallowed. The group represents a
sacrifice to the Ephesian goddess, by the province of Ionia,
typified by the female figure with the turreted crown.
95 Lib. x.
96 Descrip. torn, iii- p. 106. No. 342.
97 Ibid. torn. vi. p. 159. No. 524. ,
VOL. IV. Q
108 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
CARACALLA.
No. 41. Obv. AN'mNGlNOC AYI\ Antoninus Augustus. Lau-
reated head.
ft. e*ecmN KAI CAPAIANQN OMONOIA. Concord
of the people of Ephesus and Sardes. The figures of
Diana Ephesia and Juno Pronuba, standing. JE 10.
No. 42. Obv. AYT. K. M. AYP. ANTiiNGINOC CGB. The Em-
peror Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.
R. AOFMATI CYNKAHTOY e<DCmN HAIOI NGOI.
By decree of the Senate of the JEphesians. The New
Suns. Four temples containing, severally, statues of
Severus, Domna, Caracalla, and Geta. JE .
The practice of paying divine honours to their rulers was,
as has been already observed, a very common one with the
degenerate and degraded Greeks. Every one acquainted
with ancient history will remember the account which Plu-
tarch 98 gives of Antony and Cleopatra at Alexandria, when
the Triumvir was styled Ncoc Atovutroc (the New Bacchus)
and his paramour Nea lo-tc (the New Isis), which latter title,
or rather that of 0a Nea or Newrepa, is found on a coin of
Cleopatra, doubtless struck at the very time of that insane
mummery." Buonnarotti 10 cites many examples of this
practice, quoting a marble from Spon, on which Sabina the
empress is styled the New Ceres (Neav ArjjUTjrcjoa), and an-
other from the same author inscribed to Julia Pia as the
New Vesta (Eemav Ncai/). Caligula called the temple of
Jerusalem after his name Atoe tinfyavovQ veov Fatou.
98 In Vita Ant. See also Paterculus, lib. ii. 83, and Dio.
lib. xlviii.
99 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. I. p. 200, 209.
100 Osservazioni Istoriche, p. 40.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 109
No. 43. Obv. ANraNGlNOC AYF. Antoninus Augustus. Lau-
reated head.
R. e^GCION KAI CAPAIANQN OMONOIA. Concord
of the People of Ephesus and Sardes. The figures of
Diana Ephesia and Juno Pronuba standing. JE .
The worship of the Samian Juno appears to have been
cultivated in several of the Asiatic cities ; and the manner
in which she is represented on many coins, shews that she
was, like Diana of the Ephesians, a very ancient deity.
We have here evidence that she was held in especial honour
by the people of Sardes in Lydia.
No. 44. Obv. AYT. K. M. AYP. ANTONGINOC CGB. The
Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Lau-
reated head with the paludamentum.
R. e$ecriiN npirraN ACIAC A. Nesm. (Money)
of the Ephesians, the first of Asia, four times 101 Neocori.
Four temples. IE 10.
This curious and interesting coin is in the collection of
the British Museum. The first temple contains the figure
of Diana Polymamma ; the second, a togated figure ; and
the two others, of which we have a side view, have each a flight
of steps, and contain a figure holding the hasta. From this
type, therefore, we gather, without the aid of other evi-
dence, that the repetition of that title, which was the chief
boast of the Ephesians, had no reference to the Neocoro's
of the Great Diana, as some have supposed; but that it was
recorded on the erection of another temple to an Em-
peror. This bringing together of the great deity and the
deified emperors, recalls to mind Chandler's 102 description
of a bridge which he saw on the road from Aiasaluck to
101 The A is here the Greek numeral 4.
102 Travels in Asia Minor, p. 11 7.
110 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Guzel-hissar or Magnesia, and which had been erected at
the expense, as appears by the inscription which it bore, of
one Pollio, who had dedicated it to the Ephesian Diana,
the Emperor Augustus, Tiberius his son, arid to the people
of Ephesus. There are coins of Caracalla and Geta with
the legend NGOI HAIOI under the bust.
ELAGABALUS.
No, 45. Obv. ATT. K. M. AYR ANTiiNGINOC CGB. The Em-
peror C&sar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.
Laureated armed bust, with the paludamentum.
R. GfcGCKlN MONiiN AHACflN TGTPAKI NGO-
KOPiiN. (Money) of the Ephesians, alone, of all
(cities) four times Neocori. The emperor in the toga,
sacrificing on a tripod before the temple of Diana
Ephesia. M 10 j.
This boast of the Ephesians, that they were the sole
people who had been declared Neocori for the fourth time,
is confirmed by the coins of other cities, which bear records
of three Neocorates only.
It is well known that Elagabalus was brought up as a
priest of the sun ; and it is very probable that he is here
officiating in a sacerdotal character in a sacrifice to Diana.
No. 46. Obv. AYT. K. M. AYP. ANTiiNGlNOC. The Emperor
CfBsar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Laureated head
of Elagabalus with the paludamentum.
R. OIKOYMENIA NSiiKOPiiN. A laurel garland, within
which is the bust of Elagabalus with the paludamentum,
and the inscription, e^GCIiiN OAYMIIIA, in two
lines: below, two palm-branches, the reward of the vic-
tors in the games. JE |.
The words of the legend combined may be thus ren-
dered " The Universal and Olympian Games of the Ephesians,
Neocori."
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. Ill
It is probable that the games which this coin records
were celebrated by the Ephesians on the occasion of a visit
from the depraved Emperor, who, as Herodian 103 informs
us, was detained for some time at Nicomedia, after his
election to the empire, by the severity of the season, and
who might therefore have visited Ephesus previously to his
setting out for Rome : at any rate, it shews that the Ephe-
sians were anxious to testify their attachment to one who
had promised to tread in the steps of Augustus and Marcus
Aurelius, and who, on his first assumption of the purple,
led many to hope for better times. These expectations
were, however, not to be realised, for Elagabalus soon com-
menced his career of astounding iniquity. His fondness
for public games is especially noticed by Dio, 104 who relates
that more than fifty tigers were slain in one of these enter-
tainments.
MAXIMINUS.
No. 47. Obv. I\ IOY. MA#IMINOC. Caius Julius Maximinus.
Laureated head.
R. GfcSCmN TYXH. Fortune of the Ephesians. For-
tune standing, holding in her right hand the prow of a
vessel, and in her left, a cornucopia. ./E .
From the attributes with which Fortune is here invested,
we may infer that that deity had a statue at Ephesus, and
that she was propitiated by sacrifices on the occasion of a
voyage.
Other coins of Ephesus represent Fortune with her
usual attributes, the rudder and cornucopia, as she appears
perpetually on Roman coins.
103 Lib.v. c. 11. 104 Lib.lxxix.
112 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
GORDIANUS.
No. 48. Obv. AYT. K. M. ANTii. TOPAIANOC CG. The Em-
peror Ctzsar Marcus Antoninus Gordianus. Laureated
head.
AAE#ANAPEUN OMONOIA. Concord
of the people of Ephesus and Alexandria. Diana
Ephesia and Serapis standing on the deck of a galley.
JE 10j.
The custom of placing the divinities on rafts or galleys
was of remote antiquity, , and perhaps had its origin among
the Egyptians. The Ephesians appear to have been aware
of this ; and the great deity of Alexandria is here accord-
ingly placed on the deck of a galley in company with the
Ephesian goddess. Pausanias describes a very curious
figure of Minerva seen by him at Priene. It was formed
on the Egyptian model, and placed on a raft, as if sailing
from Phoenician Tyre. 105 Porphyry alludes to this practice
of the Egyptians, who, he informs us, placed their gods on
rafts or galleys, because they considered that the element
on which they floated was necessary to the production and
the maintenance of animal and vegetable life ; moreover,
he observes, in Holy Writ it is said, that the Spirit of God
moved upon the waters. 106
Other coins of Gordian struck at Ephesus bear the fi-
gures of Serapis and Isis ; and on one of them the goddess
is depicted as Isis Pharia, holding a sail distended by the
wind and standing by the Alexandrian Pharos, 107 a type
probably borrowed from that of a common Alexandrian
coin of Antoninus Pius.
e^ia yap ^wXwv. mi ITT avri/e 00g fK Tvpov rj/t;
Kttff ijfTtvo. K. T. \. Archiac. lib. vii. c.5.
106 De Antro Nympharum, pp. 256-7. Edit. Cantab. 1655
107 Mionnet, Descript. torn. iii. p. 117.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 113
PHILIPPUS.
No. 49. Obv.ATT. K. M. IOY. fclAIIHIOC. The Emperor
Ccesar Marcus Julius Philippus. Laureated head of
Philip.
R. HPAKAGITOC e^GCmN. Heraclitus of the Ephe-
sians. The bearded figure of Heraclitus, clad in a
mantle, his right hand raised, his left resting on a
cluh.
Ephesus was the birth-place of the philosopher Hera-
clitus ; and it is probable that the figure on this coin is a
copy of some well known statue, which perished many ages
back in the general wreck of the city.
50. Obv. AYT. K. M. IOY. fclAIIHIOC. The Emperor
Caesar Marcus Julius Philippus. Laureated head of
Philip with the paludamentum.
R. G4>ecmN KATA1IAOYC A. A galley with the sail
set, and rowers. JE 5g.
This coin was struck to commemorate the arrival, for the
first time, of some important personage at Ephesus; and
there can be little doubt but that it records the entrance of
the emperor himself. Vaillant 108 renders the legend
" Ephesiorum primus appulsus " adding, " nempe quando
per mare Philippus Ephesum venit," and the same au-
thor 109 cites a coin of Septimius Severus struck at Perin-
thus with the legend EHIAHMIA B. Adventus Secundus ; on
which occasion, games, named Severia, were held in honour
of the emperor's second arrival in that city. Roman coins,
it is well known, often bear the legend Adventus Augusti ;
but the Greeks alone appear to have noted the number of
times that they were thus honoured by the emperor's visits.
This distinction suggests an easy explanation; the record
on the Roman coins denoted the emperor's return to the
108 Num. Graeca. p. 162. m Ibid. p. 86.
114 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
capital, while that on the money of the Greeks recorded
his visits no to the cities of the Roman provinces.
OTACILIA.
No. 51. Obv. MAP. ilTA. CGYHPA CGB. Marcia Otacilia
Sever a Augusta- Head of Otacilia.
R. EfcECKIN KOINON HANKINIQN. The Community
of the Ephesians, with all Ionia. A tetrastyle Temple.
JE 6. (Vaillant.)
Pausanias speaks in several places of the Panionion of
the lones, an assembly from which the Smynaeans were
for a long time excluded.
PHILIPPUS JUNIOR.
No. 52. Obv. M. IOYA. $IAIIIIIOC KAICAP. Marcus Julius
Philippus Ccesar. Bare head of the younger Philip
with the paludamentum.
R. e$eCKlN APTGMIC ACYAO. Diana of the Ephe-
sians, Inviolable. Statue of Diana Ephesia between two
stags. JE 81. (Mionnet, from the cabinet of M.
Cousinery).
ETRUSCILLA.
No. 53. Obv. 6P6N. GTPOYCIAAA CB. Herennia Etruscilla
Augusta. The bust of the empress on a crescent.
R. APT6MIC. e<&6CIA. ACYAOY. Diana Ephesia, In-
violable. The goddess with her attributes between two
stags: in the field, the sun and moon. M 8|.
These two coins are remarkable on account of the title of
AtrwXoc- A very interesting account is given by Tacitus, 111
of the cities which claimed the right of Asylum in the reign
of Tiberius. That subtle tyrant, while strengthening his
power at home, affected to regard the ancient jurisdiction
of the Senate, by referring to them the representations and
110 Vide Corsini, '' Fasti Attici," where these and similar re-
cords are noticed.
111 Annales, lib. iii. c. 41.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 115
petitions of the various cities of Greece, which claimed the
privilege of Asylum or Sanctuary. Foremost among them
were the Ephesians, who alleged that Apollo and Diana
were not, according to the vulgar legend, born at Delos,
but in the Ortygian Grove, within their territory, and that
the very olive tree against which Latona leaned, when she
was delivered of the twin deities, was still standing ; that
to this grove Apollo retired for sanctuary from the wrath of
Jupiter, after the slaughter of the Cyclops ; and that here
Bacchus pardoned the Amazons who sought refuge at the
altar of Diana. They further represented, that their rights
in this respect had never been invaded under the Persian
and Macedonian rule. Next came the Magnesians, who
asserted that the privilege had been granted to them by
Lucius Scipio, after he had vanquished Antiochus, and
subsequently by Sylla, after the defeat of Mithridates.
Aphrodisia and Stratonicea put in their claims, alleging
that the right had been granted to them by Caesar in
reward for services rendered to his party, and had been
confirmed by a decree of Augustus, in which that emperor
had especially commended their fidelity to the Romans on
the occasion of an irruption of the Parthians. The people
of Hieroca5sarea referred their claim to a much earlier
period, asserting that they possessed the statue of Diana
Persica, whose temple had been consecrated by King Cyrus
and the rights of which had been confirmed by Perpennalsau-
ricus and many other Roman Generals multaque alia im-
peratorum nomina who had allowed the right of sanctuary
within an area of two miles around it. Cyprus laid claim
to no less than three asylums ; the first founded by -/Erias
in honour of the Venus of Paphos ; the second by Amathus
the son of ^Erias, dedicated to the Amathusian Venus; and
the third by Teucer to Jupiter Salaminius, when he fled
from the anger of his father.
VOL. IV. R
116 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
These claims appear to have caused some trouble and
perplexity to the conscript fathers, who gave power to the
Consuls to enquire into their validity, charging them to
make due investigation of the several pretensions to the
right, and report the result to the senate. The consuls
found that many of the cities could refer only to tradition
in support of their claim ; but they discovered that, besides
the temples above named, there was one at Pergamus
dedicated to ^Esculapius, which was really a sanctuary.
In the end, the senate, expressing great reverence for the
several deities, confirmed the right of sanctuary to but a
small number of the claimants, who were commanded to
place in each temple a memorial of the decree engraved on
brass, with a view to the preservation of the right to pos-
terity, and the prevention of ill-grounded claims for the
future. 112
It is scarcely necessary to add, that these sanctuaries, like
those of the Middle Ages, were crowded with the most
profligate and abandoned of mankind. Tacitus says, they
afforded shelter to runaway slaves, fraudulent debtors, and
persons accused of capital offences, and that the excess of
the evil led to the enquiry promoted by Tiberius.
The temple of Diana Ephesia enjoyed the privilege of
sanctuary before the time of Alexander the Great, who
extended it to the distance of a stadium around the build-
ing. Mithridates enlarged this to an arrow's flight shot
from the angle of the pediment of the temple, which fell a
little beyond the line prescribed by Alexander. 113 By An-
112 Factaque senatus consulta, quis multo cum honore, modus
tamen praeseribebatur, jussique ipsis in templis figere aera, sa-
crandam ad memoriam, neu specie religionis in ambitionem dila-
berentur.'' Annales, lib.iii. c.43.
113 Strabo, lib. xiv.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 117
tony, it was further enlarged, and comprised a portion of
the city ; but this was found to be an evil, and the extension
was abrogated by Augustus. Notwithstanding the enlarge-
ment of the sanctuary by Mithridates, it is evident that the
temple proved no asylum to the Romans when he ordered
the general massacre in Asia, the wretched fugitives being
dragged from the altar and the statues of Diana, and
remorselessly butchered without distinction. 114
Such are the numismatic monuments of the once famous
city of Ephesus, whose subsequent history may be traced
in a few brief words. In the early days of Christianity, it
became by turns a prey to barbarian spoliation and fanatical
frenzy ; and it may be rationally conjectured, that the final
destruction of its magnificent temple was achieved by the
zealots of the time, while the more precious ornaments of
its interior had been greedily seized and appropriated by
the savage hordes who were daily becoming more formidable
even to Rome herself. " A writer," says Chandler, 115 " who
lived towards the end of the second century, has cited a
sibyl as foretelling that, the earth opening and quaking,
the temple of Diana would be swallowed like a ship in a
storm in the abyss ; and Ephesus, lamenting and weeping
by the river-banks, would enquire for it, then inhabited no
more. If the authenticity of the oracle were undisputed,
and the sibyl acknowledged a true prophetess, we might
114 'E^)fftOt rove TO 'ApTfllfftOV KO.T afyvyoVTCLQ ffV[jnr\K6/JlVOV
rote ayaXnatnv i^eXKOvree ficreivov. Appian. Bell. Mith. p. #17.
Ed. Amst. 1670.
115 Travels in Asia Minor, p. 141.
118 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
infer, from the visible condition of the place, the full accom-
plishment of the whole prediction. We now seek in vain
for the temple ; the city is prostrate, and the goddess
gone !"
At the time this was written, the site of Ephesus was
overrun with fennel, which grew tall and rank among its
ruins ; and the partridge was calling to its mate among the
corn which grew within the area of the stadium. At the
present day, if any change has taken place, it only marks
the further desolation of the spot. The busy streets and
public places which once reverberated with the tramp of
countless feet are now wrapped in the silence of the grave,
and are seldom traversed save by beasts of prey. The
plaudits of the amphitheatre and the odeum are exchanged
for the loud cries of the rook and the daw, and ill-omened
birds sit and brood in the places once occupied by em-
perors and consuls.
J. Y. AKERMAN.
Lewisham, 20th May, 1841.
REMARKS ON THE COINS OF EPHESUS. 119
NOTE ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS.
1. Imperial Greek coins are seldom in sufficiently good
preservation to allow of their being engraved for the mere
purpose of illustration : and such is the case with the ma-
jority of the present series ; so that the examples given in
the accompanying plate are principally selected for their
reverses, which, though not fine, are in tolerable con-
dition.
The vignette is engraved from a medallion of Claudius
and Agrippina, in the cabinet of Dr. John Lee. The reverse
bears the legend DIANA EPHESIA in Roman characters.
This piece is one of those alluded to at page 80. The
very rude and singular image which it bears, favours the
supposition that this may have been the original figure of
the goddess ; and the conjecture would not, perhaps, be dis-
puted, were it not for the occurrence of another representa-
tion of this far-famed deity, of a very primitive form, in the
coin No. 2.
No. 1. Is a medallion of Claudius in the cabinet of B. Night-
ingale, Esq. The reverse bears the usual figure of
Diana within a tetrastyle temple, the columns of which
are decidedly of the Ionic order. (See the remarks at
page 90).
2. A coin of Antoninus Pius (in the collection of the
British Museum) described at page 99, and remarkable
for the very rude figure of the Ephesian goddess.
3. A coin of Caracalla (in the collection of the British
Museum) described at page 109.
4. This coin, though of Otacilia, the wife of the elder
Philip, bears, on the reverse, a type precisely similar to
that of Etruscilla described at page 114. Here the
figure of Diana differs frorp those on the earlier coins.
120 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
XII.
ON THE GOLD TRIENS INSCRIBED "DOROVERNIS
CIVITAS." 1
THE opinion of M. de Longperier, expressed in the Nu-
mismatic Journal, Vol. II. p. 232, that the beautiful gold
triens with DOROVERNIS CIVITAS on its reverse, is a
specimen of the earliest Saxon coinage, minted at Canter-
bury, is, I am persuaded, correct ; and, I doubt not, the
objections you made to this appropriation, on account of
the somewhat unusual termination IS, will be dispelled by
the evidence I have collected respecting the ancient name
of the city of Canterbury.
We have charters of Osuuini, A.D. 675 (see No. VIII.
in the " Codex Diplomaticus" of the Historical Society),
of Hlothari, 675 (No. IX.), of Suabhard, 676 (No. XIV.),
of Eadric, 686 (No. XXVII.), of Wihtraed, 696 (No.
XLL), of Eadberht, 761 (No. CVIL), of ^Ethilberht, 762
(No. CVIIL), and of Ecgberht, 778 (No. CXXXII.) all
kings of Kent; of Dumweald, minister of .ZEthilberht,
762, and of Offa, king of Mercia, 764; in all of which we
have the form Dorovernis ; and when to this we add, that
wherever the city of Canterbury is .mentioned in the Ec-
clesiastical History of Beda, its name is spelt as in the
charters (except that we have U in place of the second 0),
no doubt can exist that during the seventh, and the greater
part of the eighth centuries, the metropolitan city was
known by the name of Dorovernis. Towards the close of
the eighth century an alteration in the name took place.
In a charter of 790, I find the first instance of Dorobernia,
TRIENS WITH " DOROVERNIS CIVITAS." 121
as I do not take into consideration the two corrupt copies
of a charter of ^Ethilberht in 605, where we have both
Dorovernis and Dorobernia, nor the forgery which purports
to be a charter of Archbishop Augustine.
It being then certain, that, during the seventh century,
the name of the city of Canterbury was written exactly as
on the coin before us, the arguments of M. de Longperier
in the Revue Numismatique (1838, p. 471), acquire
additional weight. Your remark, that if the Anglo-Saxons
had a coinage of gold, this is the description of piece which
might be looked for, was perfectly just : this long agitated
question must now, therefore, be considered as settled ; and
the triens of Canterbury, along with the gold penny of the
Confessor in Mr. Spurrier's cabinet, be admitted as evi-
dence that, under the Heptarchy as well as the Monarchy,
gold money was issued from the Saxon mints. From the
circumstance that the moneyer's name is Greek, we cannot
hesitate in placing the date of this triens near the com-
mencement of the seventh century, and supposing it the
work of some artist introduced into this country by Au-
gustine and his missionary brethren.
I cannot conclude without calling your attention to one
of the most interesting coins of the Anglo-Saxon series
hitherto published. It is a penny of Ecgberht, in Mr.
Hawkins' work, No. 158, and, from the reverse legend,
ZEZ HNDRESZ, undoubtedly a relic of the ecclesiastical
mint of Rochester; and, as such, unique. St. Andrew is the
patron saint of the cathedral in that city. Yours,
DANIEL H. HAIGH.
Leeds, 10th June, 1841.
122
MISCELLANEA.
COINS AND ANTIQUITIES OF AFGHANISTAN. Within the last
seven or eight years, many important and interesting disco-
veries of ancient monuments and coins have been made in the
north-western provinces of India, in the valley of the Kabul
river, in the mountain districts between India and Turkestan,
and in the dependencies of Balkh and Bokhara. The monu-
ments, which are situated chiefly about Peshawer, Jelalabid,
and Kabul, are known by the name of Topes: they belong to
the Buddhist religion, and date in the early ages of Chris-
tianity. The coins commence with the Greek kings of
Bactria, in the third century before the Christian era, and
extend to the Mohammedan invasion of India, in the twelfth
century after it. Both monuments and coins afford much
novel and interesting information regarding the religious and
political condition of the countries bordering on India, and
of Western India itself, throughout this protracted interval.
Amongst the labourers in this field of inquiry, one of the
earliest, most indefatigable, and most successful, has been
Mr. Charles Masson, who, during a residence of several years
in Kabul, opened many of the monuments, and collected from
them, and from other sources, a most extensive variety of
antiquities and coins. These collections were made on
account and at the cost of the government of India ; and they
have consequently been deposited in the Museum of the East
India Company. Notices of Mr. Masson's operations and
discoveries have been occasionally published, by himself and
others, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in the
Numismatic Journals of London, Paris, and Germany, and in
various learned continental publications. As, however, a
connected description of them was still wanting, the Court of
Directors of the East India Company have liberally under-
taken the expense of publishing such detailed account, which
has been prepared by the librarian to the Company, Professor
H. H. Wilson, whose name will not fail to ensure it a favour-
able reception among the learned of Europe. After reserving
to their own use such a portion of the edition as they deemed
it advisable to retain, they have been pleased to present the
remainder of the copies, constituting the larger number of
MISCELLANEA. 123
them, to Mr. Masson's mother, with his concurrence, to be
disposed of for her exclusive advantage.
It has accordingly been judged advisable, by the friends of
the mother of Mr. Masson, that, in order to reap the full
benefit of the liberality of the Court, she should endeavour to
dispose of the copies in her hands by subscription ; and the
following proposals are, with this view, submitted to those
who may take an interest in the individual welfare of Mr.
Masson and his mother, or in the successful elucidation of a
dark though important period of the History of the East.
The work will consist of one volume demy quarto, of between
three and four hundred pages. It will contain between thirty
and forty plates, of topes, coins, and antiquities. The price
to subscribers will be 21. 2s. per copy, bound in cloth. The
work is far advanced, and will be ready for delivery in a few
weeks. The names of subscribers will be received by the
Editor of the Numismatic Chronicle, and forwarded to the
mother of Mr. Masson.
LETTER FROM THOMAS RAWLINS TO JOHN EVELYN.
Thomas Rawlins was an artist employed in the Royal Mint
during the reign of Charles I. Although not many works
of his connected with the coinage are known as such (always
excepting the beautiful and unique Oxford crown, of 1644,
now in the British Museum), Briot being the chief officer or
graver in the Mint, yet it is certain that Rawlins executed a
number of medals of considerable merit, besides a great
variety of oval medalets, or badges, which were distributed
among the friends and followers of the unfortunate king,
many of which bear his initials, and sometimes his name at
full length, under the king's bust. He succeeded Briot as
chief engraver on that artist's return to France, in 1646,
although Walpole says he was not so appointed until 1648,
when the Mint became ambulatory. His adherence to the royal
cause probably excluded him from official employment under
the Commonwealth and the Protectorate ; hence his subse-
quent misfortunes and difficulties. That he had been admitted
to the friendship and intimacy of Evelyn and his family, is
evident from the style of his address to him in the following
letter ; and that intimacy might have arisen from a sympathy
of political feeling (both being zealous Royalists), as well as
from Evelyn's admiration of him as an " excellent artist."
He appears, however, subsequently to have borne a not un-
blemished reputation, and probably may have forfeited the
favor and the patronage of Evelyn. Rawlins lived till 1670,
but there is no record that he was ever employed in the Mint
T
124 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
after the Restoration. His letter, which is printed verbatim
et literatim (the original being in my possession), contains
some curious particulars, and shews to what a condition he
was reduced.
" For his Worthy Friend John Evelyn Esq re at his house in
Bromefeild in Deptford, by Greenwich, these
Worthy S r
My due respects to youre selfe and Vertuous Consort,
Whoe I hope are happy in many pritye Epitimyes of yours,
whoe together with youre selves I pray God to blesse. S r it
is my Misfortune since my coming into England to Rancounter
many Misfortunes, amongst which the heavyest is now upon
me, which inforces me to be (I shame to speake it) trouble-
some to my friends, amongst which deere S r I ever Placed
you in the first Rank, S r I am now a prisoner (as this bearer
my Brother in Law will informe, and to prevent any further
inconveniences heere after am Resolved to Make usse of the
Act for Relefe of poore prisoners, to which purposse I have
Allready taken the oath, and only want mony to sue out my
Habeas Corpeas), this worthy S r putts me to this way of im-
portuneing my friends, to] Whoe when God shall deliver
me, I shall not be ungratefull. S r , it is for God's sake I begg
your Charitye, and I shall returne it ether in worke (in Which
I thanke God I have much bettered my selfe since I had the
honor to see you at Parris) or in what quantity of Mony you
shall be pleased to furnish me with, S r I once more for
Heaven's sake implore your Assistance to him that writs him
selfe however distressed at this tyme
Yo r faithfull and ever
the Hole in S* Martins * Gratefull Servant
febru: 27 th 165| THO: RAWLINS
S r if you would have me grave any thing for you M r Hoare
will bring it, once more Good S r Consider my sad Condition,
God blesse you."
The letter has the following endorsement in the hand-
writing of John Evelyn :
* The precinct of the collegiate church of St. Martin (where the Post
Office now stands) was a sanctuary for criminals and debtors ; and although
its immunities and privileges were by law suppressed in the reign of James I.,
it is probable that they continued to be permitted and recognized as regarded
the latter class of persons for a long period afterwards. Vide Kempe's His-
tory of the Collegiate Church of St. Martin.
MISCELLANEA. 125
t ]yjr Tho. Rawlins from prison : 27 ffeb : 1657 Sometime
y e Graver of y e Mint in y e Tower, and an Excellent Artist,
but debashd fellow."
The seal attached to the letter is in perfect preservation,
and bears the arms of the Townely family, as well as the
initials H. T. Whether it was Rawlins' own graving, or only
lent him for a temporary purpose by some companion in mis-
fortune, we have no means of ascertaining. The annexed is
a sketch of it.
B. NIGHTINGALE.
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF NUMISMATICS, HERALDRY, AND
SEALS. The following is extracted from a Prospectus of the
" Zeitschrift fur Miinz, Siegel-und Wappen Kunde" edited by
Dr. B. KOEHXE at Berlin, the first number of which appeared
on the 1st of April 1841.
" It cannot be but pleasant to the friends of Numismatics,
as well as to those devoted to the study of Heraldry and Sig-
nets, to see the establishment of a Journal for the admirers of
those studies. Our articles will not be limited to descriptions
of ancient Roman, Greek, and German Coins, but distin-
guished collectors from Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and
the East, have promised articles on the coins of their respec-
tive countries. Every admirer of the above named studies
may become a contributor, and the Editor will gladly insert
their articles ; or which, however, no remuneration can be
expected, as the limited number of supporters of similar
undertakings scarcely suffices to cover the expenses. The
articles may be written in the German, French, or Latin
languages."
" The Subscription Price is three dollars (nine shillings) per
annum, which will be received by the Publisher of the Jour-
nal, E. S. MITTLEE, as well as by all respectable booksellers.
126 MISCELLANEA.
The Journal will be published in monthly numbers, containing
16 pages of letter press, on good paper, with wood-cuts and
a copper-plate. The size will be similar to that of the Revue
Numismatique, published at Paris and Blois."
CORRESPONDENCE.
J. A. C. Mr. John Hearne, Bookseller, 81, Strand, is appointed
collector of the annual subscriptions to the Numismatic
Society. A post office order may be easily obtained in any
country town.
Our kind friend at Southampton, who sometime since enclosed to
us a rude coin, is informed that it is of the same character
as those found in the Channel Islands, the type offering
nothing novel.
We hope to do justice to Mr. SainthuTs communication in our
next number.
Our valued contributor, Mr. Borrell, shall hear from us by
letter.
We have already mentioned, that the conduct of this Journal,
and the correspondence to which it gives rise, is the occu-
pation of our leisure hours, and that these scarcely allow
sufficient time for doing justice to those who favour us with
their information and opinions ; we trust, however, that
our correspondents will pardon any inattention they may
experience, and that we shall continue to receive communi-
cations from all who are interested in Numismatic studies.
127
XIV.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS.
WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAMUEL BIRCH,
Sen. Assistant, Dep. of Ant. Brit. Museum.
THE coins contained in the present paper, comprise part of
the reserve of the collection of a celebrated connoisseur, all
of them exhibiting a high degree of numismatic interest,
and in excellent preservation. Mr. Doubleday, desirous
of bringing them before the public, has wished that I
should accompany them with some elucidation, and I have
responded to his wishes. The attribution of the various
coins is his ; but in all instances I have verified their not
being edited in the work of M. Mionnet and more recent
publications. The most remarkable coin of his lists is that
of Thronium, and I think the reader will agree that it
deserves all the collateral elucidation that can be given to it.
The coins of Italy have been so amply illustrated, both by
the researches of English and foreign Numismatists, that
it is unnecessary to do more than describe their types ; but
those of Europe occasionally, and of Asia constantly, deserve
deeper investigation the more so as our information on
the mythology of Asiatic cities is restricted very often within
bounds almost monumental.
COXIUM.
1. Head of Pallas- Athene to right.
R. KAIAINiiN. Three crescents, in each a globule.
M. 21. 34-5 grs.
2. The same.
R- KA. Apollo Silvanus, wearing a pileus, and walking to .
the right, holding in his right hand a branch.
JE. 2|. 33-9. grs.
VOL. IV. U
128 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
SIPONTUM.
1 OY [fugitive] . Head of river god to the right.
R ElP . . QN. Club and bow-case, two sprigs.
M. 3. 25-1 grs.
VENUSIA.
1. Head of Mercury in a petasus to right.
R. VE (joined). Winged foot ; before it, caduceus and
another symbol. IE. 4%. 63'5 grs.
2. S. Head and neck of a boar to right.
R.- VE (joined). Owl, full face. JE. 2|. 25-3 grs.
TARENTUM.
Diota ; on each side a star.
R. TA. Similar diota. JE. 2. 30 6 grs.
THURIUM.
1. eOYPINiiN. Head of Proserpine or Ceres, crowned with
spikes of corn.
R. HAP. Bull trotting to left. 76-4 grs.
2. Head of Pallas -Athene to right.
R. 6OYP [inverse] . Protome of a bull trotting.
&. 2|. 31-6 grs.
VALENTIA.
Head of Hermes in a petasus.
R. VALENTIA. Caduceus ; net and cornucopia.
JE. 1. 12-1 grs.
No. 1 of Venusia has been engraved by Carelli, PI. ] 48,
No. 12. From his engraving, however, it is evident that
his specimen did not clearly shew him what the object of
This probably is a coin of Hipponium.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 129
the reverse was; it is one of the feet of Mercury shod
with the talaria. No. 2 of Coelium is not very distinct : if
not the Apollo Silvanus it should be Mercury.
THERMS SICILLE.
Youthful head bound with reeds, having in front two horns, to
left.
R. Three nymphs standing full face, having upon their
heads calathi ; in front, Pan playing on the syrinx and
holding a pedum. JE. 4|. 69-3 grs.
The youthful head on the obverse is evidently the Selinus,
whose waters washed the city of the same name in Sicily,
in whose vicinity were situated the famous Thernife or hot
springs, in which Hercules is reported to have bathed. 2
Since Selinus was founded by a colony from Megara, 3 and
the same story was told of the hot sources of Thermopylae 4
where Pallas-Athene showed to her favourite hero the
baths of the locality ; the legend was probably imported
from the Peloponnesus. The youthful head strongly resem-
bles that of the river god on the coins of Himera. The
three nymphs on the reverse are probably Hydriades, who
presided over the element water; and their alliance with
Pan is frequently alluded to by the Greek epigrammatists 5
and Latin authors, the last of whom confound with the
Satyrs and Fauni the type which, for various reasons, should
be more correctly referred to Pan. 6 As these nymphs,
(always triads) indicated the fountain over which they pre-
* Subject of a Vase; De Witte, Cat. Descr. des Vases, &c. 8vo.
Paris, 1827, p. 41.
* Scymnus of Chios ; Marcianus hi Perieg.
4 Suidas. voce Thermopyl.
5 Anthol. passim.
6 NymphaB semicaperque deus. Ovid. Fast. iv. 752.
130 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
sided, they sometimes held the petuncula or picten, 6 ^or else
hydriae or water vases. 7 The present head replaces that of
Hercules, alluding to his going to these sources.
TYNDARIS SICILIJE.
TYNAAPI'TON [fugitive]. Young head laurelled to right.
R. Star, cock and palm-branch. JE. 4. 36-9 grs.
PHILIPPI MACEDONIA.
Head of Hercules in a lion's skin to the right.
ft. <&lAHTiN. Tripod with large ears and fillet above a
laurel branch, at the side conical helmet or cidaris. A V. 4.
So excessively rare are the gold coins of this celebrated
Macedonian town, that only one, that in the collection of
Q. Christina, 8 was known. Situated on the site of Mount
Pangseum, its gold and silver mine originally worked by the
Thracian tribes 9 of the Pieris, Odomanti and Satrae were
subsequently occupied by a Thasian colony. The necessi-
ties and ambition of Philip 10 seized on the locality ; and the
produce of its mines recruited the finances of Macedon.
The precious metals were exported to the mints of Mace-
don, and the beautiful staters of Philip are chiefly com-
posed of Thracian gold. The currency of the town itself
6 Millin. Gal. Myth. Clarac. Mus. de Sculp. Ant. et Moderne.
Bas relief. Mus. Room xi. No. 48.
7 Cf. Hor. i. Od. 1.
8 Mionn. T. i.
9 Cramer. Geogr. of Greece, vol. i. p. 301.
10 Just. Epit. Ab. viii. c. 3. observes, " Auraria in Thessalia,
argenti metalla in Thracia occupat." Cf. Herod, viii. 112., who
makes the mines of both metals. Euripid. Rhesus. 1. 919.
Xpvffo/3w\o applied to Mount Pangaeum.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 131
was limited to its local wants, and is executed in a stiff
peculiar style. Miiller, who has engraved one of its
didrachms in his Senfmalcr bcr atten .ftunjV' refers to
the age of Philip. 11 The type is generally the head of
Hercules; reverse, a tripod with adjuncts, that on the
present being a conical cap or helmet, such as is worn by
the Amazons and Arimaspi. The type may allude to the
bearing off the tripod of Apollo by Hercules, whose worship
under the type of Hercules Soter was prevalent at Thasos.
The political relations of Philip with Delphi also had con-
siderable influence on his currency. On the didrachm
engraved by Miiller, the adjunct is a ire\tKvg the peculiar
weapon of the Amazons and Arimaspi, and, while the locality
connects such allusions with the two great myth Hyper-
borean people the Arimaspi and the Amazons, no allu-
sion could be more delicate than to the myth of these
tribes at constant war with the griffins, 12 guardians of the
gold, paralleled to the occupation of the miner.
THRONIUM.
Head of a man bearded, apparently a rustic deity.
R. 0RO . . I . (retrograde) Greave placed vertically, all in
an indented square. (Brit. Mus.) AR. 1. 14-9 grs.
The coin whose description heads the present paragraph
should probably be assigned to Thronion, the capital of the
Locri Epicnemidii, and not to the city of the same name,
situated in Epirus. Anciently the Epicnemidii were
11 PI. xli. 187.
12 Constant on the Grseco-Ital. Vases. Cf. Combe (Tay.) Anc.
Terra-Cottas B. M. Part I., &c. Welcker (Ed.). Annal. dell'
Inst. di Corresp. Arcliaeol.
132 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
classed with the Locri under the general term of Locr&n 14
( AOKJOWV) ; and the lexicographers, on the authority of Theo-
pompus, call Thronion 15 the capital of Locris, a term also
used by Thucydides. 16 It was from hence that Ajax
Oileus sailed to the Trojan war, 17 and Homer places it upon
the banks of Boagrius. 18 From the circumstance of the
Epicnemidii not being mentioned by Homer 19 in his cata-
logue of the ships, nor by Thucydides 20 nor Herodotus, 21 it
would appear, that at an early epoch, indeed down to the
time of Polybius, 22 that this tribe was identified with the
Opuntii. According to Euripides, 23 Ajax was the king of
Thronium, in which the tragedian seems to have followed
the Homeric myths, but Pindar, 24 who does not mention
the Epicnemidii and the Pylean epigram given by Strabo, 25
and written about the 75 Olympiad, A.C. term Opus, the
iii]Tr]f> and jurjTjOOTroAte of the Locri. Strabo, following the
example of Pindar, makes Ajax Oileus king of Opus, 26 while
Stephanus, Byzantinus 27 mentions him as sprung from
14 Cramer (Rev. I. A.), (A Geograph. and Hist. Desc. of An-
cient Greece, 8vo. Oxon. 1830. vol. ii. p. 114,) who has collected
most of the authorities on the subject.
15 Qpovwv TroXte tori rr/e AoKpiSos. Suidas. fol. Ox. 1824. Ed.
Gaisford, p. 1918. Cf. Photius, Ed. Person. 8vo. Lond. 1822 in
voce. Harpocration cum notis Gronovii. 4io. Lugd. Bat. 1696.,
who adds &Q QEO-OJJLTTOQ cv rrj, . . . . [desunt cetera] Schneider in
voce.
16 B. ii. sec. 26.
17 AoKpole re. rotg ' trag aywv
Nave OiXewe TOKOS K\VTOV
QffOVlaJZf eK\lTTh)V TToXtV.
Eurip. Iph. in Aul. 261.
18 Boaypt'ou ap.<fi pledpa. II. B. 533.
19 II. B. 531 et seq. 26 B. ii. sec. 26.
21 Loc. cit. not. 17. Polybius. xiii. 11. 2.
23 Vid. supra, n. 17. 24 Olymp.ix. 20.
24 ix. p. 242. 20 Loc. cit.
27 Voce
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 133
Naryx. To reconcile these conflicting traditions, it is
necessary to suppose that the town of Thronium, which had
been the seat of government and principal port of the
Locri up to the fifth century, A.C., had been superseded at
the era of Pindar by Opus, that the Epicnemidii were
unknown as a separate tribe, or not considered of conse-
quence till about the period of the Social war, when they
had a representative at the Amphyctonic Council, 28 although
it cannot be supposed but that the Opuntii are here in-
tended, as M. Boeckh 29 has justly observed. The division
of the Epicnemidii, however, first mentioned in Strabo, is
followed by all subsequent scholiasts, 30 probably deriving
their information from similar sources, and Stephanus
Byzantinus 31 makes the Epicnemidii and Opuntii identical.
From the Opuntii descended the Epizephyrii, and from the
Epizephyrii the Ozolae. Only one inscription has been
found at its supposed site, published by Meletius and
Boeckh ; the language is Doric. 32 The greater portion of
the previous account has already been collected by M.
Boeckh, who supposes them a united tribe in the second
and third century A.C. Internal changes, not directly
mentioned, may have given rise to the apparent intricacy of
these people, the political ascendency of either tribe naming
the geographical division. The later geographers, Strabo
and Pausanias, who divide the Locri, and mention Thronion
as situated either on the Boagrius or a branch of it called
28 Strab. loc. cit.
9 Vol. i. sec. 3. p. 855. Inscript. Graec.
30 Schol. Find. Olymp. xi. Init. Schol. Thucyd. iii. 39. Eustath.
ad. Dionys. Perieget.
'OdXcu ex recens Salmasii AoKpwv poipai rpelg flvtv
J-siriKvrip.i?>ioi ol Kal QTTOVVTIOI, e wv Aide, ETre^t^opoi, ot Be 'Oo\ctt.
32 Cf. Epigram quoted by Bentley from the Epistles of Pha-
laris. Their poems were fioi^iKoi, or adulterous.
134 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the Manes. 32 This town, which, according to Mannert, was
well fortified, was situated 33 thirty stadia, equivalent to about
1-117272 miles English, from the town of Scarphaea, and
ten stadia from the coast. The question of its fortification
is a point for further discussion, and the Boagrius 34 was a
mere torrent swelled by the autumnal or winter rains 35 into
a stream about two plethra broad, but at times, probably
in the summer, passable dry-footed.
During the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians sent Cleo-
pompus, son of Cleimias, with thirty ships of war on a cruise
to Euboea; and this commander, disembarking upon the
coast, took Thronium and hostages from the city. 36 During
the second sacred war, A.C. 357 353, Onomarchus, the Pho-
caean general, again took Thronium, and enslaved the inha-
bitants. 37 This seems to comprise all the historical notices
of Thronium, it being subsequently mentioned by geogra-
phers as a locality. 38 Dr. Clarke recognises it in the present
Bondonitza, 39 and Sir W. Gell in Longachi, 40 an attribution
which Cramer observes is more probably correct, as the
geographer Melatias found inscriptions mentioning Thro-
nium at Palaeo Castra, 41 tig TO.
32 Mera $ tiKoai ara^iovg OTTO KVT)/J.I$OG Xif^rji', inrep ov KEITOU TO
QOOVLOV kv (TradioiQ TO~IQ "KJOLQ Kara T^V fJLf.ffoya.iav' eld' o Boayptog
Trorayuoe K^i^axnv, 6 Trapappewv TO Qpoviov Mavjjv e f.Trovop.a^ovaiv
avTOV. Strab. Ed. Casaub.ix.
33 Nordliches Griechenland. Erstes Buch, 7tes Kap. p. 129.
8vo. Leip. 1822., of moderate size. At 20 stadia was the harbour.
' 34 Strab. ix.
36 Thucydides. ii. 26.
37 Diod. Sic. xvi. 526. ^schin. de Falsa Legat. p. 46. Liv. 7.
xxxii. 36. Polybius xvii. 9. 41. Cramer, loc. cit.
38 The last occurs in Ptolemy Itin.
39 Trav. ii. p. 237.
40 Itin. p. 235.
41 Meletias, ii. p. 323.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 135
Since the medallic question of the attribution of the
present coin depends partly upon the epithet Epicnemidii,
or Hypocnemidii, 42 as applied to the small tribe of Locri,
whose boundaries were the Opuntii, the QEta, the Cnemis
range and the sea, it is here necessary to examine the
reason and meaning of this appellation. Mount Cnemis,
under or upon whose sides the Locri Epicnemidii dwelt, is
supposed to have conferred its name upon this people, 43 as
that of the town of Opus upon the Locri Opuntii their
borderers. This range formed part of a chain connected
with Mount Talanta, stretching to Bceotia and Thessaly.
The same name, in its plural form, was applied to the
fortified citadel of Thronium (Knemides) ** which was
situated opposite Cenceum in Eubcea on the Maliacus
sinus, at a distance of only ten stadia across the strait.
Now, although the term icvijjute, as applied to the mountain,
may be paralleled to KVIJJUOI, the heights of mountains, and
was applied in a similar manner to TTOVQ and irpoTrovg, and
SaKKruAoe, in mentioning the different parts of elevated
ground, which in its Doric form, Kvapog, may be the
AOK/OOIP ETriKi/a 45 (juiSewv) of the coins of this locality, the
TJJ <>WKtl O/JlOpOVS VTTO T(p Opl
Edit. Siebel. 8'vo. Lips. 1827, vol. iv. p. l95.
Ibid. p. 221. nXj/v offov ol Aoicpoi fffyae oi "YTroKvrjfiiStoi Sielp-
yovai. Ibid. Ao/cpove $ rove VTTO ru> opei rjjl Kj^/zt^i. Their
number of forces at the Persian invasion is not mentioned by
Herodotus. Paus. same Ed. lib. x. c. xx. p. 253. Cf. Ptolem. Itin.
Strab. ix. Plin.
43 Cramer. Mannert., &c. loc. cit.
** Cf. Strab. ix. Cell (Sir W.) Itin. p. 323, says, "Here was pro-
bably the town of Cnemis," &c. : Cramer, loc. cit. p. 116, makes
it only a fort.
45 Cf. Coin published by M. Millingen Recueil de quelq. Med.
Ined. 4to. Rome 1812. ii. No. 3. AINIANQN EIIIKPATI which
offers a similar type, lance head, and jaw.
VOL. IV. X
136 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
term KvqfjuSeg, applied to the fort of Thronion, leaves no
doubt of some tradition relative to greaves, or armour for the
lower part of the legs, which it expresses. On the present
coin is the figure of agreave which served as the representa-
tive of the mountain and the fort, and justifies the supposition
that, although not expressly mentioned, both the citadel
and the mountain were connected with some enchorial
tradition, which the ancient authorities have ceased to pre-
serve, at the time of Strabo and Pausanias. It must con-
sequently be regarded in this light only, while this alone is
sufficient to appropriate it to the Epicnemidii the moun-
tain, in all probability, deriving its name either from its
similarity to a greave, which might have conferred its name
for similar reasons upon the fort, or else from some tradi-
tion like those which conferred the names of armour upon
Drepanum, Xiphonia, and Zancle in Sicily, and Aspis in
Macedon.
The coins of Thronium are exceedingly rare, and only
one type has as yet been published, having on the obverse 46
the head of Apollo, and on the reverse the jaw of a boar
and the head of a lance, a type probably allusive to the
Calydonian hunt, 47 with the addition of a bunch of grapes,
perhaps connecting them with the Ozolse, according to a
peculiar tradition of this people. 48
The legend upon this coin is 6PONIGS1N, which differs
from that of Gjooviwrrjc as applied by Stephanus Byzanti-
nus. Since the same type is commonly found on the currency
of the CEnianes, and upon that of many towns of Locris, the
46 Sestini. Mon. p. 25. Mionnett. Suppl. iii. p. 493.
47 Cadalv. Recueil de Med. Grecq. Ined. 4to. Par. 1828,
p. 122.
48 Paus. x. Phocica.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 137
attribution of M. Sestini is probably correct. But another
city of the same name was founded by the Locri from Thro-
nium, and by the Abantes from Eubcea, after the Trojan
war, who named their region and their capital after their
mother country, a district in Epirus which existed in the
division of Thesprotis or Thesprotia. Without pronouncing
distinctly what the head is intended to represent, it bears
considerable likeness to that of a centaur as seen upon the
currency of the Orestii. The present coin is exceedingly
archaic and appears contemporaneous with the early cur-
rency of Macedon and Northern Europe.
METHONE.
GETA.
AOY CGO .... Bust of Geta, unbearded.
R. MO00NAK1N. Pallas walking, in the left-hand a
buckler, in the right a lance. JE. 5g.
This coin, like all others of this imperial town, was struck
during the sway of the family of Severus, although the
town was of considerable importance long previous.
ANDROS.
A. Cen. rGTAC. Head of Geta to the right.
R. ANAPIWN. Diana of Ephesus. &. 5.
No coin of Andros struck during the sway of Rome has
been published, although they have been alluded to by
Hardouin. The worship of the Ephesian Diana, and of other
Asiatic deities, so prevalent at this period, may be referred
to the growing taste for exotic worship.
138 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
CYME ACOLIDIS.
AV. HO. AIKI. OYAA6PIANOC. Head laureated to right.
R. 01 AVP. EAIIIAHfcOPOV NE KV (field) . . AKIN.
vEsculapius holding a staff standing and conversing with
his daughter Hygieia, who holds a serpent, ex ...
IB,. 9 317-5 grs.
This coin is important as shewing the late period of the
Roman empire, at which Cyme must have been a consider-
able town. A previous coin, which I myself have published,
exhibits the worship of the Ephesian Diana, the present
that of the Pergamenian ^sculapius. These two large
sects seem to have extended their influence far and wide
among the rich cities of Asia Minor under the dominion of
the Romans.
In addition to what has been previously stated relative
to the reason of the appearance of the horse upon the coin
of Cyme, may be cited the ode attributed to Homer in
praise of the Asiatic Cymseans, papywv lirififaoptG tWwv
'OTrXoTepot, Horn. Odys. 1. 4. 12mo. Hala. 1784, p. 622.
which Cf. with Hymn xvi. to the Dioscuri, p. 608.
LYDI^E.
1. X6YC HATPIOC. Head of Jupiter in a fillet to left.
R. GDI APTGMIAilPOY APX. A. CAI (T) THNiiN.
Apollo Musagetes standing naked to right ; in his left-
hand a lyre, in his right a plectrum. JE 5.
2. ZEYC HATPIOC. Head of Jupiter as before.
R. Gill fcOPTAKINOY . . . CAITTHN. The god Lu-
nus' or Men standing, holding in his right-hand a globe,
in his left a spear turned to left. JE. 8.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 139
3. Head of the youthful Hercules.
ft. CAITTHNQN. A bow and quiver, between which the
inscription is interposed. ^E. 4.
British Museum.
The two first types bear an epithet of Jupiter, which is,
I believe, found for the first time upon coins of this or any
other state, although that of Dii Patrii occurs on the large
brass of Severus, and Di patrii on those of Elagabulus.
The deities thus indicated were Bacchus and Hercules. 49
It appears, however, from the Scholiast upon Aristo-
phanes, 50 that the Qparpiog Ztvg was the same personage,
and consequently that this epithet implied, Jupiter Curialis. 51
It bears, too, some relation with the Jupiter Patrous 52 so
particularly connected with Troy. Several coins of the
Saetteni have been published by M. Mionnet, 53 but do not
manifest the same diversity in writing the name of the city.
The names of both the- archons are new, as well as the two
first types ; both the autonomous and imperial series, how-
ever, present Hercules and the Nemean lion, in allusion
to that labour. Although autonomous, these coins were
probably struck about the period of the Roman jurisdiction,
and the wanting letters between QopraKivov & CatrrrivtDv
were most probably ap\. a.
Eckhel 54 had observed that the district or city was un-
49 Rasche Lesion in voce. Cf. Suidas ttarpiog Qtos. Plato.
Statius Theb. iv. Ill, applies the epithet to Mars, perhaps as the
Gradivuspater of Rome.
50 I-. L 225.
51 Stephani. Thes. fo. Lond. 1825, pp. 728488, who cites a
Bud. affertur e Dem. pro " curialis Jupiter," which compare. Aris-
toph. loc. cit. HoXioi/xoe, Aristoph. E. 9.
52 Paus. Corinth, ii.
53 Suppl. vii. p. 408. iv. p. 110.
5* iii. 111.
140 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
known except by coins; but they are mentioned by
Ptolemy &5 and Hierocles, and supposed by Cramer to have
been situated on the junction of the Herrnus and Hyllus.
Is it possible that the inscription 56 Aziottenos, found on the
obverse of one of the types of Saettee, with the Protome of
the Deus Lunus, with the inscription Eatrrrjvwv, and a
reclining river god upon the other, might refer to a third
stream in their vicinity ? It is generally referred to the
god Lunus.
TABALA LYDI^E.
FAUSTINA JUNIOR.
&AYCTE1NA. Head of the empress to the right.
R. TABAAGHN. Diana of Ephesus standing full face. IE. 4.
Concerning the permission given for the extension of the
worship of Diana, the Ephesian decree may be consulted.
The town was situate on the Hernius, and is chiefly known
by geographical notices.
ANTIOCHIA.
Head of Apollo laureated to the right.
R. ANTIOXEQN MENEfcPiiN. Zebu couchant to the
left, upon the Meander. AR. 2.
There can be little doubt that the present coin should be
assigned to the celebrated town of Antiochia on the
Maeander, from the symbol of that river beneath the hill.
This, with the name of the magistrate is new on the present
type. Besides the worship of Apollo, that of the god
55 Cited by Cramer in his Asiatic Georg. i. p. 434. Ptolem.
Saetta}. or Setoe. Sitoo. Hierocles. Note 669. Act. Cone. Nic.
ii. 591.
56 Mion. IV.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 141
Lunus and Jupiter Capitolinus 57 prevailed, to all of whom
bulls were sacred. 58
NYSA CARI2E.
1. ATT. K. M. AVPH. ANTaNGINOC. Bust of the emperor in
a paludamentum to the right.
ft. Gill CTP. ACIATIKOY NYCAGQN. Hexastyle tem-
ple in which is the god Lunus standing under his usual
attributes, holding a patera and hasta pura, on the pediment
a shield. JE. 10*.
OTACILIA.
2. flTAKIAIA CGBHPA C6B. Bust of Emperor to right.
R. CHI PYfcGAAIANOY APTGMIAS1POY NYCAGiiN.
Neptune standing, placing his right foot on a dolphin, in
his left hand a trident. M. 9.
No. 1 offers the worship of the Deus Lunus, who
here obtained the local name of Camareites. Since
the magistrate who had the superintendence of the
currency under Gordian was the priest, the same functions
were probably exercised by Ruphellianus Artemidorus, the
untitled functionary of the present coins. No. 2 exhibits
the worship of Neptune.
APHRODISIA CARIJE.
. . . IOY MAXIM Bust of Maximinus to the right.
R. AfcPOAGCiesiN. Aphrodite seated upon a high-
backed chair, draped from the waist, elevating her left
hand and letting fall a Cupid ; in her right hand she
holds another on the ground, on which is a third. JE. 11.
s 7 Cf. Mionn. iii. p. 314, No. 5960. Sup. vi. 448.
58 There was a celebrated oracle of Apollo at Hieracome. Cf.
Cramer, vol. ii. p. 210. Asiatic Geog.
142 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Concerning the worship of Aphrodite, the Eponymous
deity of this AOJUTT porarr} TroXte, it is unnecessary here to
dilate the currency perpetually reproducing it.
IASUS CARI^E.
IACOC KTICTHC. Old bearded head laureated to right.
R. lACGflN. Youthful figure borne upon a dolphin. JE. 5.
The inscription on the obverse of this type is entirely
new, but a coin almost similar, with the head of Neptune
instead of Jasus, has been already published by M. Sestini. 59
The reverse alludes to a well-known story of the affection
of a dolphin for a youth of this city, who adventuring upon
his back on the sea was drowned during a storm, and the
currency impressed to commemorate the event, KCU row
TTaOog eTTttrrjjuov Icurevai TO -^apay/jia TOU vojuio-juarde eort
Tralc {/Trip AcA07i/oe 6^ovjUvoc> " and as a memorial of their
grief," observes Plutarch, 60 "the type of the money of
lasus is a youth riding upon a dolphin."
This extraordinary tale, which recals the Corinthian
myths of Arion 61 of the body of Hesiod brought back by
dolphins, 62 and the type of Taras and Melicerta on the
coins of Tarentum and Corinth, notwithstanding the direct
59 Descr. d'Alcun. Med. Grech. del Mus. del Sign. Carlo
D'Ottavio Fonta. 4to. Fizenze 1822, p. 97. Tab. vi. fig. 6.
60 De Solertia. Anim. cum notis. 8vo. Lips. 1778, vol. x. 97,
1. 1. Mentioned by Eckhel iii. n. v., who cites Pollux, ad Kuhn.
A story also narrated by Athenaeus xiii. p. 606. I give it again
here, because Plutarch is really the first authority for it.
61 Herod, i. 24.
62 Plut. loc. cit.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 143
testimony of Plutarch, seems a mere graft of an earlier
tradition. The fisheries at lasus 63 were productive, and the
town under the protection of Neptune, 64 of whom a dolphin
was the living emblem, while the sea deities and their
descendants are distinguished on works of art by the pre-
sence of this fish.
The original foundation of the city being attributed by
the inhabitants to the Argives, 65 with a subsequent coloniza-
tion from Miletus, it is natural to suppose that one of the
two mythic personages of this name, either the 66 son of
Triopas and 67 father or 68 brother of Agenor, or the son of 6 '
Argos Panoptes, and Clymene, was its reputed founder is
intended ; the name of the city having probably been derived
from the archaic epithet of Argos TO 'laaov. 70 At a certain
period the vanity of the different colonies of Greece Proper
invented a mythic origin, thus Alabanda claimed its origin
from the hero Alabandos. 71
63 Strabo, lib. xvi. 2. Suidas, v. 'Iroc, calls it the name of a
place, and makes the appellation of the inhabitants 'Ia<7m/e. Ed.
Gaisf. p. 1724. The Carian city reads on medals and elsewhere
6 * It was close to the temple of Neptune. Cf. also Sestini,
precited type.
65 Cramer, Asiatic Geogr. Vol. ii. p. 171. Polybius xvi. 2.
66 Paus. ii. c. 16. Dion. Halicar. Ant. Rom. lib. i. has con-
founded this name with that of lasion.
67 Apollod. Biblioth. ii. c. 1.
68 Paus. loc. cit. Schol. ad Euripid. Orest. 930. Homer 11. iii.
75. Schol. Cf. Heyne's notes to Apollod. loc. cit.
69 Apollod. loc. cit.
70 Homer's Iliad, iii. 1. 75. There was another lasus on the
confines of Lacedsemon and Achaia. Paus. After all, lasus seems
to imply healing or salubrious.
71 Cramer, loc. cit. Steph. Byz. voce
VOL. IV. Y
144 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
PLARASA
Head of ^Esculapius in a fillet to the right.
R. IIAAP. Staff and serpent. M. 2.
It is clear from the reverse that the head on the obverse
is that of JEscuiapius, whose worship extended to almost
all the cities of Asia.
STRATONICEA.
1. Old bearded head [Jupiter] bound with a fillet.
R. CTPATONIKEiiN. Diana kneeling on a fallen stag,
about to kill it. M. 4.
2. CGOYHPOC IOYAIA AOMNA. Busts of Domna and Se-
verus facing, countermarked with a small helmed head and
the word 9GON.
R. 601 x ... AANE . . . OY CTPATONIKGflN. A
bearded figure standing on a kind of altar, having round
it a wreath, with chlamys and endromis, under a tree, in
the attitude of stabbing a zebu, with a knife in his left
hand ; in his right a hasta pura. IE. 12.
The head on the autonomous type, No. 1, is undoubtedly
that of Zeus, but since he was worshipped in three capaci-
ties in the city it is impossible to decide whether the 72 Zeus
Panemerios, Chrysaoreus or the eponomous deity of the
locality, or Rembenodotos, whose worship was allied with
Serapis and Hecate is intended . The reverse exhibits the
purely Greek Artemis Elaphebolos perhaps in allusion to
her worship at Laginae, 73 but the same type is found at
7 2 Cf. Boeck. Corpus Insc. Grsec. Pars. xiii. sec. ii. p. 481
492.
73 ' Strabo.
LIST OF UNEDITED GREEK COINS. 145
Ephesus 74 and other towns replacing the Asiatic deities,
probably to show their identification. I have not been
able to read the name of the magistrate an the reverse
of No. 2. It however adds another to the series pre-
viously published by me, and represents the Demos of
the people of Stratonicea performing the sacrifice of a
bull. Since there was a yearly concourse at the temple 75
sacred to Hecate in the small town of Laginae, dependent
upon Stratonicea and the Chrysaorium 76 or general Union
of the Carian Confederation was in the same town, it may
relate to some sacrifice performed by it to Jupiter or Hecate.
TRIPOLIS CARI^E.
IGPA CVNKAHTOC. Head of the Senate.
R. TPinOAGlTiiN. A prize table, on its edge nV9IA.
On it a vase inscribed [A] HT&6IA. Beneath the
table another vase. JE. 9.
Both these games are already known they present a
mere variety of type. 77
ANTIOCHIA SYRI.S;.
TRAJAN.
AYTOKP KAIC NEP TPAIANOC CGB TGPM. Head of
Trajan laurelled to right.
R. AHMAPX ES THAT B in two lines in a wreath.
IE. 5.
7 4 Remarks on the Coins of Ephesus, Num. Chron, vol. iv. p. 73.
75 Strabo, lib. xiv. p. 660. Tacit. An. iii. 62.
76 Strabo, loc. cit. Cf. also Boeck. Corp. Insc. Grsec.
77 Cf. Sestini. Class. Gener. p. 90. Pupilis.
146 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
XV.
SUPPOSED PENNY OF STEPHEN.
SIR,
THE coin figured above has been, twice at least, subjected
to public competition, at Mr. Hollis' sale (No. 177), and
at an anonymous one in 1834. In both catalogues it is
described, I believe erroneously, as a penny of Stephen.
There is, on the obverse, immediately behind the head,
something like a T; this has been taken for the second
letter in Stephen's name, and the letter close to the sceptre
for an F, and the spot between the V and S for the termi-
nation of the legend, and the whole has probably been
read thus S T E F N KIEV.
But this does not appear to be the right reading : the
letter after the S and behind the head is very indistinct, it
may be a cross ; the F is an H (}) sic) ; and the spot an
ornament of the dress, or armour, as it is probably meant to
be. The legend I read thus JjENRIEV S. I suppose
the coin to be one of the numerous varieties of pence
attributed to Henry I. This supposition is borne out by
the reverse, which is exactly similar to that of Henry with
the ,three-quarter face, engraved in Snelling's first plate,
No. 24. Some of the letters on the reverse are obliterated,
but the legend is evidently WILLEM ON CRST.
As the coin is, I believe, unpublished, and as there
appears to have been a mistake made in its description and
appropriation, I have thought it worth while to forward to
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES> 147
you the above sketch and remarks, to be presented at the
next meeting of our society.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
F. D.
To the Secretary of the Numismatic Society.
XVI.
ON THE ROMAN COINS DISCOVERED IN THE BED
OF THE THAMES, NEAR LONDON BRIDGE, FROM
1834 TO 1841.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, April 22nd, 1841.]
THE peculiar branch of the science of antiquities, the study
of which we are embodied to advance, might have profited
to a great extent from materials furnished from the exca-
vations made of late years throughout the city of London
for improvements and alterations.
But discoveries of coins, like those of antiquities in
general, have been quite disregarded, as far as science is
concerned, by the Corporation. Since the great fire of
London, there has been no such opportunity afforded to
facilitate an inquiry into the obscure history of our venera-
ble city during the Roman epoch, as that offered by the
late improvements, when the city was intersected through-
out, and particularly in the line of the great roads leading
to and from old London bridge, and when this 'time-
honoured' structure was destroyed to make way for one
more adapted to the wants of the present generation.
Great would have been the chances for successful re-
search placed within the power of the antiquary and topo-
grapher, had a liberal and enlightened Committee conducted
the vast undertaking. A vast collection of materials might
have been formed for illustrating the history of London.
148 NUMI8MATIC CHRONICLE.
But, owing to the total incapacity of this Committee of
Improvements, for appreciating or understanding aught
beyond the narrow sphere of their own utilitarian vision,
the favourable circumstances have been worse than neg-
lected. Not only has nothing been effected or attempted
by them towards the preservation of the works of ancient
art entrusted to their custody, but in the true spirit of
ignorance and low breeding, discouragements and oppo-
sition have been thrown in the way of every one who has
ventured to do for them what they had not the ability
to do for themselves.
It is foreign to the present subject of inquiry to detail
accounts of the positive destruction of works of ancient art
in the city of London during the last few years. I am
here restricted to a limited view of the matter, to the
rendering of a statement of the result of personal re-
searches in one branch of antiquities, and that confined
to a particular locality, during the last seven years.
Immense quantities of coins have been found in the same
locality in the years preceding the period at which I com-
menced my researches, as well Roman as Saxon and En-
glish, both in digging the approaches to the new bridge
and in sinking coffer-dams for its foundations, all of which
have been dispersed without notice. 1
I have endeavoured to preserve a record of those
found in the Thames, on the line of old London bridge,
from 1834 to 1841, and I trust it will appear that
my individual exertions, brought late into the field, have
been instrumental to some good ; and if so, the inference
1 Many fell into the possession of persons connected with the
works and the Bridge Committee, a leading member of which, on
one occasion, seized upwards of fifty nobles of Edward 3rd from
the workmen, no account of which has yet been rendered, as far
as I can learn, nor can the coins be traced farther.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 149
will be, that an earlier attempt to collect into one focus
these numismatic records, supported by more available
means and opportunities than have fallen to my lot to com-
mand, would have been attended with far greater success.
To afford better accommodation to the traffic on the
Thames, it has been found necessary not only to remove
the foundations of the old bridge, but also to deepen the
channel of the river in its vicinity. The process adopted
for the latter work is what is well known under the term of
ballast-heaving. It has been during these operations, that
the coins I am about to describe have been found. They
were met with at a considerable depth beneath the surface
of the bed of the river throughout the line of the old bridge
and opposite the present Adelaide wharf; but by far
the greater number were found about twenty yards below
the second arch of the new bridge.
The Roman coins that have come within the scope of my
observation amount to several thousands, chiefly in large,
middle, and small brass, with denarii ; a few in gold, and
three brass medallions.
In the appended tabular view it will appear, that the
series commences with some base consular denarii and
closes with the small brass of Honorius (comprising a period
of four centuries) ; the numerical importance of the list
extends, with intermissions, from Claudius to Constantine,
before and after whose reigns the specimens are few.
From Claudius to Trajan, the second brass are very
numerous, while the large brass of Trajan, Hadrian, the
Faustinas, Pius, Aurelius., and Commodus are more plen-
tiful ; the small brass of Carausius, Allectus, and the Con-
stantine family are most abundant.
So many coins, extending over so wide a space of time,
are deeply interesting, both in themselves, as furnishing us
with specimens of ancient medallic skill, with scarce, and,
150 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
in some instances, unpublished types, at all times important
in elucidating the civil, religious, and military history of
the Romans (the lords of our country for four centuries),
but also as supplying materials for illustrating the ancient
topography of London, with reference to the authenticated
locality from whence they have been procured.
In the former point of view, some of the coins may be
particularised. Many of Nero are in fine preservation,
and, though generally common types, exhibit the greatest
perfection of design and execution. The same remark will
hold good as to those of Vespasian, Domitian, Titus, as
well as of Trajan, Hadrian, and others.
Of Vespasian and Titus we have obtained many
specimens in second brass of the "Judaea Capta" type;
one of Titus, in large brass, is of beautiful work, and
so well preserved, that the Jewish features of the male
captive standing by the palm-tree, are to be recognised, as
well as those of the seated female in the Syrian costume.
A second brass coin of Nerva, reading on the reverse,
NEPTVNO (Circens. Restit. or Constit.) deserves notice
as being of the first rarity. A coin of this type, found at
Colchester, is the subject of a dissertation by Ashby, in
the third volume of the Archaeologia ; and, a variety is
mentioned by Eckhel. 2 This type, I believe, is unknown
in large brass.
Of Hadrianus, in second brass, there are fifteen or sixteen
of the Britannia type, apparently from as many different
dies, but differing only in minute particulars. It has been
a question with some whether the figure on these coins,
under which the province of Britain is personified, be a
male or a female. In some of the specimens I possess, the
Vol. vi. p. 406.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 151
development of the mammae clearly decide in favour of the
latter gender.
The coins of Pius, reading BRITANNIA COS. IIII.
amount to at least twenty ; and it is remarkable that in all
a portion of the legend on the reverse is defective a pe-
culiarity probably to be accounted for, by the dies for the
reverse having been engraved subsequent to those of the
obverse, or by a different artist.
Beside the above, only two of the Britannia types of
other emperors have come under my notice ; namely, a
VICT. BRIT, of Commodus, in large brass, badly pre-
served; and one of Geta, 1 in middle brass.
Only a few of the denarii are of good silver.
Of Antoninus Pius, Aurelius, Commodus, Severus, Julia
Domna, Caracalla, Geta, Elagabalus, Moesa,Mammaea, and
Severus Alexander, a vast quantity have been found both
plated and of debased silver, the bulk of which I have not
specified in the catalogue. Some in lead, also, have been
met with ; two of which are consular, one of Antony Oc-
tavius, and one of Hadrian. Of the plated and base
silver, the most numerous are those of the family of
Severus.
Were it not a received opinion of our best numismatists,
that no historical faith can be placed in the legends of these
ancient forged coins, I might attach greater importance to
some very remarkable plated coins of this emperor in this
collection. They have the horseman preceded by a soldier,
as in the Profectio type ; but read PONTIFICIA, and, in
the exergue, DON. I can find no authority for this reverse
on the true denarii; and if for this reason it should be
1 In possession of F. Hobler, Esq.
VOL. IV. Z
152 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
judged an exception to the rule of condemnation, the letters
DON, may probably be intended for Donativum ; and the
coins may have been struck for the army on one of the
many occasions the emperor was called upon to remunerate
its devotion to his cruelty and ambition. 2
Of the coins of Carausius and Allectus (almost the sole
monuments of one of the most eventful and interesting
periods in the history of Roman Britain), I have specified
a very considerable quantity.
One in small ^brass, of the former PIETAS AVGGG
(Mercury standing) was before unknown. I have also the
extremely rare type of the four seasons personified, with
the legend TEMP. FELICITAS. It is figured in Stukeley,
but with the omission of the TEMP.
Of the small brass of Diocletianus and Maximianus,
reverse PAX AVGGG PROVID. AVGGG. &c., several
are noticed. It is an additional argument for the appro-
priation of these pieces to the mint of Carausius, to observe
that they are here authenticated as being found in com-
pany with those of that emperor, which in fabric and
general character they so much resemble. In brass, these
coins are well known ; though, I believe, restricted to this
country, but hitherto unknown in other metals. I am
happy to be able to lay before the society a unique spe-
cimen in gold, in the finest possible preservation. Ob-
verse, MAXIMIANVS P. F. AVG. laureated head to the
right; the bust in armour. Reverse, SALUS AVGGG.
The goddess Hygeia standing to the right, and holding in
her right hand a serpent, which is feeding from a patera of
fruit in her left. In the exergue, ML.
2 See Herodian, lib. iii. in vita Severi.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 153
Coins of this epoch are of the highest interest. They
speak where historians are almost silent, and give, as it
were, a panoramic view of the events of the important epoch
of the rebellion of Carausius ; we may trace by them his
reception in Britain, the legions which sided with him, his
victories, and the ultimate tranquillity of the province, ex-
emplified by a variety of happy and appropriate legends
and designs, evidently selected with reference to fitness
and propriety.
We may also trace a corresponding progress in the
artistic skill bestowed on these coins. From the rude work
on some, for instance, on those reading EXPECT ATE
VENI, which we may reasonably conclude were some,
if not the very earliest, of the coins of Carausius, a marked
improvement is observable, such as we can well imagine
would be evinced after the transition from war to peace and
quietude. Many exhibit a boldness and effect which have
never been surpassed by any production of the British
mint in after-times ; indeed, if there be a period in the
history of Britain when the mint can be pointed out as
practically accomplishing the useful purposes to which the
mints of Greece and Rome were so happily applied if we
are asked to indicate any particular epoch when the coins
of this country tell us something of its history, and are not
merely the medium of preserving portraits of individuals
and their coats of arms, we must, I think, refer to the re-
mote reign of the Menassian hero.
Many of the coins of the Constantino family reading
P. LON in the exergue will be observed ; that of Helena,
with those letters, is extremely uncommon, and has only
been published by Banduri. 3
3 Tom. ii. p. 113.
154 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
In speaking of the coins found in the Thames, the first
question asked, is, " How came they there?"
Some have attempted to account for their deposit in
this peculiar locality, under the possibility of their being
dropt by chance by persons crossing and re-crossing the
river. If we yield to this theory, we establish a ferry or
trajectus on the site of Old London Bridge, instead of
Dowgate, as more generally supposed ; and to this I see no
objection, as it is supported by other reasons : but I do not
think that accident will at all satisfactorily solve the pro-
blem, for what fatality could have caused the passengers
over a bridge or ferry to lose their money at particular
spots in such quantities ?
Another opinion advanced is this : that the coins are not
from ancient deposits, but constituted part of the stock in
trade of some dealer in coins and curiosities, and that
when the shop was destroyed by fire, which at various
times has consumed buildings on the bridge, the coins
were precipitated into the river. And in confirmation of
the probability of such a circumstance having occurred, is
adduced the fact of masses of conglomerate being found,
said to contain coins of various aeras, together with imple-
ments of quite a modern date.
This opinion appears on a careful examination of plain
facts, to be so unfounded, that I should not have adverted
to it, but that several of our antiquaries are inclined to
lean towards it, only, I feel assured, from not having had
opportunities of examining the actual position which the
coins occupied in the bed of the river, as well as the ge-
neral character of them.
Had these coins been the property of a dealer, I think
they could not have failed being of a description similar
to what we now meet with in the collections of our coin
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 155
venders, that is to say, a mixed one, of Greek and English as
well as Roman. Now it happens, that among the thou-
sands discovered, not one specimen of a Greek coin has ever
presented itself, nor are Saxon or English ever found in
the stratum which contains the Roman. Whenever I have
noticed a Saxon or English coin in company with the
Roman, I have always thus been able to account for the
circumstance, which indeed has very seldom occurred.
When the workmen for a time have relinquished a particular
spot, and gone elsewhere to excavate, the gravel contiguous,
by the action of the next tide, will be drifted into the cavity
which may be several feet deep. On resuming operations
on this site, it is possible that an English or Saxon coin may
be brought to the surface with the Roman. But if they
had indiscriminately fallen into the river from the bridge,
they would be found together, and not several feet apart.
As for the conglomerate, I have never seen any procured
from the locality which has supplied the bulk of this series.
Masses of it certainly abound, but much nearer the land,
opposite Adelaide Wharf, and the specimens I have examined
and possess, do not contain an heterogeneous assemblage of
ancient and modern coins, but purely Roman.
Many of these coins, it may be observed, are as sharp
as when issued from the Mint, and the major part of those
in bad condition appear to have suffered more by the
attrition of gravel from tidal action, than from circulation,
for it is not uncommon to notice one side of a coin well
preserved, and the other almost or quite illegible.
The medallions of Aurelius, Faustina, and Commodus,
deserve particular notice. The workmen assured me that
two of them were found under part of the piling of the
old bridge, and as the third was procured about the same
time, it is probable they were all from the same place.
Had I ever imagined that such an immense number of
156 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
coins, extending over several centuries, and found, as it
were, in heaps, could possibly have been dropt into the
river by chance, the fact of finding medallions also on the
same line, would have caused me to loqk for some better ex-
planation, for, considering their extreme rarity, and the pur-
poses for which they were struck, they seem still less likely to
have been deposited in such a situation by any casual cause.
On the contrary, the more I reflect on the foregoing
facts, the more I am disposed to believe that design is
manifested, and that in the deposit of the bulk of the
coins, there has been intention and an object in view.
It is remarkable, that the coins have all been discovered
on or near the site of the old bridge, and that in other
parts of the river, only an isolated one is picked up now
and then. In this connexion with the bridge, I think, will
be found the sought-for explanation. It is true we have
only the indirect testimony of Dion Cassius 4 for the exist-
ence of a bridge over the Thames, and of that, the precise
locality is not defined, but we have abundance of evidence
to show that the construction of bridges was an every- day
affair with the Romans, and the names of several of their
stations, as Ad Pontes and Tripontium, prove the general
adoption in Britain of this medium of traffic and com-
merce. In London, the metropolis of the province,
renowned for its merchants and trade, a bridge would be
indispensable, as well for military as for civil purposes,
being the grand focus of the roads from all parts of Bri-
tain, and a near and direct point from the great inlets for
troops from Gaul and Italy, the ports on the Kentish coast.
" But the Gauls again setting sail, and some of them having
passed over by the bridge further up the Thames, they attacked
the Britons on every side." Lib. Ix. Sec. 20. This refers to
the invasion of Britain by Claudius.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 157
It is reasonable then to conclude that a bridge of some
kind was erected over the Thames at this point by the
Romans ; and it is as reasonable to see, in the deposit of
the coins and medallions, evidence of a custom prevalent
among that people, of inhuming their money to perpetuate
the memory of their dominion and achievements. Whe-
ther the bridge was erected in the time of Vespasian, of
Hadrian, or of Pius, or at some posterior period, I am
disposed to believe that then many of the coins were pur-
posely deposited, and others at such times as the bridge
required repairs or renovation. They also might have
been thrown in on the accession of an emperor; we can
readily imagine the love of fame and glory excited at
such epochs, and no place could have warranted security
for their Numismatic records better than the bed of the
Thames.
In support of this opinion, I ought not to omit mention-
ing that the coins have often been found as it were, in
series, as if there had been more than one deposit. I
have repeatedly observed, that (depending on locality or
depth from the surface of the bed of the river,) during
several tides, the coins of Claudius, Nero, Vespasian,
Titus, and Domitian, will be chiefly found ; at other times
they will be mostly of Aurelius, Pius, and the Faustinas;
after a while the small brass may predominate. As this
fact was noticed long since and without reference to any
theory, I mention it in connection with the weightier ar-
guments I have adduced on the subject before us.
Many other works of ancient art have been, from time
to time, found on the line of the old bridge, among which
may be particularised the colossal bronze head of Ha-
drianus, in the possession of John Newman, Esq., of the
Bridge House, and the beautiful bronze images of Mer-
158 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
cury, Apollo, Atys, &c. 4 The head has been broken
from a bust or statue, and the eyes which were, doubt-
less, formed of precious stone, have been taken out; the
images also bear traces of intentional disfigurement. These
were, probably, thrown into the river by the early Chris-
tians as relics of Pagan worship; but it is not likely they
would have taxed their misdirected zeal so heavily as to
have sacrificed objects so convertible and applicable to
their worldly necessities, as Pagan money. As the images
were also in the immediate vicinity of the coins, it is pro-
bable they were carried on the bridge or trajectus for the
purpose of being thrown more in the centre of the current,
where they would be less likely to be recovered at low
water than if thrown from the banks of the river.
CHARLES ROACH SMITH.
LIST OP THE ROMAN MEDALLIONS AND COINS FOUND
IN THE THAMES. THE REVERSE ONLY OF THE
LATTER ARE GIVEN.
MEDALLIONS IN BRASS.
MARCUS AURELIUS.
Obv. M. ANTONINUS. AVG. TR. P Laureated head to
the right ; bust in armour.
Rev. cos. in. In exergue, RM. Victory, in
a quadriga. 1.
FAUSTINA, THE YOUNGER.
Obv. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA. Head of Faustina to the left.
Rev. VENVS. Venus, standing between a Cupid and a Triton.
1.
4 See Archaeologia, vol. xxvii.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 159
COMMODUS.
Obv. M. COMMODVS ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX AVG. BRIT.
Laureated head to the right.
. C os. vi. P. P. in the exergue. The sun in a car drawn
by four horses on the clouds : below, the recumbent Earth,
with right arm raised, and holding in left a cbrnucopiae (1). 1.
GOLD.
MAXIMIANUS.
COMITATVS AVGG. The emperors on horseback (1). SALVS
AVGGG. Hygeia, standing. In exergue, M. L. (1). 2.
CRISPUS.
GAVDIVM ROMANORVM. In exergue, ALAMANNIA. A female
captive, seated by a trophy. 1.
SILVER.
CONSULAR.
Considia, c. CONSIDI. Victory in a quadriga (1). Fonteia.-
Cupid on a goat. Furia L. FVRI CN. F. Curule chair and
fasces (1). Petronia. CAESAR AVG VST vs SIGN. RECE. A
kneeling figure presenting a standard. 4.
Two of these are of base silver. There are also a few specimens
of family denarii in lead, some of which bear evident marks of
having been plated.
JULIUS.
L. AE BVCA. Venus standing, holding the hasta, 1.
AUGUSTUS.
AVGVSTI. A candelabrum within a wreath. 1.
VOL. IV. A A
160 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
POMPEIUS,
CLAS. ET ORAE MARiT. EX. s. c. Anapius and Am-
phinomus ; Neptune standing between them.
NERO.
IVPITER CVSTOS. Jupiter seated, (much defaced). 1.
VITELLIUS.
CONCORDIA P. R. A female figure, seated. 2.
VESPASIANUS.
IVDAEA (1). AVGVR. TRi. POT. Sacrificial vessels (1). 2.
TITU8.
PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS. Standard, with two hands joined across
it 1.
DOMITIANUS.
Titles. Pallas, standing. 1*.
NERVA.
cos.ni. PATER. PATRIAE. Sacrificial instruments (1). CONCORDIA
EXERCITVVM. Hands joined across a standard (1). 2.
TRAJANUS.
s. P. Q. R. OPTIMO PRINCIPI. Victory inscribing, on a shield
affixed to a tree, DACICA. 1.
HADRIANU8.
AEGYPTOS (1). ALEXANDRIA (1). RESTITVTORI HISPANIAE
(1). Titles, with common types (2). 5.
ANTONINUS PIUS.
APOLLINI AVGVSTO (1). FORTVNA OPSEQVENS (sic.) (1).
TRANQVILLITAS AVG. (1). Titles (2). 5.
MARCUS AURELIUS.
FELIC. AVG. IMP. vi. cos. in. Mercury (1). Titles; Victory
on a globe, holding a wreath and trophy (1). Idem ; common
types (2). 4.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 161
FAUSTINA THE YOUNGER.
FECVND. AVGVSTAE. A female figure with four children (1).
IVNO (1). 2.
VERUS.
Titles ; Soldiers marching with trophy and a victory (1). A
warrior standing (1). Type of equity (1). 3.
LUCILLA.
VESTA (1). IVNO REGINA. 2.
COMMODUS.
Titles ; Victory marching, and other common types. 3.
SEVERUS.
PROVID. DEORVM (2). VICTORIAE AVGG. FEL. (1). BONAE
SPEI (1). LEG. xi. CL. TR. P. cos. Eagle between two stand-
ards (1). FVNDATOR PACIS. (1). 6.
JULIA DOMNA.
MATER AVGG. Cybele in a car, drawn by four lions (1). HILARI-
TAS (1). CERERI FRVGIF. (1). FELICITAS (2). IVNO
REGINA (1). SAECVLI FELICITAS (1). DIANA LVCI-
FERA (3). 10.
CARACALLA.
Titles ; Trophy, and captives. 2.
PLAUTILLA.
CONCORDIAE. Female figure seated (1). CONCORDIAE AETER-
NAE. Caracal! a and Plautilla joining hands (1). 2.
GETA.
PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS (1). PIETAS AVGG. 2.
MACRINUS.
SALVS PVBLICA, Type of Salus seated. 1.
AQUILIA SEVERA.
CONCORDIA. Female figure standing to the left before an altar ;
in right hand, a patera ; in the left, a cornucopia ; in the field,
a star. 1 .
JULIA SOAEMIAS.
VENVS CAELESTIS. Venus standing; in the field, a star. 1.
162 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
JULIA MAESA.
FECVNDITAS AVG. Female figure, with a cornucopiae ; at her
feet, a child,
JULIA MAMMAEA.
IVNO CONSERVATRIX (1). VENVS VICTRIX (1). VESTA (1). 3.
SEVERUS ALEXANDER.
SPES PVBLICA (2). P.M.TR.P. ii. cos. P.P. Type of Salus (2).
Titles the sun standing (1). 5.
MAXIMINUS.
PAX AUGUSTI. Type of Peace. (1).
BALBINUS.
PROVIDENTIA DEORVM. Type of Providence. 1.
CORDIANUS.
PAX AVGVSTI (1), VIRTVTI AvcvsTi. Hercules (2). 3.
SALONIKA.
PIETAS AVGG. A female figure, holding the hasta ; before her,
two children. 1.
TREBONIANVS GALLUS.
VOTIS DECENNALIBVS, in a wreath. 1.
VOLU8IANUS.
VIRTVS AVGG. Mars standing. 1.
VALERIANUS.
PIETAS AVGG. Two figures joining hands (1). APOLLINI
CONSERVAT (1). Others in billon, badly preserved. 6.
VALERIANUS JUNIOR.
PIETAS AVGG. Sacrificial .vessels (1). CONSECRATIO (2). 3.
POSTUMUS.
DIANAE LVCIFERAE. Diana standing. 1.
JULIANUS.
VOT. x. MVLT. xx. in a wreath. 1.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 163
VALENS.
VRBS ROMA, in exergue, TRPS. 1.
URBS ROMA.
A half of the well-known little coin, with the wolf and twins on
the reverse : in exergue, L. c. It is remarkable, being in
silver. Halves of denarii of Otacilia and Caracalla, of good
silver, occur among the Thames coins. They appear to have
been broken purposely, probably for convenience of commerce.
ANCIENT FORGED DENARII.
By far the larger portion of denarii found in the Thames consist
of lead and brass, plated with silver.
Of lead, we have specimens of the Consular, Mark Antony
(reverse, Octavius), Plautilla, Vespasian, Nerva, Trajan, Plotina,
Hadrian, Pius (reverse, Aurelius), Aurelius, Faustina, Verus,
Lucilla, Didius Julianus, Caracalla, Geta.and Severus Alexander.
There are, also, two leaden consular quinarii.
Of brass, plated with silver, there are examples of Augustus,
Trajan, Hadrian, Aurelius, Severus, Julia and Soaemias. Of
Severus and Julia, they are very abundant.
LARGE BRASS.
NERO.
Rev. ROMA. ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES (1). 2.
GALBA.
ROMA, across the field (1). The other quite illegible. U.
VESPASIANUS.
ROMA (1) COS. DBS. II. CAESAR. DOMIT. COS. DES. TitUS and
Domitian standing. 2.
TITUS.
ROMA (1). ANNONA AVG (1). IVDAEA CAPTA(l). 3.
DOMITIANUS.
GERMANiA...(Capta) (1). iovi VICTORI (3). s. c. The Emperor
sacrificing at an altar before a temple (1). s. c, The Emperor
standing with his right foot on a recumbent river god. s. c.
The Emperor and two soldiers, with one of whom he is joining
hands over an altar (1). s. c. The Emperor crowned by Victory.
8.
164 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
NERVA.
FORTVNA AVGVST (1). CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM. TwO hands
joined across a standard (1). 2.
TRAJANUS.
s. P. Q. R. OPTIMO PRINCIPI ; in exergue : ARAB. ADQ. (6). s. p.
Q. R. &c. The Emperor on horseback, riding over a prostrate
figure (2). s. p. Q. R. &c. Various types of Peace, Abundance,
&c. FORTVNAE RBDVCi (3). A badly preserved 'specimen of
the Rex Parthis Daius type (1). 20.
HADRIANUS.
RESTITVTORI ORBIS TERRARVM (1). NEP. RED. (1). FOR-
TVNA (2). FELICITATI AVG. cos. in. p.p. A galley with
five rowers (1). CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM (2). FELICITAS
AVG. (2). MONETA AVGVSTi (1;. Titles, with types of Peace,
Abundance, &c. 20.
SABINA.
Illegible. 2.
ANTONINUS PIUS.
SALVS (2). VOTA SVSCEPTA DECENN. IIII. COS. III. (2).
ANNONA AVG. (3). ROMA (2). s. c. Type of Hope (1).
APOLLINI AVGVSTO (1). ABVNDANTIA AVG. (2). CON-
CORDIA EXERCITVVM (2). TR. POT. cos. 1111. Wolf and
twins (1). FELICITAS AVG. (2). PIETATI AVG. (2). INDVLGEN-
TIAAVG. (1). CONSECRATIO (1). cos. 1111. s.c. TheEmperor
in a Quadriga. (1). A variety, with titles and the more common
types. 38.
FAUSTINA THE ELDER.
s.c. Figure stan ding(l). AvovsTA(2) AETERNiTAs(2.) 5.
MARCUS AURELIUS.
VICT. AVG. &c. Titles : in exergue, RELIG. AVG. Temple of Mer-
cury (1). IMP. vi. cos. in. Victory inscribing on a shield
vie. GBR. (2). SALVTI AvovsTOR. &c. (2). Titles : A figure
with four standards (1). GERMANIA SVBACTA (1). VOTA
SVSCEPTA DECENNALIVM. (2). s. c. Pallas throwing a javelin
(1) Titles: Victory inscribing on a shield vie. PAR. (2).
Idem, in exergue, FORT. RED. (2). VICT. GERM. IMP. vi. cos.
in. in a wreath (1). Titles: with common types a great
variety. 40.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 165
FAUSTINA THE YOUNGER.
CERES (1). Defaced (3). 4.
VERUS.
CONCORDIA AVGVSTOR. TR. p. cos. ii. Titles : a captive beneath a
a trophy. Idem, Victory standing ; beside her, a shield, in-
scribed, VICT. PART, suspended from a tree (1). REX ARMEN.
DAT. (1). 5.
LUCILLA.
IVNO (1). VENVS (1). Reverses illegible (3). 5.
COMMODUS.
VICT. BRIT. (1). Titles : the Emperor seated, holding a globe,
and crowned by Victory (1). Titles : in exergue, FOR. RED. (2).
Defaced (3). 7.
ALBINUS.
. . . . LO FRVGIF . . . The Saeculo Frugifero type, badly pre-
served. 1.
SEVERUS.
Legend gone. The three Monetae standing (1). Female figure
seated, holding a patera (1). 2.
JULIA DOMNA.
VENERI vicTRici(l). Defaced (2). 3.
GETA.
FORT. RED. TR. p. in. cos. ii. P. P. Fortune seated. 2.
JULIA MAMMAEA.
VENVS VICTRIX. FECVNDITAS AVGVSTAE. 2.
GORDIANUS
SECVRITAS AVG. Security seated. 1.
166 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
POSTUMUS.
In bad preservation. 1.
MIDDLE BRASS.
AUGUSTUS.
. . . M. MACCILIVS TVLLVS III. VIR. A. A. A. F. F. (1). PRO-
VIDENT (1). ROM. ET AVG. (Altar) (1). 3.
AGRIPPA.
s. c. Neptune, standing./ 10.
CLAUDIUS.
s. c. Pallas (30). CERES AVGVSTA (6). LIBERTAS AV
GVSTA (3). CONSTANTIAE AvcvsTi (1). There are also
* a number of the first type of very barbarous work, apparently
provincial imitations. 40.
ANTONIA.
TI. CLAVDIVS CAESAR. P. M. TR. P. IMP. 4.
GERMANICUS.
C. CAESAR AVG. GERMANICVS PON. M. TR. P. POT. In the
field, s. c. 1.
CALIGULA.
Legend gone. Vesta, seated. ] .
NERO.
PACE P. R. ; &c. Temple of Janus (1). s. c. Triumphal arch
(1). MAC. AVG (1). ARA PACIS (4). GENIO AVGVSTT (3).
PONTIF. MAX, &c. Nero playing on a harp (3). SECVRITAS
AVG. (20). VICTORIA AVGvsTi (20). s. c. Victory with
shield inscribed s. p. Q. R. (30). 83.
VESPASIANUS.
s. c. Temple of six columns (1). ROMA (2). FELICITAS
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 167
AVG. (4). FIDES PVBLICA (8). VICTORIA AVGVSTI (6).
s. c. Victory with shield inscribed s. p. Q. R. (12). PROVI-
DENT. Altar (16). PAX. AVG. (20). IVDAEA CAPTA (4).
EQVITAS (20). FORTVNAE REDVCi (20). s. c. Eagle on
a globe (30). SECVRITAS AVGVSTI (15). 158.
TITUS.
ROMA (2). IVDAEA CAPTA (5). AEQVITAS AVGVSTI (10).
VICTORIA AVGVSTI (8). VICTORIA NAVALIS (20). S. C.
Altar (8). FELICITAS PVBLICA (8). s. c. Type of Hope
(20). 81.
DOMITIANUS.
s. c. The emperor on horseback (1). s. c. Soldier with trophy
(1). s. c. Heap of arms (2). ANNONA AVG. (3). AEQVI-
TAS AVGVSTI (10). FORTVNAE AVGVSTAE (15). VIRTVTI
AVGVSTI (30). MONETA AVGVSTI (30). FIDEI PVBLICAE
(12). iovi CONSERVATORI (1). s. c. Type of Hope
(30). 135.
NERVA.
LIBERTAS AVG. (3). CONCORDIA EXERCITVVM (5). AEQVI-
TAS AVGVSTI (2). FORTVNAE AVGVSTI (5). NEPTVNO
Neptune standing to the right, his left hand
grasping a trident, behind him the Tiber (1). 16.
TRAJANUS.
s. P. Q. R. OPTIMO PRINCIPI. Emperor in a quadriga (1). Co-
lumn (]). Soldiers with two trophies (1). Three standards
(1). Captive seated on arms before a trophy (5). Female
figure, standing ; in exergue, ARAB. ADQVIS (6). Victory,
standing; on a shield suspended from a tree, vie. DAC. (2).
Victory standing by a trophy (2). Horseman, and prostrate
figure (2). Titles ; Victory with shield inscribed, s. p. Q. R.
(10). Fortune, seated (8). Types of Piety, Abundance, &c.
(10). 49.
HADRIANUS.
cos. in. Pegasus (1). PONT. MAX. TR. POT. cos. in. In
VOL. IV. B B
168 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
exergue, BRITANNIA. The province of Britain seated on a
rock, with spear and shield (12). Titles; three standards
Modius, Types of Fortune, Piety, &c. (20). FELICIT.
Two figures, joining hands (1). cos. in. Varieties of the
galley type (4). ANNONA (3). s. c. in wreath (1). s. c.
Pallas (1). HILARITAS P. R. COS. III. (2). AFRICA (1).
FIDES PVBLICA (4). 50.
8ABINA.
s. c. Ceres, seated on a modius; in her right hand, flowers, in
left, a torch. 4.
ANTONINUS PIUS.
IMPERATOR ii. in exergue, ANCILIA (2). GENIO SENATVS
(1). BONO EVENTVI (1). ANNONA AVG. (3). CONCORD.
cos. mi. Three hands (1). PIETAS AVG. (4). CONCORDIA
EXERCITVVM (1). BRITANNIA COS. IIII. (10). S. C. A fi-
gure, holding a lyre and patera (1). PM . . . cos. DES. n.
Titles; Pallas, standing (1). Types of Piety, Fortune, Li-
berty, Felicity, &c. (15). 40.
FAUSTINA THE ELDER.
AETERNITAS. Female figure, standing (2). Idem. A seated
figure, holding a globe, on which is a phoenix (1). PIETAS
AVG (4). FELICITAS (3). VENERI AVGVSTAE (1). IVNONI
REGIN^E (2). AVGVSTA (1). s. c. Diana, standing. 14.
MARCUS AURELIUS.
PIETAS (1). CONCORDIA (2). IVVENTAS (1). CONCORDIA
EXERC. ... (1). IMP. viii . . . . ; in area, FELICIT . . .
Galley, with rowers (1). Titles ; Types of Equity, &c.
(10). 16.
FAUSTINA THE YOUNGER.
s. c. Diana (1). SALVS AVGVSTA (2). FELICITAS (1). 4.
VERUS.
LIBER ALITAS TR. p. v. IMP. cos. Type of liberality (1). CON-
CORDIA AVGVSTORVM. Two figures, joining hands (1). 2.
(To be continued in our next).
169
XVII.
NOTE ON THE CHANGE OF POSITION IN THE
LEGEND OF THE DOLLAR OF 1567, OF JOHN
GEORGE II., ELECTOR OF SAXONY.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, May 20th, 1841.]
THE Vicegerent, John George II., Elector of Saxony, had
a dollar struck in 1657, stamped as follows, viz.: The
elector was represented, on one side, on horseback, clad in
his electoral robes; and around him were the words,
"Deo et Patrice." This inscription was written in the
same manner as that which the Vicegerent John George I.
had had stamped on his coins in 1619, which design was
no doubt referred to, as a model on the present occasion,
on which was the motto, "Pro Lege et Grege." Commencing
on the right-hand side of the foot of the coin, and proceed-
ing opposite the tail, and then over the back of the horse
to the head. Thus, in the coin of John George II., the
word " Deo " commenced near the horse's heel, and the
word " Patrice" was over the head. This gave rise to some
contemptuous remarks from those who were not of the
same religion as the Saxons ; and they said the Saxons
must be a God-less set of people, because they place the
word GOD " at the horse's heel, while the word "Patrice"
is over his head. The elector immediately ordered these
coins to be called in, without expense, and a new one to be
struck off, with the word "Deo " over the horse's head, and
"Patrice" at the back and lower part. This excited so
much curiosity that an impression from the first die was
most eagerly sought after, at a high price.
WALTER HAWKINS.
May, 17, 1841.
170
XVIII.
GROATS OF HENRY THE SEVENTH WITH THE
OPEN CROWN.
IN my younger collecting days I had free access to the
cabinets of the late Mr. Miles, and I once mentioned to
him that from the great similarity of workmanship and of
inscription, and both having roses between the words as
stops, it struck me that the half-groat of a King Henry, of
the London Mint, with a flat crown, and the Canterbury
half-groat, with an arched crown, were of the same mo-
narch, and probably by the same engraver; and as the
latter is undoubtedly Henry the Seventh's, I considered
the other, with the flat crown, was also Henry the Seventh's.
Mr. Miles thought my idea probable, and in my little
casket I have ever since classed the London half-groat,
with the flat crown, as Henry the Seventh's. It is in the
accompanying drawing (No. 1), but is very thin, and
weighs only 13| grs. I have another which weighs 18 grs.
No. 2 is the Canterbury half-groat, with the arched crown,
which weighs 19 grs., but no drawing can shew the simi-
larity of workmanship so decidedly as comparing the coins
together, and most probably you have both varieties.
It would seem to have been a very natural consequence
that, having satisfied myself that Henry the Seventh coined
half-groats with a flat crown, I should have looked out for
groats of the same ; but this never struck me until last sum-
mer, when in looking through the coins at one of the sales
of the late Mr. Young's stock-in-trade, I met with a groat
with a flat crown, which struck me immediately as being
Henry the Seventh's, (No. 3). There is in almost all the
full-faced groats of Henry the Seventh, with the arched
VollV. page. 270
THI VJ1 WDTIH! TIK1E 1PIM
GROATS OF HENRY THE SEVENTH. 171
crown, a peculiar and melancholy expression of character,
totally differing from the groats of Edward the Fourth and
Richard the Third, and the light groats of Henry the Sixth,
which in general are so similar to Edward the Fourth's, that,
unless you look to the inscription, they would pass you as
Edward the Fourth's. This groat weighs 46f grains, and is
inscribed HENRIC. Di. GRA. REX. ANGLZ. & FRANC., mint
mark, a rose. Reverse as usual, Posui, &c., and of the Lon-
don Mint' It has a small cross over each shoulder, and the
words on the obverse are separated by a kind of small
trefoil. The countenance so exactly resembles, in character,
those with the arched crown, that I have no doubt of its
being Henry the Seventh's ; I presume that it was his first
coinage.
I lately purchased the principal part of a hoard of groats
dug out of the earth, which were chiefly Edward the
Fourth's and Henry the Seventh's, and among them are
two, Nos. 4 and 5, of the accompanying drawing, both of
the London Mint, which are clearly of the same character
as No. 3; and this induces me to call the attention of your
society to the question of whether Henry the Seventh did
not coin first with the flat crown ? No. 4 is very similar to
No. 3 ; the same legend, same division of a trefoil between
the letters ; but the mint mark on the reverse is rather a
cinquefoil than a rose. It also weighs 46| grains. No. 5,
though a smaller coin, weighs 47| grains. The neck is
shorter, and consequently the bust is sunk lower. The
inscription on the obverse is the same, but divided by small
crosses or quatrefoils, and the mint marks the same as
No. 4. A full round rose (I think) on the obverse, and a
cinquefoil, or rose of five points, on the reverse. I feel
quite satisfied that these three groats are Henry the Se-
venth's first coinage, and I hope that the great collectors
172 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
of your society, whose cabinets give them such superior
means of investigation, will not think the subject beneath
their consideration.
R. S.
Cork, 8th April, 1841.
P.S. I add a list of such varieties of the full-faced groats
of Henry the Seventh as are in my cabinet with the arched
crown.
GROATS OF HENRY VII. WITH THE FLAT CROWN.
Mint mark an open Rose.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC.
Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEV.
London. Weight 46| grs.
Mint mark a Rose with five points.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC.
Rev. POSVI DEV ADIVTORE MEVM.
London. Weight 46| grs
Mint mark a Lily on a Rose.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC.
Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEVM.
London. Weight 47| grs.
GROATS OF HENRY VII. WITH THE CROWN OF ONE ARCH.
Mint mark cross Crosslet.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGLIE Z FRA.
Rev. POSVt DEV ADIVTORE MEV. London
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGUE Z FR.
Rev. POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV. London.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGLIE Z F.
. POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV. London.
GROATS OF HENRY THE SEVENTH. 173
GROATS OF HENRY VII. WITH TWO PLAIN ARCHES.
Without a Mint mark.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC.
Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEVM.
Civitas London.
Mint mark Cinquefoil.
n f Same as preceding Groat.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRAC.
Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEVM. London.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGLI Z FR.
R ev . POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV. London.
GROATS OF HENRY VII. WITH TWO ORNAMENTED ARCHES.
Mint mark escalop Shell.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANCI.
Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEVM.
With roses between the words.
Obv. Same as the preceding.
Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTOREV MEVM.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC.
Rev. Same as first. L in London different.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRAN.
Rev. Same as first.
Mint mark Obv. Escalop shell. Rev. Cinquefoil.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRA.
Rev. POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV.
Roses in the extremities of the cross.
Mint mark, Cinquefoil.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRA.
POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FR.
Rev. Same as preceding.
174 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRA.
Rev. Same as preceding.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGL Z FRA.
Rev. Same as preceding. Mint mark on reverse, Escalop
shell.
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGI Z FR.
Rev. Same as first.
Mint mark, Leopard's face, crowned.
Obv. HENRI DI GRA REX AGLI Z FR.
Rev. POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV.
Mint mark, Greyhound's head.
Obv. A smaller head, similar to those on the groats with one
arch. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGL Z FR.
Rev. POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV.
Obv. A large bust. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGL Z FR.
Rev. Same as preceding.
; Obv. Same as preceding.
Rev.POSVI DEVM ADIVTOE MEV,
Obv. HENRIC DI GRA REX AGR Z FR.
Rev.POSVI DEVM ADIVTOEV MEV.
Mint mark, Anchor.
Obv. HFNRIC DI GRA REX AGL Z FR.
Rev. POSVI DEV ADIVTOE MEV.
These varieties are in the cabinet of R. Sainthill, Cork.
1th June, 1841.
175
MISCELLANEA.
FORGING MEXICAN DOLLARS AT SHEFFIELD.
JOHN HAMON SUTTON was charged with making and coun-
terfeiting, at Sheffield, one hundred dollars, not the proper
coin of this realm, nor permitted to be current within the
same, resembling and intended to resemble and look like the
silver coin of Mexico. Mr. Wortley and Mr. Pickering for
the prosecution. Mr. Baines for the defence.
Mr. Wortley said the prosecution was of an unusual nature,
such as he had never before known in the course of his ex-
perience. The offence charged in the indictment was made
felony by the 37 Geo. III. c. 126, s. 2. The peculiarity of
the case was that he should not be able to shew that the
prisoner made the coins with his own hand, but it would be
sufficient if he shewed that he had employed others to do so.
He gave a summary of the evidence he should adduce, and
admitted that the papers found upon the prisoner, and his
coming direct to Sheffield when he found that suspicion was
excited, made in his favour. He submitted, under the cor-
rection of the Judge, that it made no difference whether the
prisoner meant to circulate the coins in this country or not,
if they believed that his design was any where to circulate
them as coin.
The first witness was Mr. Henry Briggs, who proved that
on the 10th of December, the prisoner called at his master's
warehouse, and said he wanted medals making. Witness
could not answer his questions as to price, &c., but requested
him to call again when Mr. Briggs was in.
Mr. Briggs proved that the prisoner came to him on the
llth of December, and said he wanted some medals striking,
in hard metal, that would keep its colour. He said he was
agent for some company in America, and wanted them to
exchange for furs. He produced this medal, with a ring,
and I told him I could not tell the price till I saw the dies,
which he said he would send up, and would call again.
Mr. Briggs recommended plated medals, on German silver,
as the best. He came in the evening with a porter, carrying
the dies in a small box. (Cooper produced the dies,) which
he identified as the same. Witness then offered to stamp the
German silver medals at 9s. or 10s. a dozen, and the plated
at 18s. He said he should want German silver chains and
rings for the medals, and Mr. Briggs said he would get them
VOL. iv. c c
176 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
cheaper in Birmingham. The prisoner's order for 2400
medals was produced, to be packed in tin boxes. Prisoner
gave him ninety sovereigns on account, saying he was going
over to Ireland. The next day prisoner called to see a
medal which Mr. Briggs had got stamped. He saw two or
three. Mr. Briggs reported that the dies would not stand
for the quantity required. In answer to the application of
the prisoner Mr. Briggs recommended and sent for Mr.
Brown, die-sinker, who undertook to cut new dies. The
prisoner said he was to sail from London on the 27th of
Decembei*. Prisoner offered to pay Mr. Brown's expenses to
Birmingham to fetch the blocks for the new dies immedi-
ately. In the mean time the old dies were to be used. Mr.
Briggs wrote to him in a few days that the dies failed, and
the prisoner called in a day or two, not having got the letter.
He reduced the order to 1500, and bought some other goods
to the amount of 25Z. The medals were to be wrapped in
single papers, and Mr. Briggs recommended him to have
them bored first, but the prisoner declined. The prisoner
was particular about the colour, because he said the natives
sometimes rubbed them on stones. Doubt arising about the
object of the medals, Mr. Briggs caused an application to be
made to the Mexican consul, and informed the prisoner, by
letter, of his doubts. In prisoner's reply, he enclosed a letter
from a Mr. Withers, in London, the cutter of the first die,
stating that he had had enquiries made at the Mint as to
the correctness of making the rim otherwise than plain.
There was another letter from the same, saying, " The Mint
say it is all correct." The prisoner wrote with them that
he had apprehended some doubts might arise, and had taken
the proper precautions to be assured that all was right.
After a few days the prisoner came and assured Mr.
Briggs that the medals were not to be used as coin. Mr.
Briggs declined to proceed with the work, and complained
of the loss he had suffered. The prisoner offered him 401.
in compensation, and 51. for the trouble he had had as to
the bowie knives. The prisoner was to come again for the
balance of the 90L, but was apprehended on his way to Mr.
Brown's.
Cross-examined by Mr. Baines. The prisoner said be
would get the medals bored and fitted with rings and chains
at Birmingham. He gave me no direction as to the send-
ing of the medals. There was nothing secret in the trans-
action.
Mr. James Brown, die-sinker, Sheffield, also proved his
engagement with the prisoner to make a pair of dies for a
medal. Becoming suspicious of their purpose before they
MISCELLANEA. 177
were finished, he refused to deliver them. He finally gave
them up to Mr. Briggs, having filed them across and made
them useless.
Jeremiah Dukinfield, proved that he struck the medals for
his master, Mr. Briggs.
Mr. James Wild, constable, proved the receipt of the dies
and medals from Mr. Briggs, and the apprehension of the
prisoner. He produced a letter found upon the prisoner,
purporting to be from a friqpd and agent of his at New
Orleans, informing him that he had concluded an agreement
on his own behalf, with a respectable company, that he was
to go to England to purchase medals and cutlery, suited to
the trade with the Indians, and would probably afterwards
have to go into the interior as far as the head of the Columbia
River to conduct the trade.
A gentleman connected with the Mexican Legation, proved
that its title was the Republic of Mexico, and that the medals
were an imitation of the Mexican dollars.
Mr. John Francis Bacon, merchant of London, and ac-
quainted with the Mexican coinage, also proved the similarity
of the medals to the coinage of Mexico.
Mr. Baines addressed the Jury for the prisoner, a foreigner,
most unexpectedly to himself, involved in his present diffi-
culties. The question was, whether he had done this with a
guilty intent, that they might pass as coin. If they were
merely meant to pass as trinkets among the Indians, that was
not the offence contemplated by the act. He argued that the
act was designed to prevent the passing of fictitious foreign
coin in England. He would not rest upon the legal points
of the case, but he argued on the facts that these medals
were never meant to be used as coin, but only as medals.
He should call a witness, because his conviction was that the
more fully the Jury knew the whole of Mr. Sutton's transac-
tions, the more they would be satisfied with his bond fide
conduct. Mr. Sutton was a Canadian by birth, and his busi-
ness had been to conduct trade with the Indians of the
interior of America for furs. A sovereign with them would
not pass as a sovereign, but as a toy, like beads, pictures,
glass, &c. The object of the prisoner in coming to England
was to provide himself with the proper articles for this traffic.
He should call Mr. Withers, whose letters they had heard
read, and who would shew them Mr. Sutton's design for a
medal with a handle to it, which design was set aside by the
difficulties which Mr. Withers raised as to its execution. That
being thus set aside, the prisoner wished to have the medals
stamped with a hole. He granted that if these medals were
given to the Indians as being worth Mexican dollars, there
178 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
would be a fraud, but he argued that that was not the design.
Mr. Baines then argued, from the respectable house in Shef-
field to which he applied, from the openness of his transac-
tions, from his returning to Sheffield when suspicion had
arisen, and from his whole demeanor, that it was impossible
to suppose the prisoner had a guilty intention. He read the
letters, shewing that they were not the language of a guilty
man ; and after the assurance he had as to the enquiries at
the Mint, how could he have the least idea of his conduct
being illegal ?
Mr. Thomas Henry Withers, of 17, Princes-street, Soho,
London, proved the application to him by the prisoner, for
a die of medals, with a handle, and his uniform profession as
to the object of them.
Mr. Wortley replied, and submitted that there was utility
in having them made like Mexican coin, if they were meant
to pass as coin, but no particular need for it if they were
merely for trinkets. He did not wish to press hard upon the
prisoner, but the minute imitation of the coin would be use-
less for trinkets.
The learned Judge summed up. He remarked upon the
bond fide appearance of the letter found upon the prisoner as
to his engagement with the Indian traders. He mentioned
the well-known inclination of savage tribes for showy imita-
tions. With us, igenuine articles were more highly esteemed;
but for use, the taste of the Indians might be as good as
ours. His Lordship minutely summed up. He thought it
was a harsh construction to say that because the man did not
order the medals to be bored at Sheffield, his design was
bad, after the evidence they had of the way in which he
wanted them made in London. He remarked upon the man
coming to Sheffield as soon as he was written to by Briggs,
and regretted that, without more evidence, the prisoner should
then have been apprehended. He remarked that the other
purchases of the prisoner confirmed his story, and thought
it did not matter whether these medals were to be perforated
or to be handed about as trinkets. To convict the prisoner,
they must be satisfied there was no doubt these medals were
to be used as coin. He thought it made out as clearly as
the circumstances of the case admitted, that that was not the
intention ; and if the prisoner should be acquitted, every
one must feel that it was most unfortunate he should have
been so long confined on this charge.
The Jury immediately found the prisoner Not Guilty, which
produced a demonstration of satisfaction in the Court ; and he
was forthwith discharged.
MISCELLANEA. 179
In consequence of a remark from Mr. Wortley, his Lord-
ship said the Jury would understand that he did not deem it
at all a trivial thing that coins should be made in this country
to defraud the natives of other countries. But they had
acquitted the prisoner of that design.
Mr. Wortley said he merely desired that his Lordship
should make a remark on the subject for the justification of
the prosecution with the public.*
LETTER FROM ADAM CARDONNEL, author of the " Nu-
mismata Scotise," to the Earl of Buchan, President of the
Antiquarian Society of Edinburgh, dated 5th July, 1784. t
" My Lord, In consequence of a card from Mr. Colquhoun,
I waited on him this afternoon with respect to the coins, and
was not a little surprised at his saying the Duke of Argyle
had given him the whole to himself, with the proviso that
what duplicates there were, he would give to the Society.
Mr. Colquhoun gave me what he said were the whole mass,
consisting of twenty-one, in order to look over that I might
lay aside the doubles. I have looked at them once, but
cannot find one double ; indeed the number is so trifling that
I could scarce expect one. I am to return the whole to him
to-morrow, separating the doubles ; if there should be none,
he told me he could not part with them. I understood that
the Duke had given them originally to the Society, and that
Mr. C. was to have the duplicates, if any. I shall note
down such as he has given me by a kind of inventory
and return them to him, as my taking two or three would
constitute a bargain betwixt the Society and him, which I
would not choose to do without your lordship's previous
directions.
" I beg leave to inclose a proof of my first plate, which,
though quite unfinished, will show the plan ; the first row is
to contain two of Alexander I. and one of David I. I have
copied all the varieties of William that I have, as well as
those of Mr. Paton. I have left room for eight more, to
insert those I expect from the Laird of Brodie at the bottom
of the plate. I shall, if I see no likelihood of getting more
varieties than what will fill up the two rows, etch a view of
some ruin or something by way of frontispiece. The second
plate will contain Alexander II. and III., John Baliol,
Robert Bruce, and so on. I shall send your lordship a proof
* This report is taken from a recent Sheffield Paper. We leave our readers
to make their own comments on the extraordinary particulars it discloses,
merely observing that the object for which these spurious pieces were struck
must be obvious to every one. Eo.N. C.
t From the original in the possession of Mr. B. Nightingale.
180 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
as I go forward. I have copied as exactly as my eye can
serve me. I shall compare Anderson and Snelling together,
and take the best likenesses to the coins themselves where I
can procure them. I hope your lordship received my note
last week with the Manuscript Gaelic Poem. My cold still
continues very indifferent, so cannot promise myself the
pleasure of seeing your lordship on Saturday ; I feel the
rheumatism in my head very much, I can hardly see, so am
afraid this may be scarcely legible. I shall hope for your
lordship's opinion of my first essay when convenient, and re-
main, with sincere respect,
" Your Lordship's most obedient and most humble servant,
" ADAM CARDONNEL."
LETTER FROM JOHN PINKERTON TO ROBERT DODSLEY.
The following letter from Pinkerton to Dodsley, the pub-
lisher, contains the original proposals for the publication of
his " Essay on Medals," which were accepted, the first edition
being shortly afterwards published in the same year (1784)
in one volume, octavo. Whatever were Pinkerton's faults
it is certain that he was an ingenious and laborious writer j
had he possessed less pedantry and self-conceit, he might
have been a still more useful and correct one. The " Essay"
here alluded to is a work of much merit, particularly the
subsequent edition, which was enlarged into two volumes.
Pinkerton had little practical knowledge of coins, but in
these volumes he has brought together a mass of curious in-
formation digested into a popular form. He liberally abuses
nearly every previous writer with a virulence and scurri-
lity peculiar to the man, though his book shows that on every
occasion he availed himself of their information.
B. NIGHTINGALE.
" Knightsbridge, 1.2th January, 1784.
' DEAR SIR,
" IN a late conversation I started an idea of an Essay
on Medals, in the way of Mr. Gilpin's Essay on Prints, and
as you seemed not averse to that idea, I enclose a view of
the proposed contents, in order that you may judge with
more certainty than is possible from the evanescent nature
of conversation. That this is the very land of connoisseurs,
and that yet to this day no treatise of the kind has appeared,
though every body wishes for it, is a very strong argument
for a rapid sale. But of this you are the only judge, and I
wish not to influence you either one way or the other.
" My plan would make a neat little half-crown volume of
MISCELLANEA. 181
about 200 pages, and should you like it upon farther
thoughts I shall be glad to have your proposals. I have
so many materials (this having always been a favourite
amusement of mine) that I could engage to let you have
it in a month, should you wish to publish this Parliament.
As to knowledge of the subject and composition, should
you not like them, I shall not murmur at your burning
my M.S.
*' If you do not like the scheme, I shall drop it entirely, as
I do not wish to offer my labour to every one, and, indeed,
am too lazy to go to work with the humiliating view of after-
wards hawking my little labours.
" I am always, yours sincerely, J. PINKERTON."
" ISSUES OF THE EXCHEQUER, BEING PAYMENTS MADE OUT
OF H. M. REVENUE," TEMP. JAMES I. AND CHARLES I.
THE following notices are extracted from a work bearing the
above title, edited by Frederick Devon, Esq., and published
in 1836. Being for payments connected with the coinage,
they will be interesting as well as useful to the Numismatist,
and to many of your readers may be altogether new, the
book being one not generally known, and scarcely to be
met with except in libraries of a public nature. They are
also to be relied on as unquestionably authentic. The Re-
cords yet published do not extend to a later period than the
early part of the reign of Charles I., but it is hoped Mr.
Devon may be induced to continue his labours, as the period
of the Protectorate and the Restoration may be expected to
afford some curious information relative to the famous medal-
lists who then flourished, and probably specifying the parti-
cular works done, and the payments received, by such artists
as Thomas Simon and the Roettiers. B. N.
PELL RECORDS, TEMP. JAMES I.
20th December, . By order, dated 1st December, 1611.
To Sir Richard Martin, Knight, Master of His Majesty's
Mint, the sum of 160/. for the charges of sundry models,
tools, and engines thereafter to be made, for the better
making of His Majesty's monies, both of gold and
silver, more fair than heretofore they have been ; and
for the making of all sorts of small moneys with speed,
beauty, and justness. By writ, dated 10th December,
1611. 160
182 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
21st May, . By order, dated 20th May, 1623. To William
Holle, Gentleman, Chief Graver of His Majesty's Mint
and Scales, the sum of 16/. 2s. Qd. for making and
graving a seal of silver, with His Majesty's Arms
crowned and supported, according to the print of the
seal of the Court of Wards in England, for His Ma-
jesty's Court of Wards in Ireland, save only with this
difference, that under the supporters there be engraven
two harps and crowns, and with this His Majesty's
title "JACOBVS, DEI GRATIA MAGX.E BRITANNIA,
FRANCIJE, ET HIBERNI^:, REX, FIDEI DEFENSOR," &c.
according to the allowance heretofore made for the seal
of the Court of Wards in England, as appeareth by a
certificate under the hand of Sir Francis Goston, Knight,
one of the Auditors of the Prests. By writ, dated
27th February, 1622 16 2 9
PELL RECORDS, TEMP. CHARLES I.
9th February, . By order, dated 18th November, 1626.
To Nicholas Breeott, a French graver, the sum of 100Z.
due to him for providing sundry particulars by him
bought, by His Majesty's commandment, needful and
necessary for the making of Stamps to stamp certain
pieces of largess of gold and silver made in memory of
His Majesty's Coronation ; as also for his labour and
pains taken in making and graving certain puncheons
for the shaping of His Majesty's picture, and the other
device upon the said pieces of largess ; and, likewise,
for the making of a little signet for His Majesty, re-
maining in his own custody, which same sum shall be
taken to him, the said Nicholas Breeott, without account,
imprest, or other charge, to be set upon him, his heirs,
executors, administrators, or assigns, for the same or
any part thereof. Bv writ, dated 10th April, 1626.
100
By order, dated 13th November, 1627. To
Nicholas Breeott, a French graver, the sum of 601. im-
prest, for the provision of such a proportion of silver as
shall be sufficient for the fabric of His Majesty's great
seal of His Majesty's realm of Scotland. By writ, dated
9th August, 1627. . ... 60
THEODORA DUCAINA PALJEOLOGHINA. Piombo Unico
Inedito della Collezione de S. E. R. Monsignor Ludovico de
MISCELLANEA. 183
Principi Altieri di Roma. Illustrazione di Francesco Car-
rara, Membro dell ' T. R. Institute di Sublime Educazione Eccle-
siastica presso S. Agostino in Vienna. Vienna, 1840. This
pamphlet, in twenty pages, contains a dissertation on a
leaden seal already brought before the English Numismatic
public by Mr. Borrell, Numismatic Chrou., April, 1841,
No. XII. p. 21, who has contented himself with succinctly
noticing two varieties of the seals of this lady. The labours
of M. Carrara, whose publication has appeared quite inde-
pendent of the researches of Mr. Borrell, is drawn up with
considerable care and research, and, as will be perceived by
the date, appeared before the publication of Mr. BorrelFs
paper. Both Numismatists agree in assigning the seals to
the same person Theodora, daughter of John Ducas and of
Eudocia, daughter of Angelus Johannes, who married
Michael Comnenus. This lady took her name of Ducaina
from her father, while that of PalaBologhina was assumed
from her husband's. There are two other Theodoras in
the Byzantine succession, daughters of Ducas ; Theodora,
daughter of Constantine Ducas, declared Emperor, 25th of
November, 1059, dec. May, 1067, and of Eudocia, daughter
of Constantine Dallassenus ; and Theodora, a nun, daughter
of Andronicus Ducas, and of a niece of Samuel, king of the
Bulgarians. Neither of these ladies married, and the seal
cannot be assigned to them (p. 7). M. Carrara supports the
reading Evtrefteffrarr) found upon the seal, by the inscription
found by Tournefort in the court-yard of an old monastery
at Trebisond, GEo^wpa Xpiorou -^aprjTi evtrefiearaTri. In 1/89,
Sestini recognised the bust of this lady. (Lettere e Disser-
tazioni Numismatiche sopra al cune Medaglie Rare delle
Collezione Ainslieana. Livorno. 1789. II disegno. pag. 19).
This type has only initial letters, and having been assigned,
there is considerable doubt about one letter being a A
or A, which the Museum type does not dispel, for the
Museum cabinets, though rich in Imperial and Autonomous
Greek, are not so abundant in the Byzantine series. In con-
clusion, we recommend such of our readers, as take an
interest in this class of coins, to the work of M. Carrara.
ARCHERS AND ANGELS. From " Isaac his Testament, a
Sermon preached at Paule's Crosse, by R. Lewes, Bacchelor
of Divinitie," 12mo. Oxf. 1594. " The" king of Persia being
offended at Agesilaus, gave the Athenians thirty thousand
pieces of the great coine of golde, wherein was ingraven an
archer; which thing when Agesilaus understoode, he saide
merrily, but yet truly, that he was driven away with thirty
thousande archers. Many a poore Agesilaus in this land is
VOL. IV. D D
184 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
(I feare) oftentimes put from his right by a great company
of angels that come against him : our English angels are as
strong as the Persian archers : but it is a pitty that either
archers there, or angels heere, shold fight against justice and
right. If hee were not able to resist thirty thousand archers,
howe should poore men stand against an army of angels,
when they march against them. Surely, except the godly
and famous judges and magistrates doe quit themselves like
men, nay, unlesse they shew themselves to be gods, the
angels will first overcome them, and then soone overthrow the
poore."
PENNY OF EDRED. At the sale of the collection of Robert
Surtees, Esq. in London, on the 17th of July, 1837, Lot 89,
was a Saxon penny " Eadred with the head, Clac Moneta
On Exone," which was bought by the late Mr. Young for
11. 15*. on commission for a collector. This coin proves
that money was coined at Exeter by Eadred, which Mr.
Hawkins has not admitted, in his recent excellent work on
the English coinage. Should this meet the eye of the
gentleman, who has the penny of Eadred, Mr. Richard
Sainthill, Cork, (a Devonian), would feel extremely obliged
to him, for an impression of the coin, in sealing wax, by
post. S.
AUSTRIAN MEDALS. A work on the medals of Austria,
comprising its great men from the 15th to the 16th century, is
appearing from the pen of M. Joseph Bergmanu in livraisons.
It is entitled " Medaillen auf beriihmte und ausgezeichnete
Manner des Kaiserthums Osterreich vom xvi. bis xix.
Jahrhunderte, in treuen Abbildungen, mit biographisch-
historischen Notizen, von Joseph Bergman, Gustos am k. k.
Miinz-und Antiken-Cabinete, und der k. k. Ambraser Samm-
lung. 1 und 2 Heft. Vien. 1840. It contains medals and
biographical notices of Jacob de Barmissis, Counsellor and
Latin Secretary of Maximilian 1., Deacon at Triest ; Bernard
of Cles, Cardinal and Archbishop of Trent ; the families of
Madruzzo, Freunsberg, the heterodox Galeottus, Martius, &c.
The medals are well executed in outline, the biographical no-
tices are copious, and will, we hope; call attention to a class
of medals imperfectly understood and inadequately prized in
this country. B.
COINS OF HENRY II. AND III. Mr. Hawkins, in his
Silver Coins of England, p. 87. hazarded the opinion that the
pennies assigned by Ruding (PI. II. 13, 14, 15, &c.) to
Henry III. belonged in reality to the second prince of that
MISCELLANEA. 185
name. This opinion receives confirmation from a quantity
of coins found recently in Norway, an account of which has
been published by M. C. A. Holmboe. The hoard consisted
of nearly 5000 coins, not one of which can have been struck
later than 1213. Amongst them are nine English pennies
one of Stephen, five of Henry II., of the universally ac-
knowledged type (Ruding II. 4) " English Silver Coins,*'
No. 285, and three of the second, the disputed coinage
(286). These must now be no longer disputed, but be
definitely assigned to Henry II. M. Holmboe has re-
marked on the value of this " find " to the Numismatists of
England, and in a note, referring to Ruding, he observes,
" Henrico tertio adscribit ; priores veto numismaticos nun-
nullos Henrico secundo eos rectius adsignasse arbitior. Nam
inter omnes nummos nulli eorum regum qui inter Henri-
cum II. et Henricum III- regnarunt, nee regum Danicae et
Suecias regnorum Norvegiae propriorum, cum Henrico III.
cosevorum adsunt." We cannot too strongly impress upon
our Numismatic friends the importance of obtaining accu-
rate accounts of the finding of large parcels of even the
commonest coins, and of ascertaining that nothing has been
taken away from them, but especially that nothing has been
added. The value of this Norwegian " find " depends on this
last point, for had a few coins of Henry III., derived from
another source, been accidentally mixed with them, the
evidence would have become falsified, and these pieces of
Henry II. would still have been the subject of historic doubt
and conjecture. A.
CORRESPONDENCE.
Q. There is a beautiful gold coin of Carausius in the British
Museum, to which it was bequeathed by the late pos-
sessor, the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
L. N. Any foreign Numismatic work may be obtained of
our publishers, Messrs. Taylor and Walton, Upper
Gower-street.
TYRO. An accurate account of the Cuerdale " find" will pro-
bably appear in our next number.
P. 1. Most of the coins of Berytus (Beyrout) in Phoenicia,
are common : they have Latin legends. The brass coin
is of Caracalla, struck at Byblus, and is very common.
186 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
R. U. A very common coin of Agrigentum the modern
Girgenti. The other piece must be of Hermocapelia in
Lydia, and is a scarce coin. The head is that of the
Senate (see the Numismatic Manual, 8vo. p. 26).
Q.Q. We would advise no one, at present, to buy any of the
coins found at Cuerdale, for many of them have become
exceedingly common. It is believed that the Duchy of
Lancaster will commence proceedings against those who
have procured specimens of the coins from the work-
men, and hawked them about for sale at extravagant
prices, which, in some instances, they have obtained
from ignorant people. If those persons would take
advice, we would recommend them to forward to the
officers of the Duchy, immediately, the coins they have
illegally obtained, and thereby avoid the consequences of
such conduct.
Our kind Correspondent at Cork, who renews the complaint
against the words "ONE SHILLING " and "SIXPENCE"
on our silver coins, appears to forget, like others who
have denounced the same indications, that there is clas-
sical authority for such a practice, however justly it may
be deprecated (see Numismatic Manual, page 16).
As regards the style and execution of modern money, it
is certainly superior in finish in proportion as it is tame
and spiritless in design, compared with some of the com-
monest coins of Greece.
B. B. Not a Queen Anne's farthing, but a pocket-piece : we
have seen many scores of them.
7^. The reading proposed by M. Gesenius of the Phoe-
nician legend, on the coin of Juba the Second (Pro-
ceedings, pages 11, 12, and Numismatic Chronicle, April,
1841), namely, Beth Khem Malchi (i^bft Dp J"O ), appears
to us only right in its Hebrew interpretation. The
English interpretation we take to be entirely fanciful,
and are inclined to believe with Mr. Birch that the
legend is the counterpart of REX JVBA. Our cor-
respondent will see that we have reasons for entertaining
this belief, if he will turn to the notice of the Life and
Writings of Porphyry, by Lucas Holstenius, appended
to the works of the Sophist, printed at Cambridge in
1655. It appears that Malchus was the Syro- Phoenician
for BaffiXcug, a fact noticed by Suidas and others.
A.'s coins are small brass of Victorinus, Tetricus, and Pos-
tumus, and are exceedingly common.
187
XIX.
ON THE ROMAN COINS DISCOVERED IN THE BED
OF THE THAMES, NEAR LONDON BRIDGE, FROM
1834 TO 1841.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, April 22nd, 1841.]
( Continued from page 168.)
COMMODUS.
HERC. COMMODIANO p. M. TR. p. xvi. cos. vi. A figure, sacri-
ficing on an altar before a tree, on which is a lion's skin (I).
HERC. ROMAN. AVGV. . . Club in a wreath (1). s. c. Minerva,
standing (1) TR.P. xv. IMP. vm. cos. vi.
A ploughman driving two oxen (1). Titles; Female figure,
with cornucopia (1). 5.
SEVERUS.
p. M. TR. p. xvi. cos. in. p. P. Victory, seated on arms before
a trophy ; in right hand, a palm ; in left, a shield (1). ROMAE
AETERNAE. Rome seated on arms (1). 2.
JULIA DOMNA.
FORTVNAE FELici. Fortune, seated; before her, a child, be-
hind, a column with a statue. 1.
CARAGALLA.
VIRTVS AVGVSTORVM. An armed female, seated on a helmet,
and holding a victory ; behind her, a shield (1). PONTIF. TR.
p. xi. cos. in. In exergue, PROF. AVGG. The emperor on
horseback, galloping over a fallen figure (1). 2.
GETA.
VICT. BRIT. TR. p. in. cos ... A winged Victory, seated on
arms (1). FORT. RED., &c. (1). 2.
VOL. iv. E E
188 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
MACRINUS.
ANNONA AVG. (1). PONTIF. MAX. TR. P. II. COS. II. P. P. Se-
curity leaning on a pillar (1). Idem. The emperor in a
quadriga (1). 3.
SEVERUS ALEXANDER.
LIBERALITAS AVG. III. (1). FIDES MILITVM (1). P. M. TR.
p.x. cos. in. P. P. A female figure holding ears of corn over a
modius ; in left hand, a plough-share (1). 3.
MAXIMUS.
PIETAS AVG. Sacrificial vessels. 1.
GORDIANUS.
LAETITIA AVG. N. (1). Titles; a soldier, standing (1). 2.
PHILIPPUS.
AEQVITAS AVG. (1). FELICITAS TEMP. (1). 2.
DIOCLETIANUS.
GENIO POPVLI ROMAKI ; in exergue, P.TR. (3). Idem ; in ex-
ergue, PL. &c. (4). 7.
MAXIMIANUS.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI ; in CXCrgUC, P.L.C. (5). HERCVLI CON-
SERVATORI (1). 6.
CONSTANTIUS.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI ; in exergue, P.TR. (2). 2.
FL. VAL. SEVERUS.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI. Genius, standing. 1.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 189
CONSTANTINUS.
PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS. A military figure with two standards ;
in exergue, P.TR. 1.
SMALL BRASS.
NERO.
CBR. QVINQ. ROM. CON. 8. C. (1). OBNIO AVGVSTI. S. C. (1)
PONTIF. MAX. TR. p. IMP. P.P. s.c. An armed female figure
seated on arms. (2). MAX. TRIE s.c. similar. (1). 5.
TRAJANUS.
s. c. A vase and wreath, on a table. 1.
POSTUMUS.
PAX AVGG. (1). MONETA AVG. (1). VICTORIA AVG. (1). 3.
GALLIENUS.
VICTORIA AVG. (3). SALVS AVG. (3). NEPTVNO CONS. AVG.
A sea-horse (2). SOLI. CONS. AVG. Pegasus (2). APOLLINI.
CONS. AVG. Centaur (2). DIANAS. CONS. AVG. A stag (1).
LIBERO P. CONS. Panther (3). Various (20). 36.
VICTORINUS.
PAX AVG. (5). INV1CTVS. (1). VIRTVS AVG. (6). SALVS AVG.
(5). LAETITIA AVG. (3). AEQVITAS AVG. (3). Various
(20). 43.
MARIUS.
VICTORIA AVG. (1). CONCORDIA MILITVM. (2). 3.
CLAUDIUS GOTHICUS.
GENIVS EXERCITVS. (2). SECVRIT. AVG. (3). FORTVNA AVG.
(2). LIBERT. AVG. (2). DIANA LVCIF. (1). IOVI VICTORI.
(2). CONSECRATIO. (6). Various, badly struck (20). 38.
QUINTILLUS.
MARTI PACIF. (2). CONCORD. EXER.(l). CONCORD. MILITVM.
(1). FORTVNA. AVG. (1). 5.
190 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
AURELIANUS.
RESTITVTORI EXERCITVS (1). CONCORDIA MILITVM. (1).
VICTORIA AVG. (1). *.
SEVERINA.
CONCORDIA MILITVM. A female figure holding two standards. 1.
THE TETRICI.
PAX AVG. (6). VIRTVS. AVGG. (4). HILARITAS AVGG. (6).
SPES PVBLICA. (5). Various, badly struck (20). 41.
TACITUS.
LAETITIA FVND. in exergue XXI (1). TEMPORVM FELICITAS. (1).
PROBU8.
VIRTVS PROBI. AVG. (1). PAX AVG. (2). CONCORD. MILIT.
(1). 4.
NUMERIANUS.
VNDIQVE VICTORES. in exergue KAS. A male figure standing ; in
his right hand a globe, in his left the hasta pura. 1 .
CARINUS.
AEQVITAS AVGG. in field A, in exergue K. A. z. 1.
DIOCLETIANUS.
iovi CONSERVATOR!. (2). PAX AVGGG. in field s. p. in exergue
MLXXI. (2). GENIO. POP. ROM. (1). 5.
MAXIMIANUS.
PAX AVGGG. in field s. p. in exergue MLXXI. (3). VIRTVS AVGG.
(1). GENIO. POP. ROM. (2). 6.
CARAUSIUS.
EXP ENI (Expectate Veni). Two figures (1). FORTVNA
AVG. (2). FIDES MILITVM. (1). MART .... R. (1). MO-
NETA AVG. in exergue, c. (1). Idem, in field, s. p. (1). PAX
AVG. ; in the field the letters B. R. or B. E. or F. o., or F. E.
or s. c. or s. p. and in exergue, M. L. or MLXXI or c. Type
of Peace, standing ; in right hand, a flower, in left, the hasta
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 191
held transversely on some specimens, on others, erect (30).
PAX AVGGG. in field, s. p. ; in exergue, c. or MLXXI. (8).
PIETAS AVGGG. in field, L. P. ; in exergue, M. c. Mercury (un-
published) (1). PROVID. AVG. in field, s. p. or s. c. ; in ex-
ergue, c. Types of Providence (7). LAETITIA AVG. (5).
SEC. .. .PER... Security leaning on a column, in right hand,
a garland (an unpublished variety) (1). SPES PVBLICA (1).
SALVS AVG. (3). TEMP. FELiciTAs. The four seasons per-
sonified (1). IOVI .. . SBR. (1). VIRTVS AVG. (3). VIC-
TORIA AVG. Victory, on a globe, holding a wreath and palm
branch, at her feet two captives (unpublished) (1). ROMA RENO
. . Wolf and twins (1). LEG . A bull (1). LEG . . 11. A
ram (1) legend defaced ; a Capricorn (1). 72
ALLECTUS.
LAETITIA AVG. in field, S.A or s.p. ; hi exergue, ML or c. A fe-
male figure, standing (2). The same legend. A galley; in
exergue, Q.C or Q.L (3). MONETA AVG. in f. S.A., in ex. ML.
(1). PAX. AVG. in f. s. or S.P., or S.H. ; in ex. ML, or MLXX,
or M.S.L., or c. Peace, standing (12). PIETAS AVG. (1). PRO-
VID. AVG. in f. s.p. in ex. c. (4). Idem; the obverse reading
IMP. c. ALLECTVS Piv. PEL. AVG. (unpublished) (1). PRO-
VIDE. AVQ. (1). PROVIDKNTIA AVG. in f. S.A. in CX. ML. (3).
TEMPORVM FELICITAS. Female figure, standing (2). VIR-
TVS AVG. in f. S.A. in ex. ML. Mars, standing (1). Idem ;
varieties of the Galley type (8). 40.
HELENA.
PAX PVBLICA ; in exergue, TR.P. (5). SECVRITAS RKIPVBLICAE ;
in exergue, p. LON. A female figure, standing, holding in
right hand, a branch (1). 6.
THEODORA.
PIETAS ROMANA ; in exergue, T.R. (2). A woman suckling two
children. 2.
GAL. VAL. MAXIMIANUS.
PRINCIPI IVVBNTVT ; in exergue, XXI.T. A military figure, hold-
ing a standard and hasta (1). CONCORDIA MILITVM (1). 2.
C. GAL. VAL. MAXIMINUS.
GENIO POP. ROM. in exergue, P.L.N.
192 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
MAXENTIUS.
VICTORIA DD. NN. AVGG. 1.
THE LICINII.
GENIO POP. ROM. (2). LICINI AVGVSTI VOTIS. XX. (1). SOLI
INVICTO COMITI (2). VOT. V. MVLT. X. CAESS. T. S. A. (1).
D. N. LICIN. AVGVSTI; in a wreath, VOT. xx. (1). 7.
OONSTANTINUS MAXIMUS.
BEATA TRANQVILHTAS, in CX. S.TR. (3). VICTORIAB LAETAE, &C.
(6). VIRTVS EXERCIT. (4). SARMATIA DEVICTA, in 6X. P. LON
(4). Idem ; in ex. P.L.C. (4). ROMAE AETERNAE (2). PROVI-
DENTIAE AVGG. in CX. P. LON. (3). VIRTVS AVG. in CX. S. CONS.
(2). MARTI CONSERVATORI. Head of Mars ( 1 ). Idem; in exer.
P.TR. Mars, standing (1). SOLI. INVICTO COMITI (3). CON-
CORDIA MILIT (1). The emperor ascending in a quadriga; from
above, an outstretched hand (2). Various (12). 48.
[POPULUS ROMANUS.]
Obv. POP. ROMANVS. Youthful laureated bust, with cornucopiae.
Rev. CONS. B. A star, within a wreath. 1.
[URBS ROMA.]
Wolf and twins ; various letters in exergue (10). 10.
[CONSTANTINOPOLIS.]
Genius, with shield and hasta (5). 5.
FAUSTA.
SPES REIPVBLICAE, in exergue, P.TR. A female with two children
(2). 2.
CRISPUS.
PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS, in exer. P.L.N. (2). BEATA TRANQVILLITAS,
in exer. p. LON (5), or P.L.C. (4). PROVIDENTIA CAESS (2).
VIRTVS EXERCIT. in exer. p. LON (3) CAESARVM NOSTRORVM
VOT. x. ; in exer. A.SIS. ; or p. LON ; or S.TR (4). Various (8).
29.
CONSTANTINUS JUNIOR.
BEATA TRANQVILLITAS ; in exergue, P. LON. (3). or S.TR. (3).
CLARITAS REIPVB. (2). CAESARVM NOSTRORVM VOTIS V. in
exergue, p. LON (2). VIRTVS. CAESS (2). Various 12. 24.
DISCOVERY OF ROMAN COINS IN THE THAMES. 193
CONSTANS.
VICTORIAS DD. AVGG. Q. NN. (3). FBL. TEMP. REPARATIO. Phoenix
(3). 6.
CONSTANTIUS II.
FEL. TEMP. REPARATIO ; in ex. AQ.s. and varieties. 4.
MAGNENTIUS.
FELICITAS REJPVBLICAE, in CX. TR.P. (1). FEL. TEMP. REPA-
RATIO ; in ex. TR.S. The emperor in a galley, rowed by a
Victory (1). 2.
DECENTIUS.
VICT. DD. NN. AVGG. ET. CAESS. (1). Idem; in ex. TR.P. Two
Victories, holding a shield inscribed VOT. v. MVLT. x. 2.
JULIANUS.
VOT. x. MVLT. xx. in a wreath. 1.
VALENTINIANUS.
RESTITVTOR REIPVBLICAE (2). SALVS REIPVB (1). 3.
VALENS.
SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE (4). GLORIA ROMANORVM (3). 7.
GRATIANUS.
GLORIA ROMANORVM (2). VICTORIA AVGG. (1). 3.
VICTOR.
SPES ROMANORVM; in exergue, S.M.R.Q.S. The camp gate. 1.
HONORIUS.
GLORIA ROMANORVM. 2.
Minimi. 100.
194 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
The number of coins comprised in this catalogue is
considerably under the total amount discovered within the
last seven years, and does not include those almost en-
tirely defaced, with the exception of a few of the rarer
specimens. Every coin described has passed through my
hands, and the greater number are still in my possession.
Some hundreds were collected by the late Mr. John Pimm,
of Deptford, on the banks of the Surry Canal, from the
gravel taken from the bed of the Thames for repairs, and
a considerable quantity were obtained from the ballast
spread on the towing path between Hammersmith and
Barnes, as well as at Putney ; facts which should be re-
corded to prevent in future times any unwarranted theory
being founded on discoveries which may yet be made at
these places. C. R. S.
Since I compiled the above, I have the satisfaction of
stating that another specimen of the aureus of Maximianus
(see the wood-cut) is in the cabinet of George Atherley,
Esq., of Southampton, whose attention was directed to it on
seeing mine. The obverses and reverses accord, and the
weights also correspond within a grain, Mr. Atherley's
weighing sixty-five grains, mine sixty-six. They are not,
however, from the same die. Mr. Atherley purchased his
about eight years ago, of a silversmith at Southampton,
who had it from a Mr. Millar of the Artillery, the owner
of a large collection of Greek, Roman, and English coins,
collected by Mr. Millar, his grandfather, who resided at
Southampton, and died about thirty years ago.
195
XX.
FURTHER REMARKS ON THE NUMISMATIC HIS-
TORY OF EAST ANGLTA, DURING THE NINTH
CENTURY.
IT only remains for me now to offer a few observations on
the pennies bearing the name of Ethelstan, by modern
numismatists universally assigned to the Danish prince,
who, in 878, received that name .in baptism. I have for
some time regarded this appropriation with suspicion, and
my doubts were confirmed, by the circumstances of the
discovery of a few of these coins at Dorking in 1817, and
at Gravesend in 1839.
Of nearly 700 pennies found at Dorking, upwards of
500 were of the West Saxon kings, Ethelwulf and Ethel-
bert; and as no coins occurred of Ethelred, or Alfred,
their successors, nor indeed a single piece necessarily of
later date than 866, in which year Ethelbert died, this
VOL. IV. F F
196 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
hoard must have been concealed during his reign, and
whilst his money, and that of his predecessor, was in
active circulation. The Gravesend parcel comprised a
large quantity of the coins of Burgred, but so few of
Alfred, as to render it certain that the deposit had been
made very shortly after his accession in 871 ; and as both
here and at Dorking some pennies of Ethelstan occurred,
it is evident that they cannot belong to a king who did
not receive that name until the year 878. Let us see
how far the evidence of the coins themselves is in favour
of a new appropriation.
Of the pennies bearing the name of Ethelstan, there
are two classes, widely different in type and workmanship,
but clearly connected by the moneyers' names. Those
with the portrait (Hawkins 188 to 190), as the earliest, I
place in the first class ; and those in Ruding's 9th Plate,
and in Hawkins, 96 to 98, in the second. Of the first
kind, I know of only three varieties ; the others are not
uncommon.
The portraits on the earlier coins bear a strong resem-
blance to those of Ludica and Beornwulf (perhaps also to
some of Ethelwulf) ; and the character of the workmanship,
as Mr. Hawkins acknowledges, is clearly of that date.
The reverse of one (H. 188) presents the same type and
moneyer's name, as a penny of Ludica in Mr. Wigan's
collection, quoted by Mr. Hawkins, p. 30 ; and the cross
croslet appears in the coins of Beornwulf (Ruding, PI. vii.
PL xxvii. 1, PL xxix. 18) ; and of Ludica (H. 79). The re-
verses of two others, Eadgar Moneta, in four lines (H. 190),
and Man Moneta, in three lines, quoted by Dr. Combe, pre-
sent a striking analogy to the coins of Ceolwulf (Ruding,
C.7); of Beornwulf (H.72); and of Ludica (Ruding,
PI. vii.) ; with the moneyer's name and designation similarly
ON THE NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF EAST ANGLIA. 197
arranged. The type of the remaining penny (H. 189),
differs from every other at present known ; but it cannot
be much later than 188 and 190. The resemblance
between these coins, and those of Beornwulf and Ludica,
may be still further traced in the form of the letters,
which are very peculiar; and with regard to the names of
the moneyers, we have already noticed the occurrence of
Eadgar on a penny of Ludica, and Monn is probably the
same as Monna, a moneyer of Beornwulf. These names,
as I have said before, form a connecting link between the
coins of the first class, and those of the second, which I
come now to consider, and which, I doubt not, I shall be
able to prove, were issued at a not much later period.
There is, in the British Museum, a penny of Ethel-
stan, with a cross potent, both in obverse and reverse.
This is precisely the type of one of Egbert (Ruding,
PL xxx. 7) ; and this device frequently occurs as a reverse
of Egbert and of Ethelwulf (Ruding, PI. xxvii). The
type of the penny (Ruding, PL ix. 10), a cross, with a
wedge in each angle on both sides, appears in one of
Ethelwulf (Ruding, PL xxx. 18). This resemblance may
further be traced between the coins of Ethelstan ( Ruding,
PL ix. 6) ; and of Ethelwulf (PL xxx. 17) ; the letter A in
the obverse, and a cross potence in another cross for the
type of the reverse. This reverse occurs in other coins of
Ethelwulf (PL xiv. 3, PL xxvii. 1, and PL xxx. 9). This
last is connected by the name of the moneyer with PL
xxx. 10, where the letter A takes the place of the double
cross on the reverse. A cross, with a pellet in each
angle, is a type common to many of the coins of Ethelstan
and of Ethelwulf.
All these circumstances considered, I think there can
be no doubt, that the coins in question belong to a cotem-
198 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
porary of Egbert and of Ethel wulf; and if so, who but
Ethelsran, the son of the former, and brother of the latter,
can claim them? It is not indeed recorded that he
reigned in East Anglia. Kent, Essex, Surrey, and
Sussex, are mentioned as his kingdom ; and if the legend
Ej>ELttXHRD (H. 1 88), may be read EdelstanEex Cantice,
our first class will represent his Kentish money. How
he acquired power in East Anglia, is a mystery for ever
hidden in the night of ages. The only record of his
connexion with this kingdom, is a legend quoted in
" Shaw's Dresses and Decorations," which mentions a
King Athelstan as the maternal uncle of St. Edmund 1 .
Having now, I trust, shewn to the satisfaction of every
collector of Saxon coins, that the pennies hitherto pub-
lished, have been erroneously assigned to the Danish
Ethelstan, or Guthrum, I am happy in the opportunity of
publishing the figure and description of a rare penny,
which unquestionably belongs to him.
Obv.+ED EL TON RE.
R. ELDS MEFEC (See Fig. 1).
And, as the best illustration that can be given of its
date, it is accompanied by a drawing of a penny of Alfred.
Obv. +EL EE ED RE.
R. ELDS MEFEC, retrograde (Fig. 2).
I shall close my remarks on East Anglian money, with
a few additions to, and corrections of, my last memoir on
this subject.
1 On account of some anachronisms in this story, we cannot
place much reliance on it. It is, however, equally as probable, if
not more so, than the common legend of Lydgate, quoted in
Alban Butler's " Lives of the Saints." To the elegant work of
Mr. Shaw, I refer my readers, as the story is too long for inser-
tion.
ON THE NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF EAST ANGLIA. 199
I am by no means satisfied as to the propriety of
assigning the sceattas of Beouna to the East Anglian king,
Beorm ; but as we have no record of any Heptarchic
prince who bore the name Beonna, we must be content to
wait for further information, and for the present allow
their attribution to the East Anglian king to remain
undisturbed.
I am glad to find, that Mr. Hawkins, p. 41, agrees with
me, in removing the penny of Eanred from Northum-
berland. I have already expressed my opinion (Numis-
matic Chronicle, Vol. IV. p. 37), " Should any silver money
of Eanred exist, I should expect it would resemble the
stycas, as does that figured in Sir A. Fountaine's Tables,
and the sceatta of his successor, Ethelred ;" and in proof
of the correctness of this conjecture, there is, in the col-
lection of Dr. Moore, a silver coin of Eanred, a styca in
every thing but the metal, with the moneyer's name,
HVAETRED (see Fig. 3). These two sceattas of Eanred,
and that of Ethelred (H. 123), are to my mind proof
positive, that the Northumberland currency of silver had
not, up to the date of their issue, assumed the penny form.
In my former memoir, I stated my reasons for believing,
that the penny of Ethelred might also belong to East
Anglia; but as we find the names of Mercian moneyers in
the coins of Eadvald and Ethelstan, and as there is nothing
but the moneyer's name and reverse type to connect this
interesting specimen with the coins of Eadmund, it is not
unlikely that it may belong to his cotemporary, the West
Saxon Ethelred. I have to thank Mr. Lindsay, of Cork,
for this important correction of my former remarks. The
coin in question is figured in Mr. Hawkins' Work
(Fig. 89).
It seems now generally admitted, that Beorhtric, who-
200
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
ever he was, held the sceptre of East Anglia shortly before
the accession of St. Eadmund. It will, I am sure, be
interesting to students of the series of Anglo-Saxon coins,
to learn that he was, in all probability, a son of Beorhtulf,
of Mercia. There are two charters of that king in the
" Codex Diplomatics" dates 840 and 845, attested by
" Beorhtric Jilius regis" This point ascertained, and the
connexion between Ethelwulf and Ethelstan established,
the frequent occurrence of the letter A on the coins of
Beorhtulf and Ethelwulf is explained, since the former was
the father, the latter the brother of an East Anglian
sovereign, and both may be supposed to have exercised
some authority over that kingdom. I mentioned in my
former paper, the occurrence of A on the obverse, and
ID on the reverse of a penny of Ethelstan ; and I think
that the figure on the coins of Beorhtulf (H. 82), and
Egbert ( H. 158), may be a monogram of AUJ. The explana-
tion I once hazarded of the letter A on coins of Ethel-
wulf, falls, of course, to the ground.
I have nothing new to offer respecting the coins of
Athelweard and Eadmund, and will reserve my observa-
tions on the money of St. Eadmund, for an essay on the
ecclesiastical coins of England generally, which will include
the arrangement of the St. Peter's money, and those of
St. Martin as well.
DANIEL HY. HAIGH.
Leeds, 19th October, 1841.
( 201 )
XXI.
ON THE PENNIES OF HENRY THE THIRD,
WITH THE SHORT CROSS.
HAVING some time since endeavoured to prove that the
first coinage of Henry III. was marked with a short double
cross, and a cross of pellets in each angle (Ruding, PI. II.
13 and 15), I shall take the opportunity of saying a few
words in reply to what appeared on this subject in the last
number of the Num. Chron. p. 185.
With all deference to M. Holmboe, I must say that he is
not warranted by the circumstances of the discovery of
some coins in Norway (of which he has given full particu-
lars in the tract noticed in the Num. Chron.\ in removing
the short cross pennies from Henry III. to Henry II. : as,
however, his valuable tract cannot readily he procured in
this country, and consequently English Numismatists,
generally, have not the opportunity of judging for them-
selves by a perusal, I must be excused trespassing on the
attention of my readers, by giving a short account of this
discovery, and the reasons which induce me to believe that
the concealment of the treasure took place many years after
the date supposed by M. Holmboe.
The hoard contained
I. About 4500 Norwegian coins. Of these 40 were of
Suerus, who reigned from 1177 to 1202; the remainder
bracteates, which, as they are without legends, and marked
with very simple devices, single letters, crosses, &c., can
give no clue as to their date, although some of them are
202 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
thought, by M. Holmboe, to have been issued by the suc-
cessors of Suerus on the throne of Norway.
II. Swedish coins; 30 of Canute (1168 to 1197), and
40 others of uncertain date.
III. Danish coins; two of Sueno (1147 to 1157) ; three
of his colleague Canute-, one of Canute VI. (1182 to 1202) ;
one of uncertain date, and some fragments.
IV. A penny of William the Lion of Scotland.
V. One of Stephen, five of Henry II. (1154 to 1189),
and four of the short cross pennies, which I still believe to
have been the first coinage of Henry III. (1216 to 1272).
VI. German imperial and ecclesiastical coins. The
former consisted of one of Frederic I. (1152 to 1190) ; two
of Henry II. (1190 to 1194); one of Otho IV. (1209 to
1216) ; and 110 of the type, (PL XVIII. fig. 8), Lelewel,
which that author and Gotz agree in assigning to Frederic
II., who was crowned emperor in 1220 and died 1250.
The ecclesiastical coins are of Sifrid, archbishop of
Breme (1179 to 1184); of Philip, archbishop of Cologne,
(1167 to 1191); of one Hitolf, of Cologne (date of his
prelacy unknown, probably the same as Adolf, 1193 to
1205); a bracteate, assigned, by Lenckfield, to Ludolf,
bishop of Halberstadt (1236 to 1241) ; several of Magde-
burg, and one of Munster, without names of the prelates ;
one of Beatrix, abbess of Quedlinburg (1138 to 1161);
and two coins ascribed, by Mader, to Bernard III., bishop
of Paderborn (1202 to 1221).
VII. Two or three Dutch coins, supposed by Lelewel
to belong to Baldwin VIII. or IX. (1191 to 1206).
VIII. Coins of Henry (1139 to 1186) ; and of Bernard
(1180 to 1212), dukes of Saxony; of Otho, marquis of
Misnia (1157 to 1189): and of Louis IV. or V., Counts
of Thuringia (1149 to 1190).
PENNIES OF HENRY THE THIRD. 203
Besides the above, many coins of uncertain date, prin-
cipally German ecclesiastical, and a few of Scandinavian
origin. It appears then, that the latest accessions of the
different potentates whose coins occurred in this parcel, are
those of Henry III. of England, 1216; of Frederic III. of
Germany, 1220; and of Ludolf, bishop of Halberstadt,
1236. Consequently, the deposit must have been made
posterior to the last date. M. Holmboe, however, judging
from the absence of all coins of Waldemar, who ascended
the throne of Denmark in 1202, considered that the date
of their concealment could not have been much later than
that year, perhaps in 1204 ; and in order to reconcile this
with the occurrence in the parcel of a large quantity of the
money of Frederic II., and a few of Henry III., along with
the bracteate of Bishop Ludolf, was obliged to make out
new appropriations for them all. The pennies of Henry III.
he gives to Henry II. ; those of Frederic II. to the first
emperor of that name ; and the coin of Ludolf to an earlier
bishop of Magdeburg of the same name. I shall not
recapitulate the evidence I have adduced respecting the
first coinage of Henry III. My experience in continental
numismatics is not great, but I am convinced of the cor-
rectness of Lelewel's appropriation of the coins of Frederic,
and the bracteate of Ludolf differs so widely from those of
Magdeburg, that I am persuaded no archbishop of that
city has any right to claim it. But, besides all these, there
are among the unappropriated coins two, at least, which fix
the concealment of this hoard even later than 1236. The
first (Tab. IV. Fig. 170), presents the type of the bishop
of Liege, and as M. Holmboe admits that the letters
ROT ECP may be traced upon it, it must belong to Robert,
who presided over that see from 1240 to 1246. The other,
(Fig. 186), presents a reverse similar to a coin of the same
VOL. iv. o G
204 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
prelate, struck at Duisburg (Lelewel, PL XVIII. fig. 13),
so that, I doubt not, it is of nearly the same date. With
respect to the non-appearance of the money of Waldemar II.
in this treasure, it may be remarked, that Danish coins
were very rare, that the whole number found was only
seven, and that even amongst these there was not a single
piece of the first Waldemar, 1157 to 1182. M. Holmboe's
argument, that no coins occurred of Richard I. or of John,
kings of England, will not have much weight with the Nu-
mismatists of this country, since even here, from some
cause or other (probably a general re-coinage by their suc-
cessor, Henry III.), no specimen of their English money
has yet come to light.
Setting aside the bracteates of uncertain date, it is re-
markable that the bulk of this hoard consisted of coins of
Germany, and that the Emperor Frederic's currency was
represented by no less than 110 pieces, a considerably
larger number than that of any other individual.
To continental Numismatists, the work of M. Holmboe
must be very important, as it contains representations, very
neatly executed, of several interesting and inedited coins
of the middle ages. He has, however, made a little too
free with old appropriations to support a position somewhat
hastily taken.
There is nothing in his tract which can shake my ar-
rangement of the coins of Henry III. ; so that the short
cross money must be considered his earliest coinage, until
some more able Numismatist undertakes to refute the
arguments I have advanced, and to reconcile the clear and
positive evidence of Matthew Paris with their appropriation
to Henry II.
DANIEL HY. HAIGH.
205
XXII.
THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV.
SIR,
I HAVE just received your publication for April, in which I
observe, that the reviewer of Dr. Smith's excellent work
on the Irish Coins of Edward IV., at p. 49, disputes the
correctness of the three crowns on the Irish coinage of
Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII., being the
arms of Ireland.
We are entirely indebted to the researches and acute
observation of the Rev. Richard Butler, of Trim, for the
information, that the three crowns were the armorial bear-
ings of Ireland from the reign of Richard IL, to that of
Henry VIII. Being myself perfectly convinced that Mr.
Butler has proved this very interesting fact, I shall, as a
very small return for the obligation which I consider all
Numismatists owe Mr. Butler, trouble you with a few
observations in reply to your correspondent's doubts.
Mr. Butler has shewn, that Richard II. granted these
arms to Robert de Vere, "so long as he should be Lord of
Ireland" That at the funeral of Henry V. they were
borne on a separate shield, as were also those of France and
England. But the three crowns were borne on the fourth,
or last, car ; the situation in which, as the arms of Ireland,
we are entitled to expect them, Ireland being the last of
the king of England's titles. We are to remember, that
this was the funeral of a sovereign of the house of Lan-
caster. But the same armorial bearings are placed on the
Irish coins of two successive sovereigns of the house of
York (Edward IV. and Richard III.), and continued by
206 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
their Lancasterian successor, who had subverted their throne,
and treated all their acts as usurpations. And in the in-
denture of Richard III. for coining his Irish money, it is ex-
pressly covenanted, that "the arms of Ireland, upon a cross,
with this scripture, Dns Hibernie" are to be placed on
them ; to which your learned reviewer has added a further
confirmation, by the evidence of George Chalmers,* that
"a commission, appointed in the reign of Edward IV., to
ascertain the arms of Ireland, reported as their answer 5
the arms were three crowns in pale." By itself, this inform-
ation of Chalmers might not be absolutely conclusive;
but we find it now corroborated, and, I think, clearly estab-
lished, by the variety of proof which the Rev. Mr. Butler
has brought to light. If there were not any thing but the
indenture of Richard III., the fact is established, beyond
all doubt or contradiction, that there was a recognised
armorial bearing as the arms of Ireland ; and on the coin,
every way answering the description of the indenture, we
find on the side, with " Dns Hibernie" three crowns in
pale. And we further find this same bearing, which the
reviewer endeavours to characterise as a Yorkist badge,
placed equally on the coins of their Lancasterian successor,
Henry VII. It could not be a party badge which both
houses adopted on their Irish coins ; and you must further
remember, that this armorial bearing appears only on coins
on which the arms of England and France are also ; and
that you have invariably " Rex Ang. et Franc." surrounding
the shield, with the arms of these two kingdoms, while the
three crowns are as invariably surrounded with " et Dns
Hibernie" I cannot imagine any thing, to speak more
clearly and decisively, to Mr. Butler's conclusion. The
line of precise definitive distinction and separation, seems
as accurately adhered to as jealous heraldry could suggest.
THE IRISH COINS OF EDWARD IV. 207
The only ground (as I understand the reviewer's state-
ment) on which he sets aside all these facts and consequent
inferences is, that on a genealogical roll, deducing the
descent of Edward IV., there is a pictorial representation
of a stream of rays directed towards him, bearing three
crowns, at the same time that he himself is looking at the
three suns, which appeared previous to the battle at Mor-
timer's Cross. I should simply infer from this, that the
painter thought it necessary to enlighten his readers, by
giving them to understand, that these three suns really
meant the crowns of the three kingdoms of England,
France and Ireland. But this, in my opinion, no way
interferes with the three crowns being the separate and
peculiar recognised armorial bearings of Ireland. In the
traditional portraits of Edward III., we see him repre-
sented as bearing three crowns on his sword (literally in
pale), indicating, we may presume, his claiming to be king,
or sovereign lord, of England, France, and Ireland. And
Richard II. may have been led by an attachment to his
grandfather's cognizance, to transfer it to Ireland as her
peculiar and armorial bearing and distinction. And thus,
I apprehend, it continued until the Pope, presenting Henry
VIII. with the harp of Brian Borhu, induced that sovereign
to change the arms of Ireland, by placing on her coins a
representation of the relic of her most celebrated native
king.
R. S.
Cork, April 29th, 1841.
208 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
XXIII.
IRISH BASE GROATS.
SIR,
DURING the latter part of the month of August, 1841,
some men at work on the property of Lord Cremorne,
and Godfrey Baker, Esq., in the parish of Colligan, about
three miles from the town of Dungarvan, in the county
Waterford, turned up a woollen cloth, containing a large
quantity (some hundreds) of coins. A regular scramble
immediately took place by all present ; and the coins have
been since dispersed in various quarters. Mr. Baker has
obtained about one hundred and twenty; and I have
closely inspected, exclusive of those, considerably more
than that number. They are chiefly Irish base groats of
Elizabeth, and Irish base groats of Philip and Mary, with
some few English base groats of Henry VIIL, of the
London Mint (full face), and the Irish base sixpence of
Henry VIIL (Simon, Plate V. No. 113). I have also
seen a few English shillings of Elizabeth, an English
shilling and sixpence of Philip and Mary, and two English
groats of Mary (the latter two now in my collection), all of
good silver, which were also found with them. The base
groats of Philip and Mary were by far the most numerous.
I have procured for my own collection (exclusive of those
of Henry VIIL), the following list, being all the different
varieties I met with, and which are curious, shewing the
number of dies which must have been used during the
short reign of Philip and Mary.
IRISH BASE GROATS. 209
BASE GROATS OF PHILIP AND MARY (Simon, Plate V., No. 113).
DATE.
1555. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGINA ANG*.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Port-
cullis, Mint-mark.
(2 Varieties from different Dies).
1555. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGINA ANG'.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Cin-
quefoil, Mint-mark.
1556. Obv- PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGINA ANG\
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Rose,
Mint-mark.
1556. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGl' ANG*.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Port-
cullis, Mint-mark.
1556. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGINA AN.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Chl-
quefoil, Mint-mark.
1556. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA DEI G. REX ET REGINA AN.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Rose,
Mint-mark.
1556. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA DEI + G*. REX ET REGINA AN.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Port-
cullis, Mint-mark.
1557. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGINA A.
Rose, Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Rose,
Mint-mark.
1557. Obv. PHILIP ET MARIA D. G. REX ET REGINA A.
Rose, Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM aditorem NOSTRVM. Rose, Mint-
mark.
210 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
1557. Obv. PHILIP Z MARIA D. G. REX Z REGINA. Rose,
Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTO. NOSTRVM. Rose, Mint-
mark.
1557. Obv. PHILIP Z MARIA D. G. REX Z REGINA A. No
Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTO. NOSTRV. Rose, Mint-
mark.
1557. Obv. PHILIP Z MARIA D. G. REX Z REGINA ANG.
No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTO. NOSTRV. Rose, Mint-
mark.
1557. PHILIP z MARIA D. G. REX z REGINA. No Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTO. NOSTR. Rose, Mint-
Mark.
1557. Obv. PHILIP Z MARIA D. G. REX Z REGINA. No
Mint-mark.
Rev. Posvimvs DEVM ADVITO. NOSTR. Rose, Mint-
mark.
1557. Obv. PHILIP Z MARIA D. G. REX Z REGINA. No
Mint-mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOST. Rose,
Mint-mark.
1557. PHILIP z MARIA D. G. REX z REGINA. No Mint-
mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM Nos. Rose, Mint-
mark.
1558. PHILIP z MARIA D. G. REX z REGINA. No Mint-
mark.
Rev. POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM. Rose,
Mint-mark.
BASE GROATS OF ELIZABETH (Simon, Plate VI. No. 117).
Legend, on Obv. ELIZABETH D. G'. ANG'. FRA'. z HIB'. RE'.
All, with Rose, ;
' I REGI .
Mint-mark, <
,-, 1 REGIN .
on Obv.
^ REGINA.
Legend of all, on Rev. POSVI DEVM ADIVTOREM MEUM.
All, with Rose, Mint-mark, on Rev.
SftllBALS IF TM&M AS* ABRAHAM SUM IN-
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 211
The coins were in various degrees of condition. Some
are in very fine preservation, and some appear of much
baser metal than others. Those of Philip and Mary, of
the year 1557, are more rudely and coarsely engraved
than those of the two preceding years.
I remain, Sir,
Yours very faithfully,
EDWARD HOARE.
Grand Parade, Cork, November 15, 1841.
To the Editor of the Numismatic Chronicle.
I have not been able to discover a single Irish base coin
of Mary, previous to her marriage, among this hoard.
XXIV.
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON.
IN contemplating a memoir of Thomas Simon, one is
startled and deterred at the very outset by the meagre
nature of the materials whereon to build up even the bare
VOL. IV. H H
212 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
outline of his life. That such an inimitable artist as
Simon, whose merits were not wholly unappreciated by
his contemporaries ; who has been mentioned in terms of
commendation in the private diaries of such men as Evelyn
and Pepys ; and whose great talents have, since their time,
been more fully and conspicuously acknowledged, should
for more than a century have found no biographer, and
whose history is still shrouded in much obscurity and
uncertainty, is one of those problems which it is equally
difficult and unprofitable to solve. Vertue, in his work,
entitled, " The Coins, Medals, and Great Seals of Thomas
Simon," has done something towards rendering Simon's
name and merits known ; but though his book displays
both zeal and research, it appears to have been got up
in haste; and while it is very defective (perhaps unavoid-
ably so), as regards Simon's personal history, it is extremely
incorrect in reference to many of the works ascribed to
him, there being no authority beyond conjecture for many
of the medals and coins published as his work.
Gough's edition of Vertue's book, published in 1780,
contains some interesting additions connected with Simon's
life and works, as well as plates of some seals and medals
which had escaped the researches of Vertue, and had been
unnoticed by any other writer.
We do not assume, in this brief communication, to offer
any thing like a memoir of Thomas Simon; but some
interesting facts, unknown to both Vertue and Gough,
having come under our notice, we design to commit them
to the press, in the hope that they may assist in affording
materials for some future biographer, when time and anti-
quarian industry may have combined to bring to light
matter for forming a more complete and satisfactory
memoir of this incomparable artist.
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 213
The place of Simon's nativity has always been a
matter of doubt and uncertainty. His parentage, birth,
and the condition in life of his ancestors, are wholly
unknown, and probably may for ever remain so. All
accounts agree (though we cannot discover that is rests on
much better authority than conjecture or tradition), that
he was born in Yorkshire. Vertue, Martin Folkes, and
Pinkerton, all mention this ; but in what part, or what
town, is stated by neither ; and it is very probable that the
latter only followed the conjectures of the first. It is also
supposed that he was noticed by Nicolas Briot, when the
latter was passing through Yorkshire 1 in 1633; and that
consequently about that period he came to London, and
possibly may have been employed in a subordinate capacity
at the mint. However that may be, Simon's natural
talents would not long remain unknown ; and, accordingly,
we find that in 1636, he was employed to engrave the
Great Seal for the Admiralty, the first of his works which
is clearly authenticated. Vertue says, that this, and
" others of his accurate performances," recommended him
afterwards to the Commonwealth, though what those per-
formances were (during the nine years that elapsed), we
have no record of. 2 It was not until 1645 that Simon
1 During the reign of Charles I., there was a regularly esta-
blished mint at York, and it is not improbable that Simon may have
been employed there. Briot (then chief engraver of England),
passing to Scotland for professional purposes, would naturally
visit the York Mint, since it lay in his road ; and perceiving young
Simon's merits, would propose his accompanying him to London,
as affording a wider field for his talents. There is plausible
ground for this supposition. The coins issued from this north
country Mint offer some of the best specimens of the period, and
successfully rival those of the metropolis.
2 Mr. Hawkins, of the British Museum, who has for some years
taken great interest in the medals of Charles I., and whose expe-
214 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
received his first appointment under the Parliament, to be
"Joint chief Graver" with Edward Wade. As Vertue
appears to have been ignorant of this appointment, and
the patent has never been noticed by any other writer, we
give it here verbatim, and entire.
" Whereas the Lords and Commons in this present
" Parliament assembled by their Ordinance made the One
" and Twentieth day of September Anno Dm 1643 for the
" seizing upon and receiving for the good of His Ma tie and
" the Commonwealth all his Ma ties the Queenes, Princes
" Revenues of what kind or nature soever within the Realm
" of England, Dominion of Wales, and Port and Town of
" Berwick did (among other things) ordain that the Com-
" mittee for His Ma ties Revenues, or any five or more of
" them, shall appoint meet fit and trusty persons to supply
" and execute all Offices and Places of his Ma ties the
" Queenes and Princes said Revenues. By virtue of the
" said Ordinance of both the Houses of Parliament, we the
" Committee for His Ma ties Revenues, have and by these
" presents do nominate and appoint Edward Wade and
" Thomas Simon of London Goldsmiths (! /) to be joint
" Chief Gravers of all the Stamps of the Monies of His
" Ma tie his Heirs and Successors within the Tower of
" London. As also jointly to have the privilege power
" and authority to make cut and engrave all Signets,
Ensigns, Seals, Scutcheons, Stamps and Arms, in the
" which the Ensigns or Arms Royal of His Ma tie His
" Heirs or Successors, shall be at any time made cut or
rience may therefore be deemed almost equivalent to authority,
considers some of the many medals and badges of that monarch
to be the work of Simon.
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 215
" engraven, in the place of Edward Green 3 deceased. And
" to have the yearly fee of Thirty Pounds to be paid and
" equally to be divided between the said Edward Wade
" and Thomas Simon by the Warden of His Ma" 65 Mint for
" the time being, out of the Profit of the Coinage of the
" Monies of his Ma tie his Heirs and Successors by equal
" portions, at Midsummer, Michas, Christmas, and Our
" Lady Day, together with all and every the privileges
" profits commodities emoluments diets houses and advan-
" tages thereunto belonging, jointly to them and both of
" them, in as full and ample a manner as he the said
" Edward Green deceased, or any other or any others
" heretofore having exercising or enjoying the said Office
" lawfully had or received for the exercising occupying and
" executing the said Office, or of right ought to have had
" or received for the exercising occupying and executing of
" the same. To have hold and enjoy the said Offices
" Privileges Profits and all other the pmises as aforesaid to
" them the said Edward Wade and Thomas Simon jointly
" and together during the pleasure of both Houses of Par-
" liament. Dated at the Committee for his Ma Ues Reve-
" nues sitting at Westminster the fourth day of April in the
" One and Twentieth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign
" Lord King Charles. Anno Dili 1645.
" H: VANE
THO: HOYLE
" DENIS BOND
" W: ASHURST
" COR: HOLLAND"
3 " Green, a seal-cutter, is only mentioned in a letter to the
Lord Treasurer from Lord Strafford, who says he had paid him
.100 for the Seals of Ireland, but which were cutt in England."
Walpole's Anecdotes, fyc. Vol. iii. page 263.
216 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
By this patent, we see that the Parliament still recog-
nised the authority of the king, it being dated in the "'One
and twentieth year of our Sovereign Lord King Charles ;"
yet in the following year, when the city of Oxford submitted
to the arms of their victorious general, they threw off the
mask, and having publicly broken the King's State Seals,
they proceeded soon after to constitute a new Great Seal
under their own authority. Then it was that Simon
executed successively his first " Great Seal of the Common-
wealth," the " Seal of the Parliament," and those of the
" County Palatine of Lancaster," and " Court of Common
Bench." But in 1651, when an act was passed for making
a " new Great Seal," Simon produced that extraordinary
and surprising work, which Vertue and Folkes have so
justly praised as a most wonderful specimen of labour and
skill, and of which the former has given an accurately
engraved representation. 4
In the " Audit Office Enrolments" MSS., Vol. v. p. 56,
we find the following entry :
" Die Mercurii 25 April 1649.
" Resolved upon the question by the Comons assembled
" in Parliament that Thomas Symon bee appointed to bee
" sole cheife Engraver to the Mints and Seales.
" HEN: SCOBELL
" Cler: Parliam 1 "
This was only a few months before the arrival of Blon-
deau in England, who came hither " to coin money after his
new invention"
4 See Vertue's " Works of Simon," plates vi. and vii., for the
obverse and reverse of this seal.
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 217
We have also another notice of Simon in the same
volume of Audit Enrolments, where, in " The Indenture
of the Mint, bearing date the 27th day of July, 1649," we
find the following :
" Ffees and dietts of the Officers and Ministers of the
Mint to be borne by the Keepers of the Libertie of Eng-
land and to be paid by the Warden :"
The Warden ..... JOHN ST. JOHNS.
The Comptroller . . . . HENRY COGAN.
rp. . ( ANDREW PALMER AND
Iwo Assay-masters ...-*, T I7
J I THOMAS WOODWARD.
Clerke of the Irons and Surveyor of the < RlCHARD PlGHT .
Melting House J
The Graver of the Irons . . . THOMAS SYMON.
The Under Assaier .... JOHN REYNOLDS.
The Under Graver .... JOHN EAST.
The Sinker of Irons .... DANIELL BRATTLE.
The Smith of the Mint . . . HODGSKINS.
The Porter ..... JOHN DENBIGH.
Subsequently we find
" To the Graver of the Irons for the time being,
for his fee by the Yeare .... xxx 1 '."
From this period until Cromwell became Protector, we
believe the works of Simon were chiefly confined to medals,
many of which are of great beauty and elegant workman-
ship, particularly the medals of merit granted by the Par-
liament to naval officers, and more especially that given to
Admiral Blake, which, for propriety of design, and minute
and graceful workmanship, was the wonder of the period,
and has probably never been surpassed. Several of his
medals of Cromwell, particularly that on the victory at
Dunbar, are proofs of his surpassing skill, nor is it any
wonder if he obtained the favour and the patronage of
Oliver, for the eyes of that usurper were not blind to
218 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
talent, and he well knew (as Napoleon has done after him)
that to connect his name and actions with the productions
of art and science, would, in the eyes of posterity, in some
measure ameliorate the odium of his usurpation.
Although Vertue has engraved the ordinary coins of the
Commonwealth among the works of Simon, yet not the
least doubt exists among modern Numismatists that they
were never executed by him. To advance a contrary
opinion were to attempt to sully the artistical reputation
of Simon. Their poverty of design, and carelessness in
the finish, render them immeasurably inferior to the coins
of the Protector ; whereas the latter have always been con-
sidered as the most truthful, graceful, and highly-finished
specimens of modern medallic art. Indeed they have never
been surpassed by any productions of the English Mint ;
perhaps, we might say, they have never been equalled.
But, in making these observations, we must except those
" milled " specimens of the Commonwealth Coinage which
pass under the denomination of Blondeau's. Although
they bear on the edge, " PETRUS BLOND^EUS INVENTOR
FECIT." it is ascertained that, however true it be that
Blondeau was the " inventor " of the mode of coining by
the mill and screw, as well as giving to the money an
inscribed edge, the "fecit" must be regarded as a medallic
fib. The work is in every respect so like Simon's, the
same hand so easily traceable throughout, that the most
experienced and practical Numismatists entertain no ques-
tion as to the dies having been engraved by Simon, though
probably under the direction and superintendence of
Blondeau. 5
5 Mr. Cuff has assured us that after a careful and minute com-
parison of the coins of the Protector with those called Blondeau's,
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 219
When Cromwell had defeated the Scots at Dunbar on
the 3rd September, 1650, the Parliament directed Simon
to prepare a medal to celebrate that event. On the obverse
of this well-known medal is the portrait of the Lord-
General, and on the reverse the House of Commons in full
conclave. This is probably the earliest medallic portrait
we possess of Cromwell, as it certainly is the most striking
and characteristic. The Parliament had begun already to
be jealous of the growing power of the Lord- General ; and
while they paid this compliment to his bravery and military
skill, they intended, by placing on one side of the medal a
representation of their own assembly, that it should be
shown to the country that they alone were the constituted
authority, and Cromwell but their subordinate. Simon,
having prepared his design, was despatched to Edinburgh
to obtain Cromwell's approval of it, and in a letter 6
addressed by the latter to the Parliamentary " Committee
for the army," dated the 4th February following, he affects
a modest reluctance to his " effigies" being placed on the
medal, but expresses his entire approbation of it in every
other respect. He further recommends the Parliament to
confer on Simon " that employment in your service which
Nicholas Briot had before him," which he will consider as
a favour and an obligation paid to himself. No other
testimony of the esteem in which Cromwell held Simon's
talents need be advanced.
On the 9th July, 1656, Simon received, by order of the
Protector, his appointment as " Sole chief Engraver and
he has come to the conclusion that they are the work of one man.
Such a decided opinion from a gentleman whose numismatic repu-
tation stands so high, carries conviction to our mind.
6 See " Harris's Life of Oliver Cromwell, 1772 ;" also Gough's
edition of " Vertue's Works of Simon," Appendix, p. 74.
VOL. IV. I I
220 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Medall-maker," and in the patent it is set forth that he " is
to have the like fees, rewards, allowance, and profits, as
Thomas Anthony, Charles Anthony, or Derricke Anthony
deceased, John Gilbert, Edward Green, or any of them or
any other engravers or cutters belonging to any King or
Queen of England hath had or received for the exercise of
that office." He is also further appointed " to be our Medall-
maker of the Medalls of or belonging to us and our suc-
cessors, to have and exercise the sole makeing of all Medalls
for us and our successors during the natural life of him the
said Thomas Simon." Immediately on this appointment,
Simon began to prepare the dies for those coins of the
Protector, on the beauty of which it is quite unnecessary
in this place to expatiate. They are not uncommon, though
somewhat scarce, and from never having been current, are
usually to be met with as fine as when minted. Almost
every cabinet contains specimens of them, and they are
justly regarded by the collector as conferring a character
and an ornament on his collection. The Silver Coins all
bear the date of 1658, but there is a half-crown of 1656. 7
Ruding states that both half-crowns are from the same die,
the 6 in the earlier one having been been converted into
an 8. But he is certainly in error ; for had he compared
the two, he would have found that, besides numerous
minute differences, the inscription on the former has " Hi-
bernia" abbreviated into " HI," while in the latter it reads
" HIB." They are obviously from different dies. 8
Among the medallic treasures reposing in the cabinets
7 Snelling mentions shillings of this date, but none are known
to exist.
8 The writer has in his own cabinet an unusually fine half-crown
of 1656, as well as that of 1658, and therefore his assertion is the
result of actual comparison.
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 221
of Mr. W. D. Haggard (whose collection of medals has the
reputation of being of the most recherche and tasteful
character), are the two chasings representing the portraits
of the brothers Thomas and Abraham Simon, and supposed
to be the work of the latter, " a virtuoso fantastical, who
had the talent of embossing so to the life," as Evelyn
quaintly says of him. Their exquisite finish and delicate
workmanship might countenance the belief that they are
the work of one of the Simons; but Mr. Haggard does
not incline to this opinion, though it is clear that they could
have been wrought by no common artist. If not done by
one of the Simons, by whom are they done ? The en-
gravings in Vertue's book represent them but imperfectly;
and it is our belief that he never saw the originals. In fact,
he acknowledges that one of his engravings was made from
a model in wax, in the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, and
they appear by no means equal, in expression and effect, to
these charming chasings. 9 It was for some time doubtful
whether such originals (which we are tempted to consider
these to be) were in existence ; at all events, their place of
deposit was unknown until they fell into the hands of Mr.
Haggard. That gentleman purchased them, with several
other fine chasings, of a silversmith, but could obtain no
satisfactory account of them. 10 It will be gratifying to the
Numismatist to learn that they are now in the hands of one
who knows how to appreciate the treasure he possesses;
9 In the portrait of Abraham, there is admirably depicted that
wild vacancy of eye and solemnity of aspect, so entirely corre-
sponding with the accounts we have of his eccentricity of cha-
racter.
10 Since writing the above, Mr. Haggard has traced their
existence, in the possession of one family, for about a century
back.
222 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
and this brief notice of them may serve, in some degree,
to prevent their being again lost sight of.
When the death of Oliver opened a path to the restora-
tion of the rightful sovereign, Simon, being in office at the
Mint, was of course immediately employed in preparing
the necessary Great Seals; those of the Protector being
destroyed without delay, and the money of the Common-
wealth declared to be no longer current. A fresh patent
was soon after granted him, as one of his Majesty's chief
gravers, " to succeed Nicolas Briott defunct" with the
allowance of 50Z. a year. This patent is dated June 2nd,
1661, and is in contracted and ungrammatical Latin, other-
wise we would transcribe it from the official copy which
exists in MS. From this period to the time of his death,
in 1665 or 66, Simon seems to have had abundant employ-
ment, as the numerous medals and seals executed by him,
and identified by their dates, fully testify. Indeed, so
much was Simon occupied, that complaint was made of his
want of despatch in preparing the dies for the new coins,
and so frequently was he applied to to hasten the work,
that at length it was proposed, obviously and solely for the
sake of despatch, to take the Roettiers (a family already
eminent as medallists) into the Mint. The king had
known them, when a fugitive on the continent ; and, it is
said, was in some way under obligations to them. However
that may be, he was aware of their merit as artists, and
this was probably the chief reason for selecting them. At
the time of the Restoration, there was no artist in the
Mint, except Simon, of any eminence ; for even East, the
pupil and assistant of Simon, appears to have been an
engraver of very inferior powers. Simon was evidently
jealous of the appointment of the Roettiers, from the cir-
cumstance of their being foreigners ; and more particularly,
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 223
when a part of the work was given to them, which he, by
prescriptive right, and in virtue of his office in the Mint,
might have regarded as justly his. 11 This was doubtless
the source of the grievance alluded to in the Petition (or
Competition) Crown; and though we are disposed to make
every allowance for the feelings and prejudices of Simon,
we cannot discover that he was very harshly used, or that
any attempt was made to dispossess him of his office. The
reasons advanced by Mr. Alchorne (the assay-master of the
Mint) in his letter to Mr. Taylor Combe, appear to us so
conclusive, that, although it has been already printed, we
cannot forbear transcribing a portion of it :
" Thomas Simon was chief Graver of the Mint for Seals
and Medals ; but when he delivered up his Coining tools,
we must suppose that branch of emolument was taken from
him. This was probably the grievance alluded to on his
famous Crown piece ; for certainly he was still employed to
grave Seals, most likely continued in office, and actually
resident in the Mint, as he would scarcely have dared to
grave the dye for the Crown above-mentioned in any other
place : and as it appears by the Mint Journals that Messrs.
Rotiers were set to work in the house of another officer, by
agreement, which would not have been the case if the
graver's apartments had been vacant. Simon, by his own
account, was also employed some months at the beginning
11 That a spirit of rivalry had existed between Simon and the
elder Roettier, may be gathered from the following passage,
quoted in Folkes' Table of English Coins, 1745."
" The Officers of the Mint did certifie that they had proposed
unto Thomas Simon and John Roettier, gravers of the Mint, to
accept of certain pramia, therein specified, for furnishing the
Mint with stamps for coining in the new way, but that by reason
of a contest in art betwixt them, they had found it difficult to bring
them to any agreement."
2*24 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
of the year 1665, in altering stamps for the said monies.
But after this we can trace no more of him ; so that,
as hath been conjectured, he probably died about that
period."
This statement appears so obviously to represent the
matter in its proper light, and comes from so respectable a
quarter, that we think little more need be urged in refuta-
tion of the Roettiers having superseded Simon. The
Petition Crown is the sole basis upon which so much error
has been built ; and however that splendid work of art may
countenance the supposed neglect of the artist, we can
scarcely lament it, in consideration of the effect produced.
Let the case be as it may, there is evidence sufficient to
prove that Simon never quitted the Mint, and was never
scant of employment; and the bill of claims due at his
death, shews, that if he had no other claim on the crown
during the five years of his serving it, he had no bad share
of work.
It would appear, that in the summer of 1665, Simon
prepared a detailed accompt of his claims for work done in
the Mint. This accompt is printed in the Appendix to
Gough's Edition of Vertue's Book ; and it appears really
surprising, that Simon should have had any fancied cause
of complaint, when we see the great number of coins,
medals, signets, and seals specified as done by him in the
short space of five years, and the cost of which amounted
to several thousand pounds. After this we lose sight of
him ; and the popular tradition has always been, that he
was carried off by the plague, which at this period devastated
London. Under such circumstances, the registering of
deaths or burials would be little attended to ; and this may
account for Vertue's want of success in the parochial
researches, which he states he made in and about London,
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 225
for some notice of Simon's death or interment. The best
authorities are therefore now agreed that the plague was
the cause, and the period of the plague the time, of Simon's
decease ; but one writer, of less credit, and more temerity,
has asserted, without, however, offering any reasons, that
Simon was living many years subsequently to the supposed
date of his death at Kippax, in Yorkshire. Almost simul-
taneously with this assertion, a document came into our
hands, which affords conclusive and undeniable evidence
that Simon did really " quit this mortal scene" about 1665,
or early in 1666. It appears in the shape of a petition 12
from his widow, Elizabeth Simon, to the king, praying for
the payment of certain sums due to her late husband.
This document, as well as the correspondence connected
with it, is so interesting, that we shall transcribe it entire,
and then we shall find in what way it furnishes evidence
as to the period of Simon's death.
" To the King's most excellent Ma Ue
" The humble Peticon of Elizabeth the Relict of Thomas
" Symon dec d , late one of yo r Ma 45 chiefe Gravers :
Sheweth
" That there being at y e time of the death of yo r Pet re
" said late husband a greate sum of money oweing to him
" for severall services by him pformed for yo r Ma tie relateing
" to yo r Kingdomes of England Scotland and Ireland, and
" yo r fforraigne Plantacions yo r Pet r heretofore together
" with her humble Peticon did present to your Ma tie an
" Accompt of the Particulars of those services and of the
12 Read before the Numismatic Society ou the 18th February
last.
226 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
" rates humbly prayed for them whereby it appears there
" was then due unto yo r Pet r the sum of 2243 li: according
" to the said Accompt annexed which said Peticon yo r
" Ma tie was graciously pleased to referr to the then Lord
" Threr and Chancellor of yo r Ma te Exchequer or either of
" them to cause the said Accompts to bee examined and
" stated and to take course for the Peticon satisfacon or
to Report y e matter to yo r Ma Ue .
" That in psuance thereof the Lord Ashley Chancellor
" of yo r Ma te Excheq r having duely examined the said
" Accompts as well to the pticulars as to the prizes did
make his Report to yo r Ma tie But by reason of the
" Death of the said Lord Threar yo r poore Peti r hath not
" rec d any benefitt thereby to this day
" Wherefore your Peticon' most humbly prayeth yo r
" Ma tie would be graciously pleased to give order for the
" speedy paym* of the said money unto yo r Petic r not onely
" for her necessary reliefe and maintenance of herselfe and
" poore fatherles children but alsoe for the discharge of
" divers greate debts to which shee is lyable by reason of
" the said services.
" And yo r Pet r shall ever pray &c."
Whitehall, June 14th 1669.
" His Ma 11 ' being willing that the Peticoner should bee
" satisfyed what is justly due to her, is graciously pleased to
" referr this Peticon together with the Peticon 18 Accompts
" unto the R* Honble the Lords Com of the Threary to
" consider the same and to make Report to his Ma tie what
" they thinke fitt to bee done therein and then his Ma tie
" will declare his further pleasure
"J. TREVOR."
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 227
" Mr. Auditor Beale and Mr. Sherwin
** The Lords Com of the Threary desire you to consider
" y e case of Mrs Symone and to make a State : thereof to
" their Lordpps and Report yo r opinion what you thinke
" fitt to be done therein. I am
" Yo r very affect 6 humble Servant
" Threary Chambers " G. DOWNING:"
" 20th July 1669."
To the R* Honble the Lords Com" of his Ma te Threary :
" May it please yo r Lordpps :
" In obedience to yo r comands signifyed by Sir George
" Downing upon this Peticon of Elizabeth the Relict of
" Thomas Symon late one of his Ma te chiefe Gravers wee
" have examined the Accompt therewithall transmitted to
" us, conteyneing her demands for Scales Meddalls and
" other services done and pformed by her said late husband
" for his Ma tie together with the State : thereof prepared
" and Reported by the right Honble the Lord Ashley upon
" a Reference from his Ma tte to the late Lord Threar and
" his Lordpp or either of them and doe not finde cause to
" offer any thing to yo r Lordpps concerning the allowance
" or disallowance of any the pticulars therein further or
" otherwise than is already certifyed by the said Lord
" Ashley ; But for yo r Lordpps more ready view and infor-
" macon wee have hereunto annexed a Briefe State : of the
" said Accompt and Report concerneing the present Scale
" of His Ma te Court of Excheq r for the makeing whereof
" his Lord pp certifies that there was no warr* there is now
" pduced unto us his Ma te warrant for makeing of the same.
" All which wee humbly submitt to yo r Lordpps
consideracon
VOL. IV. K K
228 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
A Briefe State : of the Acco* of Thomas Symon, Dec d , late
one of his Ma ts cheife Gravers, according to the severall
heads as they are distinguished in the Report of the
R' Hon ble the Lord Ashley, Chancellor and Underthrer
of his Majesties Excheq r : viz*
The pticulars in the said Acco* which his LoPP
conceives reasonable to be allowed and paid for
injlngland, Li. 2564 10
The pticulars for the Seales and Coynes for Scot-
land which his LoPP doth not disallow; but
offers may bee paid for there, . . 376 00
A Small Seale for y e Councell in Ireland and one
for y e presidential! Court of Munst r and ano-
ther for y e presidentiall Court of Connaugh for
the makeing whereof there is warr 1 but noe
Certificate of the Delivery ; therefore his LoPP
doth not admitt unles his Ma tie be otherwise
satisfyed concerneing them, : . . , ..-., . 9 00
Severall Seales &c a for my Lord Arlington and
Secretary Nicolas which his LordPP Submitts
to his Ma tie whether the said L d Arlington
and Secretary Nicolas should not pay for them, 59 00
A Gold Medall for an Italian Musicon 13 for
which there is neither warr* nor rec* therefore
submitted as aforesaid 14 , . . , 10 10
Particulars comprehending a Journey into ffrance,
Expsnces in extraordinary attendance at Court
for direcons ; And for Assistant Workemen
in the Mint, which whether they were neces-
sary for his Ma ts service or not rather for the
Accomptant's accomodacon his LordPP sub-
mitteth to his Ma tie , amounting to . 145 00
Li. 3164 00
13 This, very probably, was Giovanni Baptista Draghi, an Italian
musician, who was patronised by, and in the service of, Queen
Catherine ; and who composed Italian music for the opera. He
was the favourite court musician during the reigns of Charles II.
and James II., and is supposed to have been musical preceptor to
Queen Anne. For some notice of him, see " Pepys' Diary;"
also the " Dictionary of Musicians," 1824.
14 In Simon's Accompt (see Gough's Edition of Vertue), there
is a charge of 38, for a medal for an Italian musician.
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. ' 229
Brought forward, Li. 3 164 00
Whereof to bee deducted
For somme acknowledged to bee received by the
said Thomas Svmon, 1000 00
Rests Li. 2 164 00
Now it will be observed, that Mrs. Simon's petition,
which bears no date, happens to refer to an event which
tends to fix, beyond contradiction, the date of Simon's
death previous to 1667 ; and, by the clearest inference,
we shall arrive at the fact that it was much earlier than
that year. The petitioner states that a former petition had
been addressed to his majesty's government, but that owing
to the death of the then lord treasurer it had been neglected
and forgotten, and nothing done, to use the petitioner's
own words, "to this day." This "Lord Treasurer" was
Thomas Wriothesley, fourth Earl of Southampton, who
died on the 16th May, 1667. We may conclude, from
this nobleman's proverbial indolence in the discharge of
his office (which is even noticed by Pepys in his Diary),
and from the length of his illness, that Mrs. Simon's peti-
tion had been delivered in, at least, a year previous to his
dissolution. This would fix the date of the first petition
at about the Spring of 1666; and if we allow six months to
have elapsed (which we may reasonably do) between that
period and the death of Simon, it will place our artist's
decease in the Autumn of 1665. But even if it were urged
that we have allowed too much latitude in this calculation,
which we think we have not, still the most prejudiced
caviller could not possibly fix the date later than 1666.
The alarm occasioned by the pestilence, the terror of the
public, and the flight of the nobility, would combine to
suspend and impede public business ; and few other argu-
ments need be urged, that much delay was experienced
230 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
by the widow in getting her claims on the government
discharged. We, therefore, think that we have satisfactorily
shewn, on circumstantial evidence, that the actual date of
Simon's death agrees with the preconceived and tradi-
tionary rumour.
We learn, on the authority of Gough, that Simon's family
consisted of three sons and two daughters. Of the destiny
of the sons nothing is known, and one of the daughters
died young; but the other daughter was married, and some
of her descendants, in Gough's time (1780), were living at
Fairford, in Gloucestershire. It is known that Simon left
considerable property, besides his unpaid claims on the
government, although his widow, in her petition, pleads
poverty and the necessities of her " fatherless children,"
most probably, with the hope of thereby more speedily
furthering the objects of her prayer.
Of Thomas Simon, as an English artist, his countrymen
may be justly proud. No medallic works of modern times
surpass his, and probably do not approach them in ex-
cellence. The Petition Crown may be considered his chef
(Foeuvre, the beauty of design and elaborate finish being
the least of its excellencies. It is in the portrait of the
king its dignified expression, yet striking resemblance;
in the natural manner in which the flesh is treated, and
the character that is communicated to the very hair that
its remarkable merits lie. There is also a small medal,
probably one of Simon's latest productions, being dated
1665, which deserves notice. It represents the king in a
Marine Car, and bears the legend " Et Pontus Serviet."
This is one of the smallest medals he ever executed, yet
nothing can surpass the exactness and character expressed
in the diminutive portrait of his majesty on the reverse ;
and those who possess a specimen of this medal, which is
NOTICES OF THOMAS SIMON. 231
very rare, justly value it among the gems of their cabinet.
We could expatiate at considerable length on many other
works of Simon (for we kindle with the theme), but our
space is limited. We will, therefore, conclude the subject
with a brief notice of the annexed engraving, which is from
an hitherto unpublished seal of Simon's workmanship, done
for the office of the Privy Council. The original, which is
in silver, belongs to Mr. W. Upcott, 15 of Islington, into
whose possession it came from a descendant of the " learned
John Evelyn," who had it from Mr. Secretary Nicholas.
The design is, a full-blown Rose supported by a Lion and
a Dragon, surmounted by a Royal Crown between the
letters C. R. Below is the inscription S. PRI. CON. From
the absence of the numerals, we conceive it to have been
done after the Restoration ; and if it be of Charles I., it
must be considered one of the earliest productions of
Simon's graver. From the seal being in silver, and very
deeply cuff, it is obvious it could have been intended only
for wax impressions. There is in the British Museum
a warrant, or order in council, 16 which has a stamped im-
pression on paper from a similar seal, differing only in some
very minute particulars, but which would, of course, be of
steel. That document is dated 25th May, 1637, and we,
therefore, have reason to suppose that this silver seal was
made at a not later period than that, and perhaps much
earlier. The design is very beautiful, and though the detail
is boldly and skilfully executed, yet it does not evince, on
the whole, that elaborate and careful finish which is the
striking feature of most of his later works.
15 It is by favour of this gentleman that we are permitted to
give the present engraving.
Vide Addl. MSS. No. 5750, p. 142.
232 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
It only remains for us to add, that Simon's Appointment
in 1645, and the Petition of his widow, were discovered
among the MS. records of the Audit Office by Mr. Peter
Cunningham, a gentleman whose research and antiquarian
industry has rescued from oblivion many papers of histo-
rical and literary interest, and of whose merits we have
great pleasure in making this just acknowledgment.
B.N.
XXV.
REMARKABLE GOLD COIN OF OFFA.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, Nov. 25th, 1841.]
THE Numismatic Society will, I doubt not, think worthy of
its attention the following description of a gold coin, one
of the rarest and most remarkable that has ever passed
through my hands. It was procured by the late Duke de
Blacas, during a sojourn at Rome, and, though a little
bent, is in very perfect preservation. On one side of this
singular piece we find the Arabic inscription, "In the name
of God was coined this dinar in the year one hundred and fifty
seven." In the centre is, " Mahommed is the Apostle of
God" in three lines, between which are the words, OFFA
REX.
The reverse bears, " Mahomet is the Apostle of God, who
REMARKABLE GOLD COIN OF OFFA. 233
sent Mm with the doctrine and true faith to prevail over every
religion" In the centre, " There is no other God but the one
God: he has no equal"
However strange this piece may appear, it is yet sus-
ceptible of explanation. The faults of orthography to be
traced in the legend, which is reversed in its position with
the words OFFA REX, shows that it is a copy of a Mus-
sulman dinar., by a workman unacquainted with the Arabic
language, and indeed ignorant of the fact of these characters
belonging to any language whatever. Examples of a similar
description of coin were put in circulation by the French
bishops of Agde and Montpelier, in the 13th century. In
the present case, we cannot see an intentional adoption of a
foreign language, as on the coins of Russia, Spain, Sicily,
Georgia, and even Germany, On the money of Vassili
Dmitrivitch, of Dmitri Ivamvicht, on that of the Norman
princes William and Roger, and the Mozarabic dinar of
Alfonsus, we find Arabic legends appropriated to the very
princes by whose commands they were struck. One silver
piece of Henry IV., emperor of Germany, bears on the
reverse the name of the Khalif Moktader billah ben Mo-
tadhed ; but this is merely the result of an association be-
tween those princes.
This coin, inscribed with the name of Offa, bears the
date 157 (A.D. 774), and Offa began to reign in 755; it is
therefore probable that it was copied from some coin brought
into Europe by trade, or by some of the Arabs who, in the
year 169 (785), fled from the religious persecutions of the
Khahlif Hadi.
We learn from the English Chronicle, that on associating
his son with him in the kingdom, Offa promised to the
Pope's legate a gift of 396 gold Mancuses every year ; and
as we have no gold coins of this period remaining, it may
234 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
be conjectured that this dinar, found at Rome, and bearing
the name of the Mercian monarch, is a specimen of the
very gold mancus, as well as another kind of imitated gold
coin recently discovered in England and Scotland, of which
some varieties have been purchased in Paris. I allude to
the rude solidus of Louis le Debonnaire, with the legend
MVNVS DIVINVM, in very barbarous characters. I need
not refer to the imitations of the type of Charles*le Chauve
on the coins of Ethelred, nor to the commercial and poli-
tical relations which existed between the two countries at
this period.
As to the singular fact of an Arabic legend selected to
be sent to a Pope, we are authorised by the ignorance of the
times to suppose that king Offa mistook for mere ornaments,
characters which the Pope, on the other hand, would con-
sider Saxon letters.
ADRIEN DE LONGPERIER.
Pans, June 8th, 1841.
235
MISCELLANEA.
THE " GUN MONEY" OF JAMES II. The following notices
of the base money coined and put in circulation by James II.
in Ireland, are taken from the last volume of the Camden
Society's publications, edited by Mr. T. C. Croker, entitled,
" Narratives Illustrative of the Contests in Ireland in 1641,
and 1690." "Another grievance was that which was gene-
rally believed to be in a great measure the occasion of the
Cyprians' [Irish] ruin, and of the disorder of their govern-
ment ; this was the abundance of copper money that was
coined by the king's orders, and which produced so many
inconveniences in the country, that it merits a more particular
relation, and deserves to be traced up to its source. When
Amasis [James] arrived in Cyprus [Ireland], whieh was about
the middle of the first month [March, O. S.] of the second
year of the war [1689], he found the country very bare of
gold and silver ; (the Cilicians [English] , who had all the
wealth of the kingdom in their hands, having transported
their effects into Cilicia [England]). And as he was not
very fond of spending in hast the stock of money which
Antiochus [King Lewis XIV.] freely granted for the support
of the war in Cyprus [Ireland], least it might oblige him to
call for more ; a thing he would gladly avoid, foreseeing, that
by being too far engaged to any foreign prince in that
manner, the reimbursement of such vast sums must exhaust
his treasure when he came to the possession of his kingdoms
which he soon expected by the voluntary submission of his
deluded subjects; he was therefore advised by a Pamphilian
[Scottish] privado to make use of this copper coin to serve his
present turn in Cyprus [Ireland], adding, that this method
would enable him to employ a good part of his gold to keep
in heart his friends in Pamphilia [Scotland], and gain others
in Cilicia [England], which, he represented, was of greater
consequence than the affairs of Cyprus [Ireland], and that
matters being once settled there, he might recall this coin
again, and recompense the loosers. But tho' the Syrian
[French] embassadour, Demetrius [Count d'Avaux], and the
nobles of Cyprus [Ireland], assured Amasis [James] that if he
laid out the money he brought from Syria [France], it would,
by circulation, come back again into his treasury (the states
VOL, IV. L L
236 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
general of the kingdom having already freely granted a
subsidy of two hundred talents), nevertheless the Pamphilian
[Scottish] advice prevailed. Accordingly, a considerable part
of the gold was sent into that country, and the remainder
being reserved by Amasis [James'] for a dead lift, the copper
money was resolved upon, and the mint set to work in the
sixth month [August, O. S.] of the second year [1689.]
" On its first appearance abroad, the Martinesians [Pro-
testants'] in Salamis [Dublin] showed a reluctance to receive
it, but they were soon forced into a compliance. Elsewhere
it passed pretty well in the beginning, the people who were
hitherto scant of money being glad to have any coin current
among them to advance trade, which was dead in the country.
But when it came to be coined in such plenty, that the
merchants, who could not use it in foreign countries, raised
the price of their outlandish ware to an unreasonable rate ;
and that the country people, following the example, began to
rise the price of their commodities also ; and, in fine, that the
Syrian [French] troops, who were paid in silver, seemed to
reject it ; then, and not before, it began to decline. But
what undervalued it most was, the little esteem the great
ones about court showed for it, Coridon's [TyrconnelFt] lady
commonly giving double the quantity of brass for so much
silver. This made the inferior sort to villify the coin, which
became so despicable, especially after the defeat of Amasis
[James] on the river of Lapithus the [Boyne], that the com-
modity which might be purchased for one piece of silver,
would cost twenty in brass; and yet Coridon [Tyrconnell],
and those who governed under him, extorted from the country
people their goods at the king's rate, when paid in silver.
But the oppression that the poor Cyprian [Irish] merchants
lay under in the cities of Paphos [Limerick] and Cythera
\_Galway\ from the Coridonians [Tyrconnellites~\ was most in-
sufferable. A factor who had his goods ready to be shipped
on board a vessel hired for that purpose, must have the afflic-
tion to behold his warehouse broke open, and all the in-
tended freight, which he acquired with so great pains and
expense, snatched from him in a moment, for which he had
the value given him in copper, according to the king's rate
(or perhaps a ticket for it), which would not yield him the
price of a shoe-buckle in any foreign country. And though
this plunder was daily committed under pretence of supplying
the king's stores, yet the misfortune was, that the nephews
and neices, the friends and favourites of Coridon [Tyrconneir\,
got the greater part of the spoil. The town of Cithera
[Galway] can bear witness that this was done commonly by
MISCELLANEA. 237
his own orders, when he was there to take shipping for Syria
[France]. If an outlandish vessel! came in by chance (for
few would come designedly into a land where no other coin
was used but copper), the whole cargoe was immediately
seized, and the owners must stay until their ship were loaded
again with the country provisions or commodities which were
to be plundered from the natives. This unhappy manage-
ment made all neighbouring nations shun that part of Cyprus
[Ireland] which was reputed an infamous den of robbers, and
a receptacle of pyrates. Tt was the common opinion, that this
pitiful project of the copper coin was purposely advised by
some who designed the total ruin of Cyprus [Ireland], for it
might easily be foreseen that it would quickly destroy all
commerce, wherein chiefly consists the wealth of any country
surrounded by the sea."
TOWER MINT, 1651 and 1679. The following notices are
extracted (by favour of Peter Cunningham, Esq.) from a MS.
volume in the Audit Office, entitled, " Orders from 1565 to
1702," made by the then auditors of the imprests ; and as
they relate to matters connected with the Mint, may claim a
place in the pages of the Numismatic Chronicle. B. N.
Att the Committee for the Publique Revenue
sitting at Westminster the xxvj th day of
March 1651
52
Ordered That the Auditors of Prests doe forthwith certifie
unto this Committee under their hands the true state of the
Accompt of Aron Gorden Esq re as Master Worker of the
Moneyes in the Minte in the Tower of the Cittie of
London.
Hen: Mildmay
Tho: Grey
John Trenchard
Cor: Holland
Denis Bond
To the Auditors of the Imprests.
Gent n
The Lords Com" of his Ma ts Treary doe direct that
you (together with y e Warden, y e M r and Worker, y e Comp-
troller and Assay-master of y e Mint) doe give their LOPP S an
Acco 4 at their first sitting after Easter of w* is due to y e
238 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
severall Importers of Bullion for Bullion by them delivered
into y e Mint to be coyned.
Also y* you (together with y e s d Warden Comp-
troller and Assay-master) doe consider y e Estimate given in
by M r Slingesby of his Receipts and Payments from y e 20
Decemb r 1677 to 15 March 79 and make a report thereupon
to their Lordshipps at their said first meeting after Easter,
and particularly y* you certifie their Lordspps what is due for
Officers Sallaryes and to y e Moneyers, or other psons for
necessaryes provided for y e Mint relateing to y e two years
Account now passing and likewise what charge M r Slingesby
is usually at after he has received y e Gold Cleane Standard
for y e Seaven Shillings he has for y e Gold and 8 d for y e Silver.
I am
Gent"
Your most humble Servant
Treary Chambers HEN: GUY.
15 March 1679.
LETTER FROM D B . STUKELY TO D B . WATSON OF THE ROYAL
SOCIETY.
Dear S r As you was (sz'c) not with us at the last meeting
of the R. S. I have brought to you, the disc: wh I gave in
then, and was read. The purport of it was in no wise leveld
agUhe excellent ace* you drew up for us, of the French gentle-
man's MS. but to shew my dissent to his opinion, of those
coral bodys being the fabric of aials [animals?]: an opinion
wh to me seems extremely absurd. Please to return it to me,
or bring it to the R. S. next thursday.
Pray accept of madam Oriuna as a testimony of the respect
of Your affectionate Serv*
W M . STUKELY.
25 May 1752
Though Dr. Stukely was in his day accounted a man of
learning, yet his ignorance on many subjects, and his conceit
on all, rendered his reputed learning of little avail. We
would not speak thus harshly of one who has long vanished
from the theatre of this world, but that we see several writers
of the present day still quoting him as an authority. In the
above remarkable letter, there is an error so gross, that the
ears of every grammarian must be offended by it ; while the
geologist will smile at the doctor's twaddle about " coral
bodys." But the most curious portion is the allusion to
MISCELLANEA. 239
" Oriuna;" and we will repeat the anecdote connected there-
with, as an instance of what egregious blunders the unenquir-
ing and too credulous antiquary may commit (whatever his
learning be), if he builds upon fancy and conjecture, and
does not derive his conclusions from patient and laborious
research.
The doctor had chanced to meet with an inedited coin of
Carausius, bearing on the reverse a female head, the legend
of which appeared to him to run thus, "ORIVNA AVGusta."
Hereupon he immediately published this unique coin, as afford-
ing proof of the hitherto unknown fact, that Carausius had a
wife whose name was Oriuna. But at a later period, some
more wary and cautious antiquary discovered that the head
was that of Fortune, and the legend " FORTVNA AVGusti,"
a crack in the coin having obliterated the F, and the T being
worn into an I. Had the doctor bestowed a little time, and a
little research on the matter, he would not have exposed him-
self to that ridicule and sarcasm, which such an absurd mis-
take deserved to be visited with.
The original of the above letter is in the possession of
B. N.
AN OTHO IN FIRST BRASS.
SIR, Being in the neighbourhood of Lyons a few months
ago, I became acquainted with several amateurs of numis-
matics, whose cabinets and collections were opened to me, a
foreigner, with as much politeness and liberality, as if I had
been an old or very intimate friend. I mention this fact as a
tribute to science ; for while abominable self-interest is gene-
rally the basis of human action, it seemed in this instance
forgotten, or lost in the better desire to impart or acquire
knowledge. So much for the sympathy created by similarity
of taste and study, which begets a species of brotherhood
among the members ; and while it promotes the best interests
of science by the recollection of friendships formed in its
rugged paths, stimulates its votaries to further pursuit, by the
laudable desire of pleasing more than that egregious egotist,
self. But to the subject. It was not long before I was asked
by some of my new acquaintance, if I had seen the Otho in
first brass lately found at Autun. I replied in the negative ;
and feeling my curiosity instantly awakened, I began devising
means for gratifying it. Circumstances compelling my return
soon after to Paris, I resolved at once to go by way of Autun,
and make a short stay there, to see this long-coveted object of
numismatic research. I had been informed that it belonged
240 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
to the municipality ; but a gentleman to whose collection I
paid a visit, corrected the mistake, and told me it was in the
possession of the Baron d'Espiard, to whom he volunteered
to give me a card of introduction, which I gratefully accepted.
Autun, in an antiquarian point of view, is one of the most
interesting cities in France. Long anterior to the Romans
finding their way there, it was a place of considerable
importance ; and during the period it was under their domi-
nion, its citizens enjoyed all the privileges of those at Rome.
It possessed its palaces, its schools, its amphitheatres, its
baths, its temples to various deities, its triumphal gates ;
occupied a much larger space of ground than the present city,
and was surrounded by strong walls. Many remains yet
exist of its former grandeur ; part of the walls, two beautiful
gateways, the ruins of a temple to Janus, another to Minerva,
and in some of the streets the actual Roman pavement, com-
posed of immense blocks of stone, still bearing the marks of
their chariot wheels. Not a day passes in which some interest-
ing relic is not discovered. I brought many curiosities away
myself, which I obtained of the persons who found them.
The following circumstance perhaps deserves a passing notice.
The gentleman whom I first visited bought what was sup-
posed to be the site of the old palace of the Roman emperors,
and enclosing the whole within a wall, had the ground dug
up to the depth of sixteen feet, and passed through a sieve.
The treasures he found were of every description, from exten-
sive tessalated pavements, to the smallest article for culinary
purposes, besides marble and bronze statues, pillars, altars,
coins, engraved stones and rings, some set in iron, some in
gold, cameos, intaglios, &c. &c. of different sizes and degrees
of beauty. I went to see the collection, for the gentleman
to whom they belong has, with the addition of some paintings,
choice engravings, and objects of virtu formed a museum ;
and the price of admission, you are informed by a servant at
the gate, is two francs, which I paid, though the owner, who
had the politeness to show me every thing himself, cer-
tainly wished me not. My next visit was to the municipality,
where are now preserved most of the objects found in the
town and neighbourhood, an example we should do well to
follow in this country, not only as conducive to the general
interests of science, but as a means of increasing the interest
of every locality. Indeed, the municipality annually devotes
a sum of money for the purpose of making researches, under
the superintendance of a committee of men of taste. Among
the objects in the museum are some amphorae, about two feet
and a half high, of common baked earth, but finishing at the
MISCELLANEA. 241
bottom in a long sharp point, as if destined to stand upright
in the earth. There are also some bronzes, one of a group
of gladiators. From thence I proceeded to the Baron
d'Espiard's, by whom, as soon as I had informed him of the
purport of my visit, I was received not only with politeness,
but friendship.
My expectations were more than realized when the rara avis
in terra was put into my hands. I held the coin, the object
of numismatic anxiety, the longed-for, the hoped-for, but
despaired-of. Much as I love the study of medals, I am
sorry my judgment in discerning the true from the false, keeps
not pace with my experience, nor do I presume to say it may
be depended upon ; however, I looked at and examined the
precious piece most carefully, and with all the critical acu-
men of which I am master, and the result was, that I felt
satisfied, had it not been an Otho in first brass, no one would
have questioned its genuineness. I could see nothing sus-
picious about it, in despite of the scepticism awakened by its
rarity. Through the Baron's great kindness, 1 am enabled to
send you a correct drawing of the coin, and also of some
others unpublished, and almost as rare ; among which you
will perceive a medallion of Pescennius Niger. The Baron's
cabinet is rich in unpublished medals ; and what much in-
creases their value, by removing almost all suspicion of
spuriousness, is, that they are chiefly the produce of the town
of Autun, and have generally been purchased of the persons
who found them, and who, from being known, would scarcely
dare to attempt an imposition. The Baron is a gentleman of
considerable learning and science, enthusiastic in the love of
his pursuits, and a man of considerable property, one in fact
who can have no interest in establishing a delusion, and per-
tinaciously maintaining it ; his conviction is satisfied, his
judgment determined, and I, for one, see no reason why he
should abandon it ; he covets and courts publicity for his
coin, but will not let it out of his possession, and hence, in
my opinion, much of the hostility existing against it. I took
my leave of the Baron, highly gratified by what I had seen,
and extremely grateful for, and flattered by, that urbanity
and frankness of manner which, while it made me forget I
was a stranger and a foreigner, raised me to the place of a
friend ; and I promised to speak of the medal to some of the
learned conoscenti of Paris, and inform him of the result.
On arriving at the capital I did so, and was sorry to observe
a determined predisposition to condemnation ; they had heard
of it too, and seemed to wonder, and to feel piqued, that it
had not been sent to them, when its irrevocable fate would
242 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
have been immediately pronounced. I need not tell you, Mr.
Editor, that Paris, as well as London, contains its amateurs,
from the upright and rigidly honourable, down to the despic-
able forger, " who really knows nothing about it himself, only
that it is marked RRR R." "No," says the Baron, " I will not
part with it, but will show it with pleasure and readiness to
any one. I wish it to be seen, but in my presence." One of
the arguments generally urged against its genuineness at Paris
was, that Otho, not having been recognized by the senate, had
no power nor right to strike coins in copper. I mentioned
this and other remarks to the Baron ; and now, Mr. Editor,
with your permission, he shall answer that argument himself,
I being his translator.. " I am not surprised that the dis-
covery of an Otho in first brass, with the letters S. C. upon
the reverse, should create doubt and suspicion ; but I think it
most unjust that it should be condemned unseen. I am most
anxious to show it, in order that its genuineness may be
tested and decided, but I will not part with it out of my own
keeping. It is pretended, you say, that it cannot be genuine,
because Otho had no power to strike money in copper, not
having been recognized by the senate: but upon what this
supposition is founded, I really cannot tell ; for if we consult
ancient historians, there is nothing in them to corroborate it.
Certainly neither Plutarch, nor Tacitus, nor Suetonius, nor
Dion of Nice assert it ; on the contrary, I find in them, that
Otho presented himself in the senate, and as soon as he had
addressed the senators, it was determined that ambassadors
should be sent to Vitellius, to apprize him of the election of
Otho, and engage him to remain in peace (Suetonius' Life of
Otho) ; and if from the ancients we descend to the moderns,
we shall find in the work on General History, written by your
countrymen, and published at Paris, 1781, in vol. xxiii., pp.
126 128, that the senate and the people, immediately upon
the death of Galba, proceeded to the camp of Otho, where
they applauded the choice of the soldiers, and kissed the
hand of the new emperor ; and that the next day the praBtor
assembled the senate, who invested Otho with tfie tribunitial
power, conferring on him at the same time the title of Augustus,
and the usual honours bestowed on their emperor. Moreover, it
is scarcely probable that the senate would have dared to refuse
to recognize Otho, selected as he had been by the praetorian
guard, beloved as he was by the people, as well as supported
by a large proportion of the young nobility, who anticipated
impunity for every species of licentiousness from him who
had been the companion of Nero, and at whose nod their
very existences would have been in jeopardy. So much for
MISCELLANEA. 243
the non-recognition of Otho. If it be pretended that my
medal must be false, because hitherto unknown, might not the
same argument have been urged against every unique medal?
and if genuineness be granted to a single unique medal, why
should it be refused to mine? Among the thousands of coins
too corroded by age to be distinguishable, who can say there
may not have been many of Otho ? or who can say that many
may not yet be turned up by the spade of some fortunate
labourer? If again the brevity of Otho's reisjn be advanced
as an objection, my answer is, that we have copper coins of
some of the tyrants whose reigns were still more brief. My
own opinion of my medal is decided, nor will I easily abandon
it, seeing there is nothing in history to prove the impossibility
of its existence, and strengthened as that opinion has been by
the acquiescence of every amateur who has hitherto seen it."
Having conversed on the subject of this extraordinary coin
with several gentlemen in London, I was desirous of obtaining
further information about it ; whereupon I wrote to the Baron,
who most obligingly furnished me not only with the drawing
of it, but also with the following answers to my questions,
namely, that it was found at Autun by the person of whom he
purchased it, together with three others in large brass,
Hadrian, M. Aurelius and Commodus, and one in second
brass of Domitian that it was not recognizable till he had
cleaned it that it is of fine preservation, with a beautiful
patina upon it (there is something peculiar in the soil of
Autun which imparts the much-admired green to almost every
coin found there), that the letters are perfect, the head of
considerable relief, but the face slightly oxidated, and the
edges manifesting nothing to awaken suspicion of the forger's
cunning.
I am afraid I have trespassed, Mr. Editor, too much upon
your valuable columns, therefore will only add, that should
any English gentleman be passing through Autun, and feel
desirous to see the coin, I have the Baron's permission to say,
that he will be most happy to show it, together with very
many others hitherto unpublished.
I remain, Mr. Editor,
With much respect,
Your obedient Servant,
HENRY H. YOUNG.
THE GALLERY OF ANTIQUITIES. The first number of a
work under this title, consisting of the principal antiques in
the collection of the British Museum, from drawings by F.
ARUNDALE and J. BONOMI, with descriptions by S. BIRCH,
VOL IV. M M
244 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
has just made its appearance. It commences with the best
examples of the DEITIES of EGYPT, their attributes and history.
The most interesting of the sacred animals will be next
selected, with descriptions of the numerous localities in which
these objects are preserved. In the British Museum, amongst
the many other works of art which have been purchased by
government, or presented by private individuals, is a most
interesting and valuable collection of Egyptian antiquities,
which, from the researches of M. CHAMPOLLION, SIR G.
WILKINSON, and others, have tended to throw much light on
the manners, customs, and religion of the ancient Egyptians.
To extend the knowledge of these antiquities ; and to place
within the reach of all classes, a collection so worthy of being
illustrated and explained, is the object of the present work,
which, it is hoped, may prove a valuable addition to the
library of every individual. Each part of the work will be
complete in itself. The sepulchral tablets, the boats, the
mummy-cases, the vases, the different ornaments, seats, &c.,
with every object likely to interest and instruct, will be care-
fully delineated. The engravings to be fac-similes of the
originals, drawn to scale, and showing also the different
colours at present existing. The size of the work will be 4to.,
and will appear in monthly parts, containing four plates and
eight pages of letter-press, price 2. Qd.
MEDAL OF THE PACHA OF EGYPT. We are pleased to hear
that a committee has been formed to superintend the design,
inscription, &c. of a medal of the Pacha of Egypt, to be
struck as a testimony of esteem and gratitude for the pro-
tection afforded by His Highness to the persons and property
of our countrymen during the late war, and for the general
encouragement afforded to intercourse with Egypt. Lord
Claud Hamilton, LordRokeby, Sir Willoughby Cotton, Colonel
Campbell, Dr. Bowring, Dr. Lee, Sir Moses Montefiore, Mr.
Waghorn, and other individuals of reputation and influence,
are members of the committee. As the project is not one
of party feeling, or of private interest, but a token of recog-
nizance of generosity in a late enemy, and of gratitude for
conduct unexampled in history, we trust the medal will be
supported by all classes and parties as it deserves.
TO OUR READERS AND SUBSCRIBERS.
The present Number is the first of a new Volume, and, in
consequence of an arrangement made with the Numismatic
Society, bears the title of the
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE;
AND
JOURNAL
OJF
THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.
By the arrangement referred to, Members of the Numismatic
Society may, if they please, be provided with the work, on
application to the publishers, or to the bookseller, and the
payment of nine shillings to the Treasurer of the Society, in
addition to their annual subscription. Each Member will be
entitled to a copy of the PROCEEDINGS, gratis, which may also
be had of the publishers, Messrs. TAYLOR and WALTON, Upper
Gower Street; or of Mr. JOHN HEARNE, Bookseller to the
Society, 81, Strand.
*** M. Rollin, 10, Rue Vivienne, Paris, has kindly offered
to take charge of letters or packets intended for transmission
to the Editor in England.
The next number will be published on the 1st July, 1841.
ERRATUM.
In page 146, 8th line from the bottom, for "Plutarch assures" read
" Herodian assures."
CJ The Numismatic chronicle
and journal of the Royal
N6 Numismatic Society
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
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