224 Mr. PETEIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



who bore the name " AED," which appears on the coin in question. His words, 

 which are given in a note on an entry in the Annals of Ulster at the year 936, 

 recording a memorable battle fought between Athelstan, king of the Saxons, 

 and Amlaif, king of the Danes, are well worth transcribing, and are as fol- 

 lows : 



" Amlafo nonnulli mimmum argentum [argenteum] tribuunt, editum a Gibsono, Camden Op. v. 1, 



Tab. iii, No. 34, p. 195 At, numrnus iste nullam exhibet notam Chronicam, praeter nomeuAmlafi 



Regis Dublinii, et insignem crucis ; et cum alii fuerunt Amlafi posteriores, cavendum est ne huic 

 tribuatur, quod aeque tribui potest successor!. Falluntur certe qui Sitricum I Christianas Religion! 

 nomen dedisse contendunt, ex alio nummo, crucem exhibente, cum Sitrici nomine insculptam ; 

 quasi vero alii non fuerint Sitrici posteriores, quibus potiori jure tribui possit, quam primo, qui 

 Ecclesiis Hibernia; fuit hostis infensissimus 1 Ledwichius, in Opere cui titulus ' Antiquities, &c. 

 Dublin 1790,' Anuales nostros, quos nee videre licuit, nee, si vidisset, ex lingua? antiquse igno- 

 rantia, intelligere posset, ex isto tamen nummo, non dubitat castigare ! ' This coin of Sithric I, is 

 the earliest inscribed coin that has hitherto occurred. It is valuable/or correcting our Annalists. 

 The cross on it evinces that the Danes were now Christians.' p. 126. At, etsi concedamus esse 

 Sithrici I, quod incertum est, ergone sequitur esse antiquissimum, et errasse Annales nostros, qui 

 Danos, regnante Sithrico I, Ethnicos fuisse affirmant ? Oportebat primo omnes extantes explicasse. 

 Extant nonnulli editi a Gibsono, et hactenus inexplicati, quorum unum de certo affirmo, esse saltern 

 Aedi Regis Hibernia;, qui floruit ab anno 863 ad 879. Is enirn ultimus fuit istius nominis, et numini 

 characteres sunt AED-^EII MIDIN. i. e. AED REX MIDENSIUM Monendi sunt Scriptores 

 nostri, ne, absque gravissima causa, ab his Annalibus discedant ; recentiores sunt qui tempora, et 

 nomina Regum miserrime confundunt. Asserere non vereor, neminem adhuc, ea qua decet doctrina> 

 et diligentia, de re nostra numismatica scripsisse. Plurimi sibi nomen Antiquarii arrogare student, 

 pauci merentur." Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, torn. iv. pp. 262, 263. 



I may here remark, however, that Dr. O'Conor, is in error in ascribing this 

 coin, the legend on which plainly reads RII MIDIN, i. e. KING OF MEATH, to the 

 monarch Aedh Finnliath, for that prince, who was the head of the northern 

 Hy-Niall, and had been king of Aileach, or Ulster, before he became monarch, 

 was never king of Meath ; and if he had struck this coin when monarch of 

 Ireland, it would have borne a different legend. This coin, which certainly 

 bears an Irish type, may, with far greater probability, be ascribed to Aedh, the 

 son of Maelruanaidh, who was the thirty-second king of Meath of the southern 

 Hy-Niall race, and was slain by his relative Domhnall, son of Donnchadh, about 

 the year 922, after a reign of one year. 



But, without attaching much weight to these facts, I would ask, is it fair to 

 ascribe all those ruder and more antique-looking coins, which are often without 



