1879.] 'J' y * [Phillips. 



No. 34461. Obverse, Aits, grave, toli.it. onus. A man bending down 

 over a lever is endeavoring by its means to raise a huge millstone. Re- 

 verse, iNDUSTRfA et labore. A spade transpiercing a crown. In the 

 exergue MDCII. 



This relates to the surrender of Grabe. 



No. 34491. Obverse, Servat. vigilantia. concors. mdcvi. A ship 

 in a storm-tossed ocean, whose waves are breaking its masts ; clouds are 

 in the heavens. Seven figures are to be seen upon the ship who are busied 

 in taking necessary measures for the preservation of the ship and bringing 

 it to its destination. Reverse, Modic^e. | FiDEr. quid. | timetis. | s. c. 



This refers to the general depression and consternation of the Nether- 

 landers. 



No. 34518. Obverse, fortitudo . belgtca. A bundle of arrows with 

 their points upwards. Reverse, mdcxii. | induciar. | iiii. | s. c. | This 

 commemorates the fourth year of the truce. 



2nd. COINS. 



Among the coins a number of fine specimens have been added, of which 

 the following are a few of the more important. 



There is a very interesting silver coin of ancient Spain. It bears on the 

 obverse a head with a stern forbidding countenance, and crisp curled hair 

 and beard, calling to mind the conventional Assyrian type. There are also 

 certain rude letters both on the obverse and on the reverse. It is the cur- 

 rent opinion among Numismatists that these coins were copied after those 

 issued by the early Greek monarchs with such changes as the lack of skill 

 on the part of the artists would naturally cause. The reverse exhibits a 

 horseman charging with a lance seated upon a steed whose forefeet are 

 raised in motion from the ground. The action is spirited, and by no means 

 so stiff as the low state of the arts would have warranted us in expecting. 

 The head on the obverse does not, in my opinion, bear out its presumed 

 Greek origin, and I incline to the belief that it is rather a representation of 

 some one of their gods, possibly the Phoenician Hercules. 



The first settlements in Spaiu were those of the Carthagenians, estab- 

 lished ages before the earliest known periods of classical history. 



There exist numerous varieties of these early Spanish coins with various 

 inscriptions, which have only been deciphered in the last few generations, 

 and even as yet their true signification is in doubt. The author of La 

 science des Medailles, an early work on Numismatics, published at Paris in 

 1715, speaks of these coins as being truly medullas desconnocidas, which no 

 one had undertaken to collect or reduce into order, although " Lastanosa 

 ait cru rendre un grand service auxeurieux, de se donner la peine d 1 en f aire 

 un Volume, qui fat imprime a Hussc i. en 1645 ou il a fait graver environ 

 deux cents deces medailles qu il avait dans son Cabinet, laplupart d'argent." 



Lastanosa had an insight into the true status of these coins which had 

 been considered as bearing Punic letters. He maintained that the charac- 

 ters on them were those of the early language of Spain, and that it was 



