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Jcloman Coins fountr at ILtttle €i)t^ttx; U)iti^ 



By George Bailey. 



HAT accomplished and eloquent writer, Addison, in 

 his " Dialogue upon the Usefulness of Ancient 

 Medals," says, "What curious observations have been 

 made on spiders, lobsters, and cockle-shells ? Yet 

 the very naming of them is almost sufficient to turn them into 

 raillery. It is no wonder, therefore, that the science of Medals, 

 which is charged with so many unconcerning parts of knowledge, 

 and built on such mean materials, should appear ridiculous to 

 those that have not taken the pains to examine it. These small 

 metal discs, so many of which have escaped the ravages of time's 

 corroding rust, reveal to us the faces of all the great persons of 

 antiquity, insomuch that a cabinet of coins is a collection of 

 portraits in miniature." 



The object of these notes is to bring together some of these 

 portraits, and to give, in slight historical sketches, a glimpse of 

 the characters of the originals, so as to make what would other- 

 wise only be a dry list of Roman coins, of some interest ; and to 

 excite, if possible, a spirit of inquiry into this subject, which at 

 present (so far as this town and county are concerned) appears 

 to be almost, if not altogether, dead. From the great numbers of 

 these coins which have from time to time been discovered, it 

 seemed at first as if this would have been an easy task ; but our 

 expectations were disappointed, because it was found that 

 indifference, carelessness, and neglect on the part of some who 



