Communion Tokens. 39 



of promise to be kept, high right or privilege to be enjoyed, or 

 inevitable transaction to take place. The earliest instance in 

 history of such a " sign '" ' is the " Rainbow Token ' ' of the book 

 of Genesis (ix. 12). Of a similar sort was the " Blood Token " 

 of the Passover. Quite different was the "Shibboleth" pre- 

 scribed by Jephthah (Judges xii. 6) to be handed in at the 

 passages of the Jordan. In the case of Tobit's "handwriting " 

 (v. 3 ; ix. 5) we see the idea developing still further in the direc- 

 tion of our subject. Passing from the sacred records of the 

 Christian and the Jew we come into the more secular atmosphere 

 of the amphitheatre, the army, and the .social life of ancient 

 classical times. One authority,^ writing about the early coinage 

 of Rome, remarks that " besides coins proper, there are certain 

 pieces in metal which resemble money in appearance, but which 

 were never meant to pass as currency. These are the medallions 

 which correspond to medals of the present time, and the tickets, 

 which served as passes to the public entertainments, etc." " Of 

 the tickets the most important are the CONTORNIATES, so- 

 called because they have the edge slightly turned over. These 

 pieces are of copper, . . . and they have for types on one 

 side some mythological, agonistic, or historical subject, relating 

 to the public games or to the contests which took place for the 

 honours of the amphitheatre, the circus, the stadium, or the 

 odeum; and on the other side, a head or bust, imperial oi regal, 

 or of some philosopher, author, or poet. The question of the 

 object of these pieces . . . has provoked much discussion, 

 but . . . seems now to have been fairly settled. It appears 

 that they were made for presentation to the victors at the public 

 games and contests, who used them as a kind of check, on the 

 presentation of which at some appointed place and time they 

 were awarded the allotted prizes." If this be correct^ we have 

 here an approximation to the modern development of the ancient 

 Hebrew ms " oth " or "token." We find ourselves on .surer 



1. "Coins and Me<lals, their place in History and Art," by 



Stanley Lane-Poole. London, 1885. p.p. 68-70. 



2. Vide "Roman Coins; Elementary Manual," compiled by Comm. 



Francesco Gnecehi. Translated by the Rev. Alfred Watson 

 Hands. Messrs Spink and Son, London, 1903. Chapter 

 xxxviii., §§ 317, 318. The same may be seen in Spink and 

 Son's " Numismatic Circular," Vol. x. (1902), pp. .5308-5309. 



