this state of things, and the work of Mr. Edward Wilson, the Curator, 

 who followed in the same direction, remains to this day. 



In remarking upon some of the features of this important collection, 

 attention must first be given to the series of English gold and silver 

 coins, this being a department that is not included in the Bowles 

 Bequest. The series is an unusually varied one, and embraces coins 

 that represent nearly every reign included in our National history. As 

 already intimated, it starts before the time of William the Conqueror, 

 whose pax-pennies are there to the extent of five specimens. It was 

 found that a rough list of part of the series was in existence, which 

 corresponded with the numbered arrangement of these coins, and as the 

 result of some comparison of the coins with these numbers, it became 

 evident that practically the whole of what came under hand when the 

 arrangement was made is still in the cabinet. In addition, however, 

 ihere were many loose pieces that have never been incorporated, some 

 of which are now valuable. Of these a separate catalogue has been 

 made, thus avoiding the rearrangement and renumbering of the 

 original series. These two sections can be combined as one series at 

 some future time if it is thought desirable. These gold and silver coins 

 which extend from Anglo-Saxon times to those of the late Oueen 

 Victona, are deeply interesting from a historical point of view. ~They 

 indicate the growth of the nation from the earliest times, and mark the 

 many changes for better or worse that have taken place during the 

 centuries that are thus numismatically passed in review. 



At this point, in order to deal with the remainder of the silver money some 

 notice must be taken of the Bank and Trade Tokens that were 'issued 

 at the beginning of the nineteenth century. As a section these do not 

 compare with the splendid series of similar tokens in the Bowles 

 Bequest. The latter collection is about as fine as it can be, and is the 

 result of years of effort and the expenditure of a large sum of money 

 The small Museum series is, however, interesting because it contains so 

 many specimens that are of Bristol origin, and probably this was the 

 chief consideration the donors had in view in making the presentations. 

 Probably, too, these tokens may have been current at the time they 

 were given, as many of them appear to have been unused. But their 

 days as a currency were numbered/and after that, they came to be 

 regarded as curiosities. In this series the Shillings very largely pre- 

 dominate, and the legends upon them sufficiently indicate their use 

 Bristol says the object was "For necessary change," Bath says it was 

 " To facilitate trade," and Blandford says it was « For public accommo- 

 dation." 



