170 



That some of these medals were the fabrication of the latter ages, 

 there seems to be no doubt ; unless we reject the evidence of those 

 autliors, wlio describe them, particularly Wagenseil, who found 

 them so common as to be in the possession of every child. There is 

 reason however to believe, that they are not all of the same aera ; and 

 that such as are similar to No, 1, are the most ancient, and of which 

 copies have been multiplied by the simple and ready method of casts. 

 A mong the persons, who were induced by curiosity to visit me to see 

 the medal, were two Jews ; one of whom was well acquainted with 

 the ! ebrew Langua.«;e, and read the inscription with fluency and 

 correctness. He asserted, with confidence, that the n aleph on the 

 obverse was not the initial of a word, but the date of the coin ; which 

 would be so expressed, he said, at the present day. This corresponds 

 with the conjecture of Dr. Quarry and others, who assert, that the 

 original medal was struck the year after our Saviour's resurrection, 

 to commemorate that event. Nor is this altogether inconsistent with 

 probability; for, though the early Christians did not commence their 

 public dates from the birth of Christ before the sixth century, yet that 

 event, or his resurrection, might be preserved by private memorials 

 or tokens ; a custom not unusual in ancient, and even adopted in 

 modern times. — If this be so, it is not impossible, that this medal may 

 be the parent of all the rest, which being fabricated in different 

 and subsequent ages, omitted the date, only to be found on the 

 venerable original. Another circumstance seems to favour this con- 

 jecture ; the style of the workmanship corresponds with that of 

 cotempoiary medals. There is a breadth and bold relief in the neck 

 and chest, which resemble the character and manner, distinguish- 



" second and the beginning of the fourth, and the rest corrupted." — The inscription, thus cor- 

 rected, would five a translation exactly corresponding with that on the medal of Dr. Clarke, 

 viz. Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ ; the Lord and the man together. 



