NUMISMATICS 



emperor dchaMiig it more ami more, until t lie so- 

 called silver denarius became irh a copper coin 



washed with tin. In '206 A.D. Diocletian entirely 

 leformod tin 1 currency, which was again modified 

 by Constantino, who reduced the weight of the 

 aureus from sixty la seventy two to the poud. 

 The new gold piece was henceforth known as the 

 Solidus, and it maintained it- full weight anil 

 purity of metal as long as the empire lasted. 

 This 'coin received in western Europe tlie name 

 of Bezant or liy /.ant, from Byzantium or Constant- 

 inople, the capital of the eastern empire. The 

 ty|>es of the coins of the Christian emperors 

 retained for a time their pagan character, though 

 little liy little Christum symUdism crept in, until 

 at length all pagan influence disappeared, and 

 figures of Christ and the Virgin took the place 

 of the allegorical representations of pagan times. 

 The Latin language in the inscriptions on Bvzan- 

 tine coins continued to be used until the latter 

 part of the llth century, when it was finally dis- 

 placed by the Greek. 



III. Mediirval and Modern Coin*. The coinage 

 of western Europe, down to the time of Charle- 

 magne, consisted mostly of imitations of the Byzan- 

 tine coins. That emperor (rirfu 768 A.U. ) intro- 

 duced a new silver coin called the new denier, 

 whirh soon came into general use. 



English. The denier was introduced into Eng- 

 land, under the name of the /><//, by Ofl'a, king of 

 Mercia (06. 794 ), previous to whose time the currency 

 of the Anglo-Saxons had consisted of small silver 

 coins (sceiittnx) and copper coins (sti/ras), which 

 were rude copies of tlie Memvingiii.ii money. 

 Vnder the Anglo-Saxon and early Norman kings 

 local mints were established at all the considerable 

 towns in England, and the penny bore on its 

 reverse both the name of the town and of the 

 moneyer . hv whom it was struck. The earliest 

 English gold coins were struck by Henry III., but 

 gold money did not come into general use until 

 the reign of Edward III., who introduced the gold 

 ti'Mc (6s. 8d.) and the gold florin (6s.), with their 

 divisions. This king also lirst struck multiples of 

 the penny, groatt (4d.) and liatf-ifroats. Edward 

 IV. iuli let I new denominations called the rose noble 

 and the anyet, so called from its type, St Michael 

 laying the dragon. With the accession of the 

 Tuiloi dynast v authentic portraits of the reigning 

 sovereign make their lirst appearance on the coins 

 of the realm, and many new denominations, such 

 as ryait or toeereiytu in gold, ami i-i-nirn.t, Imlf- 

 trowiit, ilitlliinix, \c. in silver, were added. In 

 the time of Charles I. we note a remarkable im- 

 provement in the art of die-engraving, of which 

 the celebrated Offnnl i-rnn-ii is \\ good example ; 

 on the obverse of which is the king on horseback, 

 with a view of the city of Oxford in the distance. 

 In this reign a Frenchman named Briot, employed 

 in the English mint, introduced the use of the mill 

 and screw. On the coins of the Commonwealth 

 the inscriptions are in English instead of Latin, 

 and gome of Cromwell's portraits by the famous 

 engraver, Thomas Simon, are worthy of the highest 

 praise. To the series of Chillies II. belongs the 

 beautiful 1'itition crown, also by Simon. This 

 coin takes its name from Simon's petition to lie 

 reinstated as engraver to the mint, inscribed on 

 the edge : ' Thomas Simon most humbly prays your 

 majesty to compare this, bis tryal piece, witli the 

 Dutch, and if mine truly drawn and embossed, 

 more gracefully ordered, and more accurately 

 engraven, to relieve him." In Charles II.'-. reign 

 the lirst if a i urat were struck from gold brought 

 from the Guinea Coast, and copper coins, consisting 

 of hnlfixnnir* and furthini/it, were lirst regularlv 

 established. From this time onwards the English 

 coinage declines very greatly in artistic interest, 



George IV. s erown by I'istrncci liciiig |x.'rhaps the 

 only modern piece worth noticing. 



Scottish. The coinage of Scotland down to the 

 reign of Koliert III. followed closely the English 

 types. From 1 this time original designs became 

 more ficipient. It reached its highest point of 

 artistic excellence in the reigns of James V. and 

 Maiy ; ami few modern pieces are more beautiful 

 tlian the bonnet-picn of tlie former, representing 

 the king wearing a bonnet, and the mil of the 

 latter, Waring the ijiieen's portrait in profile. 



Irish. The earliest Irish coins were struck by 

 the Danish and Noise invaders, 929-1029. They 

 were copied, as a rule, from the pennies of Kthelrcd 

 II. After this we have no Irish coinage until the 

 partial conquest of the country by Henry II., iit 

 whose reign mints were established at Dublin. 

 Cork, Drogheda, Limerick, Trim, Waterford, and 

 \Vexfonl. Among the more modem Irish coins 



the gun-metal money of .la s II. is historically 



interesting. This was ' money of necessity,' struck 

 after his flight from England. It was decried in 

 the reign of William and Mary, and redeemed only 

 at metal value. 



ll'r.it' I-H Hiirn/ie. The medueval and modern 

 coinage of the various European states, from the, 

 time of the issue of the new <l< /// / by ( 'harlemagnc 

 in the 8th century down to the middle of the 17th 

 century, is no less interesting than that of Britain. 

 The Italian and Papal coins are artistically 

 superior to the rest, especially in portrait me, 

 where the influence of the Renaissance of art may 

 be clearly traced. An important landmark in the 

 numismatic history of western Europe is the re- 

 intioilneiion of gold money, dating from the lirst 

 issue of the forino t/'wv in Florence, 1252. In 

 France the coins of Francis I. and Henry II., and 

 in Germany those of the Emperor Maximilian I., 

 are especially noteworthy ; some of the latter 

 being ascribed to the hand of Albert Diirer. 

 Many of the later German I/inters are also of con- 

 siderable historical value, as their types record the 

 chief events in the history of the cities by which 

 they were struck. 



IV. Oriental Coint. Oriental coins fall into 

 three principal divisions: (i. ) The coins of India 

 Ix-ginning with those of the successors of Alexander 

 the Great in the 3rd century H. c. in Bactria and 

 the Punjab, and extending down to recent times. 

 The gold and silver coins of the Pathan kings and 

 of the Mogul emjierors may be here particularised, 

 more especially the gold mtihum and silver rajm:* 

 of Jehangir with the signs of the zixliac engraved 

 in bold relief. 



(ii.) The coins of the numerous Arab dynasties 

 in Asia, Africa, and Spain, consist of ihnurs in 

 gold and itif/iiiiin in silver. The interest of these 

 Mohammedan issues is purely historical, as they 

 bear no representations of living licings, all such 

 images lieing forbidden to true believers. Many 

 of these coins possess, however, a beiuitv of their 

 own as specimens of oriental caligrapny. The 

 inscriptions consist of formula- of the faith from 

 the Koran, together with the name of Calif, the 

 place of mintage, and the date of issue. The Kufic 

 coins are the subject of a special article. 



(iii. ) The coins of China, Japan, and the far 

 East. Those of China date from the 7th century 

 B.C., the earliest being in the form of tools, such 

 as adzes, chisels, spades, knives. i\c. In the 1st 

 century lie. these pieces are replaced by circular 

 di-i's of brass called rvi.v/i, with a square hole in the 

 centre, a form of coin which has survived until 

 quite recent years. The coins of Japan begin 



about the 7th i tury A.D., and are modelled on 



the later Chinese pattern. Among the more 

 modern Japanese issues are oblong pieces of gold 

 and silver, and large oval plates, called uho-uan 



