. I 



NUMISMATICS. 







century the studv had to progressed that 200 cabinet* were known in 

 Holland alone. In Uw 15th century they wcre fi 1 introdu 

 literature l.y Augvlo Poliziono, in 149U ; and a series of writers the 

 chf of whom wwe Kulviua, A.D. 1500 ; Hacochi, A.D. 152ii 

 A.D. 1560; OoUius, A.D. 1526-83; Agostiuo, A.D. 1580; I'r.-inus, 

 A.D. 1600; and Patin, A.D. 1633; wrote chiefly upou and illus- 

 trated the imperial Roman series. In England the study commenced 

 with Speed, A.U. 1522, and Camden, in 1586. The works of this 

 * century are not remarkable for their accuracy, and it is not till the 

 following that the study of numismatics began to acquire the rank of 

 a science. Krolich, Corsiui, and Gary availed themselves of medals to 

 write history of the liactriau, Armenian, and Bosphoran princes ; but 

 the moot r writers of the 17th and 18th centime* were 



Morell, A.D. 173; Vaillant, A.D. 1706 ; Spanheim, A.D. 16 1 ; lYllerin, 

 A.D. 17---; ll.ud.iuiii, in 17'J'.'; 1'atiu, in 1695. In the 18th century 

 the c; i/iplrtely reformed the study of numismatics, 



A.D. 1. i..l- Mionnet, in 1770-1812, gave a complete 



Greek coins, and Kasche, a lexicon of important use for the study. 



Important contributions to the study of Greek numismatic - i..i\ . 

 been added by Millingen in 1831, 1837, 1841 ; by Barthelemy, in 1>:M : 

 Bockh, in 1821 ; and others. The study is still kept up by four 

 numismatic journals. The Numismatic Chronicle in England, com- 

 menced in 1836, the ' Revue Numistnatique' of France commenced at 

 the same period, that of Belgium started in 1843, and the ' Numisina- 

 tUche Zeitung' of Weissensee in 1834. 



The origin of the currency is traceable to the Greeks alone ; the 

 Egyptians used rings of metal, and perhaps scaralxci ; the Assyrians 

 hail no coins ; and the Jews and Phoenicians at au early period were 

 equally destitute of stamped money. The honour of this invention 

 was disputed by the Greeks themselves. The Lydians, Uermodice the 

 wife of Midas, Aryandes, Theseus, Itonus of Thessaly, the Xaxians, 

 id Pheidon of Argos, B.C. 895 or 772, were said to have invented the 

 a-t. Opinions generally incline to I'hcidon, from the rude antiquity 

 of the yEginetan coins ; but the dispute refers to the metals. At 

 Athens and in Greece Proper gold was not struck till B.C. 440, the 

 gold coins in circulation being claries, Cyzicene staters, and ingota. 

 While, however, the oldest examples of the gold currency ;ir- Asiatic, 

 t'ae earliest silver was undoubtedly struck in the Isles and the Pelo- 

 p jnneuo, as is shown by the archaic coins of ..Kgina, Rhodes, Thasoa, 

 Thebes, and other cities of Greece. The earliest coins were chiefly 

 didrachms, tetradrachms, and drachms, few pieces of smaller denomi- 

 nation having been struck. 



Little or nothing is known about the Greek mint : that at Athens 

 was called the Ari/yrokopeion; dies were called tommaln. The coins 

 were always struck, never cast, under the authority of eponymi. 

 The names of engravers occur on coins during the most flourishing 

 period of the art ; after the time of Alexander, in some rare instances, 

 with the form EFIO1E1 assumed by artists of the later schools, as 

 NETANTO2 EIIOEI. ' Neuanthos was making it ' on a coin of Aptera, 

 and Thoodotos on a coin of Clazomemc. This form is however often 

 uiuitted, and the name of the arti.st put by itself, generally in the 

 nominative. They are distinguished from those of magistrates by 

 being in smaller letters, and occupying leg*) prominent positions, being 

 often placed in obscure places, as on the attire, on the adjuncts, amiilst 

 the type, so as not to intrude too prominently on the eye. The 

 name of Aristobulus is placed on a gold coin of Lysimachus; that 

 i'f Xilos on a coin of Perseus. The dekadrachms and later coins of 

 Syracuse have miny artists' names, as Eumenes, Kucleides, and Cimon, 

 and others ; and in Magna Gnecia are those of Augeas, Phili*tus, ami 

 others. Some worked for more states than one, as Pannenides, who 

 engraved coins of Syracuse snd Neapolis ; ArNtippns, whodidsofor 

 Heracleia, Metapontum, and Torentiim ; anil this In. .rl wan 



pursued by gem-engravers, the name of I'hrygillus, known from a 

 cameo, also appearing on the < cuse.* 



The use of gold coins in Asia Minor is as old as that of silver in 

 Greece Proper, and coins have been found which can bo attributed 

 to the ago of Craaus <>r Alyattes. Gyges, indeed, is stated to 

 hare used ubolai or spikes of this metal in the place nf coins ; and 

 Cronus himself presented plinthoi or ingots of gold to the shrine at 

 Delphi. Talents of gold ore mentioned by Homer. In Greece iv.p. i 

 the issue of gold is of later date, | robably not older than that of 

 Philip 1 1. of Macedon. At the time of Heiod.itm its value to silver 

 was as 1 to 13 ; but in the dnyn of Plato and Alexander it had mink as 

 1 to 12 ; but the gold of the Dorics, on account of its extreme purity, 

 was a* 1 to Ifi; while that of Cyzious, owing to alloy with silver, was 

 only as 1 to 14. The gold unit was the stater, or H '.,:} in 



weight to two Attic drachms, or 132'tl grains, called also tin- clin/tino*, 

 g-.ld piece, or the FUllppn, Philip. At Athens itself gold was not ' 

 tract till the orchunship of Antigenes, B.C. 407 (Ol. xciii. 2), when the 

 Victories were melted down for the purpose ; and prior to that 

 period Phoctcan or Cyr-icene staters were current in the city. (' Bockh 

 in Cavcdoni;' 'Ant. moneu d'Atcm-,' >v.., Mini., 1S30.) The Attic 

 staters have the bead of Athene and the owl, besides which tl 

 an archaic ktlti' of 1:1-0 eiain*. having an owl nod incuse square. It has 

 been attributed to the city, but it was probably struck in Asia Minor. 



* L!iunn, Ccitiit'ulc Utr Oriichricl.cn Kunitlcr, Bvo, Uraunv.h., UiC, II. p. 



In the French collection, however, there is a -cqurnco of 



Attic gold coins, consisting of a stater, drachm or In ; 

 diobolou, olnilos, and humiobolon, supposed to have been 

 the time nf I'ciicles.; gold obols of Argos, of 16'5 grs. ; tii"!>lii of 

 Carystus, with head of Hercules and a bull, of 41t'3 grs. ; others of 

 Actolia, on the Attic standards, a triobolon of Bocotia, of 2975 gi 

 a drachm of Acaroaiili, are known. But the principal ancient gold 

 coins ore, the Dane, of 1 29 grs., with an archer and incuse i 

 15-20 Attic drachms the coins with which the Persians lu-ii 

 orators of Athens and Box>tia; the stater of Cy/.icu.-, worth 11.. 

 _- Attic- drachm-, and Mentioned as the monthly pay of a soln 

 X. nophon. with the adjunct of a fish as its normal Up.- : 

 1'hocica, of 138 grs., and disUter of 276 grs., and subiuultiples, tetarte 

 I tii, hekte ,'., and hemihekta f.. worth & obols; staters of Lampsacus, 

 with the head of Poseidon or IViapus, and the winged sea-horse, of 

 129 grs.; and at Cyrcne, gold octodrachms or tetrastaters, anil the 

 large issues of staters and its multiples l>y I'iiilip II. and his succesion, 

 on a standard of 133 grs. ; and the large gold dekadrachms, tetra- 

 drachms, pcntadrachins, and other pieces of the PtoUmies. >1 

 these later pieces of Ionia, in the finest style of the art, are of 

 elcctrum, and were issued as submultiples of an electrum stater. The 

 largest piece was the Itf-statera of Lysimachus. 



The Greek autonomous silver coins have been divided into three 

 periods, the first from B.C. 8S)5 to 471, from Pheidon of Argos, or the 

 Lydians, to Alexander I., of Macedon, the type simple and monstrous, 

 often only animals, inscriptions short and mono-yllabie, pieces thick 

 and globular, engrailed rings like borders of Etruscan soarabai. the 

 reverses with hollow squares made by striking on a jagged il 

 From Alexander I., B.C. 478, to I'liilip II. the art is much imp: 

 the shape flatter and thinner, the inscriptions more complete, types are 

 introduced on the reverse in the hollow square, which di.i.ippears under 

 Amyntos III., B.C. 371 ; the types ore surrounded by au engrailed 

 ring. 3. From Amyntas III., to B.C. 100, about 300 years, the 

 period of the arts, types on obverse and reverse complete, the age of 

 I'hidias, Zeuxis, Polygnotus, and Praxiteles, names of magistrates 

 and engravers appear; portraits are introduced by the BUCCC.-, 

 Alexander the Great. This is also a great epoch for gem engraving. 

 Greek gold and copper coins fall into this period. 4. With the rise of 

 the Roman power the gold and silver disappear, a few impvii.il mint*, 

 such as Cicsarea in Cappadocia, Antioch, Amiaus, and Tarsi 

 tinning to have the privilege of striking either i rii or larger 



pieces till the time of Hadrian. The mint of Alexandria struck 

 or potin, till the time of Gallienus. The letters follow t he i 

 inscriptions, the titles are pompous. In this last period only copper 

 was coined with the name of the cities. 



The principal coins which have been found are, the dekadrachms, 

 or large silver coins of Athens ; the dekadrachms, or Syracusau medal- 

 lions; octodrachms of Macedonia, the Athenian tetradrachms, call 

 stater or Atticus a long series extensively imitated by other cit 

 by princes; the didrachms of /Kgina and Corinth : tin -dr.ii b 

 over ( ireece and Asia Minor ; the tetrobolon or $ drachm ; the triobolon, 

 or hemidrochm ; the diobolon, or J drachm ; the trihemiobolon J 

 drachm ; the obolos, or J ilracli y cities prior to the introduc- 



tion of copper; the hamiobolon, or ,' ; drachm; and the { obolc- 

 drachm ; and J obolos, or ,', drachm, the smallest of all ' ruck 



at Athens. In the Attic standard, the drachm weighed 67'377 grs., and 

 the tetradrachm 269'508, and of this coin, the dollar of antiquity. 

 the y\av( \avpiurue ), or ' Laurian owl,' from the mines of silver, .md tin- 

 type, 4 went to the gold stater, or chrysos ; 25 to the mnn, and l.",n t . 

 the talent. Of these tetradrachms, which are the monetary st 

 of measure of antiquity, there are two types, the archaic coin, with 

 the head of the archaic Athene, and the reverse au owl and 

 branch, which continued till almost the age of Alexander ; and those of 

 later than his reign with the helmed head of Athene of I'lieidias, 

 and the owl on an amphora, with the names of i magis- 



trates. These continued till the age of Mithridates, and even of tho 

 Romans. 



In all the transactions of commerce, the drachm was the unit of 

 value; the Attic standard was used at Corinth, Acamani.i. Amphilo 

 chia, Leucadia, Epirus, Acanthus, Sicily and Cyreno ; but under ,1 

 forms, the Athenian coin was the tetradrachm. tin < '..linthiun the 

 didrachm higher values ore abnormal exceptions. The other 

 .ncton, consisting of 9tt grs., introduced l<\ I'l. 



from some 1'h.i nician source, and the didrachms stamped with a 

 tortoise which were called rhcloitai, tortoi.-. 



Athenians; they prcvail>-l in Ikootia, Ati'adii. Klis, Si.yc.u, Argos, 

 Kulxi-a, Locris. an. I .-...me of the isles. The other prinri|.al di.n-ln 

 the Macedonian of 58 grs., which was used till the time of Alexander the 

 Great, who substituted the Attic standard. Of Chios, then- 

 drachms, of 238 grs., supposing the drachm to have I 

 47 grs. But the fact is, that it is still requisite to study tli 

 history of each Greek state per it, as the currency was always slightly 

 changing according to political circumstances and the r.it- ; raltU, 

 and the ancients hod not probably the trial per pyx, or even a very 

 accurate manner of determining the weight of their piece's, tin' irregular 

 shapes of which offered u-mptmg fa.-ilities for lilmg or piring. 



The copper currency was the last int: 

 appearance was not well received, it was first issued at Athens in the 



