NUMISMATICS. 



BTUinSMATICS, 



101U 



Perga didrachms of the post-Alexandrine epoch, 

 Pergaia ; Side, a series of fine tetradrachms, with the 

 ne, Victory, and the pomegranate, the name and emblem 

 The state* in Piaidia are numerous : the coin* of Selge with 

 , and Andeda are the moot interesting. The bronze coins of loo- 

 (have the eikon or portrait of Perseus. In Cilicia, Celenderin hag 

 Xrachmi with a kneeling goat looking behind, and a horse ; Nagidus, 

 ionysos ; Mallus, an Asiatic deity, Hermes and Herse. Ulba brass 

 coins with the portraits <>f the priest, princes, Polemo, and Ajax. 

 Soli didrachms with a head of Pallas, and bunch of grope*. 

 peiopolis, the heads of Pompey and Aratus. The didmchms and 

 tetradrachms of Tarsus have Tyche, or Fortune, Zeus, a lion, a lion 

 devouring a bull, and the kings Tarcondimotus, and Philopater I., in 

 B.C. 100-1. 



The most remarkable coins of Cyprus are the gold and silver with 

 the beads of Zeus and Aphrodite commenced by Evagoras, B.C. 380, 

 and continued by his successors. Those of Amathus with a ram, and 

 Soli with Astarte. In Lydia, the principal coins are cistophori, of 

 Sardis and Tralles, and numerous imperial coins. Phrygia is chiefly 

 remarkable for the cistophori of Apamea, Laodicea, and a series of 

 imperial coins. Of Qalatia there are bronze coins of some towns of 

 imperial times, and of the kings, Deijotarus, the friend of Cicero, and 

 Amyntan, B.C. 36-25. Cappadocia is chiefly remarkable for the 

 imperial mints at Cteaarea, which struck in all three metals, with the por- 

 traits of the emperors and the mountain Argunis ; and the tctradrachms, 

 didrachms, and drachms of the kings Ariarathes and Ariobarzanes, 

 M 17. The coins of a few kings and Tigranes are the only 

 ones that can be referred to Armenia. Of the Syrian kings there is a 

 long series in all metals, but chiefly tetradrachms, commencing with 

 Seleucus I , B c. 312, and terminating with Antiochus XIII., B.C. 60. 

 These have generally on one side the head of the monarch bound with 

 a diadem, and on the other Apollo on the cortina. The most 

 remarkable are the tetradrachms of Seleucus I., representing him in a 

 triumphal car drawn by elephants ; the staters and tetradrachras of 

 Tryphon having on the reverse a helmet with a horn ; the unique 

 coins of Cleopatra, mother of Antiochus VIII. ; those of Antio- 

 chus VIII , with the reverse of the tomb of Sardauapalus at Tarsus. 

 All these coins have indications of the cities where they were struck ; 

 they are of great beauty but difficult to assign to the proper princes. 

 There is a coin of lotape of Cbmmagene with her head and scorpion, 

 struck B c. 70-40. Of " Antioch the Great " there are autonomous 

 bronze coins, with Zeus, the tripod, and the Pouipeian icra; then the 

 imperial coins, with the celebrated statue of the city on the reverse, 

 and autonomous coins with the Action icra, with a lyre, rain, and sun 

 and moon ; finally, imperial tetradrachms with the Cicsarian and 

 Actiau tcras, from Galba to Volusian, and copper of the Roman 

 colony with S.C. on the reverse, from Antoninus Pius to Valerian. 

 The coins of Apamea have an elephant, but of Laodicea there is a 

 ttradrachm with the head of the epunymous Amazon, and Zeus 

 Nicephoros. Of Damascus there are both autonomous and imperial 

 coins ; some of King Aretas, with the head of Cy bele, or Dionysus, 

 and a deer. Berytus has silver with the same head and a deer. 

 Siclon has tetradrachms with the portraits of Antiochus IV.. a 

 ship, and Astarte, and bilingual copper. Tyre has coins with the 

 head of the Seleucidit, from Antiochus IV. to VIII.. the eagle, or the 

 Tyrian Hercules. Aradus, totradrachms, with the head of the city 

 and a Victory. 



The coins of Judica do not date earlier than Simon Maccabams, 

 B.C. 144-185, who issued shekels of silver with the manna pot, and 

 Aaron's rod, the beautiful gate of the temple, and inscribed in J-ainai -i 

 tan characters, with ' Jerusalem the Holy,' and ' the shekel' or ' half- 

 shekel of Israel,' and the year of his' reign, or the ' liberation of 

 Israel.' The subsequent monarch*, such as Herod Antipas, u.c. 4- 

 A.D., and Herod the Great, and Agrippa II., issued copper lepta, the 

 widow's mites, the Romans having taken away the right of coining 

 silrer. The coins of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and of the kings of Edessa 

 have little interest. Those of Tiinarchus, king of Babylon, B.C. 164-62, 

 are rare. 



The series of Parthian coins consists of tetradrachms, drachms, 

 oboti, and copper coins ; the drachms commence with Arsaces II., 

 B.C. 263, and terminate with Vologeses V., AD. 227, their maximum 

 weight is 64 grs. Their normal type, the head of the monarch in a 

 tiara with the Scythian Apollo. The tetradrachms commen 

 Aruces VI., or I'hrahates I., B.C. 181, and continue in their series, 

 their maximum weight is 222 grs., their types are rather more diver 

 ifii-d, baring the king seated, Victory, Hercules, Fortune. The brass 

 coins commence with Arsaces III., or Artabaues, B.C. 216. Their <\ ] 

 are still more varied. These coins have on them the date of the year, and 

 the name of the month in which they were struck. In Persia, the early 

 Achemenidic struck both the gold and darirs. The later Sassauidtc 

 struck a series of coin of flat character, having on one side their bust in 

 oriental attire, and on the reverse a Are altar, at firnt accompanied with 

 Greek, and afterwards with Pchlvi inscriptions, ng with 



Artaxerx* I., A.D. 22S, and ending with Chosroes I., A.D. 67'.'. Bactria, 

 the present Cabul, has coins of a dynasty of princes unknown to 

 history, commencing with tetradrachms of Diodotu- I , ii.c. 2.1U. ami 

 K.iuliyiJemin. B.C. 245, Kucratidcs, H.C. 180, and continuing til 

 B.C. 96. The coins of these princes are struck on the Greek standard 



and model, and hare allegorical legends with Bactrian inscriptions. 

 These coins are succeeded by those of Parthian princes, < 

 with Ar.es and Mayes, of square shape, principally didrachms, and with 

 Arian legends, and end with the Indo Scythic gold coins of Kadphise*. 

 B.C. 85, and Kanerki. A.D. 40, with a figure of the monarch, the god 

 Mithras, and the bull Nandi. Of the characene there are only the 

 coins of the monarch Monooses. 



A series of coins with Phoenician inscriptions, were struck by tin- 

 Satraps of Persia in S\ria, I'lnmieia. and Asia -Minor, Palestiin 

 Cyprus, besides which, the king* of 1'lnen lial struck 



v. nil ( Jreek types and Phoenician inscriptions (De Luyues,' NnmUmat. 

 des Satrap,' 4to., Paris). 



The coins of Egypt are a remarkable series, commencing with the 

 Aryandica, The Lagidee have a long series of fine didrachms, tetra- 

 Irachms, drachms, and staters, and tetrastaters, and pentadrachms. 

 The normal type is the head of the monarch on one side, and on the 

 other, an eagle or cornucopia, with the name, sometimes titles of the 

 monarch, adjuncts and monograms of the cities of Syria, Cyprus, and 

 Egypt, in which they were struck. Great difficulty is however felt 

 about the assignment of many of the coins. The most n 'in .u-kal ill- 

 pieces are the gold of Soter, with Alexander's body transported in a 

 quadriga of elephants, those with the heads of Soter anil Berenice on 

 one side, aud,Puiladelphus and Arsinoeon the other, the large golil ami 

 silver series of Arsinbe. There are only copper ami silver of Cleopatra 

 and Antony. The brass currency, apparently adjusted to the brass talent, 

 has remarkably large pieces, and submultiples of small size, generally 

 with the head of Jupiter Ammon and one or more eagles. The coins 

 of the Ptolemies are well executed, and of great beauty and int< 



The Romans adopted, on their conquest, the system of the Ptolemies, 

 ami tin- use of the Greek language, striking didrachms of a base 

 with the head f the emperor accompanied by his titles on one side, 

 and on the other allegorical figures copied from the Roman corns, with 

 the date of the year in which they were struck, offering an important 

 series for the chronology of Rome. The-c ili'lr.iehtns commenced under 

 Tiberius and Nero, and continued till the Antouines ; more alloy was 

 used under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. From Septimius S. 

 to Gallienus mere potin was employed, and the didrachms give place to 

 the hut, and become rare after Gallienus. From Aurelius to Dioclct ian 

 only copper of small size but thick were in use. After the revolt of 

 Firmus, A.D. '^72, the mint was left at Alexandria, and continued tih 1 

 the close of the Lower Empire, but Latin legends were introduced on 

 the coins A.D. 296. The copper corns are the large brass, or 

 drachms, of about 290 grs., the second brass, or didrachm, of 136 grs., 

 the drachm of about 63 grs., adopted on the standard of the Roman 

 brass. The corns of the nomes commence the 12th year of Traj.m, 

 and end the 8th of Antoninus; they have the legends, deities and 

 sacred animals of the nomes. 



The other coins of Africa are those of the state of Gyrene, consisting 

 of early of the time of the Battiadee, of the republic, of the Lagid 

 of the Pentapolis, B.C. 96. The gold tetrastatcrs, stater*, 

 staters have the head of Jupiter Ammon and the Silphium, or Assa- 

 fcetida, sometimes with the gerboa on the stalk ; the tetrobols with a 

 rider and the Silphium are very fine; tho silvi-r currency with like 

 types i also tine. Of the revolted Magas, B.r. 256, tin 

 bronze coins, with his ]K>rtrait, ami is Apion, B.C. 9(i, silver 



and brass. The states of I.eptis. Sabratha, Hyzncene, and Zen 

 oiler little numismatic interest, and of Carthage itself there 

 coins, although a fine series of Carthaginian coins was struck in I 

 mus. Hippo Libera and Utica have coin* v. ith the .vi|p]>oseil |,. 

 Libya and Julia Augusta. Certain eoins with r\mic legends have been 

 assigned to Mauritania!! princes, Masinissa, Micipsa, Jugurth. 

 Hiempsal II., and of these arc drachma: with portraits and 

 legends of Juba I.. II., Ptolemy, and Cleopatra. 



The imperial series struck in the Uicek cities under the Roman 

 empire has considerable points of interest, showing the state of the 

 arts, the nature of the magistracies, the titles assumed by the 

 occasionally as still enjoying their municipal freedom. They placed on 

 their coins the heads of the personified JJrmw, or People; Xiinkletut or 

 Senate ; (irrtnwia, or Comitia ; and Iluule, or Town Council ; but gene- 

 rally from civic adulation the court of the imperial family appear on 

 the coins. The reverses resemble tho Roman, but present ^reat 

 of ty|>e, and are executed with less taste. Their inscripi 

 markably copious. Their monetary system assimilated itself to the 

 Roman by issuing huge brass obols, and medium and smaller si 

 imitate the Roman bronze currency, but thu pieces are generally flatter, 

 and the relief lower, and the weight less. The coins of the t. v. . 

 colonies have been alluded to, and fall into this system; they -tin,!. 

 permissu August! or Proconsulis, by the permission of Align - 

 the Proconsul, but were soon suppressed, or converted into in 

 mints. 



From the coins of the Greeks the natural transition is to the 

 currency of Rome, from which the present monetary systems of 

 Europe have been derived. 



Although little has been recorded about the condition of the 

 Greek mints, rather more is known of tin llom.m. The asse 

 originally cast, Jlavitia. but towards t.hc- close of the repnbli. 

 struck ; the dies are supposed to have been of hanlem 

 blanks were cant, and then cut or separated at the gate ot 



