18. Henry m. cold MOOT. 

 21. Charles II, iruinea. 22. William L 



NumUmatics. Gold and niter coins minted in England. 17. Edward III. gold noble. 

 19. Henry VI, gold angel. 20. Henry VII, gold sovereign, the first issued. 



silver penny. 23. Alfred, offering penny. 24. Henry VI, silver groat. 25. Offa, earliest Anglo-Sazoa goU coin. 

 26. Henry VII. silver shilling. 27. Elisabeth, sixpence. 28. Charles L half-crown 



rrom iffiimnu i Ikr grllltk Muitum 



NUMISMATICS: THE SCIENCE OF COINS 



O. F. Hill, M.A.. Keeper, Dept. of Coins and Xedali. British Museum 



Here is related the history of coins, companion articles being Coinage ; 



Mint. See also Gold; Medals; and the articles on the various 



coins, e.g. Franc ; Mark ; Napoleon ; Peso ; Shilling, etc. 



Numismatics (Gr. nomisma, a 

 coin) is the science of coins and 

 other similar objects, such as 

 medals. Coins may be defined 

 briefly as pieces of more or less 

 precious metal (usually gold, 

 silver, copper, bronze, or some 

 other copper alloy), serving as a 

 medium of exchange, and marked 

 by the issuing authority with some 

 device (type) or inscription as a 

 guarantee of good quality and 

 definite quantity ; this is to ensure 

 their currency as far as the 

 authority extends. By its intrinsic 

 value, corresponding more or less 

 exactly to its face value, the coin 

 is distinguished from the mere 

 token or from paper money ; it is 

 distinguished from the medal by 

 the fact that it serves as a 

 medium of exchange. 



The invention of coinage, by the 

 Greeks in Asia Minor in the 7th 

 century B.C., by the Chinese per- 

 haps about the same time, was the 

 first stage in the development of 

 commerce. From the 7th century 



onwards coinage also reflects, 

 sometimes very closely, the general 

 development of culture, throwing 

 light on political and economic his- 

 tory, geography, religion, and art. 



The earliest coins of the ' 

 were of electrum, a natural mix- 

 ture of gold and silver found in the 

 river-sands of Asia Minor. In 

 Greece Proper, where gold was not 

 found, the earliest coins, such as 

 those of Aegina, Athens, and 

 Corinth, were of silver. Croesus, 

 king of Lydia, 561 to 546 B.C., was 

 the first ruler to issue coins of pure 

 gold. Philip II of Macedon (359- 

 336 B.C.) initiated a currency of 

 gold and silver which, with the 

 coinage of Alexander the Great, 

 may DO regarded as the chief in- 

 ternational currency of the ancient 

 world. Alexander's conquest* led 

 to the institution of coinage in 

 lands which had hitherto used 

 more primitive methods of ex- 

 change. The Jews had no coinage 

 <>f th.-ir own before the middle of 

 tho 2nd century B.C, 



In the Western world, the Greek 

 colonies, especially in S. Italy and 

 Sicily, had their coinages from the 

 tith <entury onwards. The Sicilian 

 series, taken as a whole, ranks in 

 artistic value above any other in 

 the whole history of coinage. tin- 

 10-drachm pieces (so-called medal- 

 lions) of Syracuse, first struck at 

 I of the 5th century, being 

 jK-rhivps the most famous example 

 of the art. The Roman coinage, 

 which from the first was under 

 Greek influence, begins in the 

 second half of the 4th century, 

 with the <M and it* part* in bronze, 

 at first, owing to its large sice, 

 cast, not struck from dies as is the 

 rule for coins ; the silver dfitaritu, 

 for long the standard denomination 

 in the ancient world, was institu- 

 ted in 269 B.C., at a weight of 4 55 

 grammes. The Roman coinage of 

 gold, normally restricted to the 

 sovereign power, did not become 

 regular until the lm|>erial period. 

 The Byzantine Kmjnre continued 

 the traditions of the Roman 

 age, its gold coin or besant being an 

 international unit of currency. 



The decay of the Roman Em- 

 pire, and the rise of the modern 

 nationalities, are faithfully reflected 

 in the style of t heir coinages. In the 



