NUMBERS 



4311 



NUMISMATICS 



Leviticus. It covers thirty-eight years in time 

 and follows the Israelites in their journey from 

 Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab. A census, 

 or numbering of the people, was made at the 

 beginning and at the end of the wanderings. 

 Like other books of this period, it comprises 

 stories, records and laws from many sources. 

 One of the picturesque passages of literature is 

 that describing the Twelve Tribes on the 

 march, ideally organized, with Jehovah in their 

 midst. The poems of Balaam, in chapters 

 XXIII-XXIV, are nobly prophetic of the fu- 

 ture of the Lsraelitish nation. See PENTATEIVH. 



NUMBERS, DIVISIBILITY OF. See DIVISI- 

 BILITY OF NUMBERS. 



NUMID'IA, the ancient Roman name for a 

 district in North Africa which roughly cor- 

 responds to the modern territory of Algeria. 

 When conquered by the Romans in 46 B. c., 

 Numidia became a flourishing and highly civi- 



LOCATION OF NUMIDIA 



Shown In black, in North Africa. The portion 

 In black In the small corner map represents the 

 area of the larger map. 



I ;/'! state. It was afterwards conquered by the 

 Vandals, who were in Him driven out by Arabs. 

 The latter were in turn conquered by the 



ich, who now hold a vast expanse of terri- 

 tory in the northern part of the continent. The 

 Berbers of to-day are descendants of the nn- 



Nuimdi.in*. See BERBERS. 

 NUMISMATICS, numixmat'ika, the science 

 which treats of coins and medals, with refer- 

 ence to their description, beauty, value, classi- 

 fication and history. Many men and women 

 who began as children to n.itlu r rare coins have 

 dnnriK their lilVtnnr acquired collections worth 



i sands of dollars. These are frequently pre- 

 sented to museums, or placed in historical ex- 

 hibits, where they may be examined by th. 



public. To-day the terra coin is given to small 

 pieces of metal impressed with a design for 

 the purpose of circulation as money, while 

 medal is used to designate those not intended 

 for circulation. However, very ancient coins 

 are sometimes called medals by collectors. 



Every coin has five parts. The side bearing 

 the head, bust, figure or emblem of the country, 

 person or event in honor of which the coin was 

 made is called the face or obverse. The oppo- 

 -ite side, with its designs or words is the re- 

 verse. Letters stamped around the border are 

 the legend, while those in the middle or field 

 are the inscription. On some coins a line di- 

 vides the inscription from the basis or exergue, 

 which contains the date, signature of the de- 

 signer, and formerly the mint mark. Struck 

 coins are made by exerting enough pressure on 

 the die to transfer the design, while others are 

 produced by pouring molten metal into molds. 

 The latter are said to be cast, and the weight 

 of either sort determines whether they are 

 genuine. Gold, silver, bronze, nickel and cop- 

 per are most commonly used for making coins, 

 and the round shape has been generally adopted. 



In the seventh century B.C. the Grr. 

 sued coins, the oldest known, while Petrarch 

 (1304-1374), an Italian poet, was the earliest 

 collector of note. The United States Mint in 

 Philadelphia, established in 1793, was the first 

 in the United States (see MINT). Modern 

 coin-making is a most complicated and inter- 

 esting process (see COINAGE). 



There is no set method for arranging coin 

 collections; sometimes they are laid out ac- 

 cording to their geographical relations; some- 

 times in accordance with their age; while in 

 other cases they are arranged in series of de- 

 nominations or metals. However they are kept, 

 besides having a real money value according to 

 their rarity, they shed interesting light upon 

 the art, mythology, history, religion, geography 

 and literature of the times which they repre- 

 sent. Many rare coins bring large prices from 

 dealers. The following are a few examples: 



\ in.-fi, :.,, < ,,iii-. 



I'ATK 



1849 

 1798 



1815 

 1804 

 1863 

 182S 

 1804 

 1877 

 IT:-:. 



COIN 



piece (4 or 8 



VALUE 



Double Eagle (Twenty-dollar 



gold piece) .. 

 Ten-dollar gold 



star*) 



lollar gold piece 

 Silver dollar 



Half dollar i n" arrows at date).. 

 Quarter dollar (head to lof; 

 Dime ( flllet hrnd ) . . . 

 Five-cent piece (proof 

 Copper cent (flllet head) . . 



$ 100.00 



25.00 



100.00 



1.000.00 



60.00 



60.00 



7.00 



1.60 



8.00 



