254 UNIVERSAL ERUDITION. 



ticular chara&ers which no body now under- 

 flands. 



14. The modern European. 



15. The Mifcellaneous : thefe do not belong 

 to any regular feries or fyftem ; but have been 

 ftruck by fome particular city. Thefe are met 

 with by chance, and there is frequently much 

 labour required to decypher and explain them. 



XII. It would be to enter an immenfe laby- 

 rinth, were we here to attempt to defcribe all 

 the different coins and medals, and to point out 

 their charactcriftics. We muft content ourfelves 

 with explaining their general qualities. Every 

 medal has two fides, which are called its face 

 and reverfe. On each fide there is the field, 

 which is the middle of the medal ; the rim or 

 border - 9 and the exergue, which is that part 

 that is beneath the ground on which the figures 

 {land. On the two fides they diftinguilh the 

 type, and infcription or legend. The type is 

 the figures that are reprefented , and the infcrip- 

 tion, or legend, is the writing, and principally 

 that which is on the rim. Though frequently 

 in the Greek medals, and fometimes in the L ,a- 

 tin, the infcription is on the field. That which 

 is on the exergue is lefs commonly called in- 

 fcription, becaufe it frequently confifts of initial 

 letters only, the meaning of which is not under- 

 ftood. Thofe which are counterfeits of the an- 

 tique are called falfe medals : thofe which are in 

 part effaced are named defaced medals : fuch as 



are 



