oihw 



'b Jlrtides from the 



Read before the Members of the Dorset Natural History and 

 Antiquarian Field Club. 



By J. C. MANSEL-PLEYDBLL, Esq., J.P., F.G.S., 



P.L.S. 



in his remarks on the Kimmeridge coal- 

 money says that Sir Eichard Colt Hoare described 

 it to be an interesting relic, and said that " the 

 antiquary who endeavours to ascertain or investi- 

 gate its original use treads upon unknown and 

 mysterious ground." It is now generally accepted 

 that instead of having been expressly made for 

 money or any other purpose, it is merely the refuse 

 or waste piece from the lathe. This so-called Kimmeridge 

 coal-money is made from a bituminous shale, extensively 

 developed at the little village of Kimmeridge which has the honour 

 of giving the name to this section of the upper Portland series. It 

 resembles jet, but differs in being inorganic. The discs vary in 



