8i 



ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



In the following Table the new acquisitions are classified 

 according to the five principal series to which they belong : — 



CLASS. 



ftold. 



Silver. 



Brojize. 



Billon. 



Lead. 



Glass. 



Ivory. 



Total. 



Greek .... 



4 



118 



281 



_ 



_ 



_ 



_ 



403 



floman .... 



- 



- 



3 



- 



- 



- 



- 



3 



English - . . . 



2 



287 



9 



- 



4 



- 



1 



303 



Medifeval and Modern - 



4 



35 



18 



8 



1 



- 





66 



Oriental .... 



80 



119 



151 



12 



- 



49 



- 



411 



Total - - - 



90 



559 



462 



20 



5 



49 



1 



1,186 



Eemarkable Coins and Medals. 



Among the acquisitions of the year the following are 

 worthy of special notice :— - 



1. Greek Series : — 



PhilijJ II. King of Maceclon. — A tetradrachm with ahead 

 of Zeus to the left, of very fine style and bold relief ; perhaps 

 the most typical example yet found of the post-Pheidian ideal 

 head of Zeus. This coin is thought to have been struck at 

 Melitaea in Thessaly, as it has in the field a bee, the badge 

 of that city. 



Byzantium in Thrace. — A tetradrachm and two drachms 

 of the middle of the 4th century, B.C. The type, a cow 

 standing upon a dolphin, is supposed to symbolise the myth of 

 lo crossing the Bosphorus. The local variety of the B, the 

 initial letter of Byzantium, (T^) on this coin seems to be a 

 variant of the Corinthian form of the same letter, which 

 is iT. The date of the coin indicates, however, that this is 

 merely an archaistic survival from more ancient times. 



Mesemhria in Thrace. — A fine specimen of the very rare 

 diobol (circ. B.C. 400), having on the obverse the helmet of 

 the Thracian Sun-god Ares, and on the reverse M — E — T — A 

 in the four quarters of a radiate solar wheel. The solar type 

 of this coin is clearly connected with the name of the town, 

 M£(TT}/i|3p(a, (= Mid-day.) This coin is also important palseo- 

 graphically, as aff'ording an instance of the obsolete sibilant 

 " San " TJ, in place of ' sigma.' The " San " is not met with 

 elsewhere on coins, though it is found in inscriptions of Teos 

 and Halicarnassus. (Thompson, Palceogr. p. 8.) 



Hehryzelmis 



