408 SILVER COINS. 



Gold aeciden- The small quantity of gold which was found in these coins 



tal in silver jnust be considered as altogether accidental, and ought to be. 

 coins. . ° , . 



added to the silver when we estimate the proportion of alloy. 



The quantity of gold found in the ancient coins, especially the 



Roman, considerably exceeds that found in modern coins. la 



the denarius of the republic it amounted to nearly a-^t) th part 



of the whole. 



Ancient coins The ancient Greek and Roman coins appear to have been 



P""^^* formed of pure silver. The small quantity of alloy which they 



contain was doubtless accidental. So minute a proportion 



could not have been added on purpose. But the denarius of 



Doraitian contains 19.5 of copper. During the reign of this 



emperor then, it seems, the Romans were in the practice of 



alloying their gold with copper. 



Rupee almost The rupee likewise appears to be almost pure silver. The 



P"*"^- alloy, which amounts only to -^^d, is most probably rather 



accidental than added on purpose. But there are various kinds 



of rupees current in India, and perhaps they may differ in their 



purity. 



European sil- AH the European silver coins are alloyed with copper, but 



^^•' *^°"'^^*^'*^'tlie proportion varies considerably. The British is the purest 



examined, and the Hamburgh the least pure. The following 



Table exhibits the proportion of alloy in these coins, arranged 



according to their purity. I have added the loss sometimes to 



the copper, sometimes to the silver, and sometimes to both, 



according as I suspected from the method of conducting the 



analysis, that the deficiency was occasioned by the loss of one 



or other metal, or of both. 



Allov per We ght of Silver, that ef 



cent. llic Copper be. ns !• 



Relative purity l^"tish 7.5 12.5 



off^oins. Dutch.. S 11.5 



French 9 10.1 



Austrian 9-5 9-5 



Sardinian 9-5 -.... Q.5 



bpanish J 



^ \l5.5 



5 



5 5. 



Portuguese .'...-ll 8 



Danish 12 7-3 



Swiss 21 3.8 



Russian 24 3.6 



Hamburgh . • • • ' 30 1 



