1832.] On the Ancient Roman Coins. 393 



valuable cabinet, chiefly of Roman coins, procured by him with great 

 industry while Civil Surgeon at Allahabad. Col. T. Wilson, c. b. lately 

 carried hence some curious coins ; and many other private collec- 

 tions might be mentioned, without alluding to the extensive cabi- 

 net of Major Tod, which cannot be said to be lost to India, but rather 

 to be returned to us more valuable than before, through the plates and 

 notes in elucidation of them published in the Royal Asiatic Society's 

 Transactions. 



The publication of a catalogue raisonne of the contents of our draw- 

 ers, although it may expose our present poverty, will, I doubt not, by 

 a wholesome re-action tend to our future enrichment, both by esta- 

 blishing a nucleus to which the antiquities henceforth discovered will 

 be naturally attracted, and by affording to inquirers, who may not 

 have the opportunity of consulting books on the subject, some clue, 

 however insufficient, to the decyphering of worn and imperfect medal- 

 lie remains, which appear to a novice to defy scrutiny. 



We here possess the advantage of reference, in the Society's 

 library, to the splendid numismatic works that were printed in Europe, 

 during the last century, when numismatology was a favorite study. 

 The copious volumes of Vaillant, Patin, Mezzabarba, Hunter, and 

 Banduri, leave hardly a possibility of doubting the exact epoch of a 

 Roman coin, when the device on either side, or a few letters only 

 of the inscription are still visible. It is by means of these works, that I 

 have been able to decypher and classify the greater part of the coins 

 in the following catalogue : — I have added to the list several that 

 were the private property of Mr. Wilson, Col. T. Wilson, or my- 

 self, found indifferent parts of India: I have also availed myself of 

 a manuscript catalogue of the Society's coins, drawn up by Dr. R. 

 Tytler, in the year 1826, which includes the mention of twelve Roman 

 coins. 



The number in the cabinet at present amounts to between 50 and 

 60 : they extend in antiquity through a period of more than 1000 years, 

 from the Augustan age down to the decline of the lower empire. The 

 accompanying plates exhibit the greater number of them faithfully 

 delineated, of their real dimensions and appearance, with all 

 the defects of workmanship and the injuries of time. There 

 are few among them which would be objects of primary interest 

 among professed medallists at home, who, in the profusion of 

 Roman coins every where discovered in Europe, are content 

 with none but those of superior fabrication and high preservation, 

 worthy of the titles of medals and medallions of large and smaller mo-* 



2 d 2 



