204 ADDEESS TO THE [lect. 



other a tortoise — the symbol of the Phoenician goddess 

 of the sea and trade. One of the other figures repre- 

 sents a Lydian coin (Fig. I, Plate I.), and is supposed 

 to be one of the earliest known. It is perhaps of the 

 time of Gyges, but in Mr. Head's opinion certainly not 

 later than Ardys. Many of these ancient coins have 

 been found in the neighbourhood of Sardes. They have 

 a device on one side only, the other being occupied by 

 the incuse square, which is the admitted sign of the 

 earlier condition of the earliest coins. " The masses of 

 metal," says Rawlinson, "prepared for coinage were 

 originally placed upon an anvil with a rough excrescence 

 protruding from it, having for its object to catch and 

 hold the metal while the impression was made by means 

 of a die placed above and struck with a hammer. This 

 excrescence, a mere rude and rough square at first, was 

 gradually improved, being first divided into compart- 

 ments and then ornamented with a pattern, until 

 gradually it became a second device, retaining, however, 

 to a late date its original square shape. In the Lydian 

 coins the quadratum incusum is of the most archaic 

 type, having neither pattern nor divisions, and present- 

 ing the appearance which might be produced by the 

 impression of a broken nail." 



The Greek coinage, however rude at first, soon acquired 

 a beauty and perfection surpassing all our modern efforts. 

 The staters, for instance, of Philip (Fig. I., Plate II.) and 

 of Alexander, the coins of Syracuse and Metapontum 

 (Figs. V. and VI., Plate I.), present to us the most 

 lovely female faces, and deities — perfect models of 

 human beauty. Animals also are admirably represented 

 ■ — not only the horse, the lion, &c, but other smaller 



