1840.] of the Bactrians and Indo- Scythians. 1219 



I will now describe the three gold pieces that Dr. Chapman ha^s 

 brought to my notice, all of which have evidently been cast in moulds 

 formed from genuine silver coins. 



The first is of Menander, and is a cast of a well known type, having 

 a bare diademed head to the right, and on the reverse Minerva Pro- 

 machus : this was purchased at Kabul for 30 rupees ; some ducats also 

 which were bought from the same person by another gentleman, have 

 since turned out to be forgeries. 



The second is likewise of Menander, but of a different type; the 

 bare diademed head of the king being to the left, and his right hand 

 being raised in the act of hurling a javelin forward. This was also pro" 

 cured at Kabul. 



The third is of Antimachus, being a gold cast of the commonest 

 type of the silver drachmas of that prince ; with a figure of Victory on 

 one side, and on the reverse a horseman at speed. This piece was 

 likewise purchased in Kabul, and I have no doubt that all three of 

 them are the manufacture of the same hand. 



The first of these pieces is in the possession of Major Fitzgerald, 

 and the others belong to Dr. Chapman, who when they were presented 

 to him by a friend, at once suspected them to be forgeries ; and my 

 examination of them only confirms his suspicion. 



The gold piece of Menander belonging to Dr. Chapman, weighs 74 

 grains, whereas the gold piece of Antimachus weighs only 66 grains ; 

 the difference between them being 18 grains. From an examination of 

 seven genuine drachmas of Menander, and of five of Antimachus, I 

 find that the heaviest of them weighs 40 grains, and the lightest one 

 32 grains ; the difference between them being only 8 grains, or less 

 than one-half of the difference between the two gold pieces. But 

 as gold is less liable to injury and corrosion than silver, the extreme 

 difference of weight between ancient gold coins should not be so great, 

 as that between ancient silver coins ; yet here we find that the differ- 

 ence between these two gold pieces is more than double the greatest 

 difference to be found between any two silver coins. Now as this 

 excess of difference between the gold coins is too much to have arisen 

 from the effects of time, we must look for some other cause ; and that this 

 cause can only be that the two gold pieces have been cast in moulds 

 formed from genuine silver coins, is proved by the following facts. 



