1222 Second Notice of some forged Coins [No. 108. 



me which likewise came from Bokhara ; it weighs only 140 grains, 

 and is therefore properly only a heavy didrachma : it is in high relief, 

 and of extremely barbarous make ; but as coins of this description are 

 found in great numbers about Bokhara, there can be no doubt of its 

 genuineness. This specimen must therefore have belonged to a local 

 coinage of Euthydemus, which was confined to Bokhara alone as a 

 tributary state ; for if Bokhara had been under the immediate govern- 

 ment of Euthydemus, there would either have been a royal mint esta- 

 blished, or none at all ; but if Bokhara was, as I suppose, a state 

 tributary to Euthydemus ; then it is easy to believe that one of the 

 stipulations of the tribute was, that the money of the Bokhara state 

 should be coined with the head, and in the name of the paramount 

 sovereign. 



Another point which distinguishes the engraved tetradrachm as a 

 spurious one is its utter barbarousness as a work of art ; the sketch in 

 the plate gives a faithful outline of the head, preserving all its pecu- 

 liarities ; of which the most remarkable is a full eye in a side view of 

 the face. This singularity at once stamps this piece as a forgery, and 

 proclaims it to be the work of a native of India, whose artists invariably 

 represent a full eye, even in a side face. 



A third peculiarity is the fringe observable around the eye, on the 

 forehead, before the ear, beneath the chin, and on the shoulder ; which 

 almost tempts me to believe that the forger had copied his die from 

 Mr. Jas. Prinsep's engraving ; for these fringed parts in the spurious 

 coin are the very portions that are shaded darkly in Mr. Prinsep's 

 etching. This supposition is still further borne out by the want of 

 the central portion of the upright stroke of the monogrammatic letter 

 ^ on the reverse of the spurious piece ; this part in Mr. Prinsep's 

 etching being so much fainter than the other strokes of the letter, 

 that it might easily have escaped the eye of a forger, who was ignorant 

 of the Greek characters. 



The last peculiarity which I need notice is, that the standing figure 

 of Hercules on the reverse is without a club : for the forger ignorant 

 of the figure represented on the true coin, has overlooked the fact that 

 the lower part of the left arm is concealed beneath the lion's skin : he 

 has accordingly transformed the club, which reposes in the hollow of 

 the arm on the original coin, into that half of the arm which should be 



