APitiL — sept. 1859.] in Ancient and Modern times. 89 



England had no copper coinage until James I. I subjoin 

 Brande's Table. 



Denomina- 



pieces in 

 . Avoir. 



Weight of 

 each piece. 



of one lb.j 



pieces in 

 ton. 



>f a ton. | 



Tender. 



i procla- 

 ns fixing 

 at of le- 

 nder. 



Where 



tion of coin. 



o 



. 03 

 °A 



25 - 



In drs. 

 Avoir. 



In 

 Troy 



grs. 



'eS 



<s * 



6 



3 



"3 

 > 



ca 

 oc 



<D 



>4 



11 ii 



current. 



Pence. 

 Half-pence. 

 Farthings. 

 £ do. 

 _L_ penny. 

 \ farthing. 

 £ do. 



24 

 48 

 96 

 192 

 240 



10 66 

 5 33 

 2 66 

 1-33 

 1-06 



291-66 

 145-83 

 72-91 

 36-45 

 2916 



be 

 a 



<Jj 

 o 



53,760 

 107,520 

 215,040 

 430,080 

 537,600 



IN 



12d. 

 6d. 

 6d. 



14 Nov. 1821 



and 

 30 Jan. 1826 



1 UnitedKing- 

 > dom and Bri 

 ) tish Colonies. 

 Ceylon. 



Ionian Islands. 



288 

 384 



0 88 

 066 



24-30 

 18 22 



H 



645,120 

 860,160 









Malta. 



Ceylon. 



The red sous of the French currency are copper, nearly pure. 



I shall conclude the subject of " material" with a few words on 

 Aurichalchum — or more properly (Ekichalchum. The word 

 is a remarkable example of the effect of sound in suggesting, first, 

 false etymology, and then false meaning. The barbarism of de- 

 riving the term from a combination of the Latin for gold with the 

 Greek for bronze is obvious enough ; but in spite of this the false 

 derivation has been very generally received, and with it the erro- 

 neous signification suggested by the spurious etymology. I have 

 stated that the ancients employed many different combinations of 

 metals — bronze being the fundamental constituent, in their works 

 of art. Aurichalchum has been supposed te have been one of 

 these into which gold entered in considerable amount. A com- 

 mentator on Ezra viii. 27 — " two vessels of fine copper precious as 

 gold" — falls into the mistake, and states that these vessels were 

 composed of " aurichalchum." That these were forms of bronze 

 in which gold was an important ingredient is likely enough ; but 

 that orichalchum was not one of them is quite clear from Pliny's 

 statement, that in his time the metal was not found, the mines 

 being exhausted. The true etymology is ovpos or bpos, a mountain, 

 and the true meaning " mountain metal." The exact composition 

 is not known. 



I have introduced this metal for the sake of one coin. When 

 the Roman sestertius became equal to 4 ases, its material was 

 changed from ces to orichalchum. 



It is obviously necessary that a medium of exchange should 

 Vol. xx. o. s. Vol. vi. n. s. 



