2 Dr. Hoernle— Antiquities from Central Asia. [Extra No. 1, 
and fourth varieties. No. Ill seems also to occur, very exceptionally, 
on coins of the first variety. 
It seems possible that the coins of the fourth variety which weigh 
only from about 13 to 40 grains, may really belong to a lower denomina¬ 
tion of four chu , the normal weight of which would be 32*48 grains. 
The total weight of the seven coins of that variety is 189 grains, which 
gives the average of 27 grains. This, considering that three of the coins 
are mutilated, would very closely agree with the normal weight of 
32*48 grains. 
Dr. Stephen W. Bushell who has examined the Indo-Chinese coins 
of the Collection, has very kindly supplied me with the following cor¬ 
rective note:— 
“ The Chinese legend on the large coins is chung (1) nien (2) ssit 
(3) chu (4) lit (5) ch'ien (6), i.e ., Engraved (5) money (6) weighing 
(1) twenty (2) four (3) chu (4). 
“ Nien , twenty, is the colloquial modern reading of the second 
character, 1 the classical reading being yu with the same signification. 
The fifth character is obsolete, being now written with a different 
phonetic. The old form frequently occurs in ancient bronze inscriptions 
anterior to the Christian era. It is found in K’ang-hsi’s Dictionary, but 
omitted in Giles’ and Williams’ Chinese Dictionary, although included 
in the “ Dictionarium Linguae Sinicae Latinum ” published by the 
R. C. Missionaries at Ho Kien Fu in 1877. Coins have never been 
struck in China proper, all “ cash ” being cast in moulds, so that I 
would suggest that it be derived in this connection from the carving 
of the die. I have never met with t'ung (copper) written in this way, 
and am inclined to think that the resemblance is only superficial. 
“ Twenty-four chu is the equivalent of the Chinese ounce (liang ), so 
that the large coins in the collection would each represent four of the 
small coins, which are all inscribed, as described in your paper, liu chu 
ch'ien , i.e ., “ money of six chu." 
“ The symbol in the middle of the large coins [shown on p. 4] does 
not seem to me to b e pei (cowry, valuable). Is it not rather intended for 
a laurel wreath ? A similar symbol occurs in one of Dutreuil de Rhins 
coins in the centre of a legend in Kharosthi script (see Mission scientijique 
dans la Haute Asie, III e Partie, archeologie, pp. 129-132, fig. 5). 
“ The symbol V in the middle of the Chinese script in the small 
coins of the third (camel) variety [see No. IV in woodcut on page 10 2 
1 In the woodcut this character is showti upside down. 
2 The legend is not complete. One of the two component parts of the second 
character is omitted, from the coin, apparently for want of space. The symbol in 
question separates character 3 from character 2. 
