MEDAL. 
811 
from their hiftory, abfolutely unknown to them ? If this 
argument (adds he) is ftrong with regard to the neareft 
Grecian colonies, what mult it be with refpedl to Sicily, 
an ifland 300 miles diftant from Rome, where it was not 
known, at that time, if a boat went by land or water?” 
Arguments, however, for this opinion have been derived 
from the fimilarity betwixt the Sicilian and Roman coins ; 
which Mr. Pinkerton now proceeds to examine. The 
Greek pound in Sicily was called Tur^a, and confifted, 
like the Roman, of 12 ovyxicti, or ounces ; and Mr. Pin¬ 
kerton grants that the Roman libra was derived from the 
Greek Turgot, but denies that the as, or libra, a coin, was 
from a Sicilian model. The Sicilians had indeed a coin 
named *irg« ; but it was of filver, and of equal value with 
the ASginian ftandard, ten of which went to the Sicilian 
SixaKirgoy. He differs from Gronovius, that the ftandard 
of Angina was ufed at Corinth, and of courfe at Syracufe; 
and it appears from Ariftotle, that the Sicilians had a 
talent, or ftandard, of their own. The Sicilian obolus, or 
ftiTga, contained alfo 12 ounces, or chalci, fo named at firft 
becaufe they weighed an ounce weight 5 but the ovyxtxi of 
Hiero weigh more than a troy ounce; and the brafs coins 
of Agrigentum are marked with ciphers as far as fix : 
the largeft weighing only 1S6 grains, or about one-third 
of the primitive ounce. Our author denies that even the 
Roman denarius took its rife from the Sicilian SsxcthiT^ov, 
as many authors aflert. Were this the cafe, it would have 
weighed 180 grains; whereas the Roman denarii are not 
above the third part of the quantity. 
From all thefe confiderations, our author is of opinion, 
that the Sicilians borrowed the divifion of their Airga from 
the Etrufcans, or poftibly from the Romans themfelves ; 
which our author thinks is more probable than that the 
Romans had it from Sicily. The ftrongeft argument, 
however, againft the Roman coinage being borrowed 
from the Sicilian is, that, though great numbers of Sici¬ 
lian coins are to be found in the cabinets of medallifts, 
yet none of them refemble the as libralis of the Romans in 
any degree. In moft cabinets alfo there are Etrufcan 
coins upon the exaft fcale of the as libralis, and feveral of 
its divifions; from whence Mr. Pinkerton concludes, 
that “ thefe, and thefe alone, muft have afforded a pattern 
to the primitive Roman coinage.” The Etrufcans were 
a colony from Lydia, to which country Herodotus afcribes 
the firft invention of coinage. “ Thofe colonilts (fays 
Mr. Pinkerton), upon looking round their fettlements, 
and finding that no filver was to be had, and much lefs 
gold,” fupplied the mercantile medium with copper ; to 
which the cafe of Sweden is very fimilar, which, as late as 
the laft century, had copper coins of fuch magnitude, 
that wheelbarrows were uled to carry off a fum not very 
confiderable. 
Some coins are found which exceed the as libralis in 
weight; and thefe are fuppofed to be prior to the time 
of Servius Tullius, Some of them are met with of 34. 
and of 53 Roman ounces ; having upon one fide the fi¬ 
gure of a bull rudely impreffed, and upon the other the 
bones of a fifh. They are moft commonly found at Tu- 
der, or Tudertum, in Umbria; but they appear always 
broken at one end : fo that Mr. Pinkerton is of opinion 
that perhaps fome might be ftruck of the decuffis form, 
or weighing ten pounds. Thefe pieces, in our author’s 
opinion, make it evident, that the Romans derived their 
large brafs coins from the Etrufcans and the neighbour¬ 
ing dates: they are all caft in moulds; and the greater 
part of them appear much more ancient than the Roman 
afes, even fuch as are of the greateft antiquity. Mr. 
Pinkerton agrees with fir Ifaac Newton as to the time 
that Servius Tullius reigned in Rome, which he l'uppofes 
to be about 460 B. C. His coinage feetns to have been 
confined to the At, or piece of brafs having the iinpreftion 
of Janus on the one fide, and the prow' of a (hip on the 
other; becaufe Janus arrived in Italy by fea. Varro, 
however, informs us, that the very firft coins of Tullius 
had the figure of a bull or other cattle upon them, like 
the Etrufcan coins, of which they were imitations. Thofe 
with the figure of Janus and the prowofa ftiip upon them, 
may be fuppofed firft to have appeared about 400 B.C. 
but in a fhort time various fubdivifions of the as were 
coined. The femis, or half, is commonly ftamped viith 
the head of Jupiter laureated; the triens, or third, having 
four ciphers, as being originally of four ounces weight, 
has the head of Minerva ; the quadrans, or quarter, marked 
with three ciphers, has the head of Hercules wrapped in the 
lion’s (kin ; the fextans, or fixth, having only two ciphers, 
is marked with the head of Mercury with a cap and wings'; 
while the uncia, having only one cipher, is marked with 
the head of Rome. All thefe coins appear to have been 
caft in moulds, by a confiderable number at a time ; and 
in the Britilh Mufeum there are four of them all united 
together as taken out of the mould, in which perhaps 
dozens were caft together. In procefs of time, however, 
the fmaller divifions were ftruck inftead of being caft; 
but the larger ftill continued to be caft until the as fell 
to two ounces. Even after this time it was ftill called 
libra, and accounted a pound of copper ; though there 
were now larger denominations of it coined, fuch as the 
bijfas, or double as ; trejjis and quadru/Ji's, of three and 
four afies ; nay, as far as decujfis, or ten afes, marked X. 
Olivieri mentions one in his own cabinet weighing up¬ 
wards of 25 ounces, and caft when the as was about three 
ounces weight. There is likewife in the Mufxum Etruf- 
cum a decullis of 40 Roman ounces, caft when the as was 
at four ounces. There was likewife a curious de- 
cufiis in the Jefuits’ library at Rome, for which an Eng. 
lifti medallift offered 20I. but it was feized by the pope, 
with every other thing belonging to the fociety. 
Mr. Pinkerton contefts the opinion of Pliny, that the as 
continued of a pound weight till the end of the firft Punic 
war. His opinion, he fays, is confuted by the coins 
which ftill remain ; and it appears probable to him that 
the as decreafed gradually in weight; and, from one or 
two of the pieces which ftill exift, he feems to think that 
the decreafe was flow, as from a pound to eleven ounces, 
then to ten, nine, &c. but neither the as nor its parts 
were ever correfUy fized. During the time of the fecond 
Punic war, when the Romans were fore prefled by Han¬ 
nibal, the as was reduced to a Angle ounce. This is laid 
to have taken place in the 215th year before our era, 
being about thirty-fix years after the former change. 
The as libralis, with the face of Janus upon it, is the form 
moft commonly met with previous to its being reduced 
to two ounces. Our author fuppofes that the as libralis 
continued for at leaft a century and a half after this 
coinage of Tullius, down to 300 B. C. about the year of 
Rome 452, between which and the 502d year of Rome a 
gradual diminution of the as to two ounces muft have 
taken place. The following table of the dates of the 
Roman coinage is given by Mr. Pinkerton. 
The libralis coined by Tullius, witli the figures of oxen, 
&c. about 1 ( 5 7 years after the building of Rome, ac¬ 
cording to fir liaac Newton, or about the year before 
460 
400 
30a 
290 
28a 
270 
260 
2 50 
14 
Chrift 
As libralis with Janus and the prow of a ftiip 
As of ten ounces 
Eight - - . 
Six - - 
Four - - -> 
Three - ~ . 
Two, according to Pliny 
One, according to the fame author 
About 175 B. C. alfo, we are informed by Piiny, that the 
as was reduced to half an ounce by the Papyrian law, at 
which It continued till the time of Pliny himfelf, and 
long after. 
After the Romans began to have an intercourfe with 
Greece, a variety of elegant figures appear upon the parts 
of the as, though not on the as itfelf till after the time of 
Sylla. 
