PRESENTED BT
ROYAL C5NTARig;MUSEUMl
— ^•&.<\« ^f^-/.^^+ 0M. ^J^ VP I .^^^ ^H
OF
ARCHAEOLOGY*
THE
NUMISM ATIC .CHRON ICLE, fit
AND
JOURNAL OF THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.;?
EDITED BY
JOHN YONGE AKERMAN,
FELLOW AND SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON.
VOL. XVIII.
APJilL. 1*55.-
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LONDON: JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE.
SOLD AT^O BY M. ROLLIN, RUE VIVIENNE, NO. 12, PARIS. M.DOOC.tV]
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Y.I8 641 17G
LONDON:
rftlHTBD »r WBRTIIKIMKK AMI CO CIIICV* FLACK, CIS-HI •>»
TO
C. A. HOLMBOE,
PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LITERATURE,
IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHRISTIANIA, A PRACTICAL NUMISMATIST,
> THIS,
OUR EIGHTEENTH VOLUME,
IS INSCRIBED.
CONTENTS.
ANCIENT NUMISMATICS.
Page Notice of Regal Coins of Mesopotamia. By W. H. Scott . 1
On the Coins of Cunobeline with TASCIOVANI. By John
Evans . . . . % ,U. . . .36
On Rare and Unpublished Ancient British Coins. By John
Evans 44
Explanation of a Type of Arsaces XXX. By W. H. Scott 85
Coins of the Celtic Kings of England. By Rev. B. Poste 105
Unpublished Coin of Vespasi in. By J. B. Bergne . > . 115 On some Coins, chiefly Greek, brought from the East. By
W. S.W.Vaux ....... ;«m; i . 137
On the Attribution of certain British Coins to Addedomaros.
By John Evans ....... 155
Coinage of the Ancient Celtic Kings of Britain By John
Evans . ~ 161
On the Coins of Germanus By S. Birch. .-..,• • 165
MEDIEVAL AND MODERN NUMISMATICS. On a Silver Coin of Berengarius II. By J. G. Pfister . 57 Medallic Tickets. By B. Nightingale .... 89
CONTENTS.
lage Gold Jetton of Edward VI. By J. B. Bergne . 115
On some Foreign or Counterfeit Sterlings. By J. B. Bergne 121
Coins in the King of Denmark's Cabinet. By R. Sainthill
and Ludvig Loessoe . . . . . .129
ORIENTAL NUMISMATICS.
Unpublished Rupee of William IV. By R. Sainthill . 75 Period of the Coins of Ceylon. By W. H. Scctt . . 83
DISCOVERIES OF COINS. Of Gold Ornaments and Roman Coins in Hanover . . 54
MISCELLANEA.
Ancient Coins of Lycia. By Sir C. Fellowes ... 87
Miscellaneous Rectifications in Greek Numismatics. By
W. H. Scott 119
On certain Terms in Numismatics. By G. Sparkes : .173
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.
SESSION 1854—55.
November 23, 1854. W. DEVONSHIRE SAULL, ESQ., in the Chan*.
The following presents, received during the recess, were an- nounced, and laid on the table :
PRESENTED BY Me"moires de la Societe des Antiquaires de ")
Picardie. Tome XIII. 8vo. pp. 700. Paris v THE SOCIETY. and Amiens, 1854. J
Bulletin of ditto. Nos. 2, 3, 4 for 1853, and Nos. 1 and 2 for 1854. 8vo. Amiens.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. XVI. Part 1. 8vo. 1854.
A Descriptive Catalogue of the Historical Manuscripts in the Arabic and Persian Lan- guages, preserved in the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society. By William H. Mor- ley, F.R.A.S. 8vo. pp.160. 1854.
Archaeologia ^Eliana (Transactions of the Anti- quarian Society of Newcastle). Vol. IV. Parts 1, 2, 3. 4to. 1846—54.
Collectanea Antiqua. Vol. III., Parts 3 and 4,
completing' the Volume. 8vo. pp. 278,
with many Plates. By Charles Roach Smith,
Esq. On the Faussett Collection of Antiquities. By
Charles Roach Smith, Esq. 8vo. pp. 16.
London, 1854.
L
DITTO.
DITTO.
THE AUTH°R.
Dmx>.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
PRESENTED BY
Dn. W. H. Soorr.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
TIIK ATTIIOR.
Katalog des Miinzkabinetes der Stadtbibliothek zu Leipzig.. (Catalogue of the Collection of Coins in the City Library of Leipzig.) 8vo. pp. 508, and Supplement, pp. 15. Leipzig, 1853.
Catalogue de la Collection de M. de Saint Victor. 8vo. pp. 199. Paris, 1822.
Delia raritk delle Monete antiche de tutte le forme e metalli. (On the rarity of ancient Coins of all sizes and metals.) By Vincenzi Natale Scotti. 12mo. pp. 467. Leghorn, 1*21.
Die Grossherzogliche Morgenliindische Miinz- sammlung in Jena. (The Grand-Ducal Col- lection of Oriental Coins at Jena). 8vo. pp. 8. Jena, 1846.
Fund von Lengerich im Kb'nigreiche Hannover Goldschmuck und Romische Miinzen. (Discovery at Lengerich, in the Kingdom of Hanover, of Gold Ornaments and Roman Coins). Described by Fr. Halm. 8vo. pp. 58, and 2 Plates. 1854.
On the French System of Money and Weights, j
By James Yatcs, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. 8vo. I DITTO. pp.95. London, 1854. )
A Lecture on the Antiquities of the Anglo- Saxon Cemeteries of the ages of Paganism, illustrative of the Faussett Collection, now in the possession of Joseph Mayer, Esq. By Thomas Wright, Esq. 12mo. pp. 24. Liver- pool, 1854.
Catalogue of the Drawings, Miniatures, Cameos, and other objects of Art, illustrative of the Bonaparte famliy and the principal persons connected with the Republic and Empire of France, now in the Collection of John Mather, Esq. By Joseph Mayer, Esq. 12mo. pp. 36. Liverpool, 1854.
A Bronze Medal, commemorating the Open- ing of St. George's Hall.
READ: — A paper by Colonel Leake, on the weights of Greek coins. He remarks, that the progress, both of arts and of letters, appear to
JOSEPH MAYER, ESQ.
DITTO.
DITTO.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 3
have pursued an independent course in European and Asiatic Greece, and that it is therefore not surprising to find, that both an Asiatic and a European lay claim to the invention of a symbolized monetary currency. Herodotus, himself an Asiatic Greek, assigns the honour to Lydia, and denies the claim of ^Egina to priority, which was generally acknowledged in European Greece, and with justice, if the invention really took place in the reign of Phidon of Argos, who was more ancient than Gyges, the founder of the Lydian monarchy. The Asiatic Greek coinage differed from that of the European Greeks in standard, in its multiples or subdivisions, and in the metal of which it was chiefly composed. But in one point there was a strong resemblance, that of having one weight which was an equiponderant of the Attic didrachm.
Colonel Leake, after remarking that the words obolus and drachma in themselves are a strong argument in favour of the European origin of the invention of coinage, goes on to state, that Athens, being inferior to ^Egina in commercial prosperity, most likely was the follower and not the predecessor of the latter city in adopting the invention. He then notices the reduction by Solon of the weight of the Athenian drachma, by coining the mna or mina into 100 drachmae instead of 73 ; and infers from thence, that the mina had been an Athenian weight before the invention of coined money at jEgina, and that when the Athenians adopted the name and weight of the ^Eginetan coins, they found that their already existing mina would form 73 drachmae.
Although Herodotus may not be correct in assigning to Lydia the priority of the invention of money, it may be safely inferred from his testimony, that the coinage of Lydia was more ancient than that of any of the Greek cities of Asia. From those coins the Persian darics were imitated. The Lydian gold coins weigh something less than 125 grains; and that weight appears to have been introduced into Lydia from the country whence they derived arts and letters, namely, Phoenicia, where, as well as in Judaea, a unit of weight existed, called a shekel, which seems to have been the same as the
4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
unit of weight in Egypt, stated by Horapollo to be equal to two drachmae.
Colonel Leake conceives that the reason for Solon reducing the weight of the drachma from the ^Eginetan standard in the ratio of 100 to 73, was not for the sake of the round number, but in order to assimilate the Attic coinage to that of Corinth. It is evident, that the monetary scales of the two cities had a different origin ; for while they were respectively founded on the drachma, and consisted of its multiples and fractions, the principal coin of Corinth was a stater of silver, of the same weight as an Athenian didrachm, but differently subdivided. The effect of this numismatic union between Athens and Corinth is, that Athenian didrachmae are very scarce, and Corinthian staters very common ; while, on the other hand, Athenian tetradrachmae are very numerous, and no Corinthian double stater is known.
It may be deduced from a general examination of the weights of Greek coins, that the ^Eginetan standard accompanied the use of the ^Eolic dialect through the Doric states of the Peloponnesus, and and was generally adopted in Crete, and throughout Bceotia and Thessaly. The principal colonies of Italy and Sicily having been from Achaia and Corinth, it is not surprising to find the Corinthian weight and monetary scale prevailing among them. In Macedonia, Philip II. adopted the weight of the Athenian silver didrachm, or Corinthian stater, for his celebrated staters of gold, but adhered to the old Macedonian scale for his silver coinage, the origin of which it is difficult to form an opinion of; but it may have been Euboic. It was Alexander the Great who first adopted the Attic scale for the Mace- donian silver coinage.
2. A paper by Mr. Evans, on the gold coins inscribed with the word BODVOC. He exhibited one of these coins, which had lately come into his possession. On the obverse or convex side are the above letters across the field ; on the reverse or concave side, a rude figure of a three-tailed horse, a wheel beneath, a small cross and reversed crescent above the shoulder, other small crosses beneath
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 5
the head and belly of the horse, and in the field a number of circular dots or pellets : weight, 83| grains. The place of discovery is not known. The type is engraved in Ruding, Appendix, PI. 29, No. 3. These coins have been popularly attributed to Boadicea, who is said to have been Queen of the Iceni ; but, Mr. Evans believes, without any other reason whatever than an accidental similarity between the word or letters on the coins and the name of Boadicea. There is no resemblance between these coins and those usually discovered in the district inhabited by the Iceni; and all the recorded places where the BODVOC coins have been found are on the opposite side of England. The type and fabric of the coins are also against the attribution of them to Boadicea, whose revolt did not take place until A.D. 61 ; whereas these coins, if struck in the district of the Iceni, could not be later than the time of Cunobeline, because their reverse is very like some of the uninscribed coins which, from their weight and fabric, are evidently anterior to his reign.
But, in addition to these reasons, derived from the coins them- selves, there are historical difficulties in the way of the attribution of these coins to Boadicea. From the account of her given by Tacitus, it is evident that her reign, if reign it is to be called, was of very short duration; and it is extremely improbable that she should have coined money (a privilege which there is nothing to show that her husband Prasutagus ever exercised), when her every effort must have been directed to the subversion of the Roman power.
While Mr. Evans rejects the attribution of these coins to Boadicea, he confesses himself unable to offer a decisive opinion as to their real origin. As, however, their recorded places of discovery are all in the district supposed to have been inhabited by the ancient Boduni or Dobuni, he infers some connection between the name of that tribe and the inscription on the coins ; but whether it was in- tended simply to typify the name of the people, or to indicate that of one of their princes, whose name bore an allusion to that of the tribe over which he reigned, must be a matter of conjecture.
3. A letter from Mr. C. Roach Smith, accompanying a list of Roman coins, recently dug up on the property of the Duston Iron
6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Ore Company, near Northampton. A small Roman vase was found with the coins. Mr. Pretty, of Northampton, in sending the coins to Mr. Smith for examination, states it as his conjecture that at Duston the Romans had a halting-place, it heing about midway between the site of Benavenna and the station at Irchester. He had found Roman remains and coins of Tetricus at some little distance from the spot where the Company are excavating, which is in the south-east part of the parish, on the borders of Harding- stone, a locality rich in Roman, and probably in Saxon and Danish remains.
The coins found were as follows : —
Claudius, second brass . . 1
Severus, denarius ... 1
Gordian III. „ . . . 1
Gallienus, small brass . . 1
Victorinus ,, . . 1
Tetricus, sen. ,, . . 2
Tetricus, jun. ,, 2
Claudius II. 1
Constantino, small brass . 4
jun. „ . 2
Helena „ . 2
Delmatius ,, . 1
Constantino family ,, . 5
Magnentius ,, .1
Gratianus „ .2
Illegible ,, .4
Carausius ,, 5
The types are all common ; the least so is one of Carausius, with Rev. COMES AVGGG; in the field, SP; in the exergue, C.
Mr. Pfister exhibited a silver medallion of Michael Angelo Bonar- roti. On the obverse is represented the bust of the great artist at the advanced age of 88; within, the inscription MICHAEL. AN- GEL VS. BONARROTVS. FLOR. (entinus), JES. (^Etatis), ANN. 88. The reverse exhibits the figure of a blind man walking, with a staff in his right hand, led by a dog. A gourd bottle is hanging from his right arm, and he appears to be on the brink of a precipice. The words of the inscription round the figure are taken from Psalm li. 13 — "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." Under the arm of the bust, on the obverse, is LEO, the name of the eminent coteniporary goldsmith and sculptor, Cavalier Leo Leoni, of Arezzo, who is the author of this fine medallion, trade in 1562.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.
DECEMBER 21, 1854. JOHN B. BERGNE, ESQ., Treasurer, in the Chair.
The following presents table:—
were announced, and laid upon the
Bulletins de 1'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux Arts de Belgique. Part 3 for 1853, completing Vol. XX., and Part 1 of Vol. XXL, 1854; and the An- nexe aux Bulletins, 1853-4. 8vo. Brussels, 1853-4.
Annuaire de 1'Academie Royale de Belgique. 12mo. pp. 180. Brussels, 1854.
Publications de la Societ£ pour la recherche et la conservation des Monuraens Historiques du Grand Duche de Luxembourg. 6 parts, 1848 to 1853. 4to. many plates. Luxem- bourg, 1847-52.
Bulletins de la Soei4t6 Arche"ologique de 1'Orleannois. Nos. 12 and 13. 8vo. Or- leans, 1853.
Etudes Numismatiques sur une partie du Nord-est de la France. Par C. Robert. 4to. pp. 251, and 18 plates. Metz, 1852.
Considerations sur la monnaie a 1'^poque Ro- mane, et description de quelques Triens Me'rovingiens. Par C. Robert. 8vo. pp. 60, and 1 plate. Metz, 1851.
Tiers de Sou d'Or inedit. Par C. Robert. 8vo. pp. 7, and 1 plate.
La Numismatique Merovingienne conside're'e dans ses Rapports avec la Geographic. Par C. Robert. 8vo. pp. 12.
Tiers de Sol d'Or frappe a Mauriac. Par C. Robert. 8vo. pp. 8. Blois, 1846.
Monnaies de Louis de Montpensier, Prince de Dombes, 1560-1582. Par C. Robert. 8vo. pp.3.
PRESENTED BY
THE ACADEMY.
DITTO.
THE SOCIETY.
DITTO.
THE AUTHOR.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Extrait d'une lettre addresse" :\ 1'Academie Grand-Ducale de Luxembourg. Par C. Robert. 8vo. p. 7. Metz.
Monnaie de Bourbourg. Par C. Robert. 8vo. pp.4.
Monnaies Me"rovingiennes de la Collection de feu M. Renault de Vancouleurs. 8vo. pp. 40, and 2 plates.
Description de cinq Monnaies Francaises in- e"dites trouv^es dans le Cimetiere Mero- vingien d'Envermeu. Par E. Thomas. 8vo. pp.49, and 2 plates. Dieppe, 1854.
Notice sur les Tombes Gallo-Frankes du Grand
Duclie" de Luxembourg. Par M. A. Namur.
4to. pp. 37, and 3 plates. Luxembourg,
1853. Sur les Fouilles pratique"es a Jort pendant les
Anndcs 1852-3. Par M. A. Charma. 8vo.
pp. 38, and 1 plate. Caen, 1854.
Jahrbiicher des Vereins von Alterthums- freunden im Rheinlande (Annual of the Society of Antiquaries of the Rhine), Nos. 20 and 21. 8vo. Bonn, 1853-4.
Miscellanea Graphica. A collection of ancient, mediaeval, and renaissance remains, in the possession of the Lord Londesborough, illus- trated by F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A. No. 3. Royal 4to. 4 plates.
Lettre si M. Reinaud, Membre de 1'Institut de France, sur quelques Medailles Uoulagouides. By Dr. W. H. Scott. 8vo. pp. 18, and 1 plate.
Historical Notices of the Royal and Archi- episcopal Mints and Coinages at York. By Robert Davies, Esq., F.S.A. 8vo. pp. 79. York, 1854.
PRESENTED BY
THE AUTHOR.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
THE SOCIETY.
LOUD LONDES-
BOKOUQH.
THE AUTHOR.
DITTO.
Mr. C. Roach Smith exhibited a mould for casting Roman large brass coins, found at Caistor in Northamptonshire. He remarked that this is the only existence of a mould having been found, in- tended for casting Roman coins of so large a size.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 9
Mr. Evans read a paper, derived from Kundmann's Nummi Sin- gulares, on the errors committed at various times by engravers entrusted with the execution of dies for coins and medals. Some of those errors are of a ludicrous nature, as, for instance, where Fer- dinand the Second was described as a D.D. Mr. Evans also enu- merated instances in which virtues had been superstitiously ascribed to certain coins, as preservatives from gunshot wounds, or from fever, dysentery, and other diseases.
Mr. Vaux read a paper communicated by Dr. Bell, containing an abridgment from the German account, by Mr. Frederic Hahn, of a remarkable find of coins and ornaments, which took place at Len- gerich, in Hanover, in the spring of 1847. Under a stone were first found a large number of denarii, extending from Trajan to Septimius Severus (A.D. 98 to 211). Further search having been excited by this discovery, under another stone was found a hoard of 10 gold coins of Constantine, together with some gold orna- ments ; and under a third stone 70 denarii of Magnentius, with a silver medallion of Constantius, and some denarii of Maxentius. The most curious feature of the find is, the wide interval of time which separates the coins found under the first stone from those discovered under the other two, and which leads to the conclusion that, although deposited in close proximity to each other, they were two distinct hoards, concealed at different periods.
JANUARY 25, 1855. CHARLES ROACH SMITH, Esq., in the Chair.
The following presents were announced, and laid upon the
table:—
PRESENTED BY
Periodische Blatter des Geschichts und Alter- thums Vereine zu Cassel, Darmstadt, Frank-
furt a.M., Mainz, und Wiesbaden (Journal gf the Society of History and Antiquity of Cassel. etc.). Nos. 1, 2, 3. 1854.
THE SOCIETY.
10
PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Vol. I. Part 2. Small 4to. pp. 219, etchings and wood-cuts. Edinburgh, 1854.
Journal of the Archaeological, Architectural, and Historic Society of the County, City, and Neighbourhood of Chester. Part 3. January to December, 1852. 8vo. with plates and etchings. Chester, 1 854.
Journal of the Photographic Society. Con- j tinuation up to No. 26. 8vo. )
Annual Report of the Art Union of London 1 for 1854, and their Almanack for 1855. j
Result of the Excavations on Brightstone and Bowcombe Downs, Isle of Wight, in Au- gust, 1854. By C. Hillier. Small 4to. pp. 7, and 2 plates.
PRESENTED BY
THE SOCIETY.
DITTO.
DITTO.
DITTO.
THE AUTHOR.
Mr. Evans exhibited a third brass coin of Constantino the Great, having a Cufic inscription stamped across the field.
Mr. C. Roach Smith exhibited a denarius of Domitia, having for the type of the reverse a temple, without any legend, which is un- published and probably unique. Its condition was, unfortunately, very indifferent.
Mr. Pfister read a paper on an inedited and unique silver coin of Odoacer, king of Italy, A.D. 476 — 493, struck at Ravenna, which he exhibited.
Obv. — AVTOGVAC. Paludated bust to the right, with diadem. Rev. — RAVE •{• in a wreath.
The general appearance of the type ie similar to that of the denarii of the lower Roman empire.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 11
Mr. Pfister's paper is published in full in No. 67 of the Numis- matic Chronicle. At the conclusion of it, he observed that this remarkable coin may be regarded as the first in the mediaeval series. Odoacer, having put to death Orestes and having taken the Em- peror Romulus Augustus prisoner, really terminated the Empire of the West, A.D. 476; and from this event the period usually called the Middle Ages properly begins.
FEBRUARY 22, 1855. Dr. LEE in the Chair.
William Freudenthal, Esq., M.D., was ballotted for, and elected into the Society.
Dr. Lee exhibited a bronze medal, struck in honour of Olbers, the discoverer of the planets Vesta and Pallas.
Mr. Vaux read a paper, by Richard Sainthill, Esq., of Cork, on an unpublished pattern rupee of William IV., of the date 1834, engraved by the late William Wyon, R.A., which Mr. Sainthill procured at the sale of the coins of the late Mr. Cuff. After giving a sketch of the different coinages made in India, under the authority of the East India Company, which appear to have commenced about the year 1725, and to have borne the names and titles of the nominal native sovereign until recent times, he proceeds to describe the pattern in question. The obverse bears the portrait of King Wil- liam IV., like that on the coins of England, with the Latin legend, Gulielmus IIII. D.G. Britanniar. Rex F.D. The reverse has a light and elegant wreath, within which, beneath an open lotus flower, is inscribed " One Rupee, 1 834." Above the wreath are the words " East India Company." Below, the denomination, one rupee, is repeated in three languages— Sanscrit, Persian, and Bengalee. Its weight is 7 dwt. 11-^ grains. Only two or three specimens of this pattern were struck. The coin actually issued by the East India
12 PROCEEDINGS OP THE
Company was of very inferior execution, having more the appearance of a cast than of a struck coin. Mr. Sain thill's paper, with an engraving of the coin, which he furnished at his own expense, will appear in the Numismatic Chronicle.
Mr. Vaux also read another paper by Mr. Sainthill, on a penny of Henry III., lately acquired by him, struck from obverse and reverse dies belonging to different coinages. Pennies of this king are engraved in Ruding and Hawkins, in which the obverse legend,- H6NRICVS REX ANG., is continued on the reverse, thus — LIE TERCI LON, or LVN ; and Mr. Sainthill himself had, in his Olla Podrida, Vol. II., PI. 29, No. 6, published another variety of extreme rarity, if not unique, reading on the obverse HENRICVS REX, and on the reverse ANGLIE TERCI. The penny now described is, as to reverse, of type similar to those just mentioned, but reading ANGLIE TERCIS (probably for TERCIVS), but, as to obverse, of type No. 287 of Hawkins, reading HENRICVS REX III., clearly belonging to a different, and, probably, subsequent coinage.
MARCH 22, 1855. JOHN B. BERONE, ESQ., Treasurer, in the Chair.
William Freud enthal, Esq., M.D. (elected at the last meeting), •was admitted a member of the Society.
Mr. C. Roach Smith exhibited a remarkably fine and patinated imperial Greek coin, of the large brass size, of Caracalla, struck at Perinthus. Obv. His bust, both laureated and radiated. Rev. A galley, with the sail spread (Mionnet, Sup., Vol. II., p. 420, Nos. 1295-6). This rare coin was found a short time since, during ex- cavations made near the Tower of London.
Mr. Roach Smith also exhibited an ancient leaden piece, struck from the dies of the penny of William I. or II., of the type No. 246
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 13
of Hawkins. It was found at Walbrook, in the City of London, and is now in Mr. Smith's collection.
Mr. Evans exhibited two copper coins of Cunobeline, in singularly fine preservation. The one presented on the obverse a galeated head to the right, with the legend CVNOBELINVS ; and on the reverse, a sow standing to the right, with the legend TASCIIO- VANII, and apparently the letter F in the exergue (Ruding, PI. 5, No. 23). The other bore on the obverse a laureated head to the left, with the legend CVNOBELINI ; and on the reverse, a centaur blowing a horn, TASCIOVANI.F (Ruding, PI. 5, No. 17). The workmanship of these coins is of a superior order to that of the generality of British coins, and conveys the impression that the dies were the production of Roman artists. If this were the case, there can be but little doubt that Mr. Birch's interpretation of the legend of the reverse, as intended for TASCIOVANI FILIVS, is correct, especially when the analogy of contemporary Roman coins bearing the legend AVGVSTVS DIVI F, and the remarkable resemblance between the laureated head of Cunobeline in the second of the coins above described, and the laureated head of Augustus on his denarii, are taken into consideration.
Mr. Vaux read a paper on the history of the Grseco- Bactrian kings, illustrated by the numismatic discoveries of the last twenty years. This paper is chiefly a translation by Dr. Scott, from the second volume of Lassen's Indische Alter tlmmskunde. After giving a sketch of the boundaries and physical aspect of ancient Bactria, and al- luding to its importance, as shown by the fact of Alexander the Great founding eight, or even twelve cities in it, the paper proceeds to state that it would have been deeply interesting to know certainly how far Hellenism coalesced with the native cultivation, or what efforts it made to maintain itself there ; but the details of the history of the Bactrian Greeks are for ever lost. The passages yet extant concerning the fate of the Greek kingdom in Bactria and India are scattered and isolated in different writers, and would, when united, give a very imperfect account of it, if we had no other sources of information. The coins, of which so large a variety have been dis-
14 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
covered in recent times, form our principal source of information ; and although they do not expressly lay before us in words the events of the period, yet, by their legends and types, they assure us of the existence of persons and then* deeds with the same exactitude as written accounts. The bulk of the paper is then occupied with an examination of the passages in ancient writers respecting the Grseco- Bactrian kingdom, as illustrated by the coinage of its kings.
April 26, 1855. The LORD LONDESBOROUGH, President, in the Chair.
The following presents were announced, and laid upon the tablet-
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. ) _,
ir i WTT T> _i. c ru uv IOCK f THE ACADEMY.
Vol. XXII., Part 5. 4to. Dublin, 1855. j
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy for ) the year 1853—54. Vol. VI., Part 1. 8vo. j D
Transactions de la Socie'te' des Antiquaires de ]
Normandie. Vol. XX., Parts 2, 3. 1854. \ THE SOCIETY. 4to. )
Miscellanea Graphica. Part 4 (in continua- ) LORD LONDES- tion). BOROUGH.
Collectanea Antiqua. Vol. IV., Part 1. By C. Roach Smith, Esq.
Letter on the Prospects of the Society of Antiquaries. By the Rev. Henry Christmas. Svo. 1855.
Ueber die Miinzen Graubundens. (On the 1
Coins of the Grisons.) By Joseph Berg- > DR. SCOTT. mann. Svo. pp. 47. Vienna, 1851.
Numismatische Zeitung, 1852 — 53. 4to. Weis- ) D sensee in Thuringia.
THE AUTHOR.
DITTO.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 15
Mr. Evans read a paper on the coins of Cunobeline with the legend TASCIOVANI . F. After remarking that there are few difficulties in numismatic pursuits in which greater difference of opinion has been entertained, than the interpretation of the TASCIA legend upon the coins of Cunobeline, he noticed the various sig- nifications which have been conjecturally attached to it. Some have thought it to mean tribute-money ; others, that it is the name of the moneyer of Cunobeline; or a title equivalent to that of IMPERATOR. Another and more modern interpretation, which appears best supported by facts, and has met with the most general acceptance, is that of Mr. Birch, who considers it to represent the name of the father of Cunobeline, which, from the more lengthened inscriptions upon some of the coins, he judges to have been TASCIOVANVS, or rather TASCIOVAN. Mr. Evans considers that the points necessary to be attended to in attempting to determine the question of the interpretation of this legend ought to be : 1st. The facts of the case as far as the coins themselves are concerned; that is to say, the correct readings of the different modifications of the word TASCIO. ,2ndly. A careful comparison of the coins with that word only upon them, with those upon which it appears in conjunction with the name of Cunobeline. 3rdly. An investigation of the style of art and workmanship of the coins, with a view to determine whether they are the work of native or of foreign artists, and of the sources from whence the various types have been derived, whether indigenous or foreign. 4thly. A con- sideration of the political history of Britain at the period when these coins were struck, in order to estimate the amount of foreign influence upon the customs of the country. These points Mr. Evans discusses in the body of his paper, and concludes by expressing his opinion, that our present knowledge seems to bear out the pro- bability of Mr. Birch's conjecture as to the interpretation of the legend in question. The paper will appear in full in the Numismatic Chronicle.
Mr. Pfister read a paper on a very rare silver coin, the Denaro
PROCEEDINGS OP THE
d'Argentd of Berengarius II., king of Italy, in conjunction with his son Albertus, or Adalbertus, as co-regent, A.D. 950 — 962.
Obv. +BERENGARIV; in the field, REX.
Rev. In two lines, PAPIA, Pavia, the place of mintage ; around it, +ALBERTVS RX.
This coin is of extreme rarity, and was acquired by Mr. Pfister, by exchange, from the Royal Collection at Turin, where there were two from the same die. A third example, somewhat differing, is in the collection at the Vatican. He observed that the character and form of the coin were almost identical with those of Hugo, king of Italy, A.D. 931 to 945, on which his name and that of his son Lo- tharius are, in like manner, inscribed respectively upon the two sides of the coin.
Mr. Pfister illustrated the coin by an historical summary of the events of the reign of Berengarius, which will be published in the Chronicle.
Mr. Vaux read a paper descriptive of two interesting coins. The first was one recently acquired by the British Museum, and bearing upon it the name of the celebrated city of Nineveh. Though ex- tremely rare, it is not absolutely unique, a specimen having been described by Sestini.
Obv. Head of the Emperor Trajan, IMP. TRAIAN. CAE. AVG. GER.
Rev. An eagle with expanded wings between military standards, COL. AVG. FELL NINI. CLAV.
There is no reason to doubt that the coin was struck to commem- morate the foundation of a Roman colony at this place by the Emperor Claudius.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 17
The other coin was an autonomous one of the town of Termessus in Pisidia, and is believed to be unique. It is in the possession of Mr. Finlay of Athens, by whom the cast produced had been sent to this country.
Obv. The bearded head of Zeus Solymeus to the right : TGPMICCeflN; below, 9.
Rev. An inscription within an olive wreath, the meaning of which is discussed at some length in Mr. Vaux's paper, which will be published in the Numismatic Chronicle.
Both coins are of copper, about the size of Roman middle brass.
MAY 24, 1855. DR. LEE in the Chair.
Mr. Evans read a paper on some rare and unpublished British coins. One of them is of gold, weighing 82 grains, something resembling that engraved in the Plate in Vol. VII. of the Numis- matic Chronicle, page 16 of the " Proceedings," but with the legend MMIOS in front of the horse, instead of TIN over it. Mr. Evans conceives, that the legend in its complete state was COMMIOS or TINCOMMIOS. The next coin is also in gold, of small size, weighing 17| grains. Obv. COMF on a sunk tablet; Rev. TIN, a bridled horse prancing to the right. Mr. Evans attributes this to a son of Commios or Comius. The other coins described are new types of Tasciovanus, and of those bearing the legend VER — VIR or VIIR, and most probably struck at Verulam. Mr. Evans' paper, with an illustrative plate, will appear in an early number of the Chronicle.
Mr. Bergne read a paper on a small parcel of the coins called Counterfeit, or, more properly, Foreign Sterlings, which had been sent to him for examination by Mr. Sainthill, by whom nearly all of them were procured together some years ago from a dealer at Cork.
18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
They comprised specimens of Guido, Bishop of Cambray, 1296 to 1306; John II., Count of Hainault, 1280 to 1304; Arnold, Count of Loos, 1280 to 1323; Guido, Count of Flanders, 1280 to 1305, and Marquis of Namur, 1263 to 1297; Robert HL, Count of Flanders, 1305 to 1322; John, Duke of Limburg and Brabant, probably the second of that name, who ruled from 1294 to 1312; John de Louvain, probably the same personage as the one last men- tioned; Bishop Hugo, probably the prelate of that name who was Bishop of Liege from 1296 to 1301 ; Gualcher, Count of Porcien in 1308 ; and Gualeran, Lord of Ligny at the close of the thirteenth century. There were also a few other pieces of doubtful attribution, and one or two with unintelligible legends, evidently intended, from their general resemblance to the English penny of Edward I., to pass as such among a population, few of whom were possessed of sufficient learning to detect the imposition. Mr. Bergne stated that this paper, if published in the Numismatic Chronicle, would form a kind of supplement to that by Mr. Hawkins on a very similar parcel of coins discovered near Kirkcudbright, which appeared in Vol. XIII., p. 86.
Mr. Vaux exhibited casts of some coins lately acquired by the British Museum, and read a paper descriptive of them.
1. Apodacus, King of Characene. At. Size, 8|. Weight, 241. 7 grs.
2. Kamnascires and his Queen Anzaze. .41. Size, 8. Weight, 229.3 grs.
3. Another specimen, differing in the legend and details. At. Size, 7£. Weight, 230.5 grs.
These two coins were procured during the year 1852, during the survey of the boundary between Turkey and Persia, conducted by Colonel Williams, and are believed to be unique.
4. A barbarous coin of Characene. At. Size, 9. Weight, 140.2 grs.
5. A coin of a Satrap of Bactria. .41. Size, 7$. Weight, 256.5 grs.
6. Another coin of the same class ; but it seems probable that it
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 19
is a cast. It has been published by the Duke de Luynes, who thinks it a copy of a coin which has now disappeared.
7, 8. Two silver coins, of the class termed sub-Parthian, which were exhibited in illustration of the two preceding.
9. A silver Daric, exhibited to illustrate an inscription lately found at Susa by Mr. Loftus.
10, 11. Two coins, in copper, of Seleucus I. One, size 2|, lately procured from Colonel Rawlinson ; the other, size 2J, came from the Devonshire Collection.
12, 13. Two silver coins of Molon, Satrap of Media. One in silver, size 4^ : the other in copper, size 5.
14. A remarkably fine specimen of an unascertained coin, attri- buted to Aradus, which was purchased at the sale of Mr. Loscombe's Collection. It is of silver, size 8, weighing 395 grains. The obverse represents a chariot drawn by two horses, in which the king is standing; behind is an attendant. Reverse. A galley on waves. A few others are known of the same size ; but this is far more perfect.
Mr. Pfister exhibited a fine medal of Erasmus, made by the cele- brated Quentin Matsys, one of whose works exists in this country in the celebrated iron- work tomb of Edward IV. in St. George's Chapel at Windsor. The medal, which is of bronze, size 10|, represents, on the obverse, the bust of Erasmus to the left, in a cap and a robe faced with fur. In the field, ER[asmus] ROT[eroda- mus]; and around, IMAGO AT VIVA EFFIGIE EXPRESSA, 1531. Reverse. The device of Erasmus, namely, the deity of boundaries, inscribed TERM1NVS. In the field of the medal, CONCEDO NULLI; and around, MORS ULTIMA LINEA RERUM.
20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
JUNE 28, 1855.
ANNIVERSARY MEETING. JOHN B. BKRGNE, ESQ., Treasurer, in the Chair.
At the meeting of the Society held on this day, its Seventeenth Anniversary, the following Report from the Council was presented and read : —
Since the last anniversary the Society has lost two of its members by death, namely, Thomas Crofton Croker, Esq., F.S.A., and William Devonshire Saull, Esq., F.S.A.
Mr. Croker was born at Cork on the 15th of January, 1798. He was the son of Major Thomas Croker, of the 38th Regiment, who was descended from an ancient family of that name in Devonshire. He probably received his education at Cork, and at the age of 15 was apprenticed to a respectable Quaker firm in that city. On the death of his father, which took place on the 22nd of March, 1818, the interest of the widow was exerted with Mr. John Wilson Croker, the Secretary of the Admiralty, who was a friend of the family, though not a relation, as has generally been supposed from the identity of name. Through his good offices, Mr. Crofton Croker was appointed a clerk in the Admiralty Office in July fol- lowing. There he passed through the various gradations until he became one of the senior clerks ; and in February, 1850, retired on a pension, after a service of nearly thirty-two years.
He possessed from his boyhood a taste for antiquities ; and in the course of his life accumulated a considerable museum, which was dispersed by auction shortly after his decease. He published, either as author or editor, a considerable number of works ; one of the principal of which, and that by which he is perhaps best known, is " Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland," the
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY, 21
first series of which appeared in 1825, and a second in 1827. In 1824, he published his " Researches in the South of Ireland." In 1839, he edited for the Camden Society a volume in their series, entitled " Narratives illustrative of Contests in Ireland in 1641 and 1690." He also edited several of the publications of the Percy Society, and was the author of many contributions to the different annuals.
He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy. He was one of the original members of the Archaeological Association ; and on the disruption which took place in 1845, adhered to the Society which still bears that name, and for a time held the office of one of its secretaries, but ultimately withdrew from it. He died at Old Brompton on the 8th of August, 1854.
Mr. Saull, who will be remembered as one of the most constant attendants at our meetings, was a Fellow of the Society of Anti- quaries and of the Geological Society. He was well known as the possessor of a valuable museum of geological specimens, chiefly collected by himself, which he threw open one day in every week to the public, and which he took great pleasure in exhibiting and explaining. His death took place on the 26th of April, 1855.
The only death which the Council are aware of having taken place among the list of foreign Associates of the Society, is that of M. Adolphe Duchalais, the Assistant Curator in the Cabinet of Medals in the Imperial Library at Paris, well known in this country as the author of a work published at Paris in 1846, entitled " De*- scription des M6dailles Gauloises faisant partie des Collections de la Bibliotheque Royale."
Only one member has been added to the Society by election during the Session, William Freudenthal, Esq. On the other hand, two members have withdrawn ; and the Council have been under the necessity of striking out the names of four others, from whom for several years they have received no support of any kind.
22 PROCEEDINGS OP THE
The numerical state of the Society is now as follows : —
Original. Elected. Honorary. Associates. Total. June, 1854 30 52 3 47 132
Since elected — 1 — — 1
Deceased Resigned Struck out
June, 1855
The Council annex the customary statement from the Treasurer, of the income and expenditure of the Society for the past year. They regret to perceive that the Balance is less by ten pounds than it was at the corresponding period of last year, notwithstanding only three numbers of the Numismatic Chronicle have been paid for during the year, instead of four.
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*4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
The Council have been furnished with an ample supply of papers for the meetings of the Society. The following have been read ; and the principal of them either have been or will be published in the Chronicle.
1. On the monetary standards of Ancient Greece. By Colonel Leake.
2. On British coins inscribed BODVOC : — 3. On the errors com- mitted at different times by the engravers of the dies for coins and medals : — 4. On some recently acquired coins of Cunobeline : —
5. On coins of Cunobeline with the legend TASCIOVANI . F : —
6. On some rare and unpublished British coins. By Mr. Evans.
7. On a discovery of Roman gold and silver coins near Lengerich, together with some fibulae and armillae, apparently early German. By Dr. Bell.
8. On an unpublished pattern rupee of William IV. : — 9. On the pennies of Henry III. By Mr. Sainthill.
10. On Bactrian coins. By Dr. Scott.
11. On two coins of Nineveh and Termessus : — 12. On some curious coins lately acquired by the British Museum. By Mr. Vaux.
13. On a medal of Michael Angelo: — 14. On an unedited and unique coin of Odoacer, King of Italy: — 15. On a rare coin of Berengarius, King of Italy : — 16. On a medal of Erasmus, executed by Quentin Matsys. By Mr. Pfister.
17. On a hoard of foreign or counterfeit Sterlings. By Mr. Bergne.
The following presents have been made to the Society by its members and friends : The Royal Academy of Sciences
of Brussels, Their Publications.
The Society of Antiquaries of
Picardy, Ditto.
The Society of Antiquaries of
Normandy, Ditto.
The Society for the Preservation
of National Monuments in
Luxemburg, Ditto.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY.
The Historical and Antiquarian Society of Cassel,
The Royal Irish Academy, The Royal Asiatic Society,
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,
The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle,
The Archaeological and Historic Society of Chester,
The Photographic Society, The Art Union, Lord Londesborough,
C. Roach Smith, Esq., Dr. Scott,
Jos. Mayer, Esq., J. Yates, Esq.,
Mons. C. Robert, Mons. Hahn, Mons. E. Thomas, Mons. A. Charma, Mons. Namur,
Robert Davies, Esq.,
Their Publications. Ditto. Ditto.
Their Proceedings. Archseolrgia ^Eliana.
Their Journal.
Ditto. Their Report and Almanack.
Continuation of the work, entitled " Miscellanea Graphica."
Continuation of his work, entitled " Collectanea Antiqua."
Various Numismatic Tract? and Catalogues.
Ditto.
A Tract on the French System of Money and Weights.
Various works on French numis- matics.
Account of a find of Coins, etc. at Lengerich, in Hanover.
Account of Unpublished French Coins found at Envermeu.
Account of Researches made at Jort during the years 1852 — 3.
Notice of some Gallo-Frankish Tombs in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
Historical Notices of the Mints of York.
26 PROCEEDINGS OF THE
Rev. H. Christmas, Letter on the Prospects of the
Society of Antiquaries.
C. Hillier, Esq., Tract on the result of Excava-
tions in the Isle of Wight.
R. Sainthill, Esq., 250 Copies of an Engraving of a
Pattern Rupee of William IV. to illustrate his paper thereon.
J. Mayer, Esq., A Medal struck to commemo-
rate the opening of St. George's Hall at Liverpool.
The Report was read, and ordered to be printed.
The Meeting then proceeded to ballot for the Officers and Council for the ensuing year; and the lists having been examined, it ap- peared that the election had fallen upon the following gentlemen : —
President. W. S. W. VAUX, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A., F.R.A.S.
Vice- Presidents.
EDWARD HAWKINS, ESQ., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.L.S. THE LORD LONDESBOROUGH, K.C.H., F.S.A.
Treasurer. JOHN BRODRIBB BBRGNE, Esq., F.S.A.
Secretaries.
JOHN EVANS, ESQ., F.S.A. R. S. POOLE, ESQ.
Foreign Secretary. JOHN YONGE AKERMAN, ESQ., F.S.A.
Librarian. JOHN WILLIAMS, ESQ.
NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. x
Members of the Council. WILLIAM BRICE, Esq. THOMAS BROWN, ESQ. MAJOR CUNNINGHAM, Bengal Engineers. REV. THOMAS FREEEIUCK DYMOCK. FREDERICK W. FAIKHOLT, F.S.A. W. D. HAGGARD, ESQ., F.S.A., F.R.A.S. JOHN LEE, ESQ., LL.D., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.R.A.S. J. G. PFISTER, ESQ. REV. J. B. READS, M.A., F.R.S. W. H. ROLFE, ESQ. C. ROACH SMITH, ESQ., F.S.A.
H. H.WILSON, ESQ., F.R.S., President of the Royal Asiatic Society, and Boden Professor of Sanscrit, Oxford.
The Society then adjourned to Thursday, the 29th of November.
•'.'•I
Num. Ckron,. Vol JTVJff. p 1.
"W F MlDer dell-' &. Sculp* .
MESOPOTAMIAN COINS
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
i.
NOTICE OF SOME REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA.
IT is now many years since Dr. Combe discovered in the rich collection of Dr. Hunter two coins hitherto unknown, bearing legends which appeared to him to be Palmy rene. Woide agreed with him, and published them in the sixth volume of the Archseologia, p. 130, accompanied by a short Latin letter explaining the first only of the coins, according to the readings of Dr. Combe. Unfortunately, however, Dr. Combe's readings are vitiated by the cir- cumstance, that he held the coin in the wrong direction, and read the legends upside down. The second coin is also inverted in the engraving.
No particular attention appears to have been bestowed on this letter, and the coins have remained, so far as I have been able to find, unnoticed by numismatists. An exception must indeed be made as regards the latter, Sestini having mentioned similar coins, but without re- ferring to the engraving in the Archseologia, which he seems not to have known.1
1 Descriptio numorum veterum, 1797, p. 553.
VOL. XVIII. B
2 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
Some time ago, while examining the Mesopotamian and Sub-Parthian coins preserved in the British Museum, I noticed two coins similar to the first of those given by Woide. I shortly afterwards observed a coin, as yet un- published, on one side of which was seen the same head, which occurs on No. 1 of Woide, accompanied by the same legend ; on the other, the head of a Parthian king. Such an appearance was well calculated to excite my curiosity, and having, by the kindness of Mr. Burgon, received impressions of these and other coins, I attempted to decipher them. In this I have succeeded, so far at least as relates to the attribution of the coins. In order to fill up the plate, I have caused to be engraved several uncer- tain coins from the same collection, for the opportunity of obtaining casts of which I am indebted to my friend Mr. Poole. Although I am unable to clear up the diffi- culties connected with their attribution, others may be more successful. The engravings have been executed under my inspection, from wax impressions or sulphur casts, and I can vouch for their fidelity.
The first of these coins, No. 1, is that first engraved by Woide. It has on obverse —
Obv. — Bare male head, with hair arranged in short curls, and with a short beard, to left. Before the head a word of four letters ; behind, a word of three only. A garland surrounds the whole.
Rev. — A side view of a distyle temple. On the front, a star of three rays, two horizontal, one perpendicular. Within the temple, a large square object, appa- rently placed on a table.3 The legend here also is
8 On No. 3, from the Ilunterian Museum, the square object is evidently a shrine with folding doors, each divided into two compartments. This may be indistinctly seen on the plate,
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 3
composed of two words, one of four letters, one of three. M, 4 . . 2 British Museum, 2 Hunter Museum.
On one of the Hunterian coins, for an impression of which, as well as of the second coin engraved, but not described, by Woide, I have to thank Professor Ramsay of Glasgow : the reverse legend is so arranged that we must read from the outside, turning the coin, although on the obverse the legend is arranged as on the coin No. 1, so as to be read at one view. One of the Museum coins, on the contrary, arranges the reverse legend in the same way as the obverse one, in two parallel lines to be read at one view, appearing thus to reverse the arrangement of the words.
The next coin, No. 2, has precisely the same obverse, on a somewhat larger scale.
Rev. — Bust to left of a Parthian king, with a conical cap, apparently set with rays. Behind the head, B. JE. 5 British Museum.
The head upon this coin bears a very strong resem- blance to that found upon the very curious coin explained by Mr. Thomas.3 This coin has been classed to Ar- saces XXVII. Vologeses III., and it certainly resembles very much the portrait found on the tetradrachms known to belong to that sovereign.4 It will be seen, however, that the head upon the coin ' I describe above can only be
but is not well marked on the coin itself. I only ascertained this after the plate was engraved.
3 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. XII., p. 97.
4 Lindsay, Plate 6, No. 29 ; or Pellerin, Troisieme Supplement, Platel,Nos.O,7,8.
4 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
that of Arsaces XXVI., Vologeses II., who reigned from 121 to 148, A.D. This may seem to render somewhat uncertain the attribution of the other coin, from the great resemblance between them.5 I leave this question, how- ever, undecided, sufficient materials perhaps not as yet existing for its solution. In attempting the decipherment of the legends occurring on this and on other coins of Mesopotamia, I naturally turned my attention towards the old Syrian alphabets. These I may proceed to men- tion as follows: There are several varieties of the so-called Palmyrene, but which should be rather called old Syriac, as found with but slight modifications in different districts of Syria. The ordinary, or true Palmyrene, will be found in the 48th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, as explained by Swinton : the alphabet may be consulted in the Monumenta Phoenicia of Gesenius, Tab. 5. A modi- fication of this alphabet occurs on a stone from Teive, or Teibe, which I suppose is the El-teyibeh laid down in the maps as N.E. from Tadmor. The stone having been brought to England, we have what may be supposed an authentic copy by Swinton in the 56th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, p. 4. Two bas-reliefs preserved in the Vatican, which have been often published, but perhaps with the greatest care by M. Lajard,6 in the 20th volume of the Memoires de 1'Academie des Belles Lettres, 1854, pi. ii. and iii., furnish another modifi-
6 Thomas, loc. cit., Plate, No. 1. Pellerin, foe. tit., No. 13.
6 Lajard, Memoire sur la culte du Cypres. Mem. Acad. B. L., vol. xx., 1854. The first, or that of Claudius Felix, is engraved on Plates i. ii., and explained at p. 16. The second, that conse- crated to Aglibol and Malachbel, is engraved on Plate iii., and explained at p. 46 ; both are deciphered by the Duke de Luynes.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. O
cation of the Syriac alphabet. Next, I may mention the Estranghelo, or old Syriac alphabet, which I quote from the work of Klaproth Aperqu sur Vorigine des Ecritures diverses. The Hierosolymitan and Nestorian alphabets are also to be found in Klaproth. The Sabsean is to be found there, or in a paper by Norberg, in the 3rd volume of the Commentationes Gottingenses. I have not attempted to arrange these alphabets according to their respective antiquity, or I should have sooner mentioned the Aramaean alphabet, as found on the Carpentras stone, or on some fragments of papyrus, given by Gesenius, whose alphabet will be found on tab. 4 of the work already mentioned. Almost all these alphabets may be found to the greatest advantage in the work of Kopp, Bilder und Schriften, vol. ii. In particular, his account of the Sabsean is to be preferred to that of Norberg. The various forms of the Semitic alphabet are given in a comparative alphabet, p. 377, seq.
The sheets containing the alphabets of the Vienna Press also contain several of the alphabets to which I have occasion to refer, as does the " Alphabete" of Ball- horn. The Kabbinical or cursive Hebrew alphabets de- serve also to be taken into any general comparison, since, as they are cursive modifications of the ordinary Hebrew, which is nothing but a carefully and elaborately written Palmyrene character, it is natural that these alphabets should, as they often do, return to the original type, and show us how other modifications have arisen.7
7 Several of the alphabets to which I have referred may be more conveniently, perhaps, consulted in the Plate to be found in Chevalier Bunsen's recent valuable work, The Philosophy of Universal History, i. 254. My decipherments were completed
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
The first letter 75 of the legend I propose to explain, need only be compared with the Sabsean or Estranghelo
before the publication of Bunsen's work ; I can now refer to a form of D, identical with that found upon the coins, as found in the Chaldee inscription from Abu-Shadhr, explained by Professor Dietrich, in the second volume of the work just mentioned, p. 361, seq. The ^ of this alphabet also agrees with that of the coins. In the rest of the signs, this alphabet comes nearer the Saboean, as it appears to me. A comparison, indeed, with the various alphabets at my command, seems to me to show that this alphabet cannot be so old as Professor Dietrich supposes. It must, as it seems to me, be later than the characters found on the coins which I describe, \vhose date can be fixed to 139, A.D. These letters are still unconnected, while the Abu-Shadhr are very generally connected, just as the Sabsean letters are, and to Bay eyes, have by no means a distant resemblance to them. Compare the legend of No. 8 of Ibilna, where the X is con- nected with the 3, but where no other connection exists as yet. This coin can hardly be much earlier than 200 A D. The 3 of the Abu-Shadhr inscriptions is already bent down below the line, precisely as in the modern Syriac, while in Chaldoeo-Pehlvi legends of the later Parthian drachms, and of the Ilaji-abad inscription, it ranges with the other letters, as in the Estranghelo. It is usually said that the Sabreans express K and y by the same letter ; Kopp, however, shows that theoretically they have both letters, though practically they confound them." This is precisely what occurs in the Abu-Shadhr inscription. From these and other circumstances, I have satisfied myself that the Abu-Shadhr inscription cannot possibly be of the ante-Christian period, as Professor Dietrich concludes by supposing. It is to me evidently later than the coins of Val of Edessa, A.D. 130, while it may be later than the Parthian period. Much later, if at all, it can hardly be ; and we must remember in comparisons to allow for difference of locality. The connected letters, and the form of the g, compel me, however, to place it, as the earliest date which appears possible, in the third century after Christ. Professor Dietrich, indeed, was at first disposed to place it, from a com- parison with the various Palmyrene inscriptions, in one of the first post-Christian centuries, although he afterwards conjectured for it a greater antiquity. I must say, however, with him : "Let us hope for more specimens," as then only will it be possible to form a correct opinion. I shoiild remark, that I speak merely from a consideration of the paleography of the inscription ; I am
EEGAL COINS OP MESOPOTAMIA. 7
M, ^r\ or with that found on the second Vatican bas- relief, to establish its power as M. It will be seen indeed to bear no slight resemblance to the Hebrew ft. I have already pointed out8 how a form of ft, almost iden- tical with *Z\, which is found in the legends occurring on certain of the latest of the Parthian drachms, has arisen from the Phoenician form ^, which is found on other specimens, and in the Parthian or Chaldaeo-Pehlvi text of the Sassanian inscriptions, the transverse line gradually ceasing to be prolonged upwards, so as at last no longer to cut the horizontal line, but to proceed downwards from it. The prolongation of this line in the letter under exami- nation would convert it into an unequivocal Phoenician M. The Palmyrene forms vary but little. In accordance with what I have mentioned as to the cursive Hebrew, I may compare the second form of the Rabbinical M, y) in the Vienna alphabets, or in Ballhorn. The Sassanian, as well as the modern Syriac M, are simply the Phoenician letter written in one stroke, and closed below. The Phoenician form from which have arisen these letters, is, however, as I think, comparatively modern. The original form is to be found in those inscriptions on weights from Nimrud, pub- lished by Mr. Layard,9 whose explanation we expect from Mr. Norris. The form V^ which occurs in them is also found in the Archaic Greek alphabet, from which we may conclude it to be a very old Phoenician form.10 I justify
unable to enter upon the linguistic reasons for considering it as earlier, but I doubt their conclusiveness.
8 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. XVII.
9 Nineveh and Babylon, 1853, p. 601.
10 I notice that Gesenius (Monumenta, p. 36) considers this as a more recent form of D, and the ordinary Phcenician as the most ancient. I rely, however, upon the Archaic Greek, and the
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
this conclusion by recalling the fact, that our oldest Greek inscriptions are of greater antiquity than any Phoenician inscriptions known, the natural inference from which is, that we may derive from the archaic Greek an older Phoenician alphabet than from the Phoenician inscrip- tions themselves. This inference is perfectly borne out by these inscriptions, which are either Phoenician, or, as I rather believe, the cursive Assyrian, from which the Phoe- nicians derived their alphabet, and whose letters agree, to a considerable extent, with the archaic Greek.
The second letter, j, has precisely the Sabaean form of 7. Although in most of the old Syriac or Palmyrene alphabets the 7 is a well-marked letter, resembling the Hebrew form ; it assumes, in the first Vatican bas-relief, precisely the form found on this coin, and the Estranghelo and modern Syriac alphabets correspond.
The third letter, 3 , resembles the Estranghelo and the Hebrew 3. The Chaldee Pehlvi form, as seen in the inscription of Haji-abad, corresponds very nearly.
The fourth letter, j< , is to be compared with the Es- tranghelo form, rxi, the only analogy I know, as in all the other old Syriac alphabets the A corresponds almost ex- actly in form to the Hebrew tf . Its position at the end of the word, the first three letters of which are shown to be D*?£ m, I, k, shows that it can only be tf . We thus ob- tain the usual title malka, &O/Jb king, the only word ad- missible. It is not difficult to see how such a character as that before us could be formed from the Hebrew X, or the similar Palmyrene letter from which the Hebrew one originated. The form of the Aramaean K, as seen on the
weight-inscriptions, and do not hesitate to differ even from his authority on this point.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 9
Turin papyrus in Gesenius, tab. 4, shows how easily the letter before us is to be derived from the Palmyrene. I may quote also a Palmyrene form S\ , which might easily pass into such a letter as the present;11 the German Raschi A of the Vienna sheets has a form v, the analogy of which with the present letter is evident.
Having thus ascertained the word before the head to contain the regal title, I proceed to the second word. This consists of three letters only, the second and third of which have been ascertained to be a, I.
The first letter, 1, is precisely the v, 1, of the first Vati- can bas-relief, as well as of the Aramaean inscription of the Carpentras stone. This letter varies in the Palmyrene inscriptions ; in the second Vatican bas-relief, while the letter remains straight, the upper curve becomes an angle, 7 ; while in the inscriptions from Palmyra, as well as in the Sassanian alphabet, the curve being retained, the stem is bent in the contrary direction, so that at last the letter is precisely reproduced by the figure 2. A form ?, half way between the letter on the coin before us and the Sassanian form, is found on the very curious Latin and Palmyrene inscription discovered some years ago in Africa.12
Having thus given my reasons for the reading of every letter separately, I think myself authorised to transcribe the legend as —
Malka Val. King Val. and ascribe the coins to Val, sew of Sahru, who is recorded
11 See the second line of the Palmyrene inscription given by Kopp (Bilder und Schriften, vol.ii. 133).
12 Revue Archeologique, voL iv. p. 732. De Luynes.
VOL. XVIII.
10 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
by Dionysius of Telmahar to have reigned over Edessa for two years, 139 — 140, A.D.IS I will afterwards relate so much as is known respecting him, or rather respecting the period at which he reigned, as his personal history is restricted to the facts already mentioned.
The coin No. 1 has also on reverse a legend, of which I am unable to give an explanation. The first word, that of four letters, contains, however, three which we already know, -7tf ala. By comparing the unknown letter <N with the Hierosolymitan He m, or with that of the Estranghelo alphabet CTT, it is evident that this letter is the Hebrew PI, and that the word is the Chaldee tfrhtf God. I have not been able to satisfy myself as to the reading of the other word. The first letter resembles the M already as- certained, but in the allied alphabets H and p come very near to O in form, and this letter might correspond to any of the three. The second reproduces the Hebrew PI, and may possibly have the same power. The third corresponds exactly to some forms of the Palmyrene PI, and is very near the Aramaean. I hesitate to give it this power, how- ever, from having found a different letter in the first word, to which I can assign no other power. However, as the reading of the reverse is by no means necessary to the attribution of the coins, my present object, I willingly abandon the reverse to the researches of Orientalists.
The diligence of Bayer has exhausted the materials for a history of Edessa ; and the subject has been accordingly almost neglected since his time. Wise, indeed, has given a judicious summary in his Letter to Masson,14 but his re-
13 Bayer, Historia Osrhoena et Edessena (4to St. Petersburg, 1734), p. 157.
14 Epistola de nummo Abgari regis, p. 299 — 310 of his Nummorum Bodleianornm Catalogue, 1750.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 11
marks do not touch the period of the coins which I have published. M. Saint Martin has left the commencement of a history of Edessa in his Fragments d'une histoire des Arsacides, but he unfortunately stops just before the period in question.15
T propose to commence the following sketch rather earlier than might be thought absolutely necessary, as I find in no English book any account of the period. I draw from Bayer all my materials, some only of which I have been able to consult in the original.
I commence with the first campaign of Trajan in the East; in the year 113, A.D., that prince was at Antioch, making preparations for the approaching campaign against Armenia and Parthia. The king of Edessa, named by Dion Cassius Avyapos or "Ay(3apo<;,16 fearing equally the Romans and the Parthians, did not declare himself for either party. He temporized for some time, and though summoned by Trajan to his presence, declined to attend him, on the plea of illness, but sent him numerous presents, and as his substitute his son Arbandes. The youth ingratiated himself with Trajan, and thereby suc- ceeded in averting from his father the displeasure of the emperor. Some time after, however, Trajan, at the head of his army, directed his march towards Edessa, and Ab-
!5 Vol. i., p. 104— 162.
16 These kings are called by various names in the Greek and Eoman historians : Augarus, Abgarus, Agbarus, or Akbarits, are indifferently used. ABFAPOC, however, always appears on the coins, and should be preferred. Bayer, indeed, gives one coin (Plate vii. 4), on which, instead of the F we see the K not un- frequently used on the Edessene coins, which wants the lower oblique stroke thus, Y. The legend of this coin might thus be read ABKAPOC, but it may be a mere slip of the engraver, from the resemblance of the letters 1" and Y.
12 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
gams could no longer temporize. Persuaded by his son, he went out to meet Trajan, before his entrance into the town, and offered him numerous presents as tokens of his submission. Trajan, however, refused to accept the pre- sents, but not altogether to slight the offers of Abgarus, he accepted three cuirasses. We learn from a passage of Suidas, that Abgarus took the opportunity of getting rid of a troublesome neighbour, by inducing, and perhaps guiding, Trajan to the attack of Anthemusia. Bayer says, " auctore et duce Abgaro," which has probably led M. Saint Martin to state, that Abgarus not only per- suaded Trajan to attack Anthemusia, but accompanied him. There is, however, no warrant for this in the words of Suidas.17
According to the chronicle of Dionysius of Telmahar, this sovereign was called, not Augaros, as in Dion Cassius, but Mannus son of Ajazeth. Dionysius states, that he reigned sixteen years and eight months ; and the calcula- tion of Bayer places the commencement of his reign in August, A.D. 99, the end in April, 116, A.D.18 The differ- ence of names between the native and the Greek historian is of no consequence, as it recurs in all periods of the history of Edessa. The reason is probably, as Moses of Khorene expressly says, that Abgarus is a title, and not a name. He declares that the word is really the Armenian Avagair, which he translates, Primarius et summits vir.19 This is certainly more probable than the idea of Wise,
17 'O Sf Tpdiavoc iteXavvei we firl riff 'Ai'Se/j.ovaiav yijv iirl ravrrjy ycip Knl" AyflapoQ vtyrjytiro ilvai. Trajan advanced into the district Anthemusias ; Abyarus, indeed, had induced him to proceed thither. — Suidas, sub vocc, "Ytyriyi'iffovrai.
is Bayer, pp. 149, 153.
19 Bayer, p. 74. Moses Cliorenensis — London edition, p. 165.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 13
that the name Abgarus has been formed by metathesis, and the change of the surd k into the sonant g, from the Arabic j^ the greatest."0
We have no further accounts of this prince, although a passage of Dion Cassius, respecting a prince of the name of Mannus, elsewhere called a phylarch of the frontiers of Arabia, who sent troops to the assistance of Mebarsapes, king of Adiabene, against the Romans, has been by Bayer considered to refer to him.51 The objection is obvious, that Dion Cassius gives the name of Augaros to the prince of Edessa, and would not elsewhere have called him Mannus, while we see no reason for such a proceeding on the part of this sovereign. I would prefer to suppose with M. Saint Martin, that the phylarch Mannus was more probably the prince of Atra, whom we know to have been hostile to the Romans.
We have seen, that, according to the calculations of Bayer, this prince must have died about April, 116, A.D.
It is not possible to fix the precise period when Trajan
20 Wise, p. 309, Note 1. Bayer had already, p. 74, mentioned, but rejected this derivation.
21 Bayer, p. 150. M. Saint-Martin at first considered this passage to refer to some other dynast (Mesene et Characene, p.242)r whom he conjectures, with some plausibility, to be the prince of Atra, a neighbouring town, now El Hadhr, famous by its resist- ance against both Trajan and Severus. This is very possible, but whether it is the case or not, I believe that the Mannus who assisted Mebarsapes of Adiabene against the Romans, is the Mannus who had sent ail embassy to Trajan, professing his good will, but deferring any proof of it ; and I think that this latter cannot be identified with the prince of Edessa mentioned by Dion. M. Saint-Martin, in his later work, had modified his opinions so far as to consider the passage as referring to the prince, son of the Augaros of Dion, called by that writer Arbandes, but who is known from Dionysius really to have borne, or assumed, the name Mannus, that of his father also. I do not consider this so probable, however, as his first idea.
14 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
declared Edessa to form part of the Roman province of Mesopotamia. The reduction of the rest of Mesopotamia may be certainly placed in the year 115, A.D., but no men- tion is made in this year of any conquest of Edessa. As, however, Edessa is expressly stated to have revolted from Trajan, and as this occurred in the year 116, A.D., probably when that year was far advanced, we may suppose, that on the death of the old king, Trajan took advantage of the opportunity of declaring Edessa part of the Roman dominions. Bayer, p. 153, has conjectured that Mannus was crowned by Trajan, but revolted from him. This is based on a passage of Suidas, which seems to say, that Mannus broke faith with the emperor in spite of the alliance concluded between them. No reason is assigned for such conduct, however; and on consulting Bern- hardy's edition of Suidas, I found, to my surprise, a very different text, ascribing to the emperor the want of faith, and breach of the treaties concluded between them.82 I
28 'O Se Tropa Mtivyov aire-^ujpnyc, ^t^iac rt 7rapa/3ae> &£ Ba<rt\et icat op\ovQ irar>/<Tac, owe w/zo<re. {Suidas, 8. V., Ae£ioe). But he departed from Mannus, breaking faith with the king, and violating the oaths which he had made. Bayer gives irtpl for impo, and /3a<riX£i/e for ftamXtl, and his translation transfers the guilt from Trajan to Mannus. It is not impossible, however, that in place of appropriating the whole of Osrhoene as Roman territory, Trajan only took possession of a part of it, as is mentioned in Suidas, s. v., 'ili/Tjrjj. Kcu TIIV \u>pav eirtrptVm' Tpa'iavy Avyapov, Kaiirep on wvr]rriv CK ITaicopoii £X£l ^>aftwv iroXXuty ^pT^mrwi', Kal TOVTO affp.lvti>G Ty flaariXel yivtrai. And Augarus made over to Trajan the territory which he had bought from Pacorus for a great sum. This was agreeable to the emperor. I render basileus as emperor ; since the proceeding certainly could not have been very pleasing to the king. Suidas elsewhere calls Trajan fiarnXwc, s. v. "Auyapog. The former passage was from Arrian ; this is probably from Dion Cassius, and as he always calls Augarus the king, whose real name was Mannus, the difference of the names cannot prevent us from combining the passages. It would cer-
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 15
do not hesitate to prefer this explanation, so fully in accordance with what we know of the policy of Trajan during the war. In fact, by this he converted Mespo- tamia into a compact province, having already overcome the other kings who reigned in these regions, as those of Adiahene and Anthemusias. It is easy to see on this supposition the reason why Edessa, as well as the other provinces, revolted, as soon as Trajan had left them on his southern voyage. This we know happened in the year 116, A.D. Trajan, so soon as he was informed of the revolt of the newly conquered provinces, sent generals to reduce the rebels. I need only here mention the fate of Edessa, which was taken and ruined by Lusius Quietus.
It is most probable, as no other son of the king already mentioned is named, that the Arbandes of Dion Cassius is the Maanu son of Maanu of the Syrian chronicler, who reigned from the death of Maanu for twenty-three years,
tainly appear that these may relate rather to the old king ; as Trajan's presence with an army left him no power of choice or of refusal, we may readily suppose that the forced abandonment to Trajan of a territory bought for a great sum from Pacorus, might be considered as justifying such expressions as those in the first passage. This despoilment then of a great part of the territory, may perhaps be considered as a sufficient cause for the revolt which took place in 116 A.D., even though Trajan may not have previously declared Edessa a part of the Koman dominions. In this case, the departure of Trajan on his southern voyage, and the accession to the throne of a young king (the old king having died about April, 116), may be received as sufficient incitements to the Edessenes, already provoked by their loss of territory, to join the general revolt. The declaration of the subjection of Edessa must in this case be placed after its siege and reduction by Quietus. I leave my readers to judge between these various suppositions, having placed before them the evidence, so far as I am acquainted with it, for each. It seems to me that there is not sufficient to decide whether the appropriation of Edessa pre- ceded or followed the reduction of the city by Quietus, and upon this point the decision of the question must depend.
16 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
that is, to 139, A.D. It is not probable that Trajan allowed him to retain the title of king ; he can only have really begun to reign when Hadrian abandoned the conquests of Trajan, in the year 117, A.D. We shall see, however, that he, or, at any rate, his native chronicler, dated, as we might expect, his reign from the death of his father, in the year 116, A.D. I may point out, that whether my conjecture as to the time when Trajan took possession of Edessa, on the death of the old king, be correct, or whether, as is equally possible, he may have done so earlier, that is, in the year 115, A. D., or whether, as Bayer, though without sufficient reason, conjectured, Mannus himself revolted at first from Trajan, the fact remains the same, that Edessa was in oppo- sition to the Romans in the year 116, A.D., and was taken by assault, burned, and ruined in the course of that year, so that Mannus certainly could not have occupied the throne during the whole of that year. As my conjecture supplies a reason for the revolt which took place, while that of Bayer leaves it causeless, it may perhaps be preferable.
Eckhel places in the year 116, A.D., the issue of the coin of Trajan with the legend, Armenia Mesopotamia in potestatem P. R. redacts. It must have been then, either at the end of 115, A.D., or rather in the year 116, A.D., that Trajan declared Mesopotamia a Roman province.23 Trajan was still probably in Assyria when this was declared; and the Edes- senes were of course obliged to submit. Abulfaragius says, although he erroneously places it under the fourth year of Hadrian, that magistrates were sent from Rome to Edessa ; and this probably should be understood rather of this period, than, as Bayer has done, of the time between the
23 Eckhel, Doctrina, vol. vi., p. 488.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 17
siege of the city by Lusius and the death of Trajan, as the proper magistrates would of course be sent without delay, so soon as Mesopotamia was declared a Roman province.24 It is certain that Abulfaragius is wrong in placing this under the reign of Hadrian, as, instead of subjugating Edessa, that emperor liberated it. We know from Spartian, that Trajan had appointed a legate over Armenia, and we cannot doubt that Mesopotamia was treated in the same way.
Maanu, or Mannus, is declared by Dionysius to have reigned twenty-three years, after which he fled to the Romans. He remained at Rome two years, during which his throne was occupied by Val son of Sahru. After two years he returned to Edessa, and reigned twelve years more. Dionysius adds, that his reign was in all thirty-six years.25 The difference between the computations is simply explained by saying, that he died in the thirty-sixth year of his reign. As Dionysius places the commencement of the reign of Val in the year 2154 of Abraham — 139, A.D., it is evident that the twenty-three years of his reign count from the death of his father in 116 A.D., and that the period during which Trajan had excluded him from the throne was ignored in the native chronicles.
As we might infer from the fact that Mannus fled to the Romans, and as Bayer had already conjectured, Val was a Parthian vassal. This is proved by the coin, on which his head occurs on reverse of that of a Parthian prince, whom the date of his reign shows to have been Arsaces XXVII., Vologeses II.
Capitolinus says of Antoninus Pius, to show the power
84 Abul-Pharagii-Historia Dyna^tiarum, p.76. 25 Bayer, p.157.
VOL. XVIII. D
18 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
and authority which he possessed even in foreign regions, " Abgarum regera ex orientis partibus sola auctoritate deduxit ; caussas regales terminavit." It is, however, seen by the statement of Dionysius of Telraahar, that Abgarus did not, as Capitolinus declares, come to Rome by com- mand of the emperor, but was expelled by the Parthians, or a rebellious party of his own subjects. Indeed, it was no such great effort of authority, and no extraordinary proof of his power, to summon to Rome a prince who was an ally of Rome, and had been restored to his throne by Hadrian. The real proof of his authority, and that to which the words " sola auctoritate" would better apply, is that conveyed in the second clause, caussas regales termi- narit, he settled the rival claims to the throne. Bayer has already seen that this referred to the affairs of Edessa, and has said, " Est igitur Vales a pnesidibus Syria pulsus, ant Romanorum minis regno dejectus." I do not hesitate to explain the words of Capitolinus in the latter manner, and to say that the authority of Antoninus Pius, and the fear of the Roman arms, induced the Parthian king, Vologescs II., who did not wish to be embroiled with Rome, to abandon his vassal, and to withdraw the Par- thian garrison, if such there was in Edessa, as is most probable.46 Capitolinus knew this apparently, and not
26 There exists a passage of Procopius (de Bello Persico ii , cap. 12), which may he applied to this period. I give as follows, from Bayer, p.lo2, the latter part of it : j^orw £t TroXXv vorrtpov 'E^tffTjvoJ avfXoirec. TUV (3apfiapu>v rove atyitriv ivtiffiovvrac <f>povpovQ, iviloaav PW//O/OIC riiv iroXiv. A considerable time after, the Edessenes, the barbarian (Parthian) garrison among them having been withdrawn, gave up the city to the Romans. Procopius gives no clue to the time to which this passage refers. Wise, p. 308, considers it to refer to the period of Caracalla, who destroyed the independence of Edessa, and led Abgarus captive to Rome. Bayer, on the other hand, refers it to the conquest of Edessa by
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 19
knowing, or not caring to know, how Abgarus came to be at Borne, preferred to declare that Antoninus had sum- moned him thither; this, however, is in opposition to the native history, and is by no means so probable.
After Mannus had been two years at Rome, we may safely infer that Antoninus Pius sent him back to Edessa, perhaps accompanied by a guard, and called upon the Edessenes to reinstate him. We know that they must have done so, and that Mannus reigned unnoticed in history for twelve years more, dying, according to Bayer, about April, 153, A.D.
Bayer engraves acoin with the legend KAICA AAPIANOC, R ABFA . . . according to his reading.27 Eckhel hesi- tates to admit the correctness of the reading, principally, however, because the prince mentioned by Dionysius, who was the contemporary of Hadrian, the fugitive, whose history I have related, was called Mannus.28 This is hardly a sufficient reason, however, for rejecting the coin. The head on the reverse certainly does not much resemble Hadrian ; but as it has as little resemblance to any other sovereign connected with the Edessene kings, this need not be considered decisive. If the coin is well engraved, the tiara is somewhat different from that seen on other coins of the Abgari. It is singular, however, that so far as I can judge by the catalogues of public or private col- lections, no second specimen seems to exist. I may also mention that the star before the head of Abgarus is most
Trajan, under the rule of Mannus, son of Aiazeth, before the vear 116 A.D. It seems to me to accord much better with the date at which I have placed it, than that of the dethronement of Val, and reinstatement of Mannus, A.D. 141.
27 Bayer, tab iv.,No. 2, p. 155.
28 Eckhel, Doctrina, vol. iii., p. 521.
20 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
frequent on the coins of Gordian, as well as that the K commencing the word K 1C P is written in a manner often found on the same coins, that is, without the lower oblique stroke. The legend does not so clearly give the name of Hadrian, that it might not equally contain that of Gordian. I incline, from these points, to doubt the attribution of the coin, although I hesitate absolutely to condemn it. If it really exists, it is the earliest coin known of the Kings of Edessa. If not, the coins of Val commence the series. The Greek coins which form the remainder of the series are too well-known to require any remarks on my part. I have still, however, a Syriac coin to place in the series, whose description follows : —
Obv. — Beardless male head to right, with a conical cap set with pearls, over which the diadem.
Rev. — Legend in two lines across the field, each composed of four letters. M. 2£. IE. 3. British Museum, Hunterian Museum, French Cabinet.
An inspection of the legend, with the alphabet obtained from the former coins, will show the lower word to be tfyjfo, malca, king. The letters are joined together here, as they are in Syriac. The character, indeed, of this coin is very nearly identical with the Estranghelo ; and, bearing in mind that the Estranghelo M and are the same as those on this coin, though they differ in modern Syriac, we need no further proof as to the reading than a comparison of the transcription — Mdnu malka, King Mannus.
I have already mentioned that Sestini has adverted to these coins, and has classed them, as I do, to a Mannus of Edessa. He read, however, Scialid-el-Maan, which he translated Rex Mannus, I cannot imagine how he arrived
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 21
at this reading.29 It is evident that this coin is later than the coins of Val, both from its appearance and from the character used in the legends, which approaches more to the ordinary Syriac. It is difficult, however, to class it with certainty to any particular prince. Sestini has naturally placed it after the well-known coin, bearing the heads and names of Abgarus and Manus (MANNOC IIAIC) and the tiara on both coins certainly agrees sufficiently well.30
It is very uncertain, however, that this prince ever reigned without his father, Abgarus Severus. This period of history is excessively embroiled and indistinct, as may be seen in Bayer and Wise, neither of whom have suc- ceeded in clearing up the difficulties connected with it. If this prince, the MANNOC IIAIC of the Greek coins, ever really reigned, as may be inferred from the coins with Maanu malka, that is, if he reigned as an independent king after his father's death, he has been, by the historians, con- founded with his father under the name Abgarus. I have attempted in vain to form a clear idea of the period, the conjectures and approximations of the former writers being, to some extent, invalidated by the occurrence of the pre- sent coin, which would seem to require a separate and independent reign for Mannus, while the confused and contradictory accounts of various historians seem to leave no space for such a reign, unless on the supposition that
29 Descriptio Numorum Veterum, p 533.
" Caput regis tiara rotunda tectum, K. Scialid el Maan litteris
chaldaicis."
" Sine alio typo. 3. Mus. Ainslie et Cousinery." " Non vedo che nessuno abbia descritta alcuna medaglia con
1'epigrafe in Caldeo, che dice Rex Maanus o Mannus"
30 See this coin engraved by Haym (Tesoro Britannico, vol. ii. p. 57), Wise (p. 299), Pellerin (Rois, p. 155. Tab xvi.).
22 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
he is by them called Abgarus. In this case, it is impos- sible to decide precisely when his father died and he succeeded to the throne. I will attempt, however, so far as possible, an approximation to this event, making use of the materials and conjectures of Bayer and Wise. Eckhel places, in the year 216 A.D., the treacherous behaviour of Caracalla, who summoned to a conference at Antioch the last King Abgarus (called by Dionysius Abgarus son of Mannus), detained him a captive, and took possession of Edessa.31 The Chronicon Edessenum mentions as king, in the year 201 A.D., Abgarus son of Mannus, so that we may place, at latest, at the commencement of the year 200 A.I). , the accession of this prince, who is stated to have reigned seventeen years.
Dionysius gives to Abgarus son of Mannus a reign of thirty-five years, from 153 to 188 A.D. We know, at any rate, from the coins of Aurelius, Verus, and Commodus, that an Abgarus was on the throne during the greater part of this time.3* We may admit, then, his dates, as
31 Eckhel, Doctrina, vol. vii. 216.
32 Eckhel iii. 512, quotes from Patin only, the coins of Aurelius and Verus. It is curious, that he should have forgotten that Belley also (Mem. Acad. B. L. xxv. 87) had described these coins from the French Cabinet. I find by Arneth's Synopsis, however, that both now exist in the Vienna Cabinet. Colonel Leake describes a coin of Aurelius (Numismata Hellenica, Kings, p. 39), and I possess one which certainly bears the head of Verus, though it is badly struck, and the legends are wanting. Those of Oommodus occur more frequently. Eckhel, vol. iii. 514, Arneth p. 77, Sestini, Mus. Hedervar, partc terza, p. 128, etc.
It would seem that a coin exists with the head of Pescennius, which is remarkable enough. Sestini first described it from the Knobelsdorf Museum (Lettere, vol.vi.p. 83, tab.ii.), and considered it as of Pescennius, although the legend was indistinct. The head in his engraving certainly resembles Pescennius ; and I notice that Dr. Pinder (Antiken Munzen, p. 282) admits it without any mark of doubt, as of Pcsccnnius, while the elements of comparison
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 23
there is no reason to doubt their exactitude. He then mentions " Abgarus Severus, who reigned along with his son one year seven months." This carries us from 188 into 190 A.D. He does not mention the descent of this Abgarus, neither does he explain how he came to commence his reign along with his son, who is seen from the next passage to be a Mannus. This has led Wise33 to conjecture Abgarus the son of Mannus, and Abgarus Severus, to be the same king; the second being simply intended to denote, as it were, a new reign along with his son, and this is not improbable. There remains, however, the difficulty that Abgarus Severus is made to die in 190 A.D. , while Severus only came to the throne in 193 A.D. We cannot, therefore, suffer Abgarus Severus to reign so short a time along with his son Mannus, the rather as the coins which show them united are not of such excessive rarity as might be expected from a reign of nineteen months only. We must, then, prolong the reign of Abgarus Severus at least into that of Severus, 193 A.D. If Mannus reigned, then, at all, it must have been between 193 A.D. and
are at his disposal, the Berlin Museum possessing coins both of Commodus and Severus. I still incline, however, to consider the coin as of Severus, either altered or badly preserved. The legend is IlABrAPOC. Sestini rejected the idea that the II which precedes the name could be the last letter of CGII, Seplimius, which would show the coin to be of Severus. This is, however, the only plausible explanation that can be offered ; and I prefer it, as the situation of the letter II commencing the part of the legend before the head, agrees well enough with such a restoration of the first part.
The Greek coins of the Abgari are beyond the scope of my present investigations ; I must earnestly recommend, however, a comparison of all existing specimens, as I imagine a careful inves- tigation of the various portraits would probably lead to some reliable results as to various doubtful points of their history.
33 Wise, Epistola, u. s.
24 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
200 A.D., as the extremes; we have already seen that the use of the native character coincided with the loss of the Roman supremacy, during the reign of Val; may I be allowed, then, to refer these Syriac coins of Mannus to the revolt of the Edessenes against the soldiers of Pescennius, which furnished a pretext for the attack of Severus, in the year 195 A.D.?34 In the year 198 A.D., we again find men- tion of a King of Osrhoene, who brought to the assistance of Severus a number of archers, and gave him as hostages some of his children.35 This king is called, as usual, Abgarus; it would, however, appear probable that he was really the Mannus whom I have attempted to follow. He may have died shortly afterwards, as we have already seen that 200 A.D. is the probable date for the accession of the last king, Abgarus son of Mannus.
Dionysius places, in the year 1 90 A.D., the commencement of the independent reign of Mannus, and makes him reign for twenty-six years. It is easily seen that this is impos- sible, as he accords to Abgarus, son of Mannus, a reign of seventeen years, and as from 190 A.D. to the destruction of the independence of Edessa is only the twenty-six years which he gives to Mannus. This number, then, must be rejected. We have seen above that Mannus commenced to reign with his father in the year 188 A.D., according to Dionysius himself. Supposing that by some error Dionysius has
34 See Bayer, p. 163-4. Wise, p. 306, and Note. Eckhel, vol. vii. 172.
35 I have here followed the calculation of Eckhel, vol. vii. 176, who places in the year 198 A.D. the attack upon Atra, just before which Augarus, or Abgarus, is stated to have brought him troops. Tillemont places this under 197 A.D., while Wise assigns the date 199 A.D. We have no means of fixing the precise date ; but I have already declared that I seek only an approximation to the various events, and in such an approximation a year either way is of no great importance.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 25
blended together the reigns of Mannus and of his son, we may deduct the seventeen or sixteen years of the latter's reign (the difference being immaterial for obvious reasons) ; we thus obtain a reign of ten years in all for Mannus. Dionysius, in pursuance of his erroneous idea, that Abgarus Severus reigned only nineteen months, was obliged to place the commencement of the independent reign of Mannus in 190 A.D. We may disregard this, having shewn that Abgarus Severus must have lived some years longer. We place them in 188 A.D. , the commencement of the ten years' reign of Mannus, and this carries us to the year 198 A.D. I have already mentioned that in this year, or according to Wise, in the year 199 A.D., an Abgarus King of Osrhoene is mentioned. This may be either our Mannus, called Abgarus, by a repetition of the constant error, or it may be Abgarus, his son, with the commencement of whose reign, 199 A.D., would agree as well as the date, 200 A.D., formerly mentioned. From these various approximations, it would seem probable that Mannus really did reign in Edessa after the death of his father, Abgarus, during a period which cannot begin before 193, A.D., nor end later than 199 A.D. Abgarus Severus must have thus reigned at least forty years ; and it is certain that the head on coins of Severus is that of a very old man.
The history of the Edessene kings is still very imper- fectly known, like the history of so many other Oriental kingdoms, and the labours of Bayer and Wise have left much involved in doubt. They have, indeed, exhausted the existing materials for the task, and it is to be feared we can hardly expect new sources of information to be opened to us. We may, however, hope that some little additional information may be derived from coins yet to be discovered ; it appears to me that the coins I have de-
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26 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
scribed throw some light, though indeed but a slender ray, upon the written history ; and others, of even more interest, may yet be discovered.
The next coin, No. 4, has been already engraved, but imperfectly, by M. Saint Martin.36 He attempted, but in vain, to explain the legend, and failed, as Dr. Combe had done with regard to the coins of Val, by reversing the coin. He was led into this error by the direction in which the Greek legends of the Characenian coins are placed. Holding the coin in the same direction, he observed that both the words composing the legend began with the same letter. He concluded that the round letter, comprising the legend according to his reading, must be an M, both because the shorter word might safely be inferred to be the regal title, which in most of the Oriental idioms com- mences with M, and from a comparison with some forms of that letter. He noticed, also, that the last and ante- penultimate letter of the second and longer word were alike ; and since, as already noticed, he considered the first letter as an M, he proposed to read the name as Moneses, a name which answered to these conditions. He was unable, however, to analyse the legend.37
I have taken the obverse of the coin from a specimen on which the obverse is well preserved, while the reverse is indistinct ; while, on the other hand, a specimen, in which these conditions are altered, has furnished me with the reverse. Both are in the British Museum. On turning the coin in the way it should be viewed, it will be at once seen that the first letter of the lower word is the often recurring Estranghelo and Sabsean M. The second is the
36 Recherches sur la Mesene et la Characene, Plate, No. 5.
37 Recherches, p. 2 19, 220.
REGAL COINS OP MESOPOTAMIA. 27
L of the same alphabets, with the upper part bent back. This makes no difference whatever, as it does not cause any confusion with any other letter. The third is the Estranghelo K already seen, which is but slightly modified in the Nestorian and Sabsean alphabets. The last letter is different from that formerly seen as following the letters m I k. The far greater analogy visible between the coin le- gends and the Sabsean modification of the Syriac alphabet, than between them and the Estranghelo, or modern Syriac, justifies us in appealing rather to the Sabsean than to the others, when any discrepancy occurs. The Sabsean O, A reproduces precisely the letter on the coin. It is only in the Nestorian and modern Syriac alphabets that this form represents V, while in the Estranghelo the circle is not closed. The precise correspondence, then, of the Sabsean A with this letter gives us as before the word Malka.
I proceed to the upper word, which is evidently a proper name. The first and third letters are the same, and are mere points. In the Aramsean alphabet, however, the I is a triangular point, Avhile in the Palmyrene alphabet the ** is sometimes a mere stroke, sometimes a small angle. Indeed, the form of the Hebrew s itself might almost authorise us, without these examples, to fix the points as representing the letter I. The second letter is the He- brew 3 B, itself, which preserves its form through all the Syriac alphabets. The fourth letter resembles, through on a larger proportional scale, the h of the Sabsean. The identification, however, of the point as s, as well as the proportionably greater size of the letter, from objections, and it is pretty certain that the letter is an L, although it is rather smaller, and wants the backward curve. This, however, only brings it back to the original form. The next letter is precisely the Sabsean N, a rather peculiar
28 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
form of the letter. The last letter has been already shewn to be A. From the comparisons just made, I think I may safely transcribe the legend as #y?fc JO7*!lS Ibilna malka. Of course the name may be transcribed in various ways, and as it is, I believe, unknown in history, we cannot decide whether to call him Jbilna, Ibilana, or Ydbilana. One of these names, however, or something very nearly approaching it, must result from the comparisons which I have made. The type of the coin is that constantly found on the coins of Characene, and also of Euthydemus of Bactria. It is copied from the coins of Antiochus II. It represents Hercules seated on a rock, holding in his right- hand a club resting on his knee.38
It is impossible to determine with any certainty the locality to which this coin belongs. I incline, however, to consider it as of Characene, from the resemblance of the type. It is not impossible that the kings of Chara- cene, who certainly did use the Greek language on their coins, may have, at a later period, adopted the native lan- guage and character. This is rendered more probable by the fact that on the coins of Adinnigaus and Attam- bilus II. or III. we already find Syriac letters occurring, between the club of Hercules and his side. Thus, on the coin of the later Attambilus, No. 4, in the plate of Saint Martin, the Estranghelo letter X appears, while on that of Adinnigaus, in the same plate, we see a letter closely resembling the Estraughelo or the Hebrew ¥. Thus we see that it is quite possible that so soon as any thing
38 On coins of Characene, Saint Martin, Ilecherches, Plate — Lindsay, Coinage of Parthia, PL x. xii. On coins of Bactria, Wilson. Ariana, PI. i. 1, seq. On coins of Antiochus Theos, Eckhel iii. 218, Pellerin Rois, PL viii.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 29
occurred to make the Characenian kings turn towards the Parthians, and abandon the Roman party, the Greek cha- racters may have been abandoned in favour of the native alphabet.39 During the campaign of Trajan, in the east, we know that the king, Attambilus, who then occupied the throne, was firm in his alliance with Trajan, and did not join the general revolt already mentioned. The coin, No. 4, in Saint Martin, apparently belongs to this Attam- bilus, as does, T believe, also the coin engraved by Mr. Lindsay, plate x. After this king, we know nothing more of Characene, until the time of Julian. M. Saint Martin has shown that the Podosaces mentioned during the cam- paign of Julian was a King of Mesene, which included Characene. The names, however, of the rest of the successors of Attambilus are unknown to us. It is only from the type and appearance of this coin that I incline to place in this interval the King Ibilna, or Yabilna, whose name I read upon it. The style and fabric shows that it must be later than the coins of Attambilus.
On the place already mentioned as being on the Greek coins of Characene occupied by solitary Syriac letters, we find, on the specimens known of the present coin, similar letters, which may be, as the others probably are, numerals, denoting the years of the reign. The coin given by Saint Martin has the two letters *] z i, while that which I have engraved has Dtf a m. If these letters are numerals, they denote respectively 37 and 41.
Coins exist of a very similar type and appearance, which
39 M.Saint Martin (Recherches, 191 seq., 253 seq.) seems to render it probable that this really was the case, and that the Arabs who furnished to Aurelius and Severus occasions for adopting the title Arabicus, were those as well of Characene as of Atra.
30 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
appear to bear legends in Greek characters, but which have not yet been found sufficiently distinct to admit^of being read. I saw, in 1851, a coin of this class, preserved in the French Cabinet, on which I thought I read . . INI A. . . Eckhel (D. N. V. III. 562) mentions an analogous coin " epigraphe ambigua" j and a coin of very barbarous workmanship, and bearing an imitation only of the Greek character, exists in the British Museum. The resemblance of type may authorise us in classing these coins provi- sionally as " Uncertain of Characene."
The next coin, No. 5, of which two specimens exist in the British Museum, is quite unintelligible. It bears, on obverse, a bust with diadems, very similar to that on the last coin. On reverse, an analogous head, without any diadem. Behind the head, a letter or sign resembling a reversed F. Before, an uncertain monogram or symbol ; I am unable to decide which. It might be viewed as a mo- nogram, containing the Sabsean letters ^H t b, but though its form agrees precisely, such an explanation is hardly satisfactory. Below, close to the bust, a monogram appa- rently composed of Greek letters ; if this is the case, we may find it in the letters X, A, Y, N. I am unable, how- ever, to offer a conjecture as to the meaning of the monogram. The coin itself is a problem, and its attribu- tion can only be conjectured when it has been ascertained where specimens most usually occur.40 The resemblance
40 It would be interesting to know in what part of Mesopo- tamia the coins of this and the following class are usually found. This element of their appropriation, however, seems to have been disregarded, as I find nowhere any hint as to this point. I wish to call attention to this, as it could be easily enough ascertained by residents in the East. It is much to be wished, indeed, that the localities where all these uncertain Oriental coins occur should be carefully remarked by travellers or residents in the East.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 31
of the obverse to that of the last coin seems to show con- nection between the two ; but it is doubtful how far this connection may have extended, and we are, I think, not yet authorised to consider them as of the same locality. The monogram occurring on No. 8 bears a very strong resemblance to that on the present coin, although the forms of the Greek characters are hardly so well retained in the former. It might appear from this that the former coin was later than the present one, as the monogram, evidently intended for the same, is not so easily decom- posed into Greek letters ; whether this is the case or not, but a slight difference of age can exist between them.
The second specimen in the Museum, which I have not engraved, differs only in having behind the head, in place of the reversed r, which is probably the Sabsean L, a letter which reproduces exactly the Bactrian D. What its power or import may be here is not obvious, but it is probably either D or R.
The next coin, No. 6, is also a problem. On obverse is seen a diademed bust resembling in general character those on the two last coins. Before the head are two lines of characters, not well marked upon this specimen, and which differ, so far as they are visible, from those usually found on the well-known coins analogous to the present.41 It is
41 Coinage of Parthia, Pl.x., Nos. 15,17. Others are engraved. Haym, Tesoro Britannico ii. p. 36. Swinton, Philosophical Trans- actions Ivi., p. 296. Tab. xv. 1,2. Pellerin, Troisieme Supple- ment, PL ii. 8, 9, 10. Mus. Wiczay i. Tab. xxvii. 590. Mionnet gives their legends, v. 687, 164, seq. PL xxix., Nos. 4 to 8. From the Catalogue Allier, p. 115, I learn that Saint Martin considered them as bearing the head of a king of Osrhoene, and that of some tributary prince. I do not think this probable, judging from the appearance of the coins. Swinton, loc. cit., read on them in Greek characters IIPOZOT, which he explained
32 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
curious that the two distinct letters in the upper line are precisely the Arabic or Indian numerals 1, 2; while the only distinct one in the second, resembles the Phoenician numeral 10. Whether these signs really are numerals or letters must, of course, be uncertain. With reference to the occurrence, however, of the distinct numerals in the first lines, whether they be used as numerals or letters, I may be permitted to recall the singular fact that these very numerals appear to have been in some way used as letters in the East, on certain monuments. See, for in- stance, the Druse (?) calf figured by Adler,42 and the very curious tablet, engraved on both sides and on the edge, with inscriptions mainly or altogether composed of these numerals.43 This latter relic resembles much one lately
as IIEPOZOY, for the Persian jjjt* firuz, victorious. He did not, however, class them to the Sassanian Perozcs or Firiiz, but to Volgeses II , who appears to be called by that name, or rather title, by Moses of Chorene.
Fraelich (Notitia Elementaris, p. 230) contrived to read also in Greek characters KOMOCI . . . and classed the coin to a Getic or Gothic king, mentioned by Jornandes, and named Comosicus ; Eckhel was deceived by this classification, when drawing up his catalogue of the Vienna collection, but afterwards ascertained the error. — Doctrina, ii. 4.
42 Adler, Museum Cuficum Borgianum i., Tab. 10, 11.
43 Dorow, Morgenlandische Alterthumer, Part ii., Tab. 3. These are, however, merely cabalistic and astrological mysteries, as would seem from what M. Reinaud (Monuments Musulmans ii. 331), says regarding them. He mentions a plate of metal, which, like that of Dorow, has the figure of a man drawing water from a well, accompanied by legends in some unknown character, mixed with Arabic. That engraved by Dorow has no Arabic, but long legends in a character mostly made up of the Arabic nume- rals. Round the margin, however, is a legend in some cabalistic character, not that of any known language. M. Reinaud, p 336, mentions a similar plate, without any intelligible characters. Those he mentions were brought from Egypt. The plate in Dorow may easily be of much greater antiquity than those on which the Arabic character occurs, as the astrological and caba-
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 33
brought from the East, and now in the possession of Mr. Lindsay, of Cork.
Having mentioned this only in passing, as unable to throw any light on the subject, I proceed to call attention to the monogram situated, as on the former coin, close to the breast. This contains the same elements as the former, but the upright stroke is here placed to the left, instead of to the right, of the A. This would seem to render it pro- bable that this is merely an I, and should not be connected with the A to form N, as I mentioned under the last coin, since it can thus shift its place from right to left.
The reverse shows a bare head, of very rude workman- ship, in which the hair is separated into six large tufts. Before the head, a monogram analogous to that mentioned p. 30, as possibly formed of Sabsean letters. If this idea be admitted, this monogram would appear to contain the letters i^ r b. The monogram last adverted to is here also found, but with the usual form. Behind and below the head is a legend of several letters. Beginning behind
listic formulae were of great antiquity, and were probably handed down through many generations. There exists in the Vienna Museum an engraved stone, figured by Dorow, loc. cit., Tab. iii. 1, on which we see an astrologer, or diviner, dressed very nearly in the Assyrian manner, with a tall pointed cap. Behind him a line of characters identical in part at least with the cabalistic characters encircling the types on the plate of Dorow. These characters may possibly belong to the so-called alphabet of the stars. I regret, however, being unable at present to consult any cabalistic authorities. I may mention, that the man drawing water from a well, is known as a charm destined to facilitate discovery of treasure. Ibn Khaldoun expressly states this. — REINAUD, loc. cit., p. 334, where the necessary formalities for the success of the talisman are detailed. I have no wish to connect with the legends of the coin under examination these cabalistic characters, or to conjecture such an explanation of the coin ; the coincidence, however, seems to me curious, and warrants me in mentioning these singular monuments.
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34 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the head, we find first that shibboleth for all these coins, the Estranghelo M ; the next letter resembles the Latin M in form, it seems to me to be the Sabsean S A\J± rather than any other letter. The next three letters are evidently K, A, Z. The beginning of the legend may be transcribed, then, as TXD^fi ; how it is to be divided or explained I do not know, neither am I certain as to the reading of the rest. It seems to me that part of the legend must begin below the chin, and read from the outside round towards the back of the head. The form of two of the letters shows that we cannot read the legend con- tinuously in either direction, but must divide it. Possibly the stroke, instead of being a Z, is merely intended to mark this division, and in this case the part of the legend behind the head may be transcribed — mshka, while the other part may be read N^tfH taba, or tf^Xn khaba. This part of the legend is, however, by no means free from am- biguity. I have no idea what the legend can import. The Moschi, although their name resembles the first part of the legend, are too far removed from the locality most pro- bable for the coin, the south of Mesopotamia.44 I have, however, given what is certainly a clue to the classification of these coins, and I hope some numismatist, more for- tunate than myself, will be able to rectify my decipher- ments where they may be erroneous, and will solve the
44 The Moschi inhabited the range of mountains bearing their name, the Moschici Monies, forming the boundary between Colchis and Iberia. The coincidence of the name is exact, "]K>», while the Septuagint gives Mefft-%, an(l the Vulgate Mosoch, according to Gesenius. It is impossible, however, to see any connection, as they were too far removed. The word "JE'D means possession, but although fcOB'O might easily enough be a Sabsean or Chaldee form of the word, it is difficult to suppose the legend to have run, possession, or dominion, of any particular prince. I leave the question, then, where it was.
REGAL COINS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 35
problem. This coin is a variety as yet, I believe, unpub- lished, of the well-known rude coins, specimens of which will be found engraved by Mr. Lindsay. I need not en- large upon these coins, as I have nothing satisfactory to state regarding them. I merely mention that the legend on reverse commences with the word (?) T3y/b Mans, before the head, and that the word &Ofe?/b appears behind the head, as on the coin No. 10, while, as on that coin a third part appears below the head, seldom distinct The reverse shows the often-recurring Greek monogram, and two lines of uncertain characters. In the lower line we see again the semicircle or <~> , which resembles the Phoenician nu- meral 10, and a character resembling the modern Syriac M inverted, which has a very strong analogy to a Palmyrene numeral, which, when preceded by a numeral, appears to stand for hundreds, when followed by numerals to have the power 10, according to the comparisons of Swinton. It resembles much, however, the Palmyrene D. Whether these signs are letters or numerals, they seem always to occur on the coins with these types, which are now very numerous, although, so far as I have seen, always bearing the same legends on both sides. This is an objection to finding numerals in the obverse characters, and it equally prevents our attempting to find on reverse any proper name, unless, indeed, we could identify with any part of the legend some name borne by a dynasty of princes, such as Mannus or Abgarus by the Edessene, Arsaces by the Parthians, or Mondzer by the Arabs of Hira.45
45 Mondzer j&~* is a common name in the dynasty of the Arabs of Hira. These are probably later than the coins, but it is manifestly impossible to be certain on this point. See Rasmussen's Historia Arabuui ante Islamisnum. The name, however, was not
36 NUMISMATIC CHEONICLE.
I consider the results obtained in the former part of this paper as satisfactory, the latter part is professedly a mere collection of problems, which I now leave for the consi- deration of numismatists disposed to investigate them. My tentative decipherments may be erroneous, 1 know them to be imperfect, but I am satisfied that I have at least made a commencement in this neglected department of numismatics.
WILLIAM H. SCOTT.
Edinburgh, November, 1854.
II.
ON THE COINS OF CUNOBELINE WITH THE LEGEND TASCIOVANI . F.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, April 26th, 1855.]
AMONG the many difficulties that have occurred to all who have engaged in numismatic pursuits, there is perhaps none more perplexing, and none on which a greater variety of opinion has been entertained, than the inter- pretation of the TASCIA legend upon the coins of Cuno- beline. So much, indeed, has been said upon this sub- ject, that I feel as if some sort of apology were due for entering again upon it ; and this apology will be found in a new variety of the legend which appears upon a coin
borne by all the princes of this dynasty, so that it is not precisely a case in point. The resemblance of the name alone induced me to mention it.
A'«m. CV.i-011. Vol. XVIII, j: 36.
COINS OF CUNOBELINE.
COINS OP CUNOBELINE. 37
that has been lately added to my collection, and which is engraved as No. 3 in the accompanying Plate.
It will be needless for me to enumerate all the different surmises that the TASCIA (for so, for conciseness' sake, I must call it) has given birth to in the imaginations of antiquaries; but I may remark, at the outset, that the interpretation which is the best supported by facts, and which has met with the most general approval on the part of those best qualified to judge in such a matter, is that of Mr. Birch,1 who considers it to represent the name of the father of Cunobeline, which, from the more lengthened inscriptions upon some of the coins, he judges to have been Tasciovanus, or rather Tasciovan.
Others have considered the TASCIA to signify tribute- money, the name of the money er of Cunobeline, or a title equivalent to that of imperator. The two first of these theories can at the present day require no refutation ; but the latter has the merit of being possible, though not pro- bable, and I shall therefore have occasion again to refer to it in my consideration of the subject.
The points necessary to be attended to in attempting to determine such a question as the interpretation of this legend appear to me to be these : —
1st. The facts of the case as far as the coins themselves are concerned ; that is to say, correct readings of the various forms under which modifications of the TASCIA occur : a neglect of this point is of fatal importance, and has led to the formation of many absurd theories and conjectures.
2nd. An attentive comparative examination of the coins with the TASCIA only upon them, and those on
1 Numismatic Chronicle, vol. vii. p. 78.
38 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
which it appears in conjunction with the name of Cunobeline.
3rd. An examination of the style of art and the work- manship of the coins upon which the word occurs in its most extended forms, with a view to determine whether they are the work of foreign or native artists, and an investigation of the sources from whence the various types of the coins with this inscription have been derived, so as to ascertain whether they may be regarded as in- digenous to Britain, or bearing traces of foreign influence.
4th. A consideration of the political history of Britain at the period when these coins were struck, with the same view of ascertaining the extent of foreign influence over the customs of the country.
Upon some of these points it is of course difficult or impossible to obtain a competent knowledge to enable us to arrive at a perfectly accurate conclusion; but upon others there is a sufficient number of facts to guide us to what will, at all events, be an approximation to the truth.
And, firstly, with regard to the facts of the case. There can be no doubt that the legend which, even to the time of Ruding, was regarded as TASCIOVANIT, is in fact TASCIOVANI • F; or if there had remained the smallest doubt upon this point, the coin which is given as No. I of the plate, would at once settle the question, as nothing can be plainer than the legend TASCIOVANI • F upon it. I need not describe the type of the centaur blowing a horn, which is well known, but will merely add that the coin, as well as the two others engraved with it, was found in Bedfordshire, and that its weight is 36 grains. There is another type, which has been frequently referred to in discussing this subject, with a galeated head, and the legend CVNOBELINVS on the obverse, and TASCIIO-
COINS OF CUNOBELINE. 39
VANI • F on the reverse, the type being a sow standing to the right. Of this type I possess a variety which gives the legend TASCIIOVANII, with an F in the exergue. It is No. 2 in the Plate, and its weight 37^ grains. But, beside these, there are the coins with the seated boar on the reverse, and the legend TASC FIL, in the collections of Mr. Wigan and the Hon. R. C. Neville. I am aware that there has been, and still remains, some uncertainty as to the last letter of this legend, which on Mr. Wigan' s coin has been considered by some to be an R. I can, how- ever, from close examination of an impression he was kind enough to send me, state with confidence, that the sup- posed R is merely a straight stroke, probably the upright stroke of an L honey-combed. This letter appears more plainly, though still not quite indisputably, on Mr. Ne- ville's coin.2 Mr. Birch, however, who is no mean judge in such matters, pronounces with certainty the legend to be TASC . FIL. There is also the silver coin3 with CVNO on a tablet on the obverse, and a Pegasus on the reverse, with the legend TASC . F, which was formerly regarded as TASCE. So far the state of the case has for some time been known, and the facts acknowledged, but we now come to the remarkable coin No. 3 in the Plate, which exhibits a new phase in the question, though the type has long been known. On the obverse is a horseman to the right, brandishing a dart in his right hand, and holding a large oval shield on his left arm; beneath the legend CVNOB. On the reverse is an armed figure standing, with a plumed helmet on his head, his right hand resting on a spear, and holding a circular shield with his left; at his
2 Archaeological Institute Journal, vol. iv. p. 29.
3 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. VII. Pl.v. 1.
40 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
girdle there apparently hangs a short sword ; the legend is TASCIIOVANTIS, of which only the latter half is per- fect. Like the other coins engraved, it is of copper, and the weight is 40^ grains. It is probable that a similar but imperfect specimen gave rise to the opinion, that the legend4 TASCNOVANT appeared on the coins of Cunobe- line. In addition to these forms, we find the TASCIA on these coins as TASC, TASCI, TASCIO, TASCIIOVA, TAS- CIOVAN. On the coins without the name of Cunobeline the word occurs under the following phases — TAS, TASC, TASCI, TAXCI, TASCIA, TASCIO, TASCIAV, TASCIAVA, TASCIOVAN. I omit the varieties of the coins reading TASCIOVRICON, as of rather 'doubtful attribution.
On examination of the coins inscribed with the TASCIA only, it appears that they are generally, though not al- ways, of ruder work than those on which this legend is found in conjunction with the name of Cunobeline, and that many of the types are derived from the uninscribed coins which I have already shown5 to be in nearly all cases of anterior date to the uninscribed coins. It is also found that the majority were in all probability coined at Veru- lam, and not at Camulodunum, the seat of Cunobeline' s mint. From these circumstances, and from the fact that they are generally more dished, it may safely be inferred, that whatever the signification of the legend may be, the coins with the TASCIA only upon them are of earlier date and distinct from those of Cunobeline, notwithstanding the same legend appearing upon both.
Instead of the larger portion of the types of Cunobe- line's coins being derived from the ruder uninscribed
4 Pettingal's Discourse on the TASCIA, p.l.
5 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. XII., p. 127.
COINS OF CUNOBELINE. 41
pieces, they bear very frequent and unmistakeable evi- dence of a foreign influence in the selection of the devices, which seem to have been not unfrequently borrowed from coins of Augustus. I might instance the butting bull, the Pegasus, the seated sphinx, the Victory killing a bull, and the seated Apollo with the lyre, though some of these may have been, and indeed probably were, adopted from other sources. But though occasionally there are .what would appear to be the original British devices, such as the boar, upon the coins, yet even then the method of treatment and the recurrence of Roman divinities, such as Mercury, Hercules, and Apollo, all point to Roman in- fluences. At the same time, the workmanship of some is of so superior a character, that it is almost impossible to believe them to have been the productions of native British engravers, but that the dies must have been sunk by Roman artists. This is the case with the first two coins of the plate, which are equal in execution to almost any Roman coins of the period, and the third is not far behind.
The connection of Britain with Rome during the period which intervened between the expeditions of Julius and Claudius is involved in much obscurity, though it will, I think, be found closer than is commonly supposed. I will not adduce the statement of Geoffrey of Monmouth, that Cunobeline himself was brought up at the court of Augustus, as being of any authority, but I think the following passage from Strabo, who, let it be borne in mind, wrote his geography during the reign of Augustus, is of great importance.
" At the present time, some of the princes in Britain having, by their embassies and court, gained the friend- ship of Augustus, have dedicated their offerings in the
VOL. XVIII. G
4-2 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
capitol, and have brought the whole island into a state little short of intimate union (oliceiav a-^eSov) with the Romans. They bear moderate customs and dues on the imports and exports from Gaul, etc." Of these embassies I think we find a record in the celebrated inscription of Augustus at Ancyra, which, it is to be lamented, is slightly imperfect, both in the Greek and Latin versions, at the part relating to this country — 'Ad me supplices confu- gerunt Britann[orum reges] Damno Bellaunus et Tim — ' two kings whose names may probably be identified with the Dubnovellaunus and Tincomius of our coins. Not- withstanding the long apparent oblivion, neither Augustus nor Tiberius ever entirely lost sight of Britain; and though the one considered it ' praceptum/ and the other ' consilium/ not to invade it, yet more than once expedi- tions were fitted out, and on the point of starting, for the subjugation of the ' penitus toto divisos orbe Britannos.' These expeditions failing, the probability is, that the Ro- mans, partly with a view to the tribute levied in the shape of customs, and partly to facilitate the ultimate conquest of the island, which was regarded more as deferred than relinquished, conciliated the native princes, and thus ad- vanced the civilization of the country, ' vetere ac jampri- dem recepta Populi Romani consuetudine, ut haberet in- strumenta servitutis et reges.' "
If this were the case, it would account for our finding British coins struck from dies having all the appearance of being the work of Roman hands, and having Romaniz- ing types upon them ; at all events, it is evident that the coins now under consideration were minted under such influences, and it is from this point of view, namely, re- garding them as the work of Roman artists, that we must look for the meaning of the inscription CVNOBELINVS
COINS OF CUNOBELINE. 43
TASCIOVANI . F. Now Cunobeline was a contemporary of Augustus and Tiberius, and if there is one formula more common than another on the Roman coins current at that period, it is that of AVGVSTVS . DIVI . F., and it was from the evident analogy between this and the British legend that Mr. Birch suggested the interpretation, "Cu- nobeline, the son of Tasciovan." Indeed, regarding the inscription as Latin (and I cannot see in what other light it can be regarded), it is almost impossible to assign another signification to the F. The TASCIA would seem then to designate the father of Cunobeline, whose name would ap- pear to have been generally rendered in Latin Tasciovanus ; and it is worthy of remark, that all the old chronicles, on which, however, much dependence cannot be placed, con- cur in making the name of Cunobeline' s father commence with a T. It has been suggested that TASCIOVANVS is a Latinized form of an ancient British word, now repre- sented in Welsh by Tywysoy, and signifying a prince, or rather being nearly equivalent to the Latin Imperator. But on these coins we have no less than three distinct forms of the word, which in each case appears with a genitive termination. These are TASCIOVANVS. gen. I, TASCIIOVANIVS gen. II, TASCIOVANS gen. VANTIS, and these are the only three forms in which a British proper name ending in VAN could be Latinized. Had it been the name of an office of such importance as to be inscribed on the coins, there would probably have been but one recognised form, and that from all analogy termi- nating in VS, while in Latinizing a proper name more license might well be taken. Our present knowledge then seems to bear out the probability of Mr. Birch's conjecture, for even supposing the F, by some remote pos- sibility, to signify something else than filius, yet apart
44 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
from this there is every reason to conclude that TASCIO- VANVS, TASCIIOVANIVS, and TASCIOVANS are the Latin forms of the name of a ruler among the ancient Britons, whose name, as it appears on the coins struck during his lifetime, and before any Roman influence is discernible on his coins, is, in its most extended British form, TASCIOVAN.
JOHN EVANS.
III.
ON SOME RARE AND UNPUBLISHED ANCIENT BRITISH COINS.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, May 24, 1855.]
I HAVE again the pleasure of calling the attention of the Numismatic Society to the subject of the ancient British coinage, of which several hitherto unpublished varieties will be found in the accompanying Plate. The inscriptions upon some of them are, it is true, but imperfect, and occasionally difficult of decipherment ; but, instead of im- proving upon them, I have done my best to preserve the imperfections and uncertainties of the original coins in the drawings, though it is impossible, or nearly so, but that in the representations of partially obliterated or imperfectly struck coins, especially in copper, the letters and types must be given with greater distinctness, and with better defined outlines, than appear (more particularly to unpractised eyes) upon the originals. It may be thought useless to
Num,? Chrort VoL XV HI p.
ANCJENT BRITISH COINS.
ANCIENT BRITISH COINS. 45
engrave from an imperfectly preserved coin, but when the type is new, and the coin apparently unique, it is far better that a representation of it should at once be put on record, than that it should run the risk of being again buried in oblivion ; especially, as should the coin not prove to be unique, the attention of possessors of similar specimens will be directed to them, and by this means any uncer- tainties as to type, or legend, may probably be removed. At all events, the representation of an imperfect coin, if faithfully given, and the doubtful points still left doubtful, can do no harm ; it is from the authoritative assertion of dubious points as being incontestibly certain, that mischief arises. Having premised thus much, I will return to the description of the coins engraved in the plate, the originals of which are in most cases in my own cabinet.
No. 1 is of gold, in my own collection, weighing 82 grains, and was formerly in the cabinet of the late C. W.Loscombe, Esq. On the obverse is the wreath, and portions of the hair and drapery of the rude and expansive bust, into which the marvellously beautiful head of Apollo on the Macedonian Philippi degenerated in the hands of the bar- barian Gauls and Britons. On the reverse is the equally degenerate representative of the biga, in the shape of an ill-formed horse to the right, with a triple tail ; beneath, a wheel, and above a singular flower-like ornament, a ring ornament, etc.; in the front of the horse is the legend, MMIOS. The type and fabric of this piece very nearly resemble those of some of the uninscribed varieties of British coins, while of the inscribed it most closely ap- proximates to that with the name of TIN upon it, engraved in the Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. VII. p. 16, of the pro- ceedings, a specimen of which was discovered at Alfriston, Sussex. From this analogy, and from the difficulty of
46 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
completing the legend of my coin in any other manner, I am, I think, justified in assuming that the letters CO preceded that part of the legend which appears upon it, and that in its complete state it was COMMIOS. There is one other possible hypothesis, viz., that the inscription was originally TINCOMMIOS, which I have on a former occasion1 shown to have been, in all probability, the name of the prince, which is usually found abbreviated on his coins as TIN or TINC. From the position of the legend with regard to the horse, the probabilities are, however, in favour of its having been merely COMMIOS, and if such was the case, there can be no doubt of the coin being one of that Commius whose name appears on the coins of Eppillus, Verica and Tincomius, all of whom claim the title of COMMI F — the son of Commius. Whether this Commius of the British coins, and Commius the Attre- batian, who plays such a distinguished part in Caesar's narrative of the Gallic war, were one and the same person, is another and a more difficult question. It is, however, by no means improbable that they were, and to use the words of Camden and Philemon Holland, "both I and some others are pleased with this conceit, that it is a coin of Commius Attrebatensis, whom Csesar mentioneth," for he is spoken of as a great authority among the Britons, and on more than one occasion appears as a mediator between Csesar and the British chiefs; while the Attrebates over whom he was appointed ruler by Caesar had also a settlement in Britain; so that, possibly, like that of Divitiacus, his empire was not confined to the Continent, but also extended to a portion of this country. It appears from Frontinus, that on one occasion, at least, Commius
1 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. XVI. p. 80.
ANCIENT BRITISH COINS. 47
sought a refuge in Britain after the breaking out of hostili- ties between the Romans and himself, but nothing con- clusive can be gathered from the account of this circum- stance. The identification, therefore, of the Commius of the British coins with Commius the Attrebatian, must remain conjectural, as but little can be done to remove the by no means inconsiderable difficulties with which it is attended. If not the same persons, however, they must have been contemporaries, or nearly so. The coin now under consideration, as well as the earliest of Tincommius, having been struck at the period when the hitherto anepigraphous British coins began to have inscriptions placed upon them, a practice which commenced soon after the Britons had been brought into contact with the Roman civilizers of the world by the invasion of Caesar. I am not aware of the existence of any other specimen of this type, but as from its extreme similarity to some of the anepigraphous coins, a more imperfectly preserved example might easily be classed with them, it is possible that now attention is called to them, other specimens may be brought forward which will enable us to complete the legend with certainty.
The next coin, No. 2 in the Plate, is one of the sons of Commius, whose name, as I have already stated, will pro- bably prove to have been Tincommius. It is of gold, weighing 17| grains, and was formerly in the cabinet of Mr. Cuff, though now in my own collection. I think it is probable that it formed part of the Bognor find, but of this I am by no means certain. The collection at the British Museum comprises a similar specimen.
Obv.— COMF on a sunk tablet.
Rev. — TIN, a bridled horse prancing to the right.
48 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
There is a general resemblance between the type and that of the larger coins of Tincommius (of which this piece was coined as the fourth part) though the horse on them is usually provided with a rider. The correspondence is much more complete with the small coins with the legends COMF and VI or VIR. While on the subject of the small gold coins of Tincommius, I may mention, that the small coin engraved in the Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. VII., Plate iv., No. 9, and Smith's Collectanea Antiqua, vol. i., PI. vii., No. 13, and described at p. 38 of the Proceedings of the Numis- matic Society for 18-11, is now in my possession. The letters on the tablet on the obverse, which have been regarded as illegible, I have been able to decipher, and can pronounce them with certainty to be TINC. The coin may be thus described —
Obv.— TINC on a tablet, between C above and F below.
Rev. — A full-faced winged-head of Medusa, occupying nearly the whole of the field.
It forms, therefore, another variety of the small coins of Tincommius, of which three types are now known, all of which, I may add, have been discovered and published by myself.
No. 3 presents us with a new type of the coins of Tasciovanus. On the obverse is a diademed beardless head to the right, unaccompanied by any inscription. On the reverse, a hippocampus, or sea-horse to the left ; above a trefoil and ring ornament, and below the legend TAS. This coin is of brass, weighing 37J grains, and in my own cabinet, but I am not aware of the locality where it was found. The type is so closely allied to Nos. 5 and 6 in the Plate, that I shall defer any remark upon it until we arrive at those numbers. No. 4 is also of Tasciovanus, but
ANCIENT BRITISH COINS. 49
has already been published, a similar coin though not so well spread or preserved, being engraved in E/uding App., PI. xxix., No. 70, and thus described in the explanation of the Plates.
Obv. — Profile to the left, hair and beard flowing.
Rev. — TASC over the back of a horse. Above and below a rose of dots.
This description must now be corrected in several par- ticulars ; on the obverse, instead of a single profile, there are two heads side by side (capita jugata or tetes accolees), the hair and beard crisped, and apparently an inscription in front, of which the last letter may be an R, and the whole possibly VER. The reverse shows a third dotted rose in front of the animal, which I consider to be a ram or sheep rather than a horse. It is the only instance of this animal occurring on a British coin, and it is nearly equally rare on Gaulish coins. The deux tetes accolees occur on an un- certain coin of Gallia Narbonensis, with the inscription IIPOMIIAOS, but in this case they are young and beard- less. Altogether I am at a loss to know from whence these types are derived, and consider the coin as one of the most remarkable of the ancient British series. It was, I believe, found in Bedfordshire, and is in singularly fine condition, entirely uninjured by time. The metal is brass, and the weight 31 1 grains.
Nos. 5 and 6, varying only slightly in the legend, may be described together. The obverse is apparently without inscription, and exhibits a rudely formed bearded head to the right. On the reverse, is a Hippocampus to the left, above, a trefoil and ring ornament, and beneath, the legend VIR or VER on No. 5, and VIIR on No. 6. There is some indistinctness about the legend on both these coins,
VOL. XVIII. H
50 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
but Mr. Huxtable possesses a similar specimen to No. 5, on which, also, the legend appears to be VIR or VER. There can, then, be no doubt of these coins having been struck at the ancient city of Verulamium especially when the great similarity between them and the coin of Tascio- vanus, No. 3, whose chief place of mintage we know to have been Verulamium, is taken into account. The form VIIR, need not excite surprise, the double I being so fre- quently substituted for E, not only on British and Gaulish coins, but even in Roman inscriptions, and occasionally on Roman coins, as for instance,1 that of Marc Antony with the legend COS-DIISIG-ITIIR-IIT-TIIRT-IIIVIR-R-P-C on the reverse. Whether among the Gauls and Britons this use of the double I for E may have originated from their having derived their knowledge of letters from a Greek source, in which alphabet the H so closely resembles the double II is a matter of speculation. There is some doubt as to the correct reading of the passage in Caesar, where he mentions the Gauls as using Greek letters ; but it is certain, from their coins, that they did so, and we find the Q passing through the form of the barred D into that of the ordinary Roman D on British coins.
That the horse so frequent on the British series should, in these instances, assume its marine form of Hippocampus, is certainly a cause for surprise, unless, possibly, suggestive of the insular position of the Britons. The winged Hip- pocampus occasionally makes its appearance on Greek coins of maritime states, and especially on the common copper coins of Syracuse ; and a quadriga of wingless hippocampi appears on some of the large brass coins of the Pnefects of Marc Antony, The Hippocampus would also seem to be
8 See Eckhcl, Doct. Num. Vit., vol. vi. p. 46.
ANCIENT BRITISH COINS. 59
found in one or two instances in the Spanish and Gaulish series, though this point is not perfectly clear. The nearest approach to it, on a British coin, is the animal on the small silver coin engraved in the Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. XVI. p. 80, No. 12, which may be either a Capricorn or a Hippocampus. The ring ornament, in con- junction with the trefoil, appears on another coin of Verulam, Ruding, plate v. 5, in the same relative position to a horse as they bear on these coins No. 3, 5, and 6, to a Hippocampus, and on No. 7 to a Pegasus — a circum- stance which fully coroborates their attribution to Verulam. The weight of No. 5 is 32 grains, and of No. 6, 35 grains.
Nearly allied to these coins is that given as No. 7, in the plate which was formerly in the collection of James Brown, Esq., F.S.A., of St. Albans, and was in all proba- bility found upon or near the site of ancient Verulam. On the obverse is a rude head, slightly differing in cha- racter from those last described, and having somewhat the appearance of being laureated : if bearded at all, it is not to the same extent as the heads on Nos. 3, 5, and 6. On the reverse is a Pegasus to the right, above, a ring ornament and trefoil, and beneath, some letters/apparently VER. The Pegasus occurs on coins of Tasciovanus in all the metals, so that we might well expect it to appear on one of the coins of Verulamium ; many, if not all, of which, were struck at the time when that town was under his dominion, and, so to speak, the capital of his kingdom. Nos. 8 and 9 are also coins of this city, of an entirely new type and module. They are both in copper, weighing 14 and 10 grains respectively, so that they would appear to have been coined as representatives of one-half of the value of the larger and better known copper coins of Veru-
52 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
lam. The type, too, of the obverse seems to bear reference to this fact, being a single square with the sides curved inwards, including within it another square with an annu- let in the centre, instead of the starlike ornament formed by the interlacing of two similar curved -sided squares which we find on the larger coins, both with and without the inscription VERLAMIO around it. It bears a resem- blance to the device on the reverse of some of the Gaulish barbarous imitations of the coins of Rhoda, in Hispania Tarraconensis, and also to some of the coins of Dyrrhachium. The type of the reverse is a bird, probably an eagle, stand- ing with its wings partly expanded, and holding in its beak a snake or branch ; around runs a legend, of which the few letters that appear on the coins are unfortunately indis- tinct ; but on No. 8, the letters RVL may be deciphered without difficulty, being, probably, a part of the word VERVLAMIO, a legend, which from the type of the obverse, we might naturally expect to find upon them. The eagle appears on several coins of the British series, but that most nearly connected with the present coins is the small copper piece of Eppillus, engraved in Akerman's Coins of Cities and Princes, plate xxi. Nos. 5 and 6, the types of which, on either side, have a considerable resem- blance to the coins of Verulam, which3 I have already pointed out. The last coin, No. 10, in the plate is of Cunobeline in silver, and now forms part of the British Museum collection, for which it was purchased at the sale of the coins of the late Lord Chief Justice Doherty. On the obverse is a partially draped figure walking to the right, in his right-hand a short wand, and his left-hand holding what is apparently some animal that he is carrying
3 Numismatic Chronicle, Vol. XVI. p. 88.
ANCIENT BRITISH COINS. 53
on his shoulder ; around runs the legend CVNOBELINVS. The figure is probably that of Hercules carrying the Nemsean lion or Erymanthean boar in triumph upon his shoulders. The reverse gives a standing figure, also par- tially draped, holding in his left-hand a bow ; near his right- hand what seems to be the head of a somewhat diminutive stag, or possibly a dog looking upwards. The legend is TASCIIO . . . and the weight of the coin 17 grains. Whe- ther the type of the reverse is intended for Apollo or for Hercules and the stag with the brazen feet (as has been suggested), I will not attempt to determine, the state of preservation of the coin not being sufficiently good on either side to make the minuter parts of the device to be accurately distinguished. If, however, such be the case, it is a most remarkable fact, that we should find two of the labours of Hercules, and those by no means the most favourite among them, as subjects for the sculptor or poets of antiquity, portrayed upon a British coin. The type of Hercules standing with his club occurs on two varieties of silver coins of Cunobeline already well-known; but the representation of Hercules engaged in any of his far-famed labours, implies an amount of classical knowledge not to have been expected on a British coin, unless (as was fre- quently the case with those of Cunobeline) it was the production of foreign artists.
JOHN EVANS.
MISCELLANEA.
PARTICULARS OP THE DISCOVERY OF VALUABLE GOLD ORNAMENTS
AND MANY ROMAN CoiNS, AT LEUGERICH, IN THE
KINGDOM OF HANOVER.
As the rarity of finding Roman coins in Northern Germany, even of the period of the incursion of Drusus, or the defeat of Varus, is not only consistent with the slight hold the conquerors of the rest of the then known world ever had on it, and is borne out by the results of many centuries, the discovery of a number is in itself matter of great curiosity and interest, and in the present instance the more so, from the peculiarity under which they have been originally concealed, at two different and very distant periods, in close proximity but perfectly independent of each other : the facts, therefore, abridged from the German account of Mr. Fred. Hahn, of Hanover, may be deemed worthy the attention of the Numis- matic Society.
In the spring of 1847, a farmer of the parish of Leugcrich, Amt Zieren, betwixt Osnabruck and Lingen, not far from the Ems, found on the rise of a fir-plantation which bears the significant name of Wallage (Wall-place), beneath a large stone which he wanted for a building on his farm, a great quantity of Roman silver coins covered by a small bronze patera, upon which he was induced to remove two other large stones, further eastward, which resulted in the agreeable discovery beneath the second stone of a valuable deposit of gold ornaments with about 10 or 12 Roman golden coins, covered carefully up in an enclosure of small stones, and under the third stone again a number of silver coins, of a coinage about one hundred and fifty years later in date than any of the first quantity of silver found. It was this latter circum- stance which principally enhanced the interest of the discovery ; for an examination of them shewed that the first quantity found ranged in date from Trajan (96 — 117) to Septimus Severus (193 — 196), and in the accompanying report is a detailed list, with the reverses (pp. 10 — 22), numbering in all 406 varieties, but beyond the last mentioned emperor none were found.
On the other hand, the gold coins under the second stone were of the date of Constantino the Great and his sons, as late as A.D. 361, and the golden ornaments found with them seem of the same
MISCELLANEA. 5 5
aera. The silver coins under the third stone had all been struck by the usurper Magnentius, so that there was an interval of about 150 years from the date of the coins found under the first stone to that of those found under the second and third.
The gold ornaments consisted of: —
1. — A gold fibula in the form of a cross, of which a drawing, the size of the original, is contained in the lithographic print accompanying the work. Plate i., fig. 1.
2. — A golden finger-ring -with a beautiful rosette in filigree.
3. — Another ring, not quite so elaborate.
4. — A golden gimmet ring.
5. — Four studs or buttons, with their heads also neatly worked in filigree, and pierced with a hole to fasten them to a garment : all these articles, from the beauty of the de- sign and workmanship, may be supposed above the reach of German artists of the period, therefore probably of Roman work. Of less perfect workmanship were —
6 — A spiral ring, and
7. — Two armillse with sexagonal endings.
The ten gold coins found with these articles are not more par- ticularly described than as the coinage of Constantine the Great and his sons, but so sharp and fresh, that they seem never to have been in circulation.
This last circumstance seems also to have been the case with the silver coins of Magnentius, found under the third stone ; as it is particularly noticed, that they seem as new as if just from the die. They were seventy in number, with some denarii of Maxentius, as also a silver medallion of Constantius. The silver in the latter is so far remarkable, that it has become chloride of silver (Chlor-Silber), so that on one side it is so fragile as to crumble betwixt the fingers, whilst on the others the silver pre- serves its consistency. The silver patera covering is still more brittle and broken.
Dr. Hahn presumes, from these facts, that the place of the de- posit was originally a sanctuary of the ancient Saxons, as the popular tradition always pointed it out as the depositary of great treasure (and he might have also alluded to the name of Wallage), and that these treasures had been committed there to the sacred earth in troublesome times, and afterwards forgotten; and from the contents under the second and third stones being so valuable, he further infers that the person who secreted them had been a Saxon Hertog of considerable consequence, and possibly, one of the Saxons mentioned by Zosimus, as having led an auxiliary force to assist Magnentius in the sanguinary and decisive battle of Mursu, now Essek, on the Drave, where he states 54,000 com-
56 MISCELLANEA.
batants to have fallen. The entire weight of the golden ornaments here produced ia stated at 14| Loth and 12 As., about Trounces; but with them was found a grand golden necklace, with pendulous drops of the same metal, sold to a goldsmith, and which Dr. Hahn laments as the most valuable article, not only intrinsically, but because gold or silver ornaments are much more rarely found in Germany than either in France, Britain, or Scandinavia.
From the small and feminine size of the rings and armillse, Dr. Hahn concludes that these ornaments belonged to the wife or daughters of the chieftain who joined the usurper, according to the German practice, with his whole family, in the South, in- tending, after victory, to return and reclaim his family treasure and the new coinage, which we may suppose to have been the shining first instalment of imperial pay and foretaste of future reward on a successful issue ; but the neglect to reclaim it, tells the sorrowful tale of the destruction of the entire family, not leaving one member to return and disinter it from the holy soil to which it had been committed.
WILLIAM BELL.
CHARLES ROACH SMITH, Esq.,
Numismatic Society, London.
57
IV.
ON A VERY RARE SILVER COIN (DENARO D'AR- GENTO) OF BERENGARIUS II., KING OF ITALY, WITH HIS SON ALBERTUS (ADALBERTUS) AS CO- REGENT, A.D. 950—962.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, April 26, 1855.]
THE obverse is inscribed HKBERENGARIV, and in the field, his dignity, REX. On the reverse, we read in the centre, PA — PIA in two lines, which is the name of the city of Pavia, where the coin was struck ; and around, HhALBER- TVS . R*t" [Rex.], which is the name of his son, whom he had created co-regent.
The way in which the letters are arranged in the le- gends, corresponds with that of several coins in my series of kings of Italy, particularly those of the predecessors of Berengarius II., namely, Hugo and Lotharius, on whose coins we, in like manner, find the names of father and son together. About thirteen years ago, Signer Giulio di S. Quintino, a numismatist distinguished for his researches on early Italian mediseval coins, published a coin nearly similar of Berengarius II and Albert, in the " Memorie
VOL. XVIII. I
58
NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
della R. Accademia delle Scienze di Turino," vol. v., serie ii. He considered it unique, and only to be found in that celebrated deposit of precious objects, the Library of the Vatican.1 Some years ago, when passing through Rome, the late and much lamented Monsignor Molza very kindly showed me the coin, even at a time when the library was closed to the public.
When at Turin, in 1847, I also obtained the gracious favour of being permitted to inspect the private collec- tion of Italian mediaeval coins formed by his late Majesty Charles Albert at the Royal Palace.2 To my surprise, I discovered two of these coins of Berengarius II. After a careful inspection, which convinced me that the two coins were from the same die (though somewhat differing from the coin in the Vatican), I ventured to propose an ex- change for one of them, having fortunately with me several Italian coins not in the royal cabinet. My wish was granted, and I left the palace with this rare numis- matic as well as historical document.
The life and exploits of Berengarius II. belong to an unhappy and calamitous portion of Italian mediaeval his- tory, and form part of a period of seventy years of faction, discord, treason, anarchy, and civil war, under ten native and as many foreign kings, from A.D. 888 to A.D. 961, when, by an imperial fundamental law of Otho I. of Saxony, the Italian crown was united with the German.
Towards the end of the ninth century, there were two sovereigns in Italy preeminent for their extended territo- rial possessions, as well as for their riches and personal
1 The coin in the Vatican has *%> BERENGARIVS.
8 Through the kindness of Chevalier Promis, librarian to the king, and the learned author of that distinguished numismatic work " Monete dei Reali di Savoja." Torino. 1841. 4to.
~. COIN OF BERENGAKIUS II. 59
power. They were both pretenders to the crown of Italy by their Carlovingian mothers. One was Berengarius I., duke of Friuli (guardian of the northern Alpine passes towards Germany), who, with the approval of Pope Ste- phanus V., was crowned at Pavia, in A.D. 888, as king of Italy. The other was Guido, duke of Spoleto and lord of the Marquisate of Fermo and Camerino. This coronation of Berengarius I. obliged Guido to fly to Germany to King Arnulf, but in 889, Guido having returned, two great battles were fought between them without any decisive result, one in the plain of Piacenza, the other near Brescia.
Towards the end of the year 894 Guido died, and Lam- bert, his son, began to press his demands against Beren- garius I. In the meantime, Pope Formosus persuaded Arnulf, king of the Germans, to enter Italy, which Arnulf accomplished in September, 895. However, while before Spoleto he was taken ill, and returned to Germany, where he died, towards the end of A.D. 899.
In 896, Lambert and Berengarius I. had already made the river Adda a boundary of their kingdom ; but Lambert having lost his life by a fall from his horse at a hunting party in October, A.D. 898, the Spoletonian faction called Louis, king of Provence, into Italy. He crossed the Alps in the spring of 899,3 and at first gained some advan- tage, but was soon obliged to retreat before Berengarius I., who, however, in consequence of having lost a battle on the Brenta against the Hungarians, sunk considerably in public esteem. At about the same time, having fallen out with Adalbert II., marquis of Tuscany, he was unable to prevent Louis from entering Italy again in A.D. 900, and
3 Papon. Histoire de Provence. II. p. 147.
60 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
advancing towards Rome, in which city Louis received the imperial coronation by Pope Benedict IV., in February, 901. He then forced Berengarius I. to take temporary refuge in Bavaria, but in A.D. 902, Berengarius surprised Louis at Verona, had him blinded, and sent back to Provence. Louis was at the age of twenty-four when he was deprived of sight. He resided afterwards at Vienne, and installed Hugo as Regent of Provence. In A.D. 904, Louis married Edgiva, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of England, by whom he had a son, named Charles Constantino, who succeeded him in the Duchy of Vienne, under the Burgundian king, Rudolph II.
A complication of events in Italy had now risen to the highest point by the opposition of the nobles, the plunder- ing expeditions of the Hungarians, the strongly fixed position which the Saracens had taken on the mountain of Gargano, on the river Garigliano, and at Trainet, near Monaco. Pope John X. endeavoured to effect an alliance with several Italian princes against the Saracens, who were expelled, A.D. 91 5, from their fortresses on the Garig- liano, by a son of the Roman consul Albericus, who, how- ever, after this victory became so haughty and self-exalted that he was banished from Rome. Albericus afterwards fortified himself, with some of his followers, in the town of Orta in Etruria, and took the title of Marquis, and, in order to defy the Romans, he invited the roaming Hunga- rians into the Roman territory, who caused great destruc- tion ; but after their retreat the Romans took Orta, and put Albericus to death, A.D. 925.
This is one of the flagrant examples, which show how things were going on at that time in Italy.
But let us return to the period of the royal personage to whom our coin refers. Berengarius II. was the eldest son
COIN OF BEHENGARIUS II. 61
of Adalbert I., Longaspada (e corta fede — ), Marquis of Ivrea, by his first wife, Gisla (Gisilla), only daughter of Berengarius I., king of Italy. It thus appears, that she wished to transmit the name of her illustrious father to her first-born son.
The mother of Berengarius I. also bore the name of Gisla, and was a daughter of the Emperor Louis I., son of Charlemagne. On that account, Berengarius II. laid claim to a Carlovingian descent, and to the Regno d'ltalia. About A.D. 925, he succeeded his father in the Marquisate of Ivrea, which embraced at that period the greatest part of Piedmont.
As long as the mother of Berengarius II. was alive, Adalbert I. of Ivrea and Berengarius I. were good friends; but after her death, Adalbert having married Ermengard (la Bella), a daughter of the late Marquis Adalbert II. of Tuscany, this friendship was soon turned into hatred. This occurred through the influence of Bertha,4 the mother of Ermengard, who, in fact, ruled in Tuscany, and being a personal enemy of Berengarius I., exercised such an influence over her son-in-law, that he became one of the principal chiefs of the Spoletonian faction,5 which deprived Berengarius I. of his kingdom and of his life.
Besides, Adalbert of Ivrea was also envious of his father- in-law for having assumed the imperial title (Berenga- rius I. was crowned as Emperor6 by Pope John X., in March, A.D. 916), and so towards the end of the year A.D. 921, the Spoletonian party invited to Italy Rudolph II., King of Upper Burgundy (Transjurana), for their protec-
4 She died at Lucca, 8th of March, A. D. 925.
5 Luitpr. lib. xii. cap. 6.
6 In my series of imperial coins is one of him which bears that title.
62 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
tion. Rudolph II. received the crown of Lombardy in February, A.D. 922, from the Archbishop Lambert of Milan, who was a fierce enemy of Berengarius I. The latter, however, kept off the first attack of his enemies with Hungarian mercenaries, in a decided battle between Piacenza and Borgo San Donnino, on the 29th of June, A.D. 923, but soon afterwards, in the beginning of March, A.D. 924, Berengarius I. was assassinated in the cloister of a church near his palace at Verona, by his confidant Flambert, bribed for that purpose.7 In the same month (March 12th), the Hungarians had set Pavia on fire.8
It appears that soon after the assassination of Beren- garius I., Adalbert I., Marquis of Ivrea, had died, and Ermengard, his second wife, on account of the minority of her stepson, Berengarius II., equipped an army, and en- tered the city of Pavia by force9 (A.D. 925), accompanied by her son Anscar, and her stepson Berengarius II., in order to deprive Rudolph II. (king of Upper Burgundy), of the kingdom of Italy, and to maintain the right of Bereugarius II. to the throne as a nephew of Berenga- rius I.
Rudolph II. at that time resided at Verona, on account of its convenience of situation, and also as being a strongly fortified city. Ermengard had collected together as much as she could in money, men, and arms. A contemporary historian, however, hints, that she obtained more by the arms of Venus than by those of Mars.10 But it may
7 Giulini. Memorie di Milano, vol. ii. p. 163.
8 In July, the Saracens had surprised Oria in Calabria, and conquered the fortress of Santagata.
9 Sigonio, lib. vi. sub ann. 925.
10 Luitprand, lib. iii. cap. 2 : "II quale per altro era una mala lingua," observes Zanetti, vol. iv. p. 308.
tOIN OF BERENGARIUS II. 63
easily be supposed, that a woman like Ermengard, pos- sessed of so much influence and power in the north of Italy, and also still distinguished by great personal beauty and the highest accomplishments that the period could give, should have had enemies, and of course scandal was not idle. Therefore, to the historians of her time, Ermen- gard might have said, in the way of Sir Peter Teazle, "Gentlemen, with you I leave my character behind." By mild behaviour, soft caressings, and many cunning ways, Ermengard managed the government, and won both hearts and minds. In the meantime, Rudolph II., infu- riated that a woman should occupy the royal residence at Pavia, resolved to lay siege to that city with all his force of Burgundians and Italian allies. Ermengard, despairing of external aid, and already in want of provisions, had recourse to her usual craftiness. She wrote a letter to Rudolph, wherein she well-meaningly informed him, that he had been betrayed by his own people, that his life only depended upon her, and had already been sold. " Si te perdere vellem/' says she in her letter, "jam longo tern- pore extinctus esses : tui quippe omnes te deserere, meque ardenter adire contendunt," etc.,11 and further, she ob- serves, that chains were prepared for him if he did not take refuge in her arms, where he might find the proof of being more beloved by her than threatened.
It appears that Rudolph II. had not the firmness of the wise Ulysses ; on the contrary, the signature of the letter it seems must have kindled a flame in his heart which drew him towards the siren. He forgot his wife12 and
11 Luitpr. lib, iii. cap. 3.
12 It appears that Rudolph II was already married in 922, to Bertha, daughter of Burcard I. Duke of Suabia.
6*4 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE'.
friends, the Archbishop of Milan, and his army. Secretly (and favoured by darkness) he passed the river, and found himself soon in the arms of Ermengard as a voluntary prisoner.
" Sire, si vous laissez, comme Charles desire, Comme Diane fait, par trop vous gouverner, Fondre, pe"trir, mollir, refondre et retourner, Sire, vous n'etes plus, vous n'etes plus que cire."13
Daylight discovered the fraud to the army, which, by a slip of parchment, became disbanded. Many of the captains sheltered themselves for personal security behind the walls of Milan. The cunning Donna then, in order to dominate both the realm and the king, became his concubine, under the name of wife, to make him father of her sons. And so Rudolph commanded the people, and Ermengard commanded Rudolph.
However, the Archbishop of Milan, possessing great influence, as well as other Lombard princes, over the crown, urged by zeal, or by jealousy, would not endure a conduct so disgraceful to the Italian Maesta.
Hugo of Provence (a wild offspring of the Carlovingian race) was invited to come to Italy to drive this effeminate tyrant and his scandalous step-sister14 from the royal
13 Les deux Dianes.
14 Hugo was uterine brother of Ermengard, his father being Thibaud, c >unt of Aries, and his mother, Bertha, a descendant from the Carlovingian line — being a daughter of the younger Lothaire, king of Lorraine, and grandson of Charlemagne. Bertha became, by a second marriage (circa A.D. 917), the wife of Adalbert II. (the rich) Marquis of Tuscany, whose grave may still be seen near the door of the cathedral at Lucca.
It may be observed, that the House of Este, and that of Brunswick-Luneburg, now occupying the throne of Great Britain, is derived from this Adalbert II. Marquis of Tuscany.
COIN OP BERENGARIUS II. 65
residence of Pavia, and to occupy the throne. Rudolph II., who had already received reproaches from his Burgundians, who considered their country as having been neglected by so long an absence, left Italy. It appears, however, that the troops of Hugo were driven back over the Alps, for a time, by Berengarius II., who, with the spirit of a ruler, could not long submit to the guardianship of Ermengard, and soon obtained a formidable authority.
It may be observed that Hugo, Count of Provence, had also assumed the title of King of Aries, intending by means of this title to further his designs against Italy. The Arelate comprised at that time the territories of Chalons, Macon, the country of Vienne (Dauphine), part of Languedoc, and Provence, with the capital, Aries. By invitation of the Friulian party, joined by many other Italian potentates, and also by the Pope, Hugo equipped a fleet, and sailed from Provence to Pisa, in the summer of A.D. 926, where he was received by the Archbishop of Milan, the nuncio of Pope John X., and many ambassadors, who persuaded him to become king of Italy. In consequence of this, Hugo went to Pavia, where at an assembly on the 17th of July, A.D. 926, he was acknowledged as lawful king of Italy, and was crowned at Milan by the Archbishop Lambert. It may be further observed, that the election of the kings of Italy, at the diet composed of Lombard Princes and Bishops, was not conceived to convey any pretensions to the sovereignty of Rome. The royal crown of Lom- bardy was in the hands of the Archbishop of Milan, who at that time (by consent of the barons) had somewhat of the same power to bestow the crown of Lombardy, that the Pope had to bestow the imperial crown.
Hugo forthwith concluded a treaty with Henry I.,
VOL. XVII I. K
66 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
king of the Germans (919 — 936), and with the Byzantine Emperor, Romanus I. In A.D. 933, he made peace with Rudolph II., king of Upper Burgundy, who had menaced Italy again with an invasion, and upon a renunciation of his claim to Italy, Hugo ceded Provence to Rudolph, with the exception of Aries. In A.D. 935, Hugo endeavoured to restore in Pavia much of what had been destroyed by the Hungarians in A. D. 924 : and it appears also that he rebuilt there the royal palace.15 Hugo governed alone from A. D. 92 6 to 931 ; but in that year, on the 14th of April, he created Lotharius, son of his first wife, Alda,16 co-regent, and towards the latter end of the year 938, married Bertha,17 the daughter of Burkard, Duke of Allemania (Suabia), widow of Rudolph II.;18 his son Lotharius he caused to be betrothed to Adelaide, the daughter of Bertha. The marriage, however, did not take place till A.D. 947.
Adalbert, Marquis of Ivrea, had also a son by his second wife, Ermengard, named Anscar. Both brothers were held in great consideration in Lombardy, being rich and powerful ; so much so, that Hugo of Provence, king of Italy, with a view to attach these mighty vassals to his party, married in A.D. 934, to Berengarius II., Willa, the daughter of his brother Boso, marquis of Tuscany. In fact, Hugo was, as already mentioned, kinsman to Beren- garius II., being the son of Bertha (daughter of the younger Lothaire, king of Lorraine), who by a second marriage
15 Giulini, Memorie di Milano, vol. ii. p. 187.
16 Aldae amatissimae et carissimae conjugis nostrae. Dipl. ab AN. 929, id. p. 178.
17 Bertha founded a Benedictine abbey at Payerne [Paterni- acum]. in the Canton de Vaud, where she also died.
18 Rudolph II. died in A.D. 937.
COIN OF BERENGARIUS II. 67
became the wife of Adalbert II., marquis of Tuscany : hence Ermengard, the step-mother of Berengarius II., was step-sister of Hugo. The other brother, Anscar, was created marquis of Camerino and Spoleto in A. D. 934, by Hugo. However, both of them having been suspected (and according to Hugo's opinion convicted) of conspiracy, Hugo had Anscar imprisoned, and shortly afterwards, in A. D. 939, executed. He endeavoured also to decoy Beren- garius II. to his court, for the purpose of having him blinded, but Prince Lotharius, the son of Hugo, informed Berengarius II. of his father's intention.
Upon which Berengarius II. fled to Germany, whither his wife Willa also followed him; though near her confine- ment, she had the courage to traverse the Alps, and even sometimes on foot. Thus the journey became as painful as the track was dangerous.
" Langathmig Kommt der Sturm gebraus't, Verweht im Flug die Gleise, Den Ziigel halt in frommer Faust, Der Knecht und spaht im Kreise, Am Fels vorbei mit rascher Flucht — Da glatzt ihm an die wilde Schlucht —
Bekiimmert mahnt er ; Herrin mem, Wie kraus die Flocken stieben ! Die Lichter Gottes, grosz und klein, Bind heut daheim geblieben ; Zu gerne lauft in Nacht und Grans Die Wolfin mit den Jungen aus."
Berengarius II. obtained protection and help from Otho I. (the great) king of the Germans, at whose court he remained several years.
Hugo had sent a considerable embassy to Otho, with authority to offer him a large sum, to give up Beren- garius II. ; this, however, Otho refused, and advised a reconciliation. Upon which Hugo, with the Saracens
68 NUMISMATIC CHRONICEE.
whom he had in his pay, occupied all the passes of the Alps, to prevent Berengarius II. returning again to Lom- bardy. While Berengarius II. was in Germany, information was constantly forwarded to him about the affairs of Italy : among his intimate friends there was one named Amadeus, who disguised himself under different characters, sometimes as a pilgrim, at other times even as a beggar, and so in that manner introduced himself into the royal residence of Hugo, observing what passed, and what was said of Berengarius II. This Amadeus endeavoured also by various means to alienate the minds of the nobles as well as of the people from Hugo. And as Berengarius II. in A. D. 945, appeared with a small army of German mercenaries in Italy, the towns of Lombardy opened their gates, and hailed him as their deliverer. He soon gained many partisans, and by that means obtained the deprivation of both kings, of their power but not of their titles.
Hugo, abandoned and hated by all Italy,19 abdicated in favour of his son Lotharius, A.D. 946, and returned to Aries, carrying with him the treasures he had amassed. He, however, soon afterwards died, 24th of April, A.D. 947, at Vienne, at the Convent of Saint Peter, which he had founded in A. D. 926.
Lotharius was recognised king by the Italian Princes ; on account, however, of his youth, Berengarius II. under- took the government, leaving to the generous but feeble Lotharius, the crown and title of king of Italy, kept the power of sovereign authority in his own hands.
Soon after the resignation of Hugo, the Bavarian Duke
Muratori calls him " a little Tiberius."
COIN OF BERENGARIUS II. 69
Henry I. (948—955), brother of Otho I., king of the Germans, took advantage of this state of affairs to invade Italy, A.D. 948. He took Aquileja, made an inroad as far as Pavia, and returned home with great booty and without obstacle. In the following year (949) the Hungarian king Taxis, also invaded Italy with a numerous horde, without encountering any resistance. He would have occasioned • great destruction had it not been that Berengarius II. satisfied him with ten bushels of coined silver,20 which he collected for that purpose from all his subjects by a heavy poll-tax, without exception of age, condition or rank. The rest of the money he kept for himself. Thus it was under a sort of guardianship, Lotharius wore the crown of Italy. This noble minded prince died at Turin on the 22nd of November, A. D. 950.
" Da nahm ihn Michael21 freundKch In starkem Arme
Von leuchtendem Eisen umkleidet, Und trug ihn gen Himmel Zu Christus und Karl dem Grossen."
According to report Lotharius was poisoned by order of
20 " Hugo, Rex Italiae datis, decem numorum modiis, et aliis decem modiis Berengarius persuasit Taxi, Hungariorum Duci, ut Italia excederet." vid. Schonvisner, Notitia Hungaricae rei Nu- mariae. Buclae, 1801. 4to. p. 86. It seems, from this quotation, that the same sum had been previously paid by Hugo at another irruption of the Hungarians, which appears to have happened in A.D. 938, as we may infer from another fact mentioned by Schonvisner \_loc. citJ].
21 The winged figure of St. Michael, the archangel, is repre- sented on the sol d'or of Cunipert, Aripert, and Luitprand, kings of Italy [655 — 739], as well as on the sol d'or of some of the dukes of Beneventum, as patron of the Lombards. In Pavia [the residence of the kings of Italy], the Basilica of that city built by the early Lombard kings, was dedicated to St. Michael. The Basilica still exists in tolerable preservation.
70 NUMISMATIC CHKONICLE.
Berengarius II.22 who was probably afraid lest his amiable and gentle disposition should at last gain the affections of the Italians, or lest his consort, Adelaide, (who was a daughter of Rudolph II., king of Upper Burgundy, and of Bertha, daughter of Burchard I., Duke of Suabia, a lady of great beauty and accomplishments), should remind her husband of his royal right.
It appears, also, that Willa, the wife of Berengarius II., a cruel and ambitious woman, had suggested this foul deed, both from hopes of the royal crown, and from jealousy of the handsome and pious Adelaide.
Scarcely was Lotharius dead, when Berengarius II. was proclaimed king, and had himself and his wife, Willa, crowned at the cathedral of St. Michael, at Pavia, on the 15th of December, A.D., 950, taking his son, Adalbert, as co-regent. The truth of this historical fact is completely confirmed by the coin. Berengarius II. now intrigued to compel Adelaide, the widow of Lotharius, who had retired from the court of Pavia, and resided at Como, to marry his son Adalbert,23 and upon her refusal, had her arrested, reconducted to Pavia, and imprisoned on the 29th of April, A.D., 951, in a tower at the Castle of Garda, close to the lake of that name. Here she was stripped of her riches, and treated with all sort of cruelty and insult, allowing her only one maid. At this time the unfortunate widow was scarcely more than twenty years of age. After a hard confinement of four months, the grossly ill-treated queen found means to elude the vigilance of her keepers, and escaped from her prison in the dead of night ; but
82 Giulini. Memorie di Milano. Vol. ii. p. 230.
23 Adalbert was afterwards married to Gerberga [955 — 980], sister of Alberic, count of Macon, who had died in A.D. 955, without issue.
COIN OF BERENGARIUS II. 71
having mistaken her way she fell into a large piece of water, where she remained until the following night for fear of being discovered, nearly exhausted by hunger and cold.
At last, alone and unassisted she extricated herself, and by the help of a priest, came to the Bishop of Reggio, who caused her to be brought for safety to the Castle of Canossa, where her relation, the Marquis Azzo I. d'Este ( Azzone) undertook the protection of the persecuted widow, and valiantly defended his castle. By the advice of the Marquis Azzo d'Este, Adelaide applied to Otho I., King of the Germans, for help, offering him the assistance of her adherents for the acquisition of Italy, and also, at the same time, her hand. Otho being a widower (having been married in A.D. 930 to Edila, one of the daughters of King Edward the Elder of England, who died in A.D. 947), immediately entered Italy with an army, without great opposition, relieved Canossa, advanced to Pavia, and in a short time made himself master of Lombardy ; where, on the 5th of October, A.D. 951, he was acknowledged as king. Having thus avenged the wrongs of Adelaide, and delivered her from her persecutor, he married her on the 25th of December, A.D. 951, and took her to Pavia, where her virtues and accomplishments not only gained the affec- tion of her husband, but the admiration of every one ; as she was well-known to be a kind and benevolent benefac- tress to the poor and oppressed.24
Berengarius II. (having become a fugitive) resolved,
24 One of the brothers of Adelaide, of the name of Burchard; became archbishop of Lyons, in A.D. 947. He had been before bishop of Lausanne.
Adelaide died in A.D. 1000. She had two sons by Otho, one succeeded his father as Otho II. the other, William, became arch- bishop of Mentz.
72 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
after Otho's return to Germany, to submit to the powerful king, particularly as he was induced to do so by Conrad Duke of Lorraine, brother-in-law of Otho, whom he had left in Italy with a German army. Berengarius II. went to Germany, and at Merseburg threw himself at the feet of the king (952) . Thus, by a speedy submission, and the cession of the marquisate of Friuli (the key of Northern Italy, which Otho gave to his brother, Henry I. Duke of Bavaria), Berengarius II., in co-regency with his son Adalbert, obtained of Otho I., at an imperial diet at Augs- burg, in 952, the investiture of the kingdom of Italy.
Scarcely had Berengarius II. returned to Italy when he threw off his vassalage ; and moving with an armed force against the Marquis Azzo I. d'Estc, laid siege to Canossa to punish him for the protection he had rendered to Queen Adelaide.
Otho, oppressed by the affairs of Germany, and the turbulent Hungarians, was unable to despatch troops to Italy to succour the faithful Azzo, who defended himself valiantly for three years in his strong castle, when at last a German army arrived, commanded by Ludolf, the son of Otho I.25 who obliged Berengarius II. to raise the siege of Canossa, in A.D. 956, and take refuge in the Castle of St. Giulio, as he did not wish to risk a battle against the Germans. However, his son Adalbert proved himself more valiant; but fortune not favouring him he became the prisoner of Ludolf, who generously restored him to liberty.
Soon after Berengarius II. was delivered up by his own people to Ludolf, who treating him in the same generous way as he had done his son Adalbert, set him free. The
25 By his first wife, Edila. Vid. Muratori, ad ann. 952.
•, COIN OF BEREIfGARlUS IT. 73
next year (957), Ludolf having died, Berengarius II. again seized upon the kingdom of Italy, and untaught by mis- fortunes, ruled in as cruel and as arbitrary a manner as ever. In 958, Genoa sent an ambassador, named Eboris, to Berengarius II. and his son Adalbert, through whom they recognised and confirmed the constitutions and privi- leges of the Genoese, and admonished those who owed them fealty (feudatari) to respect them.26
At last, after the lapse of ten years, the own subjects of Berengarius, as well as the Italians in general, applied for help to the King of the Germans, soliciting him to deliver them from the tyrant ; and at the same time Pope John XII. and many Bishops, whom Berengarius had curtailed in their rights and liberties, joined with them in the request.
Those demonstrations, and the papal promise of the im- perial crown to Otho I. gave so weighty an impulse, that he directly marched at the head of an army into Italy, to subdue his rebellious vassals, whose troops, although com- manded by his son Adalbert, refused to fight for the tyrant. In that manner Otho I. made himself master of Lombardy, without opposition, and Berengarius II. and his son Adalbert having been dethroned at Pavia in A.D. 961, Otho was proclaimed King of Italy, and was crowned at Milan, by the Archbishop Gualberto, in November, 961.
Otho I. then repaired to Rome, and was crowned there as Emperor of the holy Roman Empire, by Pope John XII. (Octavianus Albericus), on the 3rd of February, A.D 962.27
26 Serra. Storia di Geneva.
27 Amongst my series of imperial coins, is one struck in Rome at this very period. It represents the full-faced and bearded bust of the Emperor Otho I., inscribed * OTTO. IMPERATO. On
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Bcrengarius II. saved himself by flying, with a small number of his followers, into the Fortress of St. Leo, situated in the mountainous territory of Feltro. Queen Willa fled for refuge to the fortified island of St. Giulio, on the Lago di Orta ; but after a siege of two months fell into the hands of Otho, who sent her to her husband at St. Leone, hoping she might persuade him to yield, and deliver up the fortress. But Willa employed her entire influence to hold it, and famine alone compelled Beren- garius II. to surrender it in A.D. 964, 12th of September. Otho sent the prisoner to Bamberg, where he died in A.D 966.
Berengarius II. had three sons and two daughters by Willa ; there names were Adalbert, Guido (Widone), and Conone. The first wandered about as a fugitive after his deposition, and died at Autun ; the second fell in battle against the Emperor Otho I. in A.D. 965 ; and the third went to Constantinople and there died.
The Empress Adelaide generously took care of the two daughters, and kept them at her court. One of them named Gcrberga, was married to Alezan, whose valour delivered Liguria from the Arabs, and from that union sprang the Marquisate of Montferat, and through them the Marquises of Saluzzo, and many noble families of Piedmont. Willa ended her life in a convent.
the reverse we read DOM. (inns) IOANNES., and in the field, PAPA.
The newspaper of Cologne [Kolnische Zeitung], of April 24th, 1855, informs us that an equestrian statue of the emperor Otho the Great (I.), which stands before the town-hall, in the old market- place of Magdeburg, is about to undergo a thorough repair, and adds that it is not only one of the oldest monuments of that city, but perhaps of that kind in all Germany.
Otho I. died at Memmleben, May 7th, A.D. 973.
ui\±-UJtSL,lSHED PATTERN RUPEE OF WILLIAM IV. 75
The character of Berengarius II. has induced historians to place him in the list of passionate and cruel tyrants. He was easily irritated, implacable in his hatred, inclined to dissimulation, proud and imperious, but not shrinking from humiliation if it could serve his turn, and enable nim to execute his ambitious or revengeful plans.
As a soldier he has earned some fame ; although it ap- pears that his boldest resolutions and actions were urged upon him by Willa, who surpassed her husband in firmness of character, as well as in malice and revengeful passions. It may be yet observed that Berengarius II. had an own brother, named Dodone, who was left in possession of Ivrea, and became father of Ardouin, the last native King of Italy, who reigned from 1002— 1014.24
J. G. PFISTER.
British Museum, April 25th, 1855.
V. UNPUBLISHED PATTERN RUPEE OF WILLIAM IV.
[Read before the Numismatic Society, February 22, 1855.]
AT the sale of the superb collection of coins and medals, formed by my respected and sincerely regretted friend, the late James Dodsley Cuff, Esq., I obtained from Lot 2,234 patterns, engraved by Thomas Wyon, junr., A.D. 1812, for the one and two rix dollars of Ceylon, of whose existence
28 I possess two different coins of Ardoin in my series of coins of the kings of Italy.
76 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
I was totally ignorant ; and a pattern rupee of his late Majesty King William IV., by the then chief engraver of the London Mint, William Wyon, R.A., which also I had neither seen nor even heard of. There were many other lots in this sale, that, from their description in the Cata- logue, I am persuaded contained unpublished coins and patterns. But, going no further than this pattern rupee of King William IV., we have before us tangible evidence of what is so much to be regretted, that — while English col- lectors will incur any expense in the purchase of coins and medals, they rarely give themselves the trifling trouble of making known their unpublished specimens to the less fortunate of the numismatic tribe, whose circumstances or residence render such varieties unknown existences, and limit the benefit of the princely gatherings to the owner and those who may happily be within the circle of his friendship; and by no one could such treasures be more courteously and willingly exhibited than they were at all times by the kind and estimable Mr. Cuff.
In all Eastern countries the coining of money is a symbol of supreme authority jealously retained by the supreme power ; and, with the decline of actual supremacy this phantom is still clung to, even when the representative of former greatness has sunk to be a dependant for his daily bread on some existing rule : witness the descendant of the house of Timur, a pensioner on the English Crown, yet, though his authority does not extend beyond the palace he occupies, he continues to coin money, with as high- sounding inscriptions as were ever issued by his great ancestor, the Akbiir of A.D. 1556. Here is the style of the late (so called) Great Moghul (who died A.D. 1837) copied from his rupee, in my possession. The inscriptions, trans- lated, are : —
• '
RUPEE OP WILLIAM IV. 77
Obv. — " The blessed mintage of Muhammad Akbar Shah, the victorious King, and a (second) Sahabi Kiran (A.H.), 1245." (A.D. 1830.)
JRev. — " Struck at Shah Jehanabad (Delhi) the seat of Government, in the 25th year of the happy reign." Weight, 7 dwts. 5 grains.
I am not aware that any person has taken up the subject of the coinage of the English East India Company, all my inquiries at booksellers' for any such works having been unsuccessful ; but, as I understand the study of Numis- matics is engaging attention in India, I trust that that coinage, if not hitherto investigated, may be speedily investigated there, where indeed it can alone be done satisfactorily.
Ruding, in his first supplement, plate 6, and in his second supplement, plate 15, gives engravings of some silver and copper coins of Charles II. and James II. of Bombay currency ; also of a large lead piece for Bombay, which has no date, but from the letters on it (G. R.,) he assigns it with every probability to George I. I have a similar coin, with the date 1741, weight 1 ounce 6 grains; and another with the date 1771, weighing 15 dwts. 15 grains ; and I have seen two pieces of similar type and metal, half their size. The coin of 1741 came to me from Dublin; that of 1771 was found a few years since at Kinsale, in repairing a house. These three specimens in lead, being of the reigns of George I. II. and III. from their succession would seem to indicate some estab- lished and continuous purpose. It is unlikely that any- thing honorary would be struck in so worthless and easily injured a metal as lead ; yet, as they all bear the authori- tative inscription "Auspicie Regis et Senatus Anglia3," we may presume, in the absence of any information, that they were current coins. Ruding does not give the weights of
78 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the silver and copper coins represented in plates 6 and 15. From their rarity, the quantities struck were probably small ; and it is not unlikely that they were sent to Bom- bay from London. But the Company's presuming to coin money, drew down upon them, in the reign of William III., the high displeasure of the reigning Great Moghul, the Emperor Aureng-Zeb, whom they had to appease by an explanation. Elphinstone, in his "History of India," vol. ii. pp. 555, 556, mentions, that A.D. 1693, Kahfi Khan was sent to Bombay on this and various alleged delin- quencies of the Company, " and that they explained their coining money in their own King's name (which was another complaint against them), by stating that they had to purchase investments at places where the MoghuTs money did not pass."
Marsden, in the second volume of his " Numismata Orientalia," p. 663, in his series of the coins of the " Moghul Emperors of Hindustan," states : — " It was in this year of Furrukh-slrs reign," (fifth year, A.D. 1716-17) " that the English East India Company obtained from him (through the agency of Mr. John Surman, factor, and Mr. Hamilton, surgeon, with K'hojah Serhad, an Arme- nian, as linguist), the memorable firman or edict, exempt- ing them from the payment of customs, authorizing them to coin money of the empire in the island of Bombay, as had been usual at Chinapatan or Madras, and granting them the exercise of many other important privileges." In a note, Marsden adds, " It is dated the fourth day of the second month (1129), and in the fifth year of the reign (6th January, 1716 — 17); a translation of it will be found in Fraser*s ' History of Nadir Shah/ p. 45, and the detail of many circumstances respecting it, in Scott's
History of Arunzebe's successors,' p. 139." I am unable
RUPEE OF WILLIAM IV. 79
to obtain any of the works referred to ; nor can I find in any history within my reach, when the East India Com- pany's establishment at Madras took place, or whether Chinapatan was then under their rule. But Bombay being, as I apprehend, their then seat of government, I infer that the privilege of coining was granted to the English on the same terms as the native powers of Chinapatan and Madras were allowed to exercise it.
Auber, in his " Rise and Progress of the British Power in India," vol.i. p. 21, A.D. 1715, gives many particulars of this grant, which however Jaffier Khan, the Moghul " Governor of India, manifested an indisposition to obey," and in a dispatch from the members of the embassy, dated Cossimbuzar, 15th August, 1717, they say, "we went our- selves in person to him and shewed him the phirmaund, and demanded the free use of the mint, as before advised." Jaffier put them off, as they say, " with a few sweetening words," and by a dispatch of the directors, dated 16th February, 1721, we find, that up to that time the matter still remained as it had been; for thus write the directors: " By all this, we hope you will lay hold of the present opportunity to get the grants confirmed. First, that of the Mint." The "present opportunity" was probably the accession of a new emperor (Muhammed Shah), and in 1725 they had obtained the boon; for, in a dispatch of the Directors, dated the 1st of December, 1725, they say, " For the reasons by you given, we permit you to rebuild your silver mint." And this is all the information I can find in Auber.
We may be assured that the East India Company coined money from this period ; but I suppose that the type, inscriptions, and even place of mintage, must have been copied (very probably to excite less attention to the
80 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
long withheld privilege) from the Moghul's coinage, as Marsden does not mention any coin of the Company's, until A.D. 1762-3, when (vol.ii. p. 677, and plate 44, coin 937) he gives a rupih of Shah Alum, " coined at Kalkatah, in the fourth year of the happy reign of the Emperor. Weight, 7 dwts. 11£ grains," and remarks, " This rupih was evidently struck at the period when Shah Alum, after the defeat of his army, consented to place himself under the protection of the English Govern- ment, and to receive an assignment of certain revenues for his support. It is perhaps the earliest that expresses the name of Calcutta, and its weight accords with the regu- lated standard. The execution is creditable to the new mint."
These meagre and unsatisfactory items are all that I can glean from the means of information within my reach of reference. From such specimens of the silver coinage of the East India Company as we have the opportunity of seeing here, the earlier, in type and workmanship, have a mean appearance. Latterly their fahric improves, and the last of the Bombay Mint, previous to the present altered type, is a very neat and respectable coin. I shall trouble my readers with one specimen only from each of the presidencies.
MADRA8 MINT.
Obverse Inscription (translated) — " The blessed mintage of the victorious Sovereign, Aziz lid-din Muhammad Alam gir, A.H. 1172." (A.D. 1758).
Rev. — " Struck at Arcot in the 6th year of the happy reign." Weight, 7 dwts. 11 \ grains.
This sixth was the last year of Alam glr's reign. He was succeeded by Shah Alum.
CALCUTTA HINT.
Obverse Inscription (translated) — " Struck for circulation through the seven climates of the world, by that
RUPEE OF WILLIAM IV. 81
shadow of the goodness of the Almighty, and Defender of the Muhammadan faith, Shah Alum, the King."
Rev. — " Struck at Murshedabad in the 19th year (A.H. 1204, A.D. 1789) of the happy reign." Weight, 8 dwts. 0| grain.
BOMBAY MINT.
Obverse Inscription (translated) — " The blessed mintage of Shah Alum, the victorious King, A.H. 121 " (A.D. 1800).
Rev. — "Struck at Surat, 46th year of the happy reign." Weight, 7 dwts. ll-^ grains.
I have now to describe Mr. Wyon's Pattern Rupee of King WiUiam IV.
The charter of the East India Company was renewed for twenty years by an Act of Parliament passed 28th August, 1833, to expire on the 30th April, 1854; and a change (by whom originated I know not) took place in the type of the Indian coinage. But this pattern rupee I neither saw nor heard of, until it surprised me by its appear- ance from Mr. Cuff's cabinet ; for there was not anything in the Catalogue to intimate that it in any way differed from the current rupees of William IV., which, from their design and execution, are seen only to excite feelings of astonishment and contempt. I first applied to Mr. L. C. Wyon for information ; but he was a child at the time it was engraved, and, like myself, had neither seen nor known of it. I have subsequently ascertained from a gentleman connected with Mr. Wyon at that period, that the Chief Engraver executed the Pattern for the Directors of the East India Company, by the orders and under the superintendence of Dr. Wilkins, their librarian, whose assistance was the more requisite, as there are three Oriental languages on the reverse. Mr. Wyon struck only
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two or three specimens for himself, and, being always very careless as to preserving a series of his own works, I can readily understand how they soon found their way into the cabinets of friends near at hand ; and I believe there were few persons for whom he had more regard than Mr. Cuff.
The obverse of this pattern has his late Majesty's bust? very similar to those on the English coinage, with the inscription in Latin : —
"GULIELMUS IIII. D:G: BRITANNIAR: REX F:D:"
The reverse has a very light and elegant wreath, within which, beneath an open lotus flower, is inscribed, " One Rupee, 1834." Over the wreath, "East India Company." On the lower sides, and] below the wreath, " One Rupee" is repeated in three dialects. The inscription on the beholder's left hand is Sanscrit ; the lower and cen- tral, Persian ; and that on the right hand, Bengali. The weight of the pattern is 7 dwts. 11-& grains.
The rupee, issued by the East India Company differs lamentably from the pattern. The execution is miserably coarse and repulsive, more suggestive of a cast than a struck coin. For the engraving I would make much allowance, as it may be the work of a native, accustomed only to inscriptions in oriental characters. The obverse has his Majesty's bust, and around it —
" WILLIAM IIII. KING."
Rev. — A wreath, within which we read " One Rupee," and the same in Persian. Above the wreath, " East India Company, "and immediately below it, "1835." Weight, 7 dwts. 12^ grains.
RICHARD SAINTHILL.
PERIOD OP THE COINS OF CEYLON. OO VI.
PERIOD OF THE COINS OF CEYLON.
HAVING had an opportunity of examining upwards of 200 of the curious little coins of Ceylon, which Mr. Vaux has so well explained in his recent paper on the subject (Num. Chron. XVI. p. 121 seqq.), I was led to form an opinion as to their relative age and attribution somewhat different from that arrived at by him.
It appears to me that the agreement in the style of art (if art we can call it) is too uniform in the whole series of the copper coins to allow us to place them at such intervals as is the case in his arrangement. He" places first in the series those of Vijaya Bahu, 1071 — 1126. Next come Parakrama, 1153—1186; Lilawati, 1202—1205, 1214, 1215, and again in 1216 for seven months ; Sahasa Malla, 1205—1207; Dharmasoka, 1213 ; Bhuvaneka, 1303—1314. I may mention that being unable to consult Tumour, I take my dates from a chronological list contained in a Ceylon gazetteer, by Simon Casie Chitty, 8vo., Ceylon, 1834.
It seems to me, however, that the appearance and style of the coins demand a different arrangement. I lay before the Society specimens of each of the above sovereigns, with the exception of Vijaya, of whom I have no specimen to spare, as very few occurred in the parcel originally. I send, however, a neat impression of one which I still possess.
It will be seen on inspection of these coins that there are two distinct styles and varieties of fabric, each con- sisting of three coins. The one is large and thin, the
84 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
other smaller, more flattened on the edges, as if struck in n collar, and perhaps hardly so bold in its relief. It will appear probable from these remarks that we must suppose carh of these varieties to contain coins struck in succession, .u id near to each other, and that any classification based solely on the names, which should separate the coins of .vch class, can hardly be correct.
The coins of the large class, are those bearing the names of Lilawati, Sahasa Malta, Dharmasoka. These sovereigns we know did reign in close succession.
The second class contains, Vijaya, Parakrama, and Bhuvaneka. The classification of M. Vaux, however, is found to arrange these coins as follows — Vijaya, Parakrama, Lilawati, Sahasa Malta, Dharmasoka, Bhuvaneka. It ap- pears to me that the separation from the small coins of Vijaya and Parakrama, of the small coin of Bhuvaneka, and the interposition of the large coins of the three other sovereigns, is hardly admissible. I propose, then, to arrange these coins as follows — Lilawati, Sahasa Malla, Dharmasoka, Parakrama, Vijaya, Bhuvaneka.
The coins of Parakrama may belong either to Parakrama II., an usurper, 1216 — 1219, or rather to Parakrama III., who reigned at Dambadeniya from 1267 to 1301. He was succeeded by Vijaya IV., 1301 to 1303; the coins, however, may more probably belong to Vijaya III., 1240 — 1267. Bhuvaneka I. reigned between 3303 — 1314.
This arrangement is, I think, more in accordance, so far as I am able to judge, with the fabric and appearance of the coins. I have placed, however, before the Society my reasons for proposing this alteration, and my materials for forming the opinion laid before it. Whichever way the Society may decide I shall be satisfied, as I seek the truth only. Numismatists are much indebted to Mr.
EXPLANATION OF A TYPE OF ARSACES XXX. 85
Vaux for the paper which I quote, without which I should have indeed been unable to class the coins properly.
WILLIAM H. SCOTT.
VII. EXPLANATION OF A TYPE OF ARSACES XXX.
WHEN describing the curious little coin of Arsaces XXX., which has the type of a sort of sea-goat, I was unable to say anything regarding this curious representation. I have since found on the singular monument known as the " Caillou de Michaux," in the French cabinet, a figure analogous, at any rate. I take it from Millin's plate in his Monuments inedit (vol. i. p. 63, plate 9). Before an altar kneels a monster with a goat's head, but horns more like those of an antelope, with short wings, and with a body covered with scales. An altar behind it hides part of the body and tail ; but the tail appears raised perpen- dicularly, so that part of it rises above the altar. An injury received by the stone, or wear, prevents our know- ing whether the tail was that of a fish or not. This figure is curious from the similarity of the attitude to that of the mountain goat on the curious coin of Arsaces XXI., and which is itself identical, as I remarked at the time, with that of two similar animals in the N. W. palace of Nimrud, as figured by Layard. Although no altar or symbolic ornament appears on the coin, I considered the attitude as symbolic of adoration, from the well-known custom of the ancients of representing, by a part of any well-known group or symbolic representation, the whole. Millin considered
86 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE.
the monster as the tragelaphus of the Greeks. De Sacy attempted to explain it from the Zendavesta, and to con- sider it as a representation of the Ized Bekram, who appears as " a goat, whose feet are pure, and whose horns are sharp,' in the Bahrain Jescht, Zendavesta, ii. 291.
It is now evident, however, that the Zend liturgies can only very partially serve in the explanation of the ancient monuments of Persia even, and that we must wait the development of the Assyrian Pantheon before attempting to explain such types. The fire-worship was probably tolerated and allowed by the Parthians to exist with the other religions, just as the Mogul princes, Hulaku and his descendants, allowed all religions to continue in Persia, retaining their own vague and polytheistic worship. This may appear from the various types on the Parthian coins, some evidently belonging to the fire-worship, while some, as those with the victory, or the turreted-head of Seleucia (?) , belong to the Greek system. The Magi, however, like the priests of other persuasions, would naturally consider as a persecution of their faith the toleration of any other.
Koehler has described and engraved (Gesammclte Schriften, vol. vi. p. 47, tab. 6) a silver patera or shield in the collection of Count Stroganow, in the centre of which appears the mountain-goat, kneeling, as on the coin and bas-relief already mentioned. This, like other vessels resembling in form the monument known as the shield of Scipio (really, however, a Homeric scene), and the patera of Agrippa in the Vienna Museum, was discovered in Siberia, in the province of Perm, near the banks of the Kama. Koehler considered it of Indian workmanship; we may now safely declare it Persian, from the coincidence of the type, without venturing to assign it to any particular period. W. H. SCOTT.
87
MISCELLANEA.
ANCIENT COINS OF LYCIA, BEFORE THE TIME OF ALEXANDER. By SIR CHARLES FELLOWS. Lond. 8vo, 1855. — The Btudent of Numismatic science knows full well the especial value which attaches to monographs of particular countries and towns, and will, therefore, hail with much pleasure the excellent work which Sir Charles Fellows has performed, in his attempt to elucidate what is at present known on the subject of the coinage of ancient Lycia, himself the first to explore satisfactorily and fully the country of which these are the most unquestionable, if not the most curious remains. There is, probably, no other student who could have performed this work so well, as assuredly there is no one who could have entered upon his task with more zeal and enthusiasm.
Sir Charles Fellows' book consists of nineteen plates of coins (admirably drawn by Lady Fellows, and engraved by Mr. Basire), containing representations of nearly one hundred and fifty va- rieties of the ancient coinage of the south-western province of Asia Minor, procured from the British Museum, his own and many private cabinets. The first specimens, in the opinion of Sir Charles Fellows, ascend to their earliest periods of coinage ; perhaps to the seventh century, the last synchronizes with Alex- ander's conquest of Lycia in B.C. 333. Subsequently to this period, the Lycian language ceased to be used as an independent tongue, and Greek naturally became the language of coins, as it was that of the conquerors of the country. Though we may have some doubt how far Sir Charles is right in his judgment of the great antiquity of his earliest coin, we are quite ready to admit his general statement, that the coins bearing simple in- scriptions in the Lycian character, are older than the invasion of Alexander.
The coins of ancient Lycia do not present any great variety of type, nor are they distinguishable by any peculiar beauty : this is, indeed, what we should naturally be led to expect. Though an enterprising, and to a certain extent (as their sculptured