are not so plenty. But ancient coins, bringing to our view the great rulers of the earth two thousand years ago; presenting us the likenesses of Alexander the Great and his successors, of the kings of Syria, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and the Cæsars of Rome-coins commemorating the great events of their reigns, showing us the deities they worshipped, etc. -as we handle such coins, the money of their day, and look upon the image and superscription, we are at once carried back to their times. Who can look at some of the coins of Titus, struck when Jerusalem was destroyed, bearing the words JUDEA CAPTA, and the figure of the mourning captive under a palm tree, without being deeply moved, while touch and sight bring to mind the horrors of that siege, foretold, and so vividly depicted by Moses, sixteen hundred years before;' and fix the fact of the destruction of that city, which will be dear in its associations as long as the world shall last.

Coins are among the most certain evidences of history. In the latter part of the Greek series, they illustrate the chronology of the reigns. In the Roman series, they fix the dates and the succession of events. The reigns of some of the Roman Emperors might almost be written from their

coins.

Deut. xxviii. 52.

The first account we have of the use of money was for the purchase of a grave. It is found in the touching story of the buying of a burying-place by Abraham, to bury his dead wife out of his sight.' Money appears then to have been in common use. Before this, we read of Abimelech's giving Abraham a thousand pieces of silver. As cities cannot live without commerce, it is likely gold and silver were used as currency in the city founded by Cain, to whom Josephus attributes the first coining of money.

At the present day among uncivilized nations, and even in many of the thinly settled parts of the United States, trade is carried on by barter; and money, by many, is seldom, if ever, seen. Traveling traders would naturally take that which was of general use and not perishable; also what was most valuable, and, therefore, could be most conveniently carried. Hence the choice of metals; and thus, gold and silver, in the earliest ages, became a medium of exchange, and served as money wherever civilization existed.

In Abraham's time, as it is at the present day in the East, and in the adjusting of exchange between foreign nations, their value, as money, was ascertained by weight. "Abraham weighed the silver, four hundred shekels, current with the merchant." s

In the book of Job, the shekel is called kesitah (a lamb), the weight being probably made in that form. We see weights in the form of sheep and other animals, in the Egyptian paintings, and they have been discovered in similar forms among the Assyrian remains recently brought to light. The lamb may have been adopted to signify that that weight of silver represented the value of a lamb; other weights may have represented the value of an ox. The first Roman coinage, which we shall notice further on, appears to confirm this theory; the coins being made bearing the figure of the animaT.

1 Gen. xxiii. 4.

2 Gen. xx. 16.

3 Gen. xxiii. 16

The first money of the Egyptians appears to have been in the form of rings. Ring-money was in circulation in the north and west of Europe until after the invasion of Cæsar : and they are frequently found of various sizes in gold, silver, and iron, both in England and Ireland.

For convenience, a standard of purity of metal and of a fixed weight was introduced, and used by independent states and cities, with the emblem of the city stamped upon the piece. These emblems often represented the deities they worshipped. On the early coins, a bunch of grapes stood for Bacchus, an ear of wheat for Ceres, etc.; afterwards, the idealized heads or figures of these deities were stamped upon them. It is not known when these were first introduced. The utility of such pieces of money became universally felt. The great value of the discovery was so evident, that its origin became invested with a mystic character, and instead of giving the honor of it to Him who has made every provision for the wants of man; Saturn,

Mercury, and other heathen divinities, have successively received the credit of this important invention. It is somewhat surprising, that Homer, who wrote more than a thousand years after Abraham's time, makes no mention of coined money; although almost everything else, connected with the affairs of common life in his days, is touched upon in his celebrated writings.

The plentifulness of many coins more than two thousand years old, and the low prices at which they can be purchased, lead many persons to doubt whether they can be genuine. But coins of Alexander the Great, of Constantine, and of many other Roman emperors, are exceedingly common, and can be purchased for a few shillings each, and some, for a few cents. As they were the currency of the whole world in their respective days, vast numbers of them were coined. For safe keeping, particularly in times of war and of invasion, quantities of these coins were buried; the owners were, perhaps, killed or carried away; leaving these deposits to be dug up twenty centuries afterwards. From time to time, large quantities of ancient coins are thus brought to light, in different places where the Greek or Roman empire once extended.

According to Herodotus, the Lydians first coined money

1 The following taken from the priced catalogue of coins of W. S. Lincoln and Son, London, 1861, will give some idea of the value of ancient coins. The prices vary according to the condition and size of the coin, and also, the rarity of the type: some bringing very high prices.

Persian Darics-Silver, five shillings; Gold, £2.2.0.

Greek Regal—Philip II. of Macedon; Gold, £1.15.0 to £3.3.0.

Alexander the Great; Gold, £1.10.0 to £2.2.0; Silver, from two shillings and sixpence to £1.1.0; Copper, one shilling and one shilling and sixpence.

Greek Autonomous-Ægina-Silver, two to seven shillings.

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Athens-Silver, two to twelve shillings.

Corinth-Silver, two to five shillings.

various cities-Copper, from threepence upward; gen

erally from one to two shillings each,

:

of gold and silver. The Arundelian marbles tell us, that Phido, the Argive, first struck silver coin in the island of Ægina. How early coins were struck in these places is unknown the date generally assigned to them is in the eighth century before the Christian era. These coins yet exist in considerable numbers, and are easily procurable. They are stamped with the symbol of the state, and, as were the primitive coins, on one side only. (Plate, No. 1, Sardis, Lydia ; Plates, Nos. 2 and 4, Egina.)

An Ionian coin of the city of Miletus, now in the British Museum, is considered to exhibit marks of more ancient fabric than any coin hitherto discovered.

MILETUS.

The Persian Darics, mentioned by Herodotus, are coins of about the same period. They are to be had both in gold and silver. (Plate, No. 3.)

Greek Autonomous-50 various-preservation indifferent, one shilling and sixpence the lot.

Egypt-Ptolemy I.-Gold, £1.5.0 to £12.12.0.

Silver, £1.0.0; Copper, one shilling and sixpence. Roman Family Coins, Silver Denarii-two shillings and upwards; generally about three shillings each.

Roman Imperial Coins, various Emperors-Gold, £1.1.0 to £2.2.0.

wards; generally about three shillings each.

Roman Imperial Coins, various Emperors-Brass, from sixpence upwards. 20 various-Brass, two shillings

and sixpence the lot.

Roman Imperial Coins-50 various, chiefly very poor-Brass, one shilling and sixpence the lot.

English Coins-William the Conqueror-Silver Pennies, two shillings.

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Henry II., Edwards I. and II.-Silver Pennies, one shilling and sixpence, etc.