right. right. XXVI. Obv. Leg. Same as XXV. Field, As before, L on left, M on Rev. Leg. and Field same as XXV. D. 17. W. 105 grains. The same piece or one very much like it is in the Betts Collection. Rev. Leg. Same as XXV. D. 17. W. 105 grains. XXVIII. Fonrobert Cat. 6214. Obv. Leg. CAROLVS 8 ET 8 IOHANA REGES Field, As before, i on left, o on right. Field, Same as XXV and Fonrobert Cat. 6218. Another, D. 17. W. 106 grains. W. 106 grains. Same Cat. 6219. XXIX. A piece imperfectly described, but resembling XXVIII. The Obv. Leg. has INDIAR-VM and on the Rev. Field, P of PLV omitted. D. 16. W. 1031 grains. Fonrobert Cat. 6220. These pezetas are the quarters of the peso or dollar, whose value in the United States was twenty-five cents, and a piece of this value forms one of our fractional silver coinage. The Anglo-American pound currency contained twenty Spanish reals, or two dollars and a half. Thirty years ago, the New York marketmen were still using this pound, with its twenty shillings (or reals) in their accounts. J. CARSON BREVOORT. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE MINT. FROM the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, we take a few items of numismatic interest. One of the first matters which attracts attention is the statement of gold coin which has been imported during the year, which, in round numbers, was one hundred million dollars. At the New York Assay office $91,500,000 of foreign gold was received, and the production in gold of the American mines was maintained within a few thousand dollars of that of the preceding year. The number of pieces coined during the fiscal year was upwards of seventy-six millions, at a value of nearly $107,000,000. We give the coinage executed during the Calendar year, ending December 31, 1880, which fell a little short of that for the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 1881, as it shows the number of pieces bearing date 1880. The value of these pieces was a little above ninety millions of dollars. Gold.-Double Eagles, 887,456 pieces; Eagles, 2,171,516: Half Eagles, 4,566,353; Three Dollar pieces, 1,036; Quarter Eagles, 2,996; Dollars, 1636. Silver.-Dollars, 27,397,355 ; Half Dollars, 9.755; Quarter Dollars, 14.955; Dimes, 37.355. Minor Coinage-Five Cents, 19,955; Three Cents, 24,955; One Cent, 38,964,955; Proof Trade Dollars, 1,987. The Engraver of the Mint at Philadelphia prepared 1229 dies for coinage, and 13 for medals and experimental pieces. Among these were 6 experimental dies; 26 for proof coinage; one, a reproduction of the John Egar Howard Medal; two for the "Tea-farm" Medal (Wm. G. Le Duc); two for the Life-saving Medal awarded by the Department of State, and two for the Annual Assay Medal. As to fineness, the record states that in all cases, both in mass and single pieces, the coins from Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans were found to be correct, and safely within the limits of tolerance. But the committee on assaying reported that, in the case of the Carson Mint, they found the assay of mass melt of silver to be very low, but within tolerance, and that one single piece showed a fineness below the limits of tolerance. This fact was reported to the President, as required by law. The Assayer of the Mint Bureau, in 1880, in his assay of the coins required monthly to be forwarded to the Director for test, had discovered that a silver coin of the Carson Mint, from the coiner's July delivery of that year, was below the legal limit of tolerance. The Superintendent of that Mint was immediately directed not to pay out, but to retain in his possession all of the coins of that delivery, and to seal up, until further orders, all packages which might contain any of such coins, after selecting and forwarding to the Director sample coins from each package for further test. Ninety-six packages, each containing one thousand dollars, were thus sealed up and reserved for further assays at the bureau; and a special examination made by Andrew Mason, Melter and Refiner of the New York Assay Office, in conformity with the order of the President to investigate the matter, confirmed the previous assays, and demonstrated that the fineness of a certain bar of bullion, about to be melted for coinage, had been incorrectly stated to the Melter and Refiner of the Carson Mint, and that ingots of defective fineness made therefrom had afterward passed the assay department of that Mint without detection. It did not appear that the error had occurred through the neglect of the Assayer's subordinates, and as the Assayer himself had died shortly after the first discovery of the defective coinage, it became unnecessary to take any further action, except to order all the coins contained in the ninety-six packages to be remelted for coinage, which was done. THE STUDY OF GREEK COINS. Editors of the Fournal: YOUR extract from the article of Prof. Charles E. Norton on the value of Greek coins for study of the fine arts, called to mind the following note of the late learned President and Professor of Greek, Cornelius C. Felton, of Harvard University. J. MY DEAR SIR, CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 31, 1857. Thinking of coins this morning, I was reminded of my neglect in acknowledging your very beautiful and valuable book.* It was new to me, and will be of direct practical utility in my College teaching: and the coins are so well engraved that the book will be an ornament to my library. I thank you very heartily for this kind attention: I shall make a record in the book. itself of the source from which it came, and shall show my sense of its value by extracting from it all its exact and learned information for the benefit of my pupils. THE MONEYS OF BIBLE TIMES. UNTIL within a very recent period, the Biblical scholars of America were but poorly informed relative to the moneys of Bible times. The method pursued by the translators of the Received Version of Scripture, in their efforts to render Greek money-terms into English, made "confusion worse confounded." For instance, in the case of the husbandman who paid the good wages of a denarius (16 cents) for the day's work, the translators give an erroneous idea of the text by limiting him to two cents (a "penny") a day. Had they been content to transfer numismatic terms, as they did many theological terms, the reader would know by reference to a dictionary the value of the denarius and other ancient coins.* Twenty years ago, the press abounded with references to a coin preserved in the Mint at Philadelphia, a veritable "mite" it was said, like that which the widow consecrated to the Lord at Jerusalem. It became the custom of many pious Christians living in the vicinity of the " City of Brotherly Love" to make a pilgrimage to the Mint, and have a look at that " Widow's Mite." So much interest was taken in it that the late J. Ross Snowden, then connected with that institution, was encouraged to publish a series of papers, entitled "The Coins of the Bible," afterwards gathered into a volume. In that work, of which the second volume is before me, two chapters are devoted to the subject of "the Mite," and he describes with particulars the little coin in question. It was found on Mount Ophel," he says, "near the site of the ancient temple of Jerusalem. It bears but little distinguishing in the marks upon it, except the first letter of the Greek word, Lepton." Now, a single glance at a Numismatic Dictionary (Rasche's, for instance,) would have shown the writer that the letter L in Greek is never used to represent the word "Lepton," nor is the name of any ancient coin denoted by its initial letter. I have seen the little piece referred to, and if, indeed, the indistinct mark upon it is 4, the Greek lambda, (and not an alpha, which is quite as likely,) the reference is to its date, the Greek L being the numeral letter for 30. But the piece is in no wise more remarkable than any similar scrap exhumed by the pint and quart from the rubbish that fills the valleys around Jerusalem, as in all ruined places in that country. I have bought pecks of such, mostly in a condition as illegible as the one in the Philadelphia Mint. But few of them, however, correspond with the "mites "mites" of the poor widow, except in their smallness and insignificance. Hers were the sacred money struck by Jewish priests, having no portraits of gods, goddesses, or rulers, and no heathen inscriptions to render them unworthy the offering to the Most High. They had ascriptions that were national and elevated. Their emblems were few and unattractive, but in the eyes of the Jews, significant and holy. In a collection of hundreds of such pieces gathered by myself and others around Jerusalem, nearly the whole range of Bible moneys can be studied. Here are fifty or more, weighing from thirty-five to forty grains each, black copper, a good deal worn by use, but legible. The reverse has two cor *It is true that the marginal reference says that the value of a denarius or "Roman Penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce is seven pence half penny," but editions with the marginal notes are not in the hands of everybody, and of those who have them, it is to be feared not every one reads them; and again the value is expressed in English money, which is not familiar currency to American readers. nucopias and a poppy head, emblems of the fertility of Judæa. The other side, in five lines of Samaritan Hebrew, tells us of Jehochanan Hakkohen, Haggadol Vecheber Hajehudim, which any Jewish rabbi will translate for us as "Jonathan the High Priest (Cohen) and the Confederation of the Jews." This gives the date as between B. C. 135 and B. C. 136. John Hyrcanus was the son and immediate successor of Simon Maccabaeus; and as we find numerous examples of the coins named, it is presumed the mintage of such was very large. Here is a package of ten or fifteen specimens of copper pieces, a little heavier than the last, weighing from 83 to 86 grains each. Upon the obverse side is a cup or chalice of the same form as that on the silver shekel. The epigraph in Samaritan letters is Ligullath Zion, “the Redemption of Zion." On the reverse side are three emblems; the central figure, a bundle of branches, called by the Jews Lulab, such as were used by them to represent the festal branch which every one was to carry at the Feast of the Tabernacles. They were composed of willow, myrtle and palm, and in the formal procession were carried in the right hand. On each side of the Lulab is a citron, the odorous yellow fruit which so delights the eye and nostrils of the traveler at Joppa, at the present time. The citron was called by the Jews Ethrog, and in the procession was carried in the left hand. The epigraph read Shenath arba, "in the fourth year." Combining the inscriptions upon both sides, they make the sentence, "In the fourth year (of) the Redemption of Zion." This gives the date at B. C. 136, according to the best conclusions. In future papers I may continue this subject. The reader who wishes to follow the subject of Jewish coinage, may read De Saulcy in French, by far the best authority, or Madden, in English, He must not be frightened to find that the subject of Hebrew numismatics, like all other subjects open to the mind of man, has its debates and contentions. Writers argue as fiercely about gamma and delta as ambassadors over a national question. "There is nothing worth studying that is not worth debating," and these monuments of antiquity, often nearly illegible, presenting but little that appeals to modern thought, naturally originate a variety of theories. Yet as to the main facts all are agreed. La Grange, Ky. ROBERT MORRIS. THE FIRST ASSAYER OF THE UNITED STATES MINT. In the possession of Mr. Caleb Jones, of Philadelphia, is the original commission issued by Washington, as President of the United States, to Albion Cox, of London, the first Assayer of the United States Mint. Mr. Cox was invited from England to that city, while it was still the national capital, expressly to aid him in establishing the Mint and in determining its situation. Such is the tradition in the family, the wife of Mr. Jones being the daughter by a second marriage of the lady whose first husband was the gentleman above referred to. Mr. Cox's marriage took place shortly after his arrival in this country, but he did not long survive to enjoy either the home he had made, or the office to which he had been appointed. His residence was a handsome mansion on Green Hill, which, during his only too brief occupancy of it, was the seat of a generous and a refined hospitality. He had given a dinner party, at which were assembled a number of prominent men, and, feeling indisposed during the entertainment, retired for a time in the hope of recovering sufficiently to play again the agreeable host at the head of his table. He had withdrawn alone, not wishing his personal ailments to interfere with the enjoyment of any of his guests; but his prolonged absence exciting anxiety, search was made for him, and he was found in a distant apartment, struck down with apoplexy, and already breathing his last. Family tradition states, as already mentioned, that Washington was influenced by his advice in selecting the location of the Mint in Philadelphia, and by inference in leaving it there when the seat of the Federal Government was removed to Washington, a decision in which the successful raid on that city by the British in the war of 1812 fully justified the wisdom of the first Assayer, whose reasoning at that time in reference to Washington is equally applicable to New York, which at the present moment is absolutely defenceless. The commission to Mr. Cox occupies a post of honor in Mr. Jones's study at his residence, West Philadelphia. It is handsomely framed, and the parchment, with Washington's autograph, is in excellent preservation, the yellowness of age but slightly tinting it, and the writing being remarkably neat and legible, both in the signatures of Washington and Edmund Randolph and in the body of the instrument. The commission, after the usual official opening, goes on to state that "reposing especial trust and confidence in the skill and integrity of Albion Cox, I now, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him Assayer for the Mint of the United States, and do authorize and empower him to exercise the duties of that office according to law, and to have and to hold the said office, with all the rights and emoluments thereunto legally appertaining." EXHUMATIONS. DURING some recent excavations near Pompeii, thirty human skeletons were found. One of them, which was lying at full length, grasped to its breast a purse, in which were a gold coin of Vespasian, six silver and ten bronze coins, ear-drops, pearls and engraved precious stones. Near the other skeletons were coins of gold and silver, belonging to the reigns of Galba, Tiberius, Nero and Domitian. Gold bracelets, ear-drops, pearls and precious stones were found with them. The Government of Malta have issued a memoir of the recent discoveries at Notabile. The objects found consist of a suite of five large floors of mosaic pavements; three mosaic pictures imbedded in matrices of stone; the remains of three white Carrara marble statues one of Greek origin, representing a male figure covered with the Roman military cloak, the third representing a female wearing much the same garment as the Ceres Julia Augusta found at Gozo; fragments of Latin inscriptions on white marble slabs; several brass coins, mostly effaced, only four being legible, namely, of Gordian, A. D. 238-243; of Aurelian, A. D. 270-274; of Constantine, A. D. 337-360; and of Constantine Junior, A. D. 337 ; several articles of toilet and domestic use, such as large bodkins of ivory, pieces of wind instruments, and the like. |