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LEFT COHOBT 48 COINAGE worthy buildings are the public library, St. Bernard's Academy, and several of the numerous churches; there v/ere 12 public schools. Pop. (1910) 24,709; (1920) 22,987. COHORT, a division of the Roman army, the 10th part of a legion, con- taining three maniples or six centuries. The number of men varied with that of the legion, the 10 cohorts always con- taining an equal number. When the legion numbered 4,000 men, the cohort consisted of 60 triarii, 120 principes, 120 hastati, and 100 velites, in all 400 men. COHUNE OIL, a product of the kernel of Attalea funifera, a palm-tree found in South America. It resembles cocoanut oil, but is more oleaginous, burning, it is said, twice as long. COILA, the Latin name of Kyle, Ayr CO., Scotland, embalmed in the lyrics of murdered. The University of Coimbra, the only one in Portugal, was originally established at Lisbon in 1288, but was permanently transferred here in 1537. COIN, a piece of metal on which certain characters are stamped by authority, giving the piece a certain legal current value. Homer speaks of brass money, 1184 B. c. The invention of coin is ascribed to the Lydians, whose money was of gold and silver. Both were coined by Pheidon, tyrant of Argos, about 862 B. C. Money was coined at Rome under Servius Tullius, about 573 B. c. The most ancient known coins are Macedonian of the 5th century b. c. Brass money only was in use at Rome previous to 269 B. c. (when Fabius Pictor coined silver). Gold was coined 206 B. c. Iron money was used in Sparta, and iron and tin in Britain. In the earlier days of Rome the heads were those of deities, or of those who had re- ANCIENT COINS Coin of Dalmatius Coin of Cos. Burns. The word is also used as a fan- ciful designation for Scotland. COIMBRA, capital of tha Portuguese province of Beira, on a hill above the Mondego river, here crossed by a stone bridge, 135 miles N. N. E. of Lisbon. Its streets are steep and narrow, its manu- factures confined chiefly to earthenware and combs. The place derives its name from the Roman Conimhrica, traces of which lie to the S. ; it was held by the Goths, and from them passed to the Moors, from whom it was finally con- quered in 1064, by Fernando the Great, aided by the gallant Cid. Coimbra was the capital of Portugal for about two centuries and a half from its erection into a kingdom, in 1139, and many of the early kings are buried in and around the old town. Of the public buildings, the most noteworthy are the older of the tv/o cathedrals, the Church of San Salvador, and the ruined Convent of Santa Clara; across the river is the Quintet das Lagrimas ("House of Tears"), where Inez de Castro was ceived divine honors. Julius Caesar first obtained permission of the Senate to place his portrait on the coins, and the example was soon followed. The Britons and Saxons coined silver. Fineness of United States Coin. — The gold coins are nine-tenths fine; the silver coins, nine-tenths fine; the copper-nickel coins, such as the 5-cent piece, are one- fourth nickel and three-fourths copper ; the bronze coins are 95 per cent, copper and 5 per cent, tin and zinc. The alley in the gold coins is silver and copper; in the silver coins, copper. COINAGE, the act or process of coin- ing money. In the United States there is free and unlimited coinage of gold; that is, standard gold bullion may be de- posited at the mints in any amount, to be coined for the benefit of the depositor, v/ithout charge for coinage; but when other than standard bullion is received for coinage a charge is made for part- ing, or for refining, or for copper alloy, as the case may be. The depositor re- ceives in gold coin the full value of the