Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/798

* NUMISMATICS. 680 NUMISMATICS. 211) to Diocletian (c.300 A.u.), and the base tetradrachms struck during the Roman Empire at Alexandria in Kgjpt. Antioch, and Ciesarea in Cappadocia. The latter are sometimes de- scribed as of pot in, but see below. (F) Copper was the original standard of value iij Italy, and remained the only coinage in Konie until the introduction of silver in B.C. "208. when it tended more and more to become a purel}' subsidiary coinage. In Greece the standard was, and al- ways renuiincd, silver, though here, as in the East, copper was earlier used for the smaller values. The Greeks derived their copper largely from Cyprus, whence its name, x"^"^' Kvirpios, as cyjtriiini, or siniph- ci/prium or cupriiin, from which our word 'copper' is derived. The ancient coined copper had a strong alloy of tin ; in other words, was really bronze. See also below, under Brass. Copper has since always been in com- mon use for "small change.' (G) Polin. or "pot- metal,' bears the same relation in numismatics to copper as 'billon' to silver. It is technically a mixture of bronze (i.e. copper -f tin) and brass (i.e. copper + zinc), with slight traces, sometimes, of lead or of silver, and was used for money by the Gallic Sequani in the first century B.C., and by the mint of Alexandria in Egypt under the Roman Empire until a.d. 296. Modern numismatic works often erroneously de- scribe llie l)ase tetradrachms of Alexandria, An- tioch, and CsEsarea as being of potin instead of billon. (H) Brass, a mixture of copper and zinc, was found in nature and used for coinage under the early Roman Empire and in Asia Minor. It was regai"ded as more valuable than bronze, and was called orichulcum (i.e.dpclxa^Kov, "mountain copper'), often corrupted into niiri- chalciiiii, "gohl-copper;' or x"^"*' Xfv/t6s, Svliite copper.' In China, bra.ss has always been the ordinary medium of exchange. (I) Lead, from its nature, was never well adapted to coinage, yet it was so used occasionally in ancient (iaul and EgA'pt. It has been a favorit<" material for counterfeiters at all times, and anciently even the oHieial mints sometinu'S defrauded commerce by emissions of silver-plated lead coins instead of real silver. The majority, also, of ancient tesserw are of lead. In modern times it is used only for trial pieces and for the cheaper class of medals. (J) Tin has only occasionally been used for money, as by the kings of Xiimidia in the second century B.C., and, according to Aris- totle, liy Dionysius, Tyrant of Syracuse. In modern times it is found as money among the Chinese, Malays, and Scnegambians. (K) Iron as money was even rarer than tin in ancient times. We hear of iron coins among the early Lacedtemonians, in Uyzantiuni, in .rgos, and elsewhere. (L) A'ir7.v7 was coined in Xorthern India already in the third century B.C. Other- wise it was never used for money intil modern times. Switzerland began to strike nickel pieces about 1850, and since then it has been coined in many countries. (M) .llxiiiiinim has never served as money, but has frequently been used for medals. History of Numismatic Studies. There is no direct evidence that the ancients were col- lectors of coins as objects of art and curiosity; yet there can be no doubt that many such col- lections were made. We know that works of art of all kinds found eager collectors in classical times. We cannot but believe, therefore, that coins also were preserved for their antiquity and their beauty, the more so when we consider the wonderful artistic charm that so many, especially of the Greek series, possess. (See Kriedlander, ""Ueber Miinzsammlungen bei den Kiimern," in Zeitsehrift fiir yuntisnialik. III. p. lUT.) The fall of the Western Empire brought this, as all other manifestations of higher cul- ture, to an abrupt termination. The revival of classical studies led naturally to an interest in coins. Petrarch, who died in 1374, is said to have been the first modern col- lector, and sent his objects of art, including coins, as a present to the Emperor Charles IV. Many of the earliest commentators on the clas- sical writers illustrated their notes with figures of coins. Here the knowledge of Roman coins naturally preceded that of the Greek. The first important works on coins did not appear until the sixteenth century. The Italian . drea Ful- vio published in 1517 his lUuslriinn Imagines, with portraits of famous men of ancient times taken from coins and gems. Such collections of coin-portraits became very frequent in the next hundred years. Far more pretentious was the Fasti Mafiistratiium et Triumphatornm Romano- rum of Hubert Goltz (or Goltzius) of Antwerp — a large folio published at Bruges in 15(!6: and tills he followed at intervals with other works, as histories of Julivis Ca-sar and -Vugustus. illus- trated by coins. Goltz was a man of learning, but without a high critical faculty, and of so little scientific morality that he did not hesitate to invent at will coins that never existed ; and in completing his Fasti he created consuls, gen- erals, and private individuals who never lived. Shortly after the a])pearance of Goltz's I)Ook, Fulvio Orsini (Fulvius Ursinus), a niend)er of the noble Italian family of that name, a man of profound learning, and a great collector of an- tiquities and coins, published at Rome in 1577 a series of Roman silver coins from his collection of the class commonly known as 'consular" or 'family' coins. This work was highly prized by Scaliger, f^zechiel Spanlieim, anil Eckhel, who called it 'golden' and "divine.' Orsini was more careful than Goltz. but many false or wrongly described coins crept into his work without his knowledge. The book was reedited in Kit;:? by the French numismatist Patin. . surfeit of other numismatic hooks followed, of which, how- ever, it is hardly wm'th while to cite the names, as almost all are unreliable and useless in the extreme. One alone deserves mention, for it was later worked over into a book of value: the Xiimismnia Imprratonim Itoinanornm of .doIph Occo. published at. twerp in 15711. Goltz and Orsini had given their greatest attention to the coins of Republican Rome. Occo, on the con- trary, devoted his work to those of the Empire; The book was scholarly for the period, and collected a vast amount of material. It was ni'diled twice at Vienna, in IfiOl and ir)'25; then in lI'iS:! it was entirely done over and published at .Milan by Mczzabarba (Mediobarbus) ; and finally in 1730 a new revision was brought out by .Vrgelati, forming an inunense folio, in which the coins are described chronologically reign by reign and year by year. This was the first great attempt at a corpus of Roman Imjierial coins. During the seventeenth century we have no i