semisses, or halves of the same coin. They have generally a small, and not ill-executed head of the king, with his name, though sometimes the name is that of the moneyer. On the reverse is a cross, with the name of the city where the coin was minted.

With Pepin commence the coins of the Carlovingian race, which are as remarkable for barbarous workmanship as those of the preceding dynasty for good execution. Those of Charlemagne have generally merely the name of CAROLVS, without a portrait, only a few struck in Rome having a rude bust of the emperor. The reverse has generally R. F., for Rex Francorum, or some such brief inscription.

The coins of Louis Le Debonnaire are, however, much better executed, and seem to show, by their Roman style of treatment, that there yet existed Roman mints in Gaul, or rather France, where the ancient skill in coining money was still lingering.

The coins of the third race, commencing with Hugh Capet remain; inferior in the art of coinage, with few exceptions; and in the reign of Philip I., cotemporary with William the Conqueror, a species of money was issued formed of a piece of leather, with a silver nail fixed in the centre. It is not till the reign of St. Louis, 1226, that the French coinage greatly improves, and that the groat appears. This coin, of the value of four pennies, appeared first in Italy, where it was known as the grosso, or large coin; and in France it became the gros; in Germany the groote; in England the groat; where, however, it did not appear permanently till the reign of Edward III., nearly a century later than its first appearance in France.

Gold did not reappear in France till a considerable period had elapsed after the issue of the Italian florin, as the gold florins, given by Le Blanc to Philip Augustus and Louis VIII. belong evidently to Philip the Bold, or Philip the Fair, and Louis X. Under Philip of Valois-from 1328 to 1350-no less than ten kinds of gold coins are enumerated, by French numismatists, among which are la chaise, being such as exhibit the sovereign seated in chair of state, or throne; the lion, having a figure of a on for principal type; the lamb, (l'agneau), &c. &c.

The difficulties which ensued about this period, ccnse

quent upon the English invasions, caused great deterioration in the French mintage, and base coin of all kinds got into circulation in the epoch of confusion and distress which ensued.

In the time of St. Louis, black coin had been issued, that is billon, or bad silver. Of these there was the liard, or hardi, which was equal to three deniers, or silver pennies; and the maille, or obole, half the denier; with the bourgeoise, or pite, of one-quarter of the denier.

The blancs, or billon groats were also issued about this time, but received the name of blancs, from being silvered over to hide the baseness of their metal.

The celebrated French gold of the period of Charles VII., called the ecus à la couronne, or crowns of gold, were so called from the crown, which formed the type of the reverse, and gave us the term crown, which in France was first applied to gold, though it afterwards became the denomination of a silver coin. The ecus à la coronne continued to be issued by succeeding French sovereigns; those struck by Anne of Brittany, after the death of her first husband, are remarkable for their elegant workmanship.

In the reign of Louis XII., the new silver, of about the value of a modern franc, issued with the large portrait of the king, were termed testons, or great heads, a term afterwards applied to the shillings of Henri VIII., in the anglicised form of testoon.

In the reign of Henri II., the elegant piece, called the Henri, was issued, which has for type a personification of Gaul sitting on a group of arms, with a Victory in her hand, with optimo principi, and Gallia; evidently suggested by ancient Roman coins, which now began to be studied,—the celebrated Budée having written his treatise on the Roman coinage in the reign of Francis I. There are other coins, of the Car dinal Bourbon, who, at the time of the League, was put forward under the title of Charles X.

The silver crown and its half had now commenced in France, as in other countries; and on subsequent crowns of Louis XIII., the title of Catalonia princeps is assumed.

The first louis d'or appeared about 1640, after which period the coinage of France is almost as familiar to English readers as it is to Frenchmen.

MODERN COINS OF ASIA, AFRICA, AND AMERICA.

It has been seen, in the early chapters of this work, that the art of coining was carried far into the East by the Greeks, under Alexander the Great, and remained established in Bactria and India for many centuries, where money was long coined with Greek inscriptions; the relics of the Arsacidæ of Armenia, and the Sassanidæ of Persia, bringing the ancient style of coins in central Asia down to a comparatively modern period, while the Byzantine series carried. the ancient Roman coinage even into the 15th century, in Constantinople.

The subversion of the power of the Sassanidæ in Asia, and that of the Byzantine princes in the north of Africa, by the Arabs, under the successors of Mahomet, in the 7th century, swept away the last vestiges of the ancient style of coinage in those countries, and replaced it with money only marked with Arabic inscriptions covering the whole surface, generally sentences from the Koran; and this kind of coinage extended, Europe being established by the conquering Mahomedans both in Sicily and Arabic Spain.

Some of the coins of the Caliphs of Bagdad are singular, having on one side a copy of the obverse of some coin of a Roman emperor, or king of Syria, taken at random; and the usual Arabic sentences from the Koran on the reverse. The later coins of the series are free from this absurdity, and have the names of the Caliphs on the obverse, instead of the stolen types of Rome or Syria; but the portrait of the Caliph never appears.

In the north of Asia coinage appears to be a modern introduction, not earlier than the era of Yengis Khan, and the money of that part of Asia is still very rude, and uninteresting.

The recent coins of India are principally the pagoda, a gold coin worth about six shillings; the rupee, a silver coin, worth two shillings; and the cash, a copper coin from which some derive the well-known English word, which does not, in fact, appear to be older than our connection with India.

The gold mohur of Calcutta is worth 16 rupees of two shillings.

These coins have most commonly no other device than short sentences in the Persian character. They are very thick in proportion to their width, like the Roman series struck in Egypt.

Spanish dollars circulated throughout India after the establishment of the Portuguese settlements; and most of the European states, as they acquired a footing in India, issued coins with Latin inscriptions on one side, and Persian on the other. There are English rupees, and cash, of this description, of the reigns of Elizabeth, and Charles II., and other reigns.

On the restoration of Persian independence, in the 10th century, the Arab coinage ceased, and the arms of Persia (the sun and lion) are found on the reverse of the copper coinage, while inscriptions from the Koran occupy the other side; and on the gold and silver coins they still occupy both sides.

The Turkish coins have merely inscriptions on both sides. Those of the emperors of Morocco, of the Beys of Fez, Tripoli, Algiers, &c., are of similar character.

The coinage of China appears to be of modern date, and now consists only of copper-small copper pieces, with a square hole in the middle, for stringing. The inscription, in Chinese characters, does not express the name of the reigning prince, but the year of his reign, distinguished as "the happy year," ," "the illustrious year," &c.

The coins of Japan are also of comparatively modern date, they consist of large thin plates of gold or silver, and are of an oval form, with small ornamental characters stamped upon them.

In the interior of Africa it would seem that the ringmoney-passing by weight-of the most ancient times is still in circulation; as it is occasionally brought down to the western coast, and metal made in that form is taken by their trading tribes from English merchants, which is manufactured in Birmingham and other places for this trade.

The money of America does not date further back than the European discovery and occupation, in the 16th century, when the Spanish, Portuguese, English, &c., coined money there for their colonies; in all cases very similar in character to that of the mother country.

The independent money since coined by the newly-formed republics of North and South America is of too recent date to require description here.

CHAPTER XL.

APPROXIMATIVE TABLES OF THE PRESENT PRICES OF ANCIENT AND MODERN COINS.

UNUSUALLY fine preservation, or some other accidental circumstance, will often carry the prices of coins far beyond those of the scale here given, which can necessarily_be merely an approximation to their ever-fluctuating value. For instance, a coin may be unique at the present time, and worth the highest price at which a coin can possibly be estimated; in a single month, the accidental discovery of a great number of the very same type will reduce its price to nearly the mere intrinsic value of the metal. Fashion, again, has a decided influence on the price of coins; sometimes one class, and sometimes another, being most sought; those of the fashionable series for the moment realising greater proportionate prices than others. Such ancient coins as are termed common are not worth, when of silver or gold, above double their intrinsic value as metal; while copper coins, though common, if of good preservation, and interesting types, are worth from twelve times to twentyfour times their intrinsic value as metal. But in all cases where rarity, beauty, fine preservation, and historic interest combine, the price rises rapidly, and a Greek stater of gold becomes worth 207., 407., or 607., according to circumstances. The same may be said of silver and copper.

The following is a scale of prices at which Greek autonomous and regal coins may generally be purchased; followed by a similar scale of Imperial Greek coins, or such as were struck in Greece and her dependencies after their subjugation to Rome. These scales are followed by three others, relating to different epochs of the Roman coinage. C. expresses common, and the degrees of rarity are expressed by