colonies, appears equally probable. The modern Basque is evidently a remnant of the Celtiberian language, which was eventually formed by the amalgamation of Phoenician and Greek elements with its own, and the native races driven gradually into the mountains of the north of Spain, preserved their ancient language; just as the Welsh have preserved the ancient British. A remarkable affinity has been, consequently, here observed between many Basque words and the inscriptions on Celtiberian coins; and through that means Guilleaume Von Humboldt conceived that the only safe interpretations can take place. One peculiarity of some of the inscriptions is, instead of being in the genitive, as on Greek coins, or in the nominative, as on Roman money, they appear to be in the ablative, ending in es or as-as in the modern Basque, in which language, Bayonas expresses, by Bayonne; Guizonas, by the man. As examples, the following may be cited:-the characters are read as Irsones, which, it appears, expresses (money struck by) BY Irson; or, the characters reading as, Bursabes, which, according to the same principle, is-(money struck) BY Bursaba, or, by the people of Bursaba. M. de Sauley gives translations of many legends, among which the following may serve as examples; and though the respective sounds and values of the Celtiberian must be regarded as far from being yet fully explained, yet there is no doubt that many legends have been properly interpreted, and the correct distribution of the various conflicting characters to the different distinct dialects to which they probably belong, will possibly be the means of finally settling the question. The following are, as I have said, a few examples of interpretation generally felt to be correct, showing the manner in which the vowels are occasionally suppressed in the Oriental manner: for instance, in Ileosken (Ileosca) the e of the last syllable being omitted, as it is in the genitive case, signifies (money of) the Ileoscans, or of Ileosca. The characters read as Ilibereken, and those read as Iliberineken, are examples, in which other vowels suppressed in a similar manner; and the correct interpretation of these synonymous names appears borne out by the names given by Pliny, which he describes as are "Eliberi quod Liberini ;" and Pliny, as M. de Sauley observes, and proves by a long list compared with coins, has given the names of the Spanish towns more correctly than any other ancient author. The antiquity of the bulk of Spanish coins with inscriptions in the different dialects of the Celtiberian language, does not seem to be greater than about two centuries before the Christian era, if so old. Those coins with Punic or Greek inscriptions, are more ancient, but they may be considered rather as belonging to Greek or Carthaginian colonies than to Spanish races; † and, as such, resemble too closely those of other Greek colonies to require notice here. But the Roman influence, after the war with Carthage and the invasion of her Spanish colonies, became predominant in Spain, and the weights and types of the great bulk of the Celtiberian coins, both silver and copper, are evidently modelled on the Roman; the silver being varied copies of the consular Denarius, and the copper of the parts of the As, as in the Græco-Italic cities when subjected to Rome. Some, however, near the Greek Emporia, or Rhoda, are Greek, with Greek inscriptions, as those near the Carthaginian city of Gades, now Cadiz, have generally Punic inscriptions.‡ The silver coin of Iliberis (the IMßepis of Ptolemy)§ of which the translation has just been given, is evidently modelled upon the consular Denarius of the Romans. The head, however, represents a native chief, and the Dioscuri have become native warriors. As the Roman power became settled over the whole country, the head of the Roman emperor is, after the time of Augustus, placed upon the Spanish coinage, of which the copper coins of the city of Bilbilis may be cited as example. After the time of Caligula, even the degree of nationality thus remaining was swept away, and the coinage of Rome alone circulated in Spain, with the exception of the few favoured cities which were made Roman colonies, and which * Lib. i. cap. i. Though they were doubtless imitated by neighbouring inland communi ties-such imitations being the rude coins with Greek types and Greek of Punic inscriptions. See Roman coinage and coinage of Magna Græcia. § Situate on a hill near Grenada, called Sierra de Elvira preserved the right of striking their own money, the descrap tion of which belongs to the Roman series, under the head of Roman colonial coins. It will at once be evident to the student that to facilitate certain interpretations in Celtiberian inscriptions, such distinct characters as those corresponding to the vowel O and the consonant R, are made homophonous; while such discrepancy could not exist if the true value of all the characters were fully ascertained.* COINS OF BRITAIN PREVIOUS TO THE DOMINATION OF THE ROMANS. (See Plate of English Coins.) At what period the Britons began to make use of coins is a point involved in great obscurity; for no Grecian colonies ever planted themselves on the shores of Britain to mark an epoch, and bring with them the knowledge of the use of a national coinage as a medium of exchange instead of barter, as they did on the shores of France and Spain. The Phoenicians are known, however, to have traded with Britain, and through them, though no early Phoenician coinage is known, they may have learned the art so practised by the Greeks. Very rude coins of tin, the metal for which the island was celebrated in early times, are occasionally found, which, although the state of their fabric, rude as it is, does not belong to the earliest epoch of the art, when one side only received an impression, yet might be assigned to the fourth century B.C. This is, however, quite conjectural, as these rude coins have never as yet received the accurate attention of numismatists. It is certain, however, that they belong to a totally different class, both as to weight, value, and types, from those generally assigned to about the period of Cæsar's invasion. As far as my own experience goes, there is another class of British coins which may with tolerable certainty be assigned to a period considerably earlier than the invasion • See Celtiberian Alphabet in Appendix of Cæsar. These are the coins without the name of any British city or prince, and which are evidently debased copies of the Macedonian coinages of Philip and Ålexander, -the head of Apollo on the Philips, and the biga on the reverse, being easily traceable on the one; and the head of Alexander (or Hercules), wearing the lion-skin, on the other. The monetary issues, both of Philip and his son, Alexander, are known to have spread widely into barbarous nations, and copies of every degree of successive rudeness are found from many bad imitations to almost indistinguishable ones. Imitations of the Alexandrian type are very common in France, and have been found also in Jersey, and more rarely in Britain; but imitations of the biga type of the Philips are abundant in England. These coins have neither been collected nor described with the same accuracy and frequency as coins bearing the names of British. princes, and as they thus do not play a conspicuous part in scientific works on the subject, they have been proportionately neglected by ordinary collectors. These British coins, as also those dating after the invasion of Cæsar, are generally much thicker in their proportion than the Greek coinage of the period of Philip and Alexander, which would tend to the supposition that the Britons had previously imitated Greek coins of the earlier epochs, when they were of thick proportion, like the British just described, the originals of which, like those of the late style, came to them through Gaul. If this was the case, we can imagine that they only changed their types at the later period, preserving the ancient mode of fabric as adjusted perhaps to a special and convenient standard. If this theory be true, it will account for the thick lumpish form of the British coins just alluded to. The passage of Cæsar, relating to the coinage he found in circulation, is of doubtful import. All the earliest coins, with names of British cities or princes, may be safely attributed to the period between the invasion of Cæsar and the complete subjugation of the island by Claudius. The adoption of the Roman alphabet for the inscriptions, and the Latinised forms of the native names of towns and princes being evidence of direct Roman influence. The native princes, after the Roman invasion, appear almost immediately to have commenced striking preserved the right of striking their own money, the descrp tion of which belongs to the Roman series, under the head of Roman colonial coins. It will at once be evident to the student that to facilitate certain interpretations in Celtiberian inscriptions, such distinct characters as those corresponding to the vowel O and the consonant R, are made homophonous; while such discrepancy could not exist if the true value of all the characters were fully ascertained.* COINS OF BRITAIN PREVIOUS TO THE DOMINATION OF THE ROMANS. (See Plate of English Coins.) At what period the Britons began to make use of coins is a point involved in great obscurity; for no Grecian colonies ever planted themselves on the shores of Britain to mark an epoch, and bring with them the knowledge of the use of a national coinage as a medium of exchange instead of barter, as they did on the shores of France and Spain. The Phoenicians are known, however, to have traded with Britain, and through them, though no early Phoenician coinage is known, they may have learned the art so practised by the Greeks. Very rude coins of tin, the metal for which the island was celebrated in early times, are occasionally found, which, although the state of their fabric, rude as it is, does not belong to the earliest epoch of the art, when one side only received an impression, yet might be assigned to the fourth century B.C. This is, however, quite conjectural, as these rude coins have never as yet received the accurate attention of numismatists. It is certain, however, that they belong to a totally different class, both as to weight, value, and types, from those generally assigned to about the period of Cæsar's invasion. As far as my own experience goes, there is another class of British coins which may with tolerable certainty be assigned to a period considerably earlier than the invasion • See Celtiberian Alphabet in Appendix |