P ROTAT B R O TH ERS PRINTERS MACO N FRA C , , ( N E) ELEMEN TARY MAN U AL COMPI LED B Y CAV . FRANCESCO GNECCHI V IC -PR SID O F T H E I AL IA U I S A IC S CI Y E E ENT T N N M M T O ET , H RARY B R O F T H E D IA W IS A IC S CI I S L B LG AN D S I SS U . ONO MEM E ON ON , E N N M M T O ET E 2 n d E D I T I O N REV E D C O RREC T ED AN D AMPL FI E D IS , I d T ra n slated b y th e R ev Alf r ed W atson H AN D S I MEM B ER O F T H E L OND ON N U M IS MATIC S OC IET Y L O N D O N S P I N K 81 S O N 1 8c 2 G H H ST . E . I 7 1 8 PI CCADI L L Y w . RA C EC URC C (ALL R IG H TS R ESE RV ED) R O M A N C O I N S E L EMEN TARY MAN UAL ’ A UTHO R S PREFACE TO THE EN GL ISH ED ITI ON H 1 v . h m 8 8 Re . w o In the month of july 9 the A W ands , with I had become acquainted throu gh our c o m m on interests and stud wro te wo u ld ies , to me asking whether it be agreeable to me and reasonable to translate and publish in Engli sh my little manual of ff the Roman Coinage , and most kindly o ering to assist me , if En ffi my knowledge of the lish language was not su cient . Feeling honoured by t e request , and happy indeed to give any assistance I could in rendering this science popular in other coun ‘ o wn I tries as well as my , suggested that it would he probably less trouble if he would undertake the translation himself ; and it was with much pleasure and thankfulness that I found this proposal was accepted . It happened that the first edition of my Manual was then nearly exhausted , and by waiting a short time I should be able to ' o fler E he to the nglish reader the translation of t second edition , which was being rapidly prepared with additions and improvements . It was then proposed to print the translation in the N umi smati c i rcu la C r . , at the same time that it was being printed in Italian It now only remains f o r me to again express my gratitude to my H . ff worthy collaborator the Revd A . W ands , who has o ered to ‘ a k E ssist my wor by presenting it to the nglish reader , and to MessIr S Spink and Son who have undertaken to print i t ; and to express my hope that this attempt to spread the knowledge of d Roman coins may meet with a kin reception . GN ECC H I F . Roman Coim . PART I . I nt oduc ti on i . B . General n orma io . A r . f t n I N TROD UC TI ON CHAPTER I CO L L ECTI ONS AND CO LL E CT O RS lle en On co c tors i n g eral . n I . Co sidering that this little work i s meant for the use of those fi N who are taking their rst steps in the field of umismatics , I have thought that before entering properly into the subj ect some obser vati o ns f c may be use ul con erning the history , the aim , and the various kinds of collections , and that perhaps it may be necessary to give some general information to young readers on the val ue and rarity of coins , on deposits , on false coins , and in fact on various matters which may be considered introductory , not only to N . this , but to any other elementary M anual of umismatics 2 w As an encouragement to those who may read my ork , I hasten to say most decidedly that the collector i s a most fortunate "H e 15 i person who born with the bump of collecting has the nes timable advantage of being able to exclude ennui from his life ; and ought to be grateful to Providence for having accorded to biim an i nexhaustible fountain of satisfaction absolutely free from remorse or regret . Th e pleasures of society , friendship , or gaiety may be at times d esirable if taken in due measure and _order , but are often on the contrary full of disappointments , and are sure to fail some day h or other . T e collector on the other hand possessing in himself the germ and continual source of his own happiness i s dependent on no one , solitude has no terror for him , and he can exclaim with “ i nterdu m taedet h om inum the philosopher me societatis , nun quam soli tudi ni s f When , tired o work , weary of society , worried by business , the collector withdraws into his o wn room ; he fi nds there the most pleasant rest in his favourite occupation which he prefers to n . N idle ess ever is the collector short of employment , to whatever kind of collection he may be given . fi First there is the work of arrangement which is in nite , then of classification , and again of cataloguing , and last of all the more r se ious but yet most delightful work , the most useful and durable that o stud and o maki n notes or others (when one reaches it) f y f g f , with ’ a view to publishing in due season the results of o ne s o wn researches . Th e enthusiasm of the Collector is among the most reasonable, i r H . S H strong and lasting emotions enry olland , the friend of Mi n hetti of Marco g , towards the close his long life regretted that he had not been a collector from his youth , expressing his thoughts in these words The interest of a collector grows with r continual increase and b ings satisfaction , and there is no danger lest it should cease through satiety ; very often it survives when the i f f tumultuous v cissitudes of li e , stirring business a fairs or pleasures H e have ceased to exist . who is not a collector in his youth will repent in his old age . Just as the unmarried man feels in his old age the want of a good wife who renders hi m in the last days of his wh o life the comfort of affection and of old memories , so he was not a collector in his yo uth cannot experience in his old age the satisfaction of reviving the memories of a life - time among these old a f and faithful friends , or of h ving this in inite and unspeakable e hi m comfort to a com any even to the extreme limit of his life . And in this also t e collector has the advantage over the married man whose wife may die before he does , whilst the collection always survives the collector . B u . t 3 to bring these reflections to an end , if my own words should prove to be Esser den seme che frutti seed bearing the l fruit of a new col ector , if they should be as the little spark des “ fl tined to promote a great ame stirring and fertilizing , I shall consider my time has been well occupied in having done good to some one , and I shall dare to hope from this that some day the apostle may be blessed by the neophyte . CHAPTER H THE H ISTO RY m AI M or CO LLECTI ONS The 4 . enthusiasm for collections arises in all countries with the advance of general culture . 4 From the dawn of the historical peri od n o t to go back. too far into the past every civilisation has found another which pre i r c ollec ceded , which has furnished to the later the materials for a H tion . ence it happened that the Mediaeval culture arose from the r uins of the Roman Empire and collected from it its inheritance , find f i and we the irst collectors of Roman antiqu ties , and moreover fi new . of coins , among the rst learned men of the civilization We P learn that etrarch was an enthusiastic collector , and possessed a S we splendid collection of Roman gold coins . uch a one indeed should like to regard as the first great master among collectors of coins . fi 5 . Amusement and curiosity were the rst causes of collecting , b ut m these were soon united with a bition , and the pleasure of Th e possessing rarities . luxury of a collection of coins became at th e length a sort of obligation among the great , and in small Mediaeval courts ; most of which up to the fourteenth century were fl furnished with cabinets chie y devoted to Roman coins , among which preference was always given to the Imperial series , as these were both the best known , and therefore most interesting , and T th e c abi f also the most easy to classify .