The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-22 00:00:00

ANCIENT COINS DISCOVERED.

We are indebted for what follows to a highly intelligent
friend who resides on the banks of the " Christal Cree :"
" About three weeks ago, whilst a party of reapers were
cutting down a field of grain on the farm of Killeal, parish
of Penningham, one of them, a woman, observed under her
hook what she supposed a quantity of sixpences. She in-
stantly exclaimed, Oh ! what a heap of sixpences ;' on
which the whole party hastened to the spot, and a general
scramble ensued. What with those strewed on the surface,
and those dug or scraped out of the ground, between twelve
and fifteen hundred pieces of silver coin, mostly of the size
of a sixpence, but many somewhat larger, were found. The
most of these proved to be English coins of Edward, but
which of the Edwards cannot be discovered, because there
is no date on many of them, and the head on the obverse Is
very' similar on all. There were also a few Scottish coins
of Alexander and Robert, but the same difficulty occurs to
ascertain to which of the Monarchs of these names the
dtilti belongs, as there is neither distinctive mark nor date
on them. The greater part of the coins are in excellent
preservation, and from the neatness and delicacy of
the head, one must form a high idea of the state of
engraving at the period when the dies were struck. On
the obverse of the coins of Edward is a crowned head,
surrounded with the legend Edwar. Angl. Dus. Rob."
On the reverse, a cross between 12 torteaux, surrounded
with the legend of the place where the coin had been
struck—thus, " civitas London" or " villa Bristolli." The
writer has specimens of these coins, struck at the following
places, and bearing the respective names—viz., London,
Canterbury, York, Durham, Chester, Lincoln, Dublin,
all of which are called " civitas ;" and also Berwick,
Newcastle, Bristol, St. Edmundsbury, which places bear
the humbler title of " villa." The obverse side of the
Dublin coin is different from that of others, having the
crowned head enclosed in a triangle, on the exterior sides
of which is the same legend as on the others—viz., Edwr.
(Ist side) ; Angl. D—ns, (2d side) ; Rob. (3d side.)
The writer has also specimens of the following, which were
among the treasure—viz., one bearing on the obverse a
crowned head, surrounded by a legend, which appears to be
" Dux Limbergii 1.," and on the reverse a cross between
twelve torteaux, surrounded by the legend, very distinct,
" Dux Brabantie ;" one, of which the obverse and the re-
verse are the same with the Edwards, but the legends are
in a character and language which the writer takes to be
Welsh, and of course cannot make out. It is in high pre-
servation, however, and the letters quite distinct, and could
easily be deciphered by a person acquainted with them.
Some of the letters have a resemblance to the Saxon cha-
racter, but others of them are different. On the Scottish
coins the head of Alexander is beautifully executed, and
appears to have been done when the Monarch was quite
young. It is crowned, and either a sceptre or small cross
stands in front of the head, which is surrounded by the le-
gend " Alexander Dei : Gra :" On the reverse is a cross
between four cinque-pointed stars, surrounded by the legend
" Rex Scotorum." The head of the Robert is likewise well
executed, and is that of a pretty old man. Before it stands
also a sceptre or cross, and the legend is " Robertus Dei :
Gra :" The reverse is the same as that of the Alexander,
only the legend is " Scotorum Rex." It is impossible to
say at what period or on what occasion this has been left or
concealed in the place where it was found. There is no
traditionary lore in reference to the place or neighbourhood,
and the names of the farms are not such as to point out any
particular event connected with history or battles, unless we
could convert an adjoining farm's name of Killiemore into
Cella-more—i. e. large chapel, or perhaps large burying
ground. Neither tradition nor local characteristics, how-
ever, bear out any such signification. The poor people who
found the coins estimated them so lightly, that one man
who happened to be near, bought twenty scores of them for
20s. They afterwards sold at prices varying from 3s. 9d.
to 45., 4s. 6d., 55., and 6s. per ounce, and by retail at 4d.
and 4-id. each. The coins of the Edwards, which were
formerly very rare and valuable, have not been so for seve-
ral years past, and this discovery will make them less valu-
able. I allude to the discovery of a military chest at Tul-
bury, near Burton-upon-Trent, in which a great quantity of
these Edward coins were found in the year 1831.—Dumfries
Courier.—[Our worthy Contemporary does not tell us how
it happened that this treasure was not seen by the people
who ploughed the field and sowed the grain which these
reapers were cutting down when they found the treasure on
the surface.l

MY AUNT PONTYPOOL.—The work under this
title, announced for immediate publication, is one of a very
extraordinary character. The author is it seems not to be
known, but this will be of little consequence, as from what
we have seen, we are much mistaken if it is not immediately
recognised as a production which must at once place its
author among the very highest it the scale of literary ex-
cellence.

Last week the Derby and Chaddesden troop of
Hussars completed their six days' permanent duty, when
they passed in review, and were highly complimented on
their appearance and good discipline by Sir Robert Wilmot,
Bart., late Colonel of the Derbyshire regiment of Yeo-
manry Cavalry.
DEATH OF " BILLY BA RLOW."--ThiS eccentric
individual, whose real name was John Clarke, and from
whom the cognomen of " Billy Barlow" was originally de-
rived, was found on Monday morning last in a field near
Islington in a dying condition, and his dissolution eventually
took place in Islington station-house. The deceased, it ap-
pears, was connected with a respectable family, who aban-
doned him in consequence of his drunken habits. He was
deformed, and possessed a countenance of singular ugliness,
having a long ghastly face, a wide mouths a small dark pier-
cing eye, long hair, and Midas ears, and being about four
feet five inches high. He had a strong propensity for his-
trionic fame, and was continually lurking about the various
theatres, where he was constantly to be seen pursuing pan-
tomimical gestures, throwing somersets, dancing, tumbling,
and reciting Richard's soliloquy, surrounded by boys, who
played all sorts of tricks upon him. In the evenings he
generally visited the gin-palaces in the neighbourhood of
Covent-garden, where he was to be seen displaying his
skill in grimace, and dancing, and tumbling, to the no
small amusement of the visitors, and latterly he was in the
habit of making his appearance in the attire of Octavian,
Richard, Hamlet, and the Brigand, covered with a wide
ragged great coat, when he would receive sundry buf-
fets, bonnetters, halfpence, and glasses of gin, until the
enemy " stole away his brains," and he was " many
times and oft" found prostrate in the mud, like " a war-
rior taking his rest," with his " dirty coat around him."
Some years ago he applied to the Regency Theatre
(now the Queen's) for an engagement, when be was
placed on the back of an elephant, and a body of fire-
works were let off around poor Billy, which, it is said
alarmed him so excessively that it was thought it would
damp the ardour of his stage mania, but still he conti-
nued his " theatrica• l" visits to the palaces, and he stiled
himself " Billy Barlow," which stuck to him until his
dissolution. On Monday night last he paid a visit to the
neighbourhood of White Conduit-fields, where he entered
a public-house, and repeated his peculiar exhibition before a
set of low blackguards, who plied him with gin and
beer, and eventually they procured a quantity of jalap,
which they mixed with some liquor, and he quitted the
place at a late hour intoxicated, and staggered into a
field, where he laid down and fell fast asleep. He was
turned away once by a
policeman, but on the following
morning he was found lying in another field in a most
deplorable conditi▪
on, when he was carried to the station-
house,
and, on his arrival,
i he was discovered to be quite
dead. There was nothing n his possession. His costume
was ragged, and covered with filth ; he was the mere
shadow of what he formerly had been, and the unfortu-
nate Billy in this.melanchol state bade adieu to " all his
greatness.' in inquest was. yesterday held upon his body,
and the Jury returned a verdict " That his death was caused
through the inclemency of the weather,"