Daily gazette and comet., 1860-11-27
Rare Coins at the Mint.


epoch which many of the coins bring
TO mind. Some of the ancient mon
les at the Mint are thus described
by late visitor TO the institution /:
The Samaritan ,SkekH Of Simon
Maccabeps, a ruler in Jpdea, under
the Syrian paramount monarchy
Although every one has heard of
the Je,cid Skehei, yet let il be un-
derstood that there never was a
genuine coin Of that sort, or any
bearing a Jewish INSCRIPTION. Skekel
is term of weight, and was used
in weighing gold and silver long
before those metals were made into
coins. But when Simon obtained
permission from Antioehus to coin
money, he caused silver Skekels to
be made, each bearing legends in
the Samaritan character. This was
about one hundred and forty years
before the coming of Christ One
of these pieces, obtained in Smyrna
through the aid of the U. S. Drago-
man ut Constantinople, at the cost
of about twenty-one dollars, may he
seen in the cabinet of the Mint (;
and, although far from being a
handsome coin, is q great curiosi-
ty. No piece receives more notice
from visitors. On one side is
the budding rod of Aaron, with the
words "Jefasaiem The Holy." On the
other cup Of incense, or pct of
mama, with the words "Skekd Of
Lrod." The piece weighs two hun
dred and seventeen grains, fineness
ninety-Gve per cent, value fifty
eight cents. There is also in the
collection of the Hebrew Skekels.
which were formerly made in Prus-
sia, to be sold to Pilgrims at the
Holy Sepulchre.
Siirey eo,noge 9fhe Caiiph Haroun
Alrasohid, renowned in Arabian his
tory and romance. This well pre-
served specimen was presented to
the Mint collection by John z.
Brown, Esq, Dragomsn to the U.
s. Embassy at Copstantinople. IL
bears no efiigy uf the Caliph, nor
picture of any kind, owing to ri.
gid construction Ivy the Mussui-
mans Of the second Mosaic com
mandment, by which they abstain
from making the likeness of any
thing" for any purpose. Instead
of such emblems the coin is covered
on both sides with Arabic inscrip.
tioBs, chiefly texts from tie Koran,
with fanoiiul, dsshing script, pc
culiar TO the Mohammedan coins of
that day. On one side we read in
the center, "Tbere ia no God but
one God, TO whom there is no fel-
low :" sand around this, "In the
name of God, this dirhem was coin.
in the City of Peace (Bagdad) in
the year 1857 that is, S03 Of The
Christian era. On the reverse, the
central inscription reads, "Moham-
med is the messenger of God, whom
be sent as the director of the true
religion, that he might elevate il
above all religions, however much
the Associators should be displeas-
ed by IT," The term 1ssooiators WAS
applied by Mobammed to the Chris
tians in respect to the doctrine of
the Trinity, and probably, also, to
the bonors paid TO the Virgin Mary
in the Greek Catholic Church, TO
which he was neighbor. The occa-
sion of this peculiar feature of Ara.
biau coinage, (Cufc coinage, as 1t
is called by numismatoiogists) is
detailed by Arabian writer's, and is
gathered from Marsdep, in his M
mismatd Orientdlid.
Until the year of the IIegira 16,
or A. d., COS, the Mohammedan
Empire had no coinage of its own,
relying upon what ever was already
in the country, especially of the
Greek Roman issue, from Constan-
tinople. But the Caliph Abdalma-
lex, having adhered to the practice
of commencing his epistles to the
Roman Emperor with the formula
ry, "Tbere is but one God, and Mo-
hammed is his prophet" the latter
took oflense at what appeared to
him an insult, or at least dispar-
agement of the faith he professed,
and threatened to retaliate by in
Producing inscriptions upon the
coinage which would not be agree.
able TO the professors Of Islamism.