Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-06-27


One Montgomery, Of KiIinchey,
County Down, Ireland, dropped dead,
the other dag; his wife fell dead on sec
ing him fall, and her sister expired OF
heart-disease on receiving news OF the
double catastrophe.
THE RAREST COIN IN THE WORLD.
There is a delightful zest about it,
this finding of q unique coin, bit OF
money which remains alone OF the
thousands which were made ages ago,
which no one but the true numismatist
can feel. The survival of the coins OF
the Greek and Roman periods appears,
when one thinks about it, quite re-
markable. 1t is the fate Of the pre-
cious metals 10 change often in forms for
eventually all the gold and silver goes
to the melting pot. Such discoveries,
then. as have been made Of old coins
are due entirely 10 accidental hoard
ings, slowed away In the bowels of the
earth, which time only, with the pureSt
chance, brings to light. The military
chest OF some Consul the commander
of Greek OF Roman army, might have
been buried to escape capture, and thus
there turns up most unexpectedly,
some thousands Of years afterward, the
gold and silver Of q Pagan Emperor.
There may be yet slumbering ia the
bed Of many q placid lake Or swift rIv-
er innumerable old coins which some
day may be fished from the depths
coins worth Thousand times more
than their weight in gold or silver.
Here is the true story Of the rarest
of all coins, and how precious medal
came to be the great numismatic tri-
umph of the French collection. One
evening in July, 1867, a French gem
tleman, an expert Of She British Muse-
um, was dining in London with Gen.
Fox, the son Of Lord Holland. In the
midst of the dinner-table talk the nu-
mismatic enthusiast was addressed as
follows by gentleman present: "I
am sorry You were not in town to-day,
for IshoRld have sent you squeer kind
of a fellow--(a glass ofwinewith youD
who says be came from Bokhara, and
who pretends that he has rare- CYour
very good health Ia rare eoin.' The
numismatist was all attention. .-...
@ cit was q gold coin, 50 he said, Of
some ancient King Of India and would
weigh az much Is twenty soFereigns
and was huge las big as the palm OF
my hand. " Is ass7 III
The namismstist's heart was in his
mouth.
.sSorry you seem so excited about It.
It is my belief that the whole thing is a
forgery, Just think of 1T! The shah
-
the coin around hsd the 1mpertinence
to ask i've thoussnd pounds for itp'
The numismatist thought over it,
and as an expert reasoned in this way
over the story: g Forger he may be.
Still there may be something in if, IS
suers of spurious old coin never have
brains enough to invent new forms;
they always vamp up representations
of certain Well-knOwn coins. Anyhow
it may be worth while for me TO look
it up as q numisma maticals monstrOsity.1
+, 6 The fellow, . coninned the in
fOrmant g seemed very much down on
his luck He told me that wherever
he had been to show or sell bis coin,
the experts had kicked him out, declar-
ing that his piece of money was for
gerry" s,-.,.-,.-.-r- -.-y5f ..f -
A hope sprang up in the coin col
lector's .heart-an inkling that some
great find was near at hand. Instinct
lively he rose from the dinner table, de-
termined to set out al once in search of
the coin. Gen. Fox, the host, being
himself the most enthusiastic Of col
lectors, understanding what it is to
have fit of numismatic fever, excused
his guests further presence at the din
ner. Out started the numismatist from
Kensington and posted, quick as cab
could take him. TO Islingt0n, for at
Islington he knew an Oriental who
kept UP Communication with those
curious waits from the East, who
only turn upMin4 the greatest city
In the world. - A trail was discov-
cred in Islington itself, and soon
the miserable lod dgings of the man from
Bokhara were found, The landlord
said, g The man you wish to see is Just
going to bed. Io know he has been try
ing TO find you. Shall call him
downpn3.l'i N 10 ss1n1 RI 5ai
Yes, at once cried the expert
In few minutes down came the man
who had been Kicked out by every coin
collector in London. With the help of
the Oriental who acted as interpreter,
the Rokhara man was told to show his
coin Then the Rokharan individual
took off his queerly cut coat, next his
embroidered Wsistcoat, then his waist
band, next his shirt, until there was
nothing on him above the waist but his
undershirt, and from his armpit he
drew out, with great deliberation,
dirty, sweat -begrimed leather case,
which he laid slowly on the table.
Presently the case was opened, and in
an instant the eyes of the expert were
dazzled with the peculiar soft yellow
sheen which only antique gold gives
forth. Il was, indeed, 3 prize. One
glance alone was sufficient to show that
It was g. grand medallion, unique
coin, the chiefest, the rarest In the
world, It has taken years Of study
on the part of the -numismatic, q
transmitted instinct,i in fact, through
some generations, for this expert to ap-
preciate rare coin at g single look. %
Knowing that in dealing with Orient
ais an intending purchaser must ex-
hibit no anxiety, the expert did not al
low a muscle Of his face to move. = q
It was the BalZhara man who took
the gold coin and placed it IN the numis-
matt st's 5 hand. If the recipients hand
had trembled In the least with excite
ment the willy Oriental would have
made q hard bargain. 1t was su-
preme effort, for when the piece was
touched only by the numismatist's fin
gers thrill something like an electric
shock tore up his arm. .rae
Said the Bokhara man, thFOugh the
interpreter, g That coin cost me dear.
It has been sweated in manis blood
his. heart blood. Seven of Us found
that piece of gold. We quarrelled over
it. That was natural. It was worth
fight. We fell on one another with
knives and daggers. After q while
| for it was hot Work-five of the men
rolled dead in the dust. Only two of
Us were left. The other man IS still at
Bokhara. He agreed that 1 should
come to Europe to sell this bit Of gold.
Since it was found have always
carried it under my arm. There are, 1
understand, more skilIful thieves in
England than in Bokhara. They all
say in London-those who have studied
old golden money-that this coin is a
forgery. I know better, win You buy
it, my lordEm The expert looked at it.
again and satisfied himself as to its au-