The Worthington advance., 1879-04-24

ukn0wlng thatll dealing Wlth Orientals
an intended, purchaser. must, exhibit no'
anxiety, the expert did not allow mus
Gle of his face to mOve.H .sa.tw tx ysr
j. s1t was the Bokhara man who took, the
gold com and placed it In the numisma-
tist's'hand. '~ If the recipients hand had
tFembled in the, leastl withuexcitment
the willy Oriental would have made 7
hard bargain. It, was q supreme effort.
for when the piece was touched ONLY hv
the numismatlst's finger something like
an electric shock tore up his arm.
Said the Bokhara man; through the in: !:
terpreter, "'slhat' coin cost me dear, It
has been sweated in mans blood-his
hearts blood. Seven of US found that
piece of Qold.~ We qusrrelledi over it.:
That was uatuTal!,.sltt was worth a fipht.
We fell on one another with knives and
daggers. After a while, for;it was hot
work. Ave Of the men rolled dead in the
DUST: Only two Of rs 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, undei stand, more skillful thieves
in England than in Bokhara. They all
say in London; those who have studied
old golden money. that this coin is for.
gerry. I know better. Will you buy it,
my lord2'' -
+ The expert looked at it again, ei.iii and sat:
isfied himself Of its authenticity. 1t was
an antique. More than that, it was na-
mismatic prodigy. Its weight was near
J ounces, or, 90 staters, and its value in
gold about. $110. On one side was the
rtrait of Eucratides, King OF Bactria :,
who lived 1876 b. g. The bust OF the
monarch was crowned with a helmet,
ornamented with the horn and
car OF the bull, peculiar attribute of the
kings of .Bactria. On the reverse were
the Dioscnres, Chastor and .Pollux,
galloping on horseback, with the legend
in Greek, Baseileus Metannoy, Eykra-
tidey, (the Great King Eucrutides). There
was defect. something like a line run.
ming across the field Of the piece. This
defect was the glory of the coin. This
showed the number Of blows which were
required to strike such big piece. TIE
die with which that coin had been
stamped must have been broken after
this piece was made. The numismatist
was wild with Joy, for certainly this piece
was unique. 1t was the first, may be the
last, of its kind, and there never would
turn up in this world another. piece OF
gold like it.
ASK him what he wants for it," in.
quired the expert, with concealed indltf-
erence. ut Is worth something, of course,
it's weight, cay, in gold" The Bokhara
mans eyes twink kled-they were black,
snaky eyes. ~ will take $4,000 for it,
my lord, and nothing else,:' said the man,
cody, as he picked up the coin, slipped it
into the bag, and was about putting it
under his arm.
Now come the moment of trial. The
expert lighted ci garette and smoked to
calm his nerves. Then, blowi, the
smoke from his lips, ne said, II tell you
what will do. will give you, right
now, my check for 81 900 for the piece
If the coin is not mine in twenty minutes,
[ shall offer you $500 for it, and so on
until l get to $500. IT you don't close
with me tonight, tomorrow I will not
take it at any price,"
Twenty minutes passed" said the ex
pert, ''like an instant. The Bokhara man
seemed immersed in deep thought. Then
he turned on me suddenly" continued
the expert. "pierced me through with his
black eyes, and put the much-coveted
coin in my hand, while his long bird like
fingers were bent like talons to take the
check. The coin was mine: slept
said the expert, "with that coin under
my pillow; that is. I tried to sleer, bu,
SO excited was that never closed my
ey's that night"
The numismatist took the earliest con.
veyance across the English Channel
This medal was not for common collec
tions. It was piece for the French
museum. The Emperor Louis Napoleon
heard of it, as did the Minister of Instruc
tion. NJ. Fcuardent considered an offel
OF 1000 francs for the medal as an i'm.
perative command that tho coin should
remain in France. So stay it did, though
$4,000 francs, just double. what it cost
were offered for it. This coin of the
Bactrian Eucratides is now the greatly
priced ornament OF the Cabinet de.
Medailles. To-day it lies in glass cast
all by itself. There is a little handle
coming out Of the box, which permits tht
public to turn the coin so that both sides
of it can be seen.
"This," said the expert to the writer
lis the rarest coin i'll the world, and tn.
one for which the highest price has beer
paid. Since it cost the lives of five men
| do not think any thing more was really
paid fol it than it was worth. 1t ough
to have been saved tor the delcctation o1
numismatic amatuers in all times to come
even had fifty OF one hundred lives beer
sacrificed"
How to Treat Nervousness.