The Russellville Democrat., 1880-01-29
GREEK COINAGE.
The Beauty and Perfection ot the Money
 that was Prod:iced.


 Sir John Lubbeek !.iss iiSine. .ccnth Century.
 Greek coinage, however rough at first, soen acquired beauty and perfection surpassing all our modern efforts. The staters for instance, oi Philip of Alex ander, the coins of Syracuse and Meta pontum present to us the most lovely female face and deities-pertect models Of human beauty. Animals are also ad- mlfably represented, not only the horse, the lion, etc, but totler smaller creatures, as the harvest mouse OH an ear of wheat on Metapontum coin, and even insects, as, for instance, the praying mantis. The heads in the earliest coins represent gods and godesses, the first human head being that of Alexander the Great on a coin of Lysimachus, and even in this case the great eonqucror IS represented lnh his divine character as descended from Jupiter Ammon, which is indicated by the rams horns. Ii would not, however, be fair to modern hints to attribute the comparative poverty of modern coins 10 want of skill. It is a great convenience that coins should lie flatly one on another and the greater boldness of aneient coins, however it may add to their beauty, necessarily rendered this inn possible. Not only were tine Greek 5ins admlrable for their beauty. but they were also made of pure metal and full weight, offering in this respect striking contrast to those of most other countries. There were, however of course, excep- tions. Thus the money of Phocaa was notorious for it's bad quality. Herodo- tus mentions, though with some Gogb, that Polycrates, tyrant Of Samos, having to pay large sum to the Lacetisemonians coined large quantity of the county money in lead, had it gilt, and gave it to them; and they, having received it, thereupon took their departufe." That the true theory of ilage was well understood i'll Greece, we may see from the words of Aristotle, who thus de- scribes the origin of coins.
 "lt became necessary, therefore, to think of certain commodities, easily manageable and safely transportable, and of which the uses are so general and so numerous that they insured the cer- taintv of always obtaining for them the articles wanted in exchange. The met als, particularly iron and silver and several others, exactly correspond to this description. They were employed, therefore by general agreement as the ordinary standard of value and the com mon measure of exchange, being them selves estimated at first by their bulk and weight. and afterwards stamped. in order to save the trouble of measuring and weighing them."
 In ancient Greece, as now, the right of coinage was a prerogative of a soyer- cign. And here we find curious differ ence between the Basilcus and the Fur amos. The former coined in his own name, but the Turannoi, however abso- lute, never did so; there money was is- sued in the name of the people. Coins are, of course, very instructive from q historical point of view. Nevertheless. it is somewhat remarkable that Greeks do not seem to have ever struck con- memorative medals. Even on their coins they did not for long time admit any allusions to contemporary events, and then only in an indirect manner. Almost the only exception is the enorm- ous gold piece struck by Eucratides, King of Bactriana, of which the French possess the only known example. The fact that 1t is just equal to twenty staters docs not prove that it was ever intended to serve as a cain, against which it's size must have been great objection. More over, it would appear that very few specimens were struck. Indeed, there is some reason to suppose that the French example is the only one ever made, as the die appears to have been broken in striking it. Neither the Greeks nor Ro- mans had any name for medal" as distinguished from true coin.