Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-28

WITH LIMITATIONS.
From the New York Times
AT this time of the year it is not possible
either in London, Paris, or New York to supply
.he demand for genuine antique coins in gold
Or silver" remarked Jealous nnmisma ,st to o
Time, reporter the other day
''Why is that" the reporter asked.
Because OF the popular passion for jewelry
made OF old money. This passion has created
an unusually brisk market for snch coins. and
thousands OF them have been manufactured By
jewellers in this city into various quaint and
pretty articles Considerable ingenuity has
been displayed i'm working them into watch
eases. bracelets, sleeve-UuttOns. earrings. neck
laces, scarf-pins and rings. The coins which
are principally in demand for this purpose are
the most artistic ones belonging to the fourth
century. b. G. These are Greek coins and in
gold the slater is most frequently used while
in silver the Tetradrachm and draehm are seen
more often than any others Some jewelers.
have become quite clever in matching the Orna-
ment of the settings with the historical character
OF the coin.
lis this style of jewelry expensive?"
Yes, when real ancient colns.are used. Some
coins cost great deal of money. as any coin
collector well knows. am acquainted with
gentleman who wears on his scarf a coin pin
for which he paid SfG0. The value of an ancient
coin is regulated first. by its rarity. and next by
its degree OF preservation People very natu-
rally attach more Importance to the identity
ana perfect authenticity of coin than to its
beauty. Some American coins are very vaiua-
bic aud eagerly sought AT ter"
(which il the rarest and most valuable of the
American coins 2"
THE silver half-dime of 1902 is the scarcest of
all American coins. and had a somewhat sin9u-
lar experience with that coin when 1 came to
this country from France. day or two before
n 1i.I 4 xtx-a4f
q handful of American coins i'm the way of
change. and after j got on shpboard found
an 1872 half-dime among them. / put it care
fully away, and had not been in New York
ong before | sold it to coin collector for
Sl76- subsequently he disposed of it for still
aver sum-
The present fashion of making jewelry from
antique coins and medals had it's birth in
France, where ladies of wealth take great pride
in displaying necklaces and bracelets of very
old and rare coins. Some of these necklaces
cost their owners thousands of francs The
Duchess of st. Adams, it is said, has some of
the most costly jewelry of this kind extant.
The Roman coin called Aurei is now especially
IN demand for ladies' jewery. Greek coins
rom the eighth century b. G.. down to the
Christian era, and Roman coins from the third
century b. G.. down TO the medieval period are
used in the manufacture of jewery, and they
range i'll price all the way from 50 cents up to
5000. OF course. by far the greater number
Of the coin ornaments made and sold in this
country are of an inexpensive character. Gen.
tlemens scarf-pins, costing so. $50. or $50,
are quite popular for Christmas presents this
year. and many retail jewellers find it extremely
difficult TO obtain enough of them to meet the
demand. During the past few months almost
every ship that comes from France brings
several hundred ancient coins, and yet the cry
is for more. These coins come from Italy and
Greece. and they are found in many different
ways and many different places. Excava-
liens for new buildings have brought to light
. great many. and the construction of
railways, particularly in Greece, where
numerous cuts have to be made, has Welded
itch harvest to the coin collector. The earth it
must be remembered, was the bank of the an
clients. who frequently buried large sums of
money for safe-keeping. 1t was customary even
for armies to bury their treasure, and the fact
that such treasure was often left i'm the ground
by the army burying it being repulsed or driven
away. explains why many thousand ancient
pieces of gold and silver are found together,
sometimes by quite accidental causes. Occa-
sonaliy valuable collections of Greek and Roman
Coins have been revealed by the uprOoting of
trees by the wind. and some time ago the Times
published an account of the discovery of a large
and beautiful gold medallion of Constantine the
Great in the roots OF cabbage which was pulled
up at Treyes. Ii is always from the earth that
the antique coins are taken, and both Greece
ard Italy abound in patient intelligent and in
dustriOus searchers- An American gentleman
who resides near Rome ordered an excavation to
be made for cellar three years ago. and about
eight feet from the surface of the ground the la
bOFers found nearly peck of Roman coins of
the second century h. Z. They were submitted
to an expert In numiSmatics, who pronounced
them genuine. and the lucky gentleman on
whose premises the treasure was found disposed
OF about three-quarters OF il to brokers in an
tique COINS for 10000
There is constant demand for ancient coins
which are not fine but which bear an interest
Ing relation To the Bible. Such, for instance,
a. the silver shekel. the tribute money. and the
widow mite. The latter was the smallest cop
per coin in Judea, and was of less value than
the farthing of English money There is an in
teresting collection of coins in this city which
Contains a widows mite of the period of Herod
H. None OF the Jewish coins struck for circu-
latiOn in Judea are stamped with heads as it
was against the religious customs of the Jews
TO have any Image stamped. on their GrOney.
Most OF the Coins, however. bear some symbol
OF the ruler. and the date on one side and an
imprint OF a palm tree or other device on the
other side. No milling appears on any of the
ancient silver coins. 1t is said that the milling
OI coins Was first begun about the time OF Ed
ward VI. The growth of the popular craze for
Coin Jcwelry has. by increasing the demand for
ancient coins. increased the number of fOrgers.
The market is flooded with cleverly executed
limitations Of genuine ancient coin. The in:ita-
lions that are the most common are made by
taking a mold OF each side Of some antique coin
and then casting gold. silver, or bronze
in every country. and sometimes great deal of
pains Is taken to bury them somewhere in
Greece or Italy. and have them dug up again
with great publicity. An old dealer in antique
articles In this city thinks that there is clique
OIL I0rgers of ancient coins somewhere in New
York or New Jersey. for he has seen numerous
specimens OF their handiwork lately A great
many OF the coin scarfpins, earrings. bracelets.
etc. are made OF forged ancient coins, and are
SOLD at nigh prices. Some Of these limitations
are 81 admirable that none but the most shi!!tul
expert can distinguish them from the genuine
The point that chiefly aids an expert in detect
Ing forged coins is the fact that with the excep-
ton Of few heavy coins of the earlier Roman
periods. all antique coins were struck" and
Lot cast. The modern limitations are generally
cast. and therefore have not the weight OF
the genuine compressed coin. Jealous nums-
matlst. by stud sing the distinctive features of
antique art. can detect bogus ancient coin
without appyin" the test of weight. al
though. SIT. said the gentleman whose remark
opens this article. there are more antique
COINS found at Bergen Point. y. j., than most
people are aware Of There were MANY geuu-
Inc coins thrown there with the rubbish that
vas removed from the ruins of the Morrell stor-.
aye warehouse
While In a few instances antique coins are
elegantly set in gold or used in connection with
H.,