Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-12-28

a Chat with a New York Ncsnisnsa.
tician and Archscoiogiss.

think, says the New York correspondent of
che Chicago Tribune that there is only one nu-
mismatician in this country at present. | reier
TO CASTOR Feuardent Of Lafayette place. who is
80 skilled in knowledge of coins in classical ar
chaology and in antiquarian lore Of all sorts.
that Others are scarcely to be mentioned in COM
parison. He is descended from a long line of
archeol0gists, and has made antique remains.
ruins AMI statues the study of his life. He is
pretty well known as the Nemesis of Di
CesnOIa. | met Hr. Feuarient yesterday. and
casually asked few questions about coins.
The highest priced nndern cui1.' he said
ais the United states silver Collar OF 1891
There are. 1 believe Only two in existence and
these change hands ~ tie Iat, OF about Il ESQ
apiece. feE years ago some officer 1T the
mint found the old die Of this rare dollar. ard
struck OF some 60 OF them He vas found cut
ard tie dollars were DESTROYED and the de
broke. j five sovereign geld piece u niDg
Charles J. recently sold in England for 81 500
but that was fancy pI:cc; and hardly to be
maintained. i'm London $3.50 has been paid
for q rare copper coin Of the Roman Emperor
Geta. J. myself. sold to Louis NAPOLEON the
most valuable coin Iii til" world. When | first
heard of this was III dinner with some gentle
men in London. One Gf them told about q r.s.r-
ged stroller who had that day offered To sell to
him splendid gold coin from Central Asia
nearly As large as the palm ct his hand. He
sent him oil as n EIcuutFhaak and swinG!er
The description OF the Ccin fired my Imagination
In way that all collectors will understand
hastily excused Iayse!f. called a cab. and went
out TO the suburbs To a WrCtCGCd quarter where
i knew these Indian traders we're wont to con
greGate- | searched sUHC hours before found
the man from BollEaTa and cot him out OF his
squaiid bed We went into Il room alone. and
there. removing his outer clothing the tawEy
man drew from his arm. s}"e2ty bag ard from
the ta- lie brought forth the NEST magnificent
coin had ever seen 1t was obviously a cen
uine antique stamped 10y king Eucratit!.,s Of
India. one Of the successors of alexander the
Great. i was much excited. but strUve to an
pear cool On the diverse was an engraved
head OF the King: on the reverse fine relief OF
Castor and Polluy. Ii bore date about $50 T.
{. lie said the cGiH had at first been found ~
seven men. but they got into deadly fcud over
1t. ard I'VE were slain He and friend we've
the only survivors. He put an eXtrava cant
price on it. but ! refused to pay it. At last
offered him fl.G0o-about $5.OG0-and @ayc him
only 10 minutes to consider the proposition.
After that / told him that | should take eff
500 each minute fTOT NY offer Before the
10 minutes were up the coin was mine. car
ried it TO France and showed it to the Emperor
Napoleon. He offered me $1,000 for it, and
accepted il as q command that so rare a
treasure should never leave France. 1t may
now be seen in Paris aInCnc TIE antique tro-
plies. honored By being placed in case all by
itself beneath the eye of the sentinel. 1t is the
finest coin in the wcrld.'
W Hcl were Iic HFSI CONS StrucK!
'AhOUt 500 years before Christ the LYDIA
Before that time the commerce or the world
was done entirely by Notwithstanding ore
thing fer another. The Egyptians never had
any coins till these great kings came after the
death of Alexander They used rings for
money. These are the oldest Egyptian money
found. The oldest money was somewhat like
why. this is it,
NJ Fcuardent led the way to q case where
some hundreds or thousands OF coins We're dis
oil Irt
shot that had been fattened against a stone
wall On one side was slight depression.
where the mental had received the dab of a
piece of iron while hot. A century or two later
came the art of engraving coins, which rose to
high point under the Roman republic.
i:'ls it true / asked. THAT the older coin
h the rarer il s:'
ut is not only not true. hui it is almost the
reverse of the trnth. Some of the oldest coins
In the world are very common. Remember
that the earth was the bank OF the ancients
Whenever they wanted to be sure of Keeping
money they secretly hid it in the ground. The
general of an encamped Roman army buried his
treasure; along came the COthS and swept them
away. and the money was lost. to be recovered
Dy some curious or accidental deliver hundreds
or thousands of years later. Remember. tCO.
that not only the nations coined, but the cities
ard towns and that they coined not once or
twice. but constantly at short intervals. The
Emperor Marius reigned only three DAYS but
his coins are still common. Copper coins of
Constantine the Great We're found not many
years ago buried in huge heap in Germany.
There was pile as high as a man-cOrds of
them, / suppose-and they are now so common
shat that copper piece brings only one cent
1.-The best coins ever cast are those of about
the year 400 b. c. Noble bas-relieis of the time
OF Phdias then appear. making the finest imagi-
nable monuments of the numismatic art. Some
people say of these pieces, How well these are
strnck for such an early period This betokens
either ignorance gross affectation. So far
from deprecating criticism the coins of those
times have never since been eQualled or ap-
preached as works of art. The counterfeiter
seems to have appeared by the side of the first
official engraver. Almost every ancient coin
had its counterfeit. and of some there are more
counterfeit than genuine coins"