Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-06-21
GREEK NUMlsMATIs1s.

EXPLOITS Of Timoleon Pericles Blasto and
Another Athenian Gent.
Some forty four years ago there aP.
peared in London a young Greek gen.
tlcman called Timoleon Pericles Bias
to. He came to London highly rec.
commended by more than one foreigner
of distinction. and thus got the per-
mission to study the collection OF
Greek coins in the British Museum.
He very soon proved to the officers in
charge of the med al room that he was
AN accomplished numismatist His
knowledge of coins was great his de.
votion to the subject greater; for q
whole month he came every day to
study the magnificent collection &C.
cumulated ever since the time of Payne
Knight His manners were ingenu
Gus. and ladies thought him quite fas-
cinating. At the end of the month.
just before he left England an acci-
dental discovery revealed that rare
ureek coin was missing. Further
search disclosed the fact that a large
number of the rarest coins had van
ished. and had IN many cases been re-
placed by inferior specimens. The
authorities of the museum were APP
palled, but fortunately they lost no
time in putting their case in the hands
of the ablest detective then known at
Scotland Yard. the celebrated Mr..
Field. By dexterous coup de main
Mr.. Field captured in few hours Time
leon Pericles and all his booty. q He
was tried at the Old Bailey. pleaded
guilty. and convicted. His sentence
was seven years transportation. which.
Of course. was committed on account
of his exemplary conduct H. was
consigned 10 the model prison at
Pentonville. where he was seen by
sympathetic lady visitors reading
Sophocles and Euripides in his cell.
Before his trial he tried to avert the
operation of the law against fclons, as
it then stood. by conveying all his
goods and chattels to a friend on the
morning of the day of his conviction.
But British law was equal to the oc.
casion. The convey ance of his proper
ty was pronounced null and void. be-
cause the court said that there was no
such thing as half or fraction of a
day. He was convicted on a given
day, therefore the convey ance exc
cuted on the morning OF the same day
was void Thereupon his coins. as the
property of a felon, were forfeit to the
Crown. and were handed over to the
treasury; which. after restoring to the
British Museum all they claimed. pro.
ceeded to invite other claimants to
prove their ownership. In due course
the residue. consisting of some rare
coins. remained in the hands of the
treasury unclaimed. and were ulti.
mately handed over to the British
Museum. will not pursue the career
of Timoleon Pericles further, except
to say that his memory was honored
in the Levant with that of other vic
tins of British law. and that one OF
his old friends at Smyrna said OF
him: "Cependant c'etait I'm charmant
garcon."
The other distinguished numisma.
list. who has this year rivaled the ex :
PLOTS of Timolean Pericles. is Gree /
whoss name l withhold because he will
probably be the subject of "a criminal
prosecution at Paris before long. and
also. perhaps. in Greece. Some time
ago It was announced that all the
rarest coins in the National collie elton
at Athens had been stolen; and this
was followed shortly afterward by the
news that MM r ,llin and Feuardent,
the wcll-known antjquaires of Paris.
had been robbed of collection of
Greek and Roman gold coins valued
EGO. O00 The police of Paris soon got
on the track. and. swooping down on
the culprit, found in his lodgings
nearly all the coins stolen from NM
Rollin and Feuardent. These on ex-
animation proved TO be identical with
the coins previously stolen from the
museum at Athens. 1t seems that the
thief escaped from Athens with his
booty. sold it to NM Rollin and
Feuardent and then. getting into
their premises. recaptured it, with a
view. probably. of reselling the coins
in America. The saddest part of the
whole story is that the two keepers Of
tho Athenian Museum. who have al
ways up to this date had high char
acter for integrity. have. in conse-
quence of this mishap. "got the sack. :"
st James Gazstte