The Wilmington daily Republican., 1891-11-27
lwritten for the Hepublican.)
Ancient Money,

Ancient Money.
In ancient times the skins Of ami
mails, leather. metallic bars, rings,
spikes, etc., were used for money.
Money in the form OF rings Is repre-
scented on the monuments OF Egypt.
Iron, silver and gold, in the form Of
lrlngs, were sold for money In various
countries. The earliest money may by
way OF distinction be termed reeoined
money.
Job, who may have been contempo-
rary with Abraham. used skins for
money. Satan, knowing the fact, said
to Jehovah, skin after skin; ali that
man hath will he give for his llfe."
/ The bekahs, gerahs, manehs, talents
and shekels OF the Old Testament
Represented money values by weight.
abraham weighed 400 she kels of sill,
yer for the field of Macbpelah. At q
certain time Joseph's brethern said,
l"We opened our sacks, and, behold,
every mans money was in the mouth
Iof his sack, our money In full weight" !"
!, 1t Is uncertain when money was first
coined. 1t is said my some that the
Chinese made square coins OF bronze
, as early as ll20 B. @. Others declare
THAT the Persians were the first to coin
money, about 1000 b. q.
It is said that the island OF Eglna,
(which forms part of the kingdom of
Greece, has the honor OF Issuing the
'Itirst silver coins. They were round
tIand homely. As the centuries sped
Ialong, the GrecianB improved in the
art Of coming. In 230 b. G., the head
iIof Minerva upon one side OF their
coins was remarkable for its beauty,
Syracuse In Sicily issued very fine
coins in 400 u. G. "..-...
\ In 700 B. Q. the Romans used metallic
icurrency. In 57S b. O. they issued
money called an As, or assarion. 1t
was a rectangular piece OF hardened
!, copper, and was equal in weight to a
'lpound of twelve ounces. In S05 Il. g.
sthe AS was made circular instead Of
Rectangular, and was counted instead
;Iof weighed. 1t was also reduced in
weight
In 264 B. c., the As was reduced in
\ weight to ono ounce. In 50 b. G. 1t
/. weighed about the same. This harden
! led copper is termed bronze" The
twelve Cesars issued the As. AS it was
the national currency, the Senate alone
, could authorized its issue; hence on
+. lall the bronze or brass coins of the
ICesars the letters S 9 are stamped.
These letters stand for the Latin words
, lSenatus Consulto, meaning, BY Per
lmlssion of the Senate. Family coins
were also issued during the reigns Of
!. the Cesars. Those that had $ stamped
sIupon them, were of the same legal
. value as those issued by the elnperors.
LA gentleman In this city has one OF
Those family coins, which was issued
!. during the reign of Augustus Cesar
hence it Is more than 1875 years old.
;, Tho Roman AS is the ''farthing" of
1.-THE Bible for which the two sparrows'
: could be purchased i'll Palestine.
The Roman emperors Issued gold
: and silver coins without consulting
!. tho Senate. 1t is said that the Denari-
{ lus was first issued in 21S B. q. 1t was
equal In value to ten Asses, The De
nnrius is the coin termed the penny
: liu our Bible, and is of silver. and
. worth about fifteen cents OF ouI
:. money. But in the days of the Cesars
! silver was worth ten times what it IL
] dlnow: hence. in the first century De
$ lnarius had as much purchasing value
as dollar and half has in the pres
k ent century.
IS TheDenarius was the tribute money!
!. or penny" that was handed TO Jesus
{ by the Pharlsees and Ilerodlans. II
WAS the wages for Il days labor in our
Lords time. Two of these coins were
lgiyen by the good Samaritan To the
= Iinn-keeper 10 whose care heentrustcd
l the wounded Jew whom he had found
D helpless ON the Jericho road. Mary's
:. Ialabaster box of precious ointment,
pure nard, was worth 800 denarii, ol
$3.50. The debtor who owed 10l
! pence, owed l00denaril, on $50.
: Dates were first used upon coins IN
: the fifteenth century OF Christian era,
\ Turkish coins are not dated by the
!, arn The Turks lnya n calenuur Ol
Q their own. It's first year commenced
about the middle OF July A. u. az.
1t is a Muhammeden calendar. The
Muhammedan year is nelrly eleven
days shorter than ours. A Iurlsh coin
= dated 1919 starts its first year in oul
\. ID. g.; consequently such coin il
\ only II years old, and not GIG.
The coins OF ancient Greece and
Rome ate found in mGssos under the
q sIriaee of the ground, where they
Z were buried by their possessors fuI
= safe keeping, In making excavations
among ancient ruins, these masses oi
n coins have been discovered. The outer
= coins are much colrOied and can bC
purchased for from ten to twenty-five
, cents apiece. Farther In the mass the
coins have thin coating OF hard green
enamel. These command various
I, prices. Bronze coins in good condi
i ton command from two to four dol!
, lars or more. In tho center of the
4 mass, bronze coins are found that are
4 as perfect as they were when they were
first Issued. Some of these eoins
command five dollars. Coins that are
t. worn smooth can be purchased for 9
dollar and upward. Only rare and
hence costly ancient coins are counter
Halted Il, Ill, ID,