Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1895-10-29
SPIRIT OF JEFFERSON.
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An Invaluable Coin.
General wilson Years u
as .ScdiTpii. 2
2 Tsnecial 70 the Pittsburg Post.l


~ Especial to the Pittsburg Post.l
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1.-Unless you
are a numismatist of unusual knowl-
edge, you would probably not pay
much attention to the pale gold coin
which Postmaster-General Wilson
frequently wears as pin on the
scarf which covers most of his shirt
front. But if you are an expert and
enthusiast on. the subject of rare and
antique Gains your eyes will sparkle
with pleasure at sight of that scarf
pin, and possibly your fingers will
ltingle with vague kleptomaniac inn
pulse to grab it and run, For the
expert will recognize in the pale gold
disc an example of the most perfect
and most beautiful coins ever struck
at any mint.
And if you are allowed the privi-
lege of close inspection you will
discover that this particular speci-
men has had preserved in every de-
tail the exquisite beauty of design
and finish impaired to it by classic
artists and artificers, whose brains
and hands crumbled to dust so long
dream just to think about it. For
that coin. of the delicate. yellow of
the cactus bloom, perfect as when 1T
was tossed from the stamper's hand,
was minted while the matchless elo-
quence of Demosthenes still ravished
the ears of the Athenians and fired
their pulses, and it bears the effigy
of him against whom the Attic orator
hurled his fiercest nvectives-7P Philip
of Macedon, father of Alexander the
Great. @
The coin is gold slater of Philip,
noted among numismatists as one
of the most perfect and beautiful ex-
amples of the coiner's art the world
has known. In the % centuries
that have elapsed since il was struck
by command of the founder of the
Macedonian empire no coinage has
exceeded or even equaled in fineness
of design and execution that of
Philip, strange as this may seem. to
those who regard the modern world
as so vastly superior in almost every
way to the ancient. The gold which
Philip and most of the Gieek states
used in their coinage was known as
electrum, consisting of about one
fifth part of silver, which impaired
to it the exquisite shade of yellow
which is one of its chief charms to
the eye. The profile head of Philip
on the gold slater, crowned with its
delicate laurel wreath, is as clear
in utliue as if cut in cameo, while
the chariot and steeds on the reverse
are charming examples of classic art
or design and workmanship.
The intrinsic value of the gold in
the coin is about Sc, but the value
of piece of such vast antiquity, so
perfectly preserved, to the antiquar-
ian and the coin collector, it would
be difficult to estimate. Another
point about this Macedonian slater
which greatly increases its value in
the eyes of the antiquarian is the
fact that Philip was the first king
who had the arrogance to puthis own
effigy on money. Previously, so
far as known. the coins of the Greeks
and the orientaIs had borne the eff
gies of their gods. or neurological
heroes, or rather religious devices
and symbols. But Philip in Greece.
as Caesar in Rome, thrust the gods
aside and stamped his own proud
and conquering head upon his coins.
But while the contemporary enemies
of both Philip and Caesar included
this among their counts in the in
dictment for boundless ambition aud
impiety brought against them, the
Greet and Roman populace made it
all right by conveniently discover
ing that the two conquerors were
really not men at all, but gods in
their own right.
1t is probable that another coin
similar to that which Postmaster
General Wilson wears as scarfpin
does not exist in this country out
side a museum. 1t was presented
to him by friend who picked it up
at sale in Paris. OF its genuine
. ness there is no doubt, for when Mr..
Wilson was in London last year he
. took it to the experts at the British
museum, who pronounced it au-
thentic and tried hard to buy it.
But nothing could induce Mr.. Will
SON to part with it, for he values it
not alone because it was presented
to him by very dear friend, but
because, like most classical scholars,
he has deep love for the ''glory
that was Greece - and this rare bit
of minted gold carries him back to
the most luminous era of the beauti-
full and wonderful Greek civilizati on
which still glows for the student like
an unfadiug dawn behind the mists
and glooms of overlapping centuries,
A good Recommendation for simmons Liver
RegnIator is that il is purely vegetable and
strongly tonic. Then too, it is Better than