Evening journal., 1919-08-16
DOUGHBOYS FOUND
MANY ANCIENT Coins
Come Back With Strange
Roman Money, Gotten as
Change in France
NUMISMAiIC EXPERT
EXPLAINS THEIR STATUS

NEW YORK, Aug. l6.-"What will you
give me for these things?" demanded
doughboy, pouring out the contents
Of canvas bag on the desk.
Did you dig these up in France"
asked Mr. Mood, Of the American
Numismatic Society, eyeing the pile Of
old Boman coins.
The soldiers grnned and looked rath-
er sheepish. well, didn't exactly dig
them out OF the ground he confessed
Il was buying a little drink from one
Of them old French women an she
handed me this junk as change when /
gave her a lve-franc note.
"Oh, sure, ! knew they wasn't good
money" he added hastily, but she
looked poor an l thought wouldn't
say nothing about IT, The fellers kidded
me about taking it, said | didn't know
no better, but, Of course. that's q joke"
Mr.. Wood was inclined to believe that
the joke was on the doughbOy, but he
kept his opinion TO himself. We'll, l
guess I'll have 20 give 'em around TO
my friends II they say they amt no
good TO YOU" murmured the young
man disconsolately, as he gathered his
treasure and put it back in his bag.
Yes, thousands Of such coins OF Va
riOus types and dates have been found
by soldiers in preparing gun emplace-
menis and digging trenches said Mr..
Wood. Very few Of those brought in
TO US are Of any value. Most Of them
are Roman bronze pieces dating from
100 TO 200 A. D., struck during the time
Of Constantine the Great.
Corporal John G.. Sanders, Of Battery
B, Seventleth Artillery, now living in-
Brooklyn, was more fortunate than the
aforementioned hoodwinked dOughboy.
believe me, that was the hottest day
ever saw" he said; "bloOmln' ther-
mometer about % in the shade and the
Iellers that were digging that emplace-
ment were all out o. luck.
There We were out in the middle Of
q hay field near the little French vii
LACE Of La Membralle. Ar at once my
plckax struck bn something that made
z ringing sound. l dug like the dickens
% get the confOUnded thing out Of my
way. / tell you il was a hot day and
: was some sore at the weather.
'The thing we uncovered was a stone
Ease about six inches high. Well, that
old Jar was about full Of black, rusty
looking coins. We shined some Of 'em
up and found out they were gold. You
ought TO have seen the boys dig then
But nothing doing. There weren't any
more. We divided them up and l got
this one.
Corporal Sanders showed his coin TO
Edward Hagaman Hall. secretary Of the
Scenic and Historic Preservation So
ciety, who explained the insignia. 10 Is
a gold piece about as thick as heavy
tin, with irregular edge, and measures
lbout one inch in diameter.
On the diverse are the arms OF
France and Dauphin quartered, with
the three fluer de lis I'm the flrst ana
fourth and the dolphin In the second
and third quarters, in chief a siX-rayed
sun. The legend reads, "Francisus, Del:
Sra. Franco: Rex Francis, by the
grace Of God. King Of France
On the reverse is a cross fleur de
dsee with a little quatrefoil in center
and the legend "X-ps: Vincit: Xps
Renat: Xps: lmperat-Christ cOnquers,
Christ reigns, Christ governs"
This coin Of Francis ! Of France bears
he mintage mark Of Jean de la Fon-
.aine, master Of the atelier at La Ro- |
ehelle, i5sS-s9, or Hughes Lamier at
Toulouse, who both used a little clover
leaf as their mark. Apparently the /
,oin belongs TO the regular mintage OF
he realm and was not put out to com ,
uemorate any particular event.
Il is evident that the doughbOys have
unceremoniously waived the French 4
NV OF treasure trove" which requires
pne-half Of the discovered treasure 20 .
be given over TO the owner Of the land /
whereon 10 was found.
Perhaps Corporal Sanders figured |
that the gold was dug up on mo Mans /
Land" and that the boys were entitled |
4 e