A coin, derived by some from the Latin ' cuneus,' a wedge, by others from the Greek common, may be broadly defined as a piece or lump of metal or other substance generally accepted by the community in which it is current as possessing a certain fixed value. The many advantages of the precious metals for the purpose of a currency have commended themselves almost universally to all ages. Sufficiently costly of production; of all materials the least liable to be damaged or destroyed in performing their functions; easily and exactly divisible, they are the most equitable and convenient substances to serve the purpose of money.

The universal use of metal coins among civilised nations has invested them with an historical interest which can only be realised by a closer study of the subject. The chronology of Greek reigns, and the dates and succession of Roman events in many cases, can alone be determined by studying the coins current at the period. It is to the inscriptions they bear that many obscure passages of history and many difficult allusions of ancient authors owe their illustration. By them are preserved to us pictures of fine buildings and works of art, of which even the names are forgotten and the ruins have disappeared. Some of the richest stores of sculpture are due to the genius of the Roman mint; and poetry, too, as Addison has proved, has an intimate connection with ancient coins. But we do not here propose to follow in their curious labours the numismatist or the antiquarian. We shall adopt that more practical, if less fascinating, view of the coinage which is in consonance with the present work, and shall endeavour to trace its history and importance as a standard of value and a medium of exchange.

It is worthy of comment that neither the authors of the Homeric poems nor the early Jewish chroniclers make any mention of coins. If we are to believe Herodotus,* they were first used by the Lydians, but we may with more show of probability accept the statement of the Parian Chronicle that the AEginetans + were the first to introduce them into Greece. The Lydian 'stater,' made of gold and silver, probably soon followed the AEginetan issue, and the Persian 'Daric'+ is generally supposed to come next in order of antiquity. At a very early date the Egyptians coined metal rings, first of gold, and afterwards of silver, or "white gold," which bore no indication of purity or weight, and were weighed in the gross against the article they purchased. This process, which, when such commodities as oxen, or perhaps camels, were in the balance, became tedious, not to say inconvenient, was superseded by the Greek coins, which bore an impress of value and were of gold and silver; and this may be considered the first of the many gradations by which European currency has attained its present high efficiency. In the time of Alexander the Great gold and copper coins were distributed throughout Greece, and admit of distinct classification, both according to the cities to which they belonged, and the kings in whose reigns they were issued. There are also preserved sets of ancient coins issued by Lydia, Persia, Judaea, Phoenicia, Numidia and Mauritania, Carthage, Spain, Gaul, and Britain, all of which are usually classed together under the heading of barbarian coins. But by far the most complete and interesting of the ancient series is that of Rome, which is divided into consular coins, imperial coins, and medallions. The first class includes the Roman 'asses' and coins of families, i. e., coins stamped with the name of some noble Roman family. The other classes are also subdivided into Roman and Grecian. In 266 b. c. silver coinage was introduced in Rome, the 'denarius,' or coin of 10 'asses' being made of that metal. This coin corresponds to the early English silver penny, and hence the symbolical letter 'd.' Of modern coins, the Italian series begins under the Ostrogoths towards the close of the fifth century, the French under Clovis in 490, and the Spanish under the Visigoths, about eighty years later; Germany, Lombardy, and Naples, issued coins soon after the date of Charlemagne; in 772 Pope Hadrian I instituted a papal currency; and the example was followed by Denmark* and Sweden in the ninth, and by Norway in the eleventh, century.

* Herod. I, 94. Speaking of the Lydians he says,

+ The credit of first coining money was assigned by the Greeks to Phidon, King of Argos, also the reputed inventor of weights and measures, and he is said to have established a silver mint in AEgina.

+ 'Daric' was probably another name for the gold staters of Darius Hys-taspes, which were of very pure gold, and were called after him

Daric staters (like a Louis d'or, Napoleon, &c). They were intrinsically worth about £1 Is. l0d. of our money.-Liddell and Scott's 'Greek Lexicon,' article on The word is otherwise derived from the Persian 'dara,' a king (the coins bearing the figure of a king on their obverse). It is several times mentioned by the Old Testament writers at the time of the return of the Jews from Babylon; it is translated "dram" in the A;V.

It is impossible to give a date to the earliest institution of the coinage in this country. There is reason to believe that the Britons used coins for some time previous to the Christian era, though a passage in Caesar's Commentaries has been adduced against the theory.-+ The first coin to which a date can be given with any approach to probability is the 'Sego,' which may have its name from Segonax, one of the Kentish kings who opposed Caesar's invasion; and we have also the 'Bodvo,' which may be a coin of Queen Boadicea. After the subjugation of Britain by Claudius, about 70 a.d., the national coinage was entirely-superseded by that of Rome, and the discovery of coins bearing certain initial letters strongly supports the supposition that Roman mints were established in the country; as an instance, p. lon. has been assumed to signify Pecunia Londini. In the Saxon era a national coinage, though it was much interfered with by the Danish invasions, was reintroduced; and the practice of stamping upon the coin the name of the place where it was minted informs us of the existence of mints in most of the chief towns throughout the country.* There appears in addition the name of the Mynetere (Minter) or Monetarius, in whom the whole operation of minting was centred, and who thus attested his responsibility for the genuineness of the coin; and this practice prevailed to the close of the thirteenth century. As a further security against dishonesty on the part of the mint-master a custom was established (in the reign of Henry II, as conjectured by the Lansdowne MSS.) of reserving for examination by the king or his deputies one coin of every few pounds' weight minted. These coins were kept in a chest or ' pyx,' which was subjected to a trial about four times annually, and at the present day 'a trial of the pyx,' as it is still called, is periodically instituted at the mint by the Company of Goldsmiths, on whom the office of inspection has devolved. It is probable that to each minter belonged an especial cuneus or die, and to him was assigned a mint for the purpose of stamping a particular coin, and this goes to explain the apparent improbability of the hypothesis that several mints were in existence at the same time in the same place, which is strongly supported by a variety of records and ordinances from the time of Athelstan till so late as the reign of Edward VI, in whose journal we find mentioned simultaneously ' York's Mint ' and ' Throgmorton's Mint in the Tower ,' and he elsewhere speaks of 'York, master of one of the mints at the Tower.' After the destruction of the heptarchy the right of coining was claimed by Athelstan* in 928 a.d., and it has ever since formed a part of the Royal prerogative, + The privilege was, however, often delegated to the clergy,+ and it was not till the middle of the sixteenth century that it became an exclusive function of the crown. The coins issued by the Royal Mints have always borne the stamp of the sovereign, who, in consideration of this guarantee, levied upon the coinage a duty or 'seignorage.'§ Of this charge it is at present sufficient to say that its rate was arbitrarily determined by the Crown, its variations being so capricious that, while in 1464 it reached £2 7s. 8d. on every pound of standard gold, and 3s. 4d. on every pound of standard silver, in 1492 it was 8d. per lb. on gold and 2d. per lb. on silver. It was abolished by Charles II in 1666.