Alphonso, King of Arragon, acted upon the principle recommended by Perarch, and carried a collection he had ordered to be made constantly with him, in order that he might remember the qualities which caused their being struck. Exam ples like those were not without imitation in succeeding periods, but the most noble and magnificent consequence was the Ca binet of Cosmo de Medici, which was for a long time the admiration of Europe. Keysler, who saw this collection in 1730, asserts, that " with regard to the number of old coins, they reckon at present three hundred and twelve medallions, among which are torty.five of silver. The largest copper medallion is a Julia, the consort of Septimus Severus. The copper coins of the smaller size amount to about eight hundred, and those of the larger size to one thosand eight hundred The middle sort, by the French called Mogen Bronze, are two thousand two hundred, and this collection is the most valuable and curi ous, containing a great number of Greek coins. Among the silver pieces are eight hundred consular ones, and upwards of two thousand others. Here are six hun. dred pieces of gold, and sixteen medal lions of the same metal. I was assured by Bianchi, that the largest gold medal weighs one hundred and sixteen Louis d'ors, and represents the Emperor John Palxologus VI., who assisted at the Coun cil of Florence." The number of medals in gold, silver, and copper, struck in honour of cities and countries, amounts to fifteen hundred. The gold and copper ones of this assort ment are the most curious. The whole collection consists of fourteen thousand ancient, and eight thousand modern me dals. Of the latter there are nine hundred of gold, and two thousand of silver, amongst which the largest is that of Cos mo III., and upwards of three thousand in copper.
This collection eclipsed every other, though there were many of very great ex tent in different parts of the continent; nor have the learned of England been de ficient in their exertions to procure those useful evidences of past transactions. Camden, who first engraved medals for his valuable works, is supposed to have been one of the first collectors : to whom may be added, Sir Robert Cotton. Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James I. possessed thirty thousand coins and medals. Arch bishop Laud gave five thousand five hun dred coins to the Bodleian library. The Earl of Arundel, celebrated for his taste in selecting specimens of antiquity, had an excellent collection of medals ; and Evelyn enumerates the Dukes of Hamil ton and Buckingham, Sir Thomas Fan shaw, Sir William Paston, Sir Thomas Hammer, Messrs. Sheldon, Selden, and many others, as having in their possession cabinets of medals Charles 1., a monarch who would have done more to improve the state of the arts in England than all his predecessors, had his reign been happy, collected a vast number, which were lost after his dethronement ; and his historian, Lord Clarendon, endeavoured to rival his royal master in this interesting pursuit, which appears to have been in some de gree a favourite one with Oliver Cromwell.
Charles H. entertained a similar parti ality for medals, but his successors have entirely neglected them, and suffered their subjects to set them an example, which it is much to be wished they had followed. Amongst those were Sir Hans
Sloane, the Earls of Pembroke and Win. chelsea, and several others, mentioned by Haym, who wrote about 1720. Since the above period our general knowledge of medals has been considerably increased, and the skill with which the most recent collections were made, does infinite honour to the penetration and acumen of our me dallists, who are frequently enabled to detect fictitious pieces, which have been made with sufficient art to impose upon foreigners. Several noblemen and gen tlemen now possess rich cabinets, and the British Museum contains a superb collec tion, derived from numerous sources.
Medals have from necessity been uni formly struck on copper, variously mixed with other substances, silver, and gold ; the most ancient of the latter metal are evidently in its native state, neither puri fied or combined with copper, though there are some which are supposed to be of gold and silver. Philip of Macedon caused the gold used for coining in his dominions to be made of the utmost puri ty, and in this particular he was imitated by Alexander the Great, and others near ly his contemporaries. The Romans, pro fiting by the experience of ages, and per ceiving that the purity of the metal im proved the beauty of the impression, de termined to use it in as perfect a state as possible ; the silver coins of that people were less pure, and became at length greatly debased.
The pure brass medals, and the red, or copper, called by the ancients Cyprian brass, were generally covered by platina. The best mixture was electrum, compos ed of one fifth of silver, and the remainder of gold : in some instances this was a na.
tural combination, in others artificial. Pin kerton says, the earliest Lydian coins, and those of particular states of Asia Mi nor, are of this description, as are those of the Kings of the Bosphorus Cimmeri us, during the imperial ages of Rome. The Egyptian coins, made when that country was under the dominion of Rome, were at first of good silver, but degenerated af terwards ; indeed lead, and even tin, have been used for the phrposes of money.
The shapeless coins of very great anti quity were mere fragments of metal, the value of which was regulated entirely by weight, and this method extended to the comparatively worthless substance, brass. The silver coins of Greece, that known as bearing marks, are those with a tortoise on one side, and indented on the other ; it is extremely doubtful when these coins were made, but they are supposed to have been from the celebrated mint of TEgina, where, according to some writers, the first coinage of money took place by com mand of Phidon, King of the Argives. Herodotus asserts, that the Lydians in vented the art of impressing figures on their coins, whether correctly or not, can not now be decided. Phidon is said to have lived about eight hundred and fifty years before the Christian xra, and the tortoise is known to be the badge of the Peloponnesus.