No. 22. A female leaning on a column, on which is a caduceus. "Erection of the Bavarian Pledge Bank, 1835." No. 23. A gothic building, 1836. "Bavaria erects the Chapel of Otho at Kiefersfelden, to commemorate King Otho's Departure from his Fatherland." No. 24. A cross, on which is Saint Michael the Archangel, between a wreath of oak and laurel. "The Order of Saint Michael, destined for an Order to reward Services. 1837." With the next coin, the size continuing the same, we have a new bust of the King, and the weight of the coin is increased. The preceding coins were in value ten to the Fine Mark. No. 25, and the succeeding, are seven to the Fine Mark, and this value is placed on the edge of the coin. The edges of the preceding coins have the same horizontal milling as the English coinage since 1816. The portrait of the King on the first twenty-four coins is ably engraved; Voight discarding the ridiculous wreath of laurel (as Wyon also did from the English coinage in the same year, 1825). The countenance of Louis has great living earnestness and animation of expression. The second bust, commencing with coin No. 25, is on a larger scale than the first; the workmanship has more breadth and a higher and more delicate finish, the expression quiet and extremely dignified; shewing that between the years 1825 and 1837 C. Voight had much improved as an engraver. On the edge of the coins "Drey Einhalb Gulden, VII. E: F: M:" "Three and one half Guldens. Seven to One Fine Mark." No. 25. A female figure, holding in her right hand a balance, in her left a cornucopia; a coining screw-press in the distance, with three coats of arms on each side the field of the coin. "Coinage Union of the South German States. 1837." No. 26. A circle of eight wreaths, bound together by ribbons. "The Division of the Kingdom of Bavaria restored on Historical Grounds. 1838." 66 No. 27. An armed knight on horseback. Equestrian Statue of Maximilian 1st, Elector of Bavaria, erected by King Louis 1st. 1839." No. 28. Statue on a pedestal. "Full-length Statue of Albert Durer erected at Nuremburgh. 1840." 1841." No. 29. Statue on a pedestal. "Full-length statue of John Paul "Maximilian Crown Princess of Prussia. THE USE OF THE SAMARITAN LANGUAGE BY THE JEWS UNTIL THE REIGN OF HADRIAN, DEDUCED FROM THE COINS OF JUDEA.—In a Letter to J. B. BERGNE, Esq., F.S.A., &c. &c. (first published in the Numismatic Chronicle). Weight of the Shekel of Simon Maccabeus, 213-4 troy grains and decimal parts. Weight of the silver Denarius of Trajan, restruck by Simon Bar-cochab, 48 grains troy. Both coins are in the British Museum. Letter of the Rev. Dr. E. Hincks to Richard Sainthill. DEAR SIR, Killyleagh, 9th July, 1851. I THIS morning received your letter of the 7th, with sulphur casts of a cylinder and coin of Simon Bar-cochab. I was not before aware of the existence of any coins of his, not having much knowledge as to any description of medals. The legend about the bunch of grapes is clearly . All the letters but the last are perfect. This is "Simeon,” the proper name of " Bar-cochab" - "son of the star." On the other side we have nhw'ns, the first word may mean "for the restoring of," the other is "Jerusalem." I am not satisfied as to the first word, the third letter may not be a 7, and if it be the word is not correct Hebrew for what I take it to be. Perhaps Eckhel or Bayer explains it. I am by no means surprised at this character being in use as the national character of the Jews in the time of Hadrian. Gesenius has shewn that the square Hebrew characters now used by the Jews are derived from the Palmyrene; and, if I recollect right, he thinks that they were not invented till the third or fourth century. The tradition of their having been brought from Babylon is rejected by every orientalist of character at the present day; and, as you justly observe, the fact of the Babylonians having used arrow-headed characters would refute it. Had they adopted Babylonian characters they would have used arrow-headed ones. I was not aware of your having published against this opinion in 1829. Then it was pretty generally received, but it has since fallen into disrepute. The cylinder, I am sorry to say, met with an accident. I attempted to take an impression of the inscription, with a view to see the characters in their proper position, and the heat caused it to break in the middle. The original was evidently used as a seal, and so are several other cylinders, but the majority have the characters in their proper positions (not reversed as here). Though I know the values of all the characters, I cannot conjecture the interpretation of the sentence which they compose. Do you wish for the cast back? If you do, write me word and I will send them. Believe me, dear Sir, Yours very truly, EDW. HINCKS. MY DEAR SIR, Cork, July 28th, 1851. I HAVE to apologise to the Numismatic Society, for soliciting their indulgence, and calling their attention, not so much to a numismatic subject, as to the consequences of a numismatic subject, to the evidence afforded—and, in my mind, to the proof established-by the Samaritan inscriptions on the coins of Judea, that the Jews did not change their language and character of writing during or on their return from the captivity at Babylon; but that they retained the use of the Samaritan character, and consequently language, certainly down to the reign of Hadrian, when we lose sight of them as a nation. When we call to mind the really astounding ignorance and popular delusion which exists even at this moment in England, as to the supposed "only three farthings of Queen Anne," and their consequent priceless value, we should be very indulgent to a similar ignorance and misapprehension so generally existing among biblical scholars— men most deeply learned indeed in all the depths and obscurities of the sacred and deceased languages of the East, but totally uninformed and practically unacquainted with the Coinage of the East; as an instance of which, I may refer to a letter of the celebrated author of a Chronology of the Bible, the late Rev. Dr. Hales, of Killesendra, in Ireland, dated Jan. 14th, 1819, in reply partly to one of mine, on a so-called "Hebrew medal" of our Saviour, in which I maintained that the Samaritan language had continued to be used by the Jews after their return from Babylon, which Prideaux states to have been in the year 536 before Christ; that coinage commenced in Judea with Simon Maccabeus, 143 years before Christ, and that the inscriptions on the coins were in the Samaritan character; those purporting to be Jewish coins, with the square or Chaldaic characters, being, comparatively, modern forgeries. For these opinions, Dr. Hales pronounced me ignorant and presumptuous; and asserted that "the silver shekels of David and Solomon's reign are as exquisitely beautiful in their engraving, and elegance of the sacred character, as they are genuine ;” that "the Samaritan character was a ruder imitation of the beautiful sacred character on the ancient coins ;" and that "the Samaritan rude character was supplanted by the elegant Chaldee after the captivity and before the time of Christ." ("A Short Memoir of an Antique Medal, 1819," pages 40 and 41.) On this I may notice that, according to the chronology adopted in our authorised version of the Bible, the reigns of David and Solomon extend from the year 1055 to 975 before Christ; while the earliest Greek coin that can be certainly and positively assigned is to Alexander the First of Macedon, whose reign commenced about the year 500 B.C., and that there is not any Coinage of the native or Pharaonic sovereigns of Egypt, whose rule extended down to 525 B.C. How great then the absurdity of supposing that a people so low in mechanical ability in the reign of Saul as to be without smiths (1 Sam. xiv. 19), and obliged, in the reign of Solomon, to hire Tyrian workmen to build "the Temple," whose dimensions were only 105 feet in length, 35 feet in breadth, and 52 feet in height, yet coined money centuries before the Greeks; an art which even their neighbours, the builders of the pyramids, never attained to. |