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APPENDIX.

In looking over the coins of the Saffaris in the British Museum, I found on one of them a new mint, which I subsequently discovered to be Bust. I think this is worth publishing, and have therefore added it as an appendix to my paper on the Muwaḥḥids, not thinking it necessary to make a separate article on so short a subject.

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بسم الله ضرب هذا الدرهم بمدينة بست سنة ثمان و تسعين

و مائتين

لله الأمر من قبل ومن بعد ويوميذ يفرح المؤمنون بنصر الله .2 ...

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محمد رسول الله أرسله بالهدى ودين الحق ليظهره على ... الدين كله و لو كره المشركون

D. 1'05 w. 2'6

Bust was a city between Sijistan, Ghazneh, and Herāt: it now exists, but in ruins.14 I believe this mint is as yet unknown, and my opinion is confirmed by that of Señ. Camarino, whose wide acquaintance with Oriental Numismatics gives it great weight.

El-Leyth Ibn-'Ali must have been a son of 'Ali the brother of Yaakub and 'Omar the sons of Leyth: and the date exactly agrees with the hypothesis.15

STANLEY E. LANE POOLE.

BRITISH MUSEUM, March 26, 1873.

14 Marāṣid El-Iṭṭila'; and Barbier de Meynard, Dict. de la Perse.

15 See Price's Retr. of Mah. Hist. vol. ii. pp. 229-234.

NOTICE OF RECENT NUMISMATIC PUBLICATIONS.

In the Revue de la Numismatique Belge, 5me Série, Tome 1V. 4me liv., are the following articles :

1. "Catalogue of Obsidional Coins and Pièces de Nécessité," Supplement (7th article), by M. le Lieut.-Colonel P. Mailliet. 2. "Notice of the Barneveld Find," by M. J. F. G. Meijer. 3. "Numismatic History of Brielle, 1572-1872," by M. A. Brichaut.

4. "Notes on the Numismatic History of the Seigniory of Reckheim," by M. le Baron J. de Chestret de Haneffe.

5. "Contemporary Monetary History." Fragments (3rd art.), by M. A. Brichaut.

In the Correspondance is a letter from M. Cam. Picqué to M. Alex. Pinchart, on the medallist H. R. (1535—1547).

In the Mélanges is a paragraph concerning the Gaulish collection of M. de Sauley, which was lately offered to the British Museum for a sum of £8,000, upon which the French learned societies combined in petitioning the Minister of Instruction not to allow a collection of such immense national importance to pass from the country, the result being that the French government has resolved to purchase the whole collection.

In the Nécrologie is a notice of Nicholas Hauzeur.

:--

In Tome V., 1re livraison, are the following articles :1. "Catalogue of Obsidional Coins and Pièces de Nécessité." Supplement (8th article), by M. de Lieut.-Colonel P. Mailliet.

2. "Imitations of Types proper to Lorraine and its neighbourhood," by M. J. Chautard.

3. "Inedited Coins and Jetons relating to the history of the seventeen ancient provinces of the Pays Bas," by M. le Comte Maurin Nahuys (3rd article).

4. "Rare Coins in the Marseilles Cabinet," by M. Laugier. 5. "Jean d'Arendal and the Coins of the Lords of Rheidt and Well," by M. Chestret de Haneffe.

6. "Notice of some Coins of Liége," by Dr. Dugniolle.

In the Nécrologie are notices of Messrs. C. P. Serrure and Jules Borgnet.

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De la Signification des lettres OB sur les monnaies d'or Byzantines, par MM. Pinder et J. Friedlaender. Seconde édition, augmentée d'un Appendice par J. Friedlaender. Berlin. 1873.

It appears from the few prefatory remarks to this paper, that a learned Italian, whose name is not given, has recently published a solidus, from which it has been adduced that the explanation of the letters OB given by the late M. Pinder and by Dr. J. Friedlaender in 1851 has been totally upset. Dr. Friedlaender sent a reply to the Numismatic Journal of Vienna, showing that this solidus proved nothing against their explanation. In France the Italian memoir, but not Dr. Friedlaender's answer in the German language, has been read, and Dr. Friedlaender hears from Paris that his "explication est jugée en dernier ressort."

Hence the reason for the production of this second edition, which includes a notice of the remarks of M. Cohen on the same subject published in the sixth volume of "Les Médailles Impériales."

This is the old story,-the French will find the letters OB on the large medallions, on the copper, on what not, and therefore they assert that these letters cannot possibly be the numerals 72, and signify that "72 solidi went to the pound."

This is not the first reply that M. Cohen has received, nor the first time that MM. Pinder and Friedlaender's arguments have been laid before numismatic readers. Papers on this subject have been written by Mr. F. W. Madden, and published in the NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE. The first, entitled "On the Coins of Theodosius I. and II., with some remarks on the mint-marks Comob' and 'Conob,'" appeared in 1861; and the second, entitled "Remarks in reply to M. Cohen's observations on the explanations of the letters OB, TROB, &c., &c.," was printed in the following year.1

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The arguments now brought forward by Dr. Friedlaender are very similar to those employed by Mr. Madden, and until some conscientious Numismatist takes up the subject and carefully weighs what has been written, without quoting Père Hardouin or his antagonists, or alluding to the foolery of antiquaries, we are of opinion that the question as originally treated by MM. Pinder and Friedlaender, as further investigated and corrobo

It is necessary to state that Dr. Friedlaender was in total ignorance of the existence of these papers until April, 1873. Otherwise he would doubtless have quoted from them to show that in any case his views were supported in England.

rated by Mr. Madden, and now again admirably stated by Dr. Friedlaender, must be decided in favour of the interpretation given by these Numismatists. This second edition being in French will be accessible to most English readers, but, failing the knowledge of that language, a reference to the pages of the CHRONICLE of 1861 and 1862 will furnish a general idea of this important question.

Dr. Friedlaender may be congratulated on the successful manner with which he has worked out his theory.

Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum.2 The first volume of this catalogue, projected several years ago, has just appeared, and contains all the specimens of the Greek and Oscan coinages of Italy which are preserved in the cabinets of the Museum. We welcome it as at once a useful addition to the works of Carelli, Millingen, and Sambon, and an inventory of the national property. In the arrangement, the usual geographical order has been followed in the placing of mints; but in the arrangement of the series of coins struck at the same city, an attempt has been made to observe something like a chronological order. In the main we approve of the adoption of a chronological arrangement. Certainly it is the only scientific one, and in the case of cities like Syracuse or Himera, where the series of coins can be so arranged as to illustrate the vicissitudes of history, nothing could possibly be desired more complete. But unfortunately, in the present state of archæology, we are unable to tell with accuracy the date of a coin from its mere style, unless there be something in its types or legends to point to a historical event. Thus the greater part of the coinages of cities like Tarentum, Neapolis, and Metapontum can only be generally classed to a particular century, and the sub-arrangement of the different pieces belonging to the same period must needs be a matter of difficulty and uncertainty. The result of this is that it is quite impossible to avoid the appearance of confusion and want of method in the catalogue of the coins of many Italian cities. The best, perhaps the only remedy, is in the addition of complete and accurate indices, of which the present volume possesses five, so that any given coin can be readily discovered.

So much for arrangement. With regard to illustrations, the plan pursued in this work is to insert separate woodcuts of all remarkable and unpublished coins. Probably many people would prefer to find several plates at the end of the volume

2 A Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum. Vol. I. Italy. Printed by Woodfall and Kinder. Price £2 2s.

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