COIN, a piece of metal converted into money by the impression thereon of certain marks or figures. COIN differs from MOXEY as the species from the genus.
Ancient Coins are those chiefly which were current among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans. Their values and proportions are as follows:—
| Gerah (Sept. obolus)..... | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36875 | ||
| 10 Bekah ..... | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6875 | ||
| 20 2 Shekel..... | 0 | 2 | 3 | 375 | ||
| 1000 100 50 Maneh..... | 5 | 14 | 0 | 75 | ||
| 1000 100 50 Mina Hebraica } ..... | ||||||
| 60000 6000 3000 60 Talent ..... | 342 | 3 | 9 | |||
| Solidus aureus, or sextula, worth..... | 0 | 12 | 0 | |||
| Siculus aureus, worth ..... | 1 | 10 | 6 | |||
| A talent of gold, worth..... | 5475 | 0 | 0 |
In the preceding table silver is valued at 5s., and gold at L.4 per ounce.
GRECIAN.
| L. | s. | d. | Qrs. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lepton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 116 | |||||||||
| 7 Chalcus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8125 | |||||||||
| 14 2 Didibaleum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-625 | |||||||||
| 28 4 2 Hemibolium | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-25 | |||||||||
| 56 8 4 2 Obolus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2-5 | |||||||||
| 112 16 8 4 2 Dibolum | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| 168 24 12 6 3 1½ Triobolum | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3-5 | |||||||||
| 224 32 16 8 4 2 1½ Tetrobolum | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |||||||||
| 336 48 24 12 6 3 2 1½ Drachma | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||
| 672 96 48 24 12 6 4 3 2 Didrachmon | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1,344 192 96 48 24 12 8 6 4 2 Tetradrachmon | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||
| 33,600 4,800 2,400 1,200 600 300 200 150 100 50 25 Mina | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||
| 2,016,000 288,000 144,000 72,000 36,000 18,000 12,000 9,000 6,000 3,000 1,500 60 Talentum | 243 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
Of these, the drachma, didrachmon, &c, were of silver; the rest for the most part of brass. The other parts, as tridrachm, tribolus, &c, were sometimes coined. The drachma is nearly equal to a French franc.
The Grecian gold coin was the stater aureus, weighing two Attic drachms, or half of the stater argenteus, and exchanging usually for twenty-
L. s. d.
five Attic drachms of silver, in our money..... 0 18 6
According to our proportion of gold to silver..... 1 0 0
There were likewise the stater Cyzicenus, exchanging for twenty-eight Attic drachms, or... 1 2 9
Stater Philippicus and stater Alexandrinus..... 1 3 6
Stater Daricus, according to Josephus, worth fifty Attic drachms, or..... 1 1 10
Stater Crecus, of the same value.
| L. | s. | d. | Qrs. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sextula | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35416 | |||||||||
| 1½ Quadrans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53125 | |||||||||
| 2 1½ Triens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7083 | |||||||||
| 3 2 1½ Semissis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-6625 | |||||||||
| 6 4 3 2 As | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2-12 | |||||||||
| 12 8 6 4 2 Dupondius | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | |||||||||
| 24 16 12 8 4 2 Sestertius | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||
| 48 32 24 16 8 4 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||
| 96 64 48 32 16 8 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | |||||||||
| L. | s. | d. | Qrs. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sextula | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3125 | |||||||||
| 1½ Quadrans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46875 | |||||||||
| 2 1½ Triens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 625 | |||||||||
| 3 2 1½ Semissis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9375 | |||||||||
| 6 4 3 2 As | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-875 | |||||||||
| 12 8 6 4 2 Dupondius | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-75 | |||||||||
| 24 16 12 8 4 2 Sestertius | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3-5 | |||||||||
| 48 32 24 16 8 4 2 Quinarius or Victoriatus | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||
| 96 64 48 32 16 8 4 2 Denarius | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |||||||||
Coins. Of these, the denarius, victoriatus, sestertius, and sometimes the as, were of silver, and the rest of brass. See As, &c. There were sometimes also coined of brass the triens, sextans, uncia, sextula, and dupondius.
l. s. d. Qrs.
The Roman gold coin was the aureus, which weighed generally double the denarius; the value of which, according to the first proportion of coinage mentioned by Pliny, was 0 15 7 2
l. s. d. Qrs. According to the proportion that obtains now amongst us, worth..... 0 18 5 3 25
According to the proportion mentioned by Tacitus, and which afterwards obtained, whereby the aureus exchanged for twenty-five denarii, its value was..... 0 15 7 2
Modern Coins are treated of under MONEY. (L. 8.)