a piece of metal converted into money by the impression thereon of certain marks or figures. Coin differs from Money 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 follow:

| JEWISH | |--------| | Gerah | £ 0 0 1/3 | | 10 Bechah | £ 0 0 1/15 | | 20 Shekel | £ 0 0 2/3 | | 1200 120 50 Maneh | £ 5 14 0/3 | | 50000 60000 30000 60 Talent | £ 342 3 9 |

Solidus aureus, or sextula, worth £ 0 12 0/2 Sculptus aureus, worth £ 1 16 6 A talent of gold, worth £ 3475 0 0

Of these, the drachma, didrachma, &c., were of silver; the rest for the most part of brass. The other parts, as tri-drachm, tribolus, &c., were sometimes coined. The drachma is here, according to the generality of authors, supposed to be equal to the denarius, though there is reason to believe that the drachma was somewhat heavier. See Drachma and Denarius.

The Grecian gold coin was the stater aureus, weighing two Attic drachms, or half of the stater argentus, and exchanging usually for twenty-five Attic drachms of silver in our money. According to our proportion of gold to silver, there were likewise the stater Cyzicus, exchanging for twenty-eight Attic drachms, or 0 18 1 Stater Philippicus and stater Alexandrinus, of the same value.

Stater Darius, according to Josephus, worth fifty Attic drachms, or 1 12 3 Stater Croesus of the same value.

ROMAN

| Teruncius | £ 0 0 1/3 | | Semilibella | £ 0 0 1/100 | | Libella | £ 0 0 3/10 | | As | £ 0 1 3/3 | | Sestertius | £ 0 3 3/2 | | Quinarius | £ 0 3 3/2 | | Victoriatius | £ 0 3 3/2 | | Denarius | £ 0 7 3 |

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.

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 £ 1 4 3/4. According to the proportion that obtains now amongst us, worth £ 1 0 9.

According to the decuple proportion, mentioned by Livy and Julius Pollux, worth £ 0 12 11.

According to the proportion mentioned by Tacitus, and which afterwards obtained, whereby the aureus exchanged for twenty-five denarii, its value £ 0 16 1/3.

Modern Coins will be treated of under the article Money.