VI. A HOARD OF ROMAN COINS. (See Plates XII—XIV.) Sous little time ago a large hoard of Roman denarii came into my hands, but I am not aware of the circum- stances under which it was discovered, though I am led to believe that it came from somewhere in the East of England. There is every appearance of the coins having all lain together, as the bulk of them were coated in a similar manner with a thick layer of green substance, probably some salt of copper. By heating the coins and throwing them, while still hot, into cold water, this coat- ing was removed; and many coins previously much ob- scured were found to exhibit their devices and inscriptions in a remarkably fine condition. The range in time of the coins in the hoard is unusu- ally extensive, the whole period from the days of Nero to those of Severus Alexander being more or less fully repre- sented. Not counting the coins on which a head appears on both the obverse and the reverse, there are portraits of no less than thirty-four Emperors, Empresses, and Ceesars to be seen in the series. Roughly speaking, the dates of the coins range from about a.D. 60 to certainly so late as a.D. 230, or over a period of about one hundred and seventy years; and, as might reasonably have been expected, the earliest coins exhibit considerable signs ofA HOARD OF ROMAN COINS. 197 wonr, though their correct attribution is in all cases possible. Among the later coins there are numerous specimens of the argenteus Antoninianus, first struck under Cara- calla in av. 215. They are distinguished from the ordinary denarii not only by their larger module, but by the heads of the emperors upon them being radiated, while those of the empresses are placed upon a crescent. It is difficult to say what relation these larger pieces bore in ‘the currency to the smaller ordinary denarii, though not improbably they were double denarii, but in compiling the list of the coins I have thought it best to place the Antoniniant in a separate category. The following summary shows the distribution of the coins :— Nero . . . . . . . 2 Gelba . . . . . ’ . 1 Vitellius me 4 Vespasian + . . . . 39 Titus . * . . . * 5 Domitian . 3 % 18. Neva. 6 6 1s 6 ee re i Hadrian. ew we AD Sabina . . . . . . . 6 Asus 5 = 3 Ww FB 1 Antoninus Pius. . . . * 215 Antoninus and Aurelius . a ‘i 3 1 Faustina. . . . . . 70 Marcus Aurelius r . 114 Fausting Tl... ow 4 36 Lucius Verus . * . . 26 Lucilla . 3 a ‘ : ‘ 14 Commodus . 2 . . * . 247 Gispma ssn 8 Pertinax =. 6 ee 3 Didius Julianus . a . . . 1 Carried forward . . . + 1,061128 NUMISMATIC CHRONICLE. Brought forward, =.» 1,081 Clodius Albinus oe 8 Septimius Severus. 6 ws OGL Julia Domna, we aw TE » 9 Antoniniont = 10 —187 JuliaandGeta =... we 1 Qaracllla =... ww 558 » Antoniniant . OE 610 iG ke 21 Geta. . . . . 2 . 199 Macrinus- . . 55 » Antoniniant 22 — si Diadumenianus 2. wwe u Elagabalus . «0. ss. 198 » Antoninianis 6. 0 —238 JuliaSomias =. 1 ewe 10 JuliaMaea. . ed ” s» Antoninianus ‘ a — 12 SeverusAloxander. 9. ss 188 Julia Mamaea 8 Among so many coins it might well be expected that there would be some remarkable for their rarity or in- terest, or for presenting new features either in their types or legends; but before calling attention to any such rari- ties, it will be well to give a somewhat detailed list of the hoard, with references to the second edition of Cohen’s Meédailles Impériales. Instead of merely referring to the Nos. in Cohen, I have thought it well to give the legends on the reverses in full, together with a succinct description of the types. Where a coin seems to have been unknown to Cohen, the obverse is described as well as the reverse. The argentei Antoniniani of the time of Caracalla and