bills are not so rare. A claim for £340 against Massachusetts, issued under authority of that State in January, 1780, can be purchased for the moderate sum of $2. The treasurer of the Commonwealth would, however, doubtless refuse to honor it if presented. On the other hand, a Massachusetts bill for twopence, with a pillar and codfish design, is also worth $2, which illustrates how face value is ignored in Revolutionary currency. New York money of the Revolution brings a fair figure, a bill signed by Abraham Brinckerhoff for half a Spanish milled dollar, Sept. 2, 1775, being worth $2. Indeed, with the exception of a few five and ten pound issues, most New York money, Colonial and Revolutionary, is worth more than its face. Interesting issues are those of the New York water works, running from 1774 to 1776 inclusive. As curiosities, these bills are worth close to the original value. As to present values, the New York issues present a favorable contrast to those of most other original States.

For inscription, North Carolina currency takes the prize. It is calculated to arouse mixed feelings to see a $10 bill, with the inscription "American Union Forever," going for fifty cents, while a $40 bill reminds Americans of the cost of championing "Freedom of Speech and Liberty of the Press," by a scale of $39. A Virginia bill of $300, issued for army clothes, is worth $2, while $500 bills of the same Commonwealth, set afloat in 1780, bring only half a dollar apiece. A Virginia $1000 bill of 1781 is rated at from $1 to $1.50, and a $2000 bill of the same year but a later issue, is worth $1.50 to $2. Virginia appears to have gone in more heavily than any other State on bills of large denominations

The worth of Confederate money as a curiosity, like that of Continental currency, bears no relation to its face value. The possessor of one of the very few Confederate silver half dollars, struck off about the beginning of the rebellion, rates it at $1000. On the other hand, a Confederate $500 bill with a picture of Stonewall Jackson is worth just twenty-five cents. A $100 bill with the head of Mrs. Jefferson Davis can be bought for fifty cents. There is not a Confederate bill in existence, whatever its face value, worth more than $1. None of the State issues of the Confederacy reach $1 in value, although five and ten cent shinplasters of Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina bring fifteen cents apiece among collectors. In the dark days of the war, even the most enthusiastic Unionist could hardly have anticipated that within a quarter of a century five cents of United States fractional currency would be worth from fifty cents to $1, or from ten to twenty times the lawful value. Such, however, is the fact as to the series of 1862, while certain specimens of all the issues are largely in demand at high prices. — New York Sun.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL.

THE WESTERN MOUNDS.

THE Government has undertaken a work of the utmost consequence to every one interested in American archaeology and history. This is the purchase of the extensive ancient mounds and earthworks located in Ross, Highland and Adams counties, Ohio, which are the best preserved to be found east of the Rocky Mountains. Of their peculiar character, they are the most extensive in the world. The government is spurred to greater activity in its desire to control and preserve these splendid old works by two causes. One is that they are suffering sadly by reason of the cultivation of the country in which they are situated. Many mounds have been plowed down, and many of the walls enclosing ancient towns have been almost levelled to the ground, in whole or part. In some instances the natural wear of storm, of frost and snow and ice and many thaws, has done irreparable mischief. The work of preservation, if ever done, cannot longer be delayed. The second reason for energetic action is a rivalry in this work between the scientists of the Peabody Museum, Smithsonian Institute and

the United States Geological Survey. Not long ago the Peabody Museum acquired the famous Serpent Mound, one of the best of all of Ohio's ancient works. The Museum authorities contemplate the establishment of a permanent park, in which this will be preserved. Government agents are now making surveys of the most important ancient works throughout Ohio, to determine the character and cost of the work necessary to enclose and preserve them, and for use in an elaborate report now under way. Valuable surveys have also been made in behalf of the United States Geological Survey. This is the first visit of a Government scientific corps to these works. Prof. Wright says they are the largest of the kind in the world, and are noted both in the scientific circles of Europe and in this country.

REMAINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY.

A DISPATCH from El Paso, Texas, to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, says that on a large ranch in Northwestern Chihuahua, belonging to Senator Hearst, of California, and Mr. Follansbee, of El Paso, have been found the remains of an ancient city, hewn and carved out of the solid rock. It lies in the fastnesses of the Sierra Madres, and the approach to it is difficult. There is no tradition existing regarding the city, anywhere, but the remains show that the inhabitants of this pre-historic place were at least partly civilized. There are hundreds of rooms excavated in the solid rock on the hill sides, and the stone taken therefrom is used for buildings and walls outside. There are different tiers of rooms and stairways cut in the rock, leading from one to the other. In many places the rock is finely chiseled and polished.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

A BRONZE CANADIAN MEDAL.

IN one of the earliest volumes of this Journal (Vol. II, No. 6, 1867) was a query, which remained unanswered. Would it be allowable to repeat it, as it refers to two old New England

names?

On an altar two hands clasped, and grasping a burning torch; Legend, "William Dummer Powell and Annie Murray;" Exergue, " Intermarried 3d October, 1775." Reverse. In a wreath of double knots, united by links, legend, "To celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary, Upper Canada, 3d October, 1825."

I would like to learn the origin and history of this medal, and the persons commemorated. Our correspondent will find a full description of this medal in the Journal for April, 1882, (Vol. XVI, p. 83.) Mr. Powell was Chief Justice of Upper Canada.

PIECES RELATING TO AMERICA IN A RECENT ENGLISH SALE.

AT a late sale of coins in London, an American piece, in tin, very like the large Cent of 1792, with G. W. Pt. on reverse at base, was sold; nothing was known of its history, and there were some doubts of its genuineness. In the same sale was a medal with the head of James II, relating to Wm. Phips, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts in 1692, who in 1684 went to England to procure means to recover the treasure from a Spanish vessel wrecked near the Bahamas; on his second attempt in 1687 he recovered treasure to the amount of £300,000, of which he received £16,000 as his share.

STATUE DISCOVERED AT ATHENS.

A SMALL brass statue was discovered recently near the Acropolis Museum, Athens. It is in a perfect state of preservation, and the figure bears a close resemblance to the Apollo of Canachos in the British Museum. This statue is the best workmanship in brass that has yet come to light in the course of the excavations at the Acropolis.

SIOUX NAMES OF MONEY.

THE names for money in the language of the Ogallalla Sioux are interesting. Gold is mases-ska-zi, literally "yellow white iron"; silver is mases-ska-ska, or "white iron," and greenbacks are minne-huapimases-ska, or "paper that talks white iron."

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

AMERICAN NUMISMATIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

FOR the following.abstract of the Proceedings of this, the most prosperous Numismatic Society in America, we are indebted to Mr. H. R. Drowne.-Eds.

The Annual Meeting of this Society was held on March 20, last, in the Society's Room, President Parish presiding. The report of the Executive Committee showed a prosperous year, and growth in membership and interest. The Numismatic meetings. have been well sustained, and interesting papers have been read, exhibitions made, or addresses to the members present on some topic allied to the objects of the Society, have been given: these have proved of great value in sustaining the active interest of all. The Librarian reported numerous accessions, and the number of volumes under his care now exceeds 3,300, exclusive of duplicates. The cabinet of medals has also been enriched by nearly 300 pieces, including some rare and valuable English Medals, and some progress has been made in forming a collection of Masonics.

The election of officers resulted in the choice of Daniel Parish for President, Andrew C. Zabriskie, Wm. Poillon, James Oliver and David L. Walter as Vice Presi dents, H. Russell Drowne, Secretary, Benjamin Betts, Treasurer, Lyman H. Low, Librarian, Charles H. Wright, Curator of Numismatics, Dr. Josef Wiener, Curator of Archaeology, and Charles Pryer, Historiographer. The Proceedings for the last two years are in press and will soon be ready for distribution.

At the following meeting in May, Mr. Betts, the Treasurer, resigned in consequence of sickness, and his resignation was accepted with much regret.

OBITUARY.

MICHAEL MOORE.

THE Venerable Michael Moore, who had been failing in health, died at his home at Trenton Falls, N. Y., May 28 last. Few men were better known in that part of the State. His natural capacities and his broad intelligence commanded the respect of all who were brought in contact with him, and literary men, artists and scholars found delight in his society. He was born in New York City about 1803, but has resided at Trenton Falls since 1828, having married there a daughter of the late John Sherman, grandson of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

He was a man of intelligence and well versed in the sciences. He was much interested in astronomy, and devoted considerable time to the telescopic study of the heavens. He had a valuable collection of ancient coins, and the gathering of them gave him much pleasure, and he was one of the oldest subscribers to the Journal. He also possessed several cabinets of rare fossils and handsome mineralogical specimens. For a number of years he was politically prominent in the town of Trenton and in the county, although he never held an elective office. He was postmaster at Trenton Falls for a number of years. His wife and several children survive him.

A NEW USE FOR SILVER DOLLARS.

HER PICTURE INSIDE A SILVER DOLLAR. "I gave you a silver dollar for some cigars half an hour ago. Will you look over your money drawer and see if it has been passed out?" It was in a Philadelphia cigar store. A well-dressed young fellow was the speaker. The dealer found that he had just eleven of the coins, and he spread them in a row on the counter. The young man took them up one by one, weighed

each in turn in his hand, and an expression of vexation overspread his face as he laid the last down very carefully and murmured, "I knew I could n't tell that way." Then he went at them again. This time he grasped the dollar firmly with one hand and pressed his nail upon the letter E in STATES. At the eleventh dollar there came a sudden change in the appearance of the coin. Half of it slid one way and half the other, and in the lower half, covered with a flat crystal, was the miniature of an extremely pretty girl. The young man heaved a sigh of relief, laid down a greenback in exchange and left the store. He was one of the numerous victims of a fad that has lately struck Philadelphia with all the vigor of oddity and expensiveness combined. The pocket pieces are made of two coins, hollowed out and fitted together with such exactness that they cannot be distinguished from a genuine coin. A picture of the owner's "fairest fair" is the correct thing to go inside, and the cost may be from $6 to $35 for the frame.

EDITORIAL.

It is the intention of the Publishing Committee to make the present volume of the Journal the best we have yet issued. In this number we continue the description of Masonic Medals, and begin descriptions of Medals struck by Allies of the United States in the Revolutionary War, or to commemorate historic events bearing more or less remotely upon that contest, which is illustrated by an artotype plate made from the Medals themselves. We shall also continue our series of papers on the Coins of India, for which we are so much indebted to Capt. Tufnell, and which will be illustrated by two more plates now in preparation. We are happy also to be able to promise our readers another interesting paper by one of the American missionaries in India, on the same general topic, and its author is a well known authority on such matters. Dr. Storer contributes a scholarly paper on the medals of St. Charles Borromeo, which will be continued and probably completed in our next number. Beside these papers, all of which will have value as adding to the little at present known by American collectors on these different departments of Numismatics, we shall aim to give frequent installments of Mr. Tasker-Nugent's Gleanings," and current items of intelligence on matters of interest to coin collectors. With these promises, we feel justified in asking our old friends to continue to sustain us in our efforts by prompt renewals of their subscriptions, and by enlarging our list of subscribers as far as may be in their power.

OUR friend and occasional contributor, Mr. Lyman H. Low, of New York, has lately left us, "strange countries for to see," and to attend some of the large Coin Sales on the Continent, soon to take place, one of which, in particular, has been announced in the advertising pages of the Journal. We don't expect him to discover another 1804 Dollar over there, as to the existence of any genuine issue of which, at the time, he continues skeptical; but he is sure to bring home some valuable pieces for American cabinets, and we wish him a pleasant voyage, and a good time there, as well as a safe return.

We regret that our account of Society proceedings is necessarily so brief in this number, and that a notice of Mr. Woodward's recent coin sale must be postponed to our next issue. The 1804 Dollar was purchased by Mr. J. Colvin Randall for $660.

CURRENCY.

MISS CLARA (to Featherly, who is making an evening call) - Poor little Bobby swallowed a penny to-day, and we've all been so much worried about it. Featherly (somewhat at a loss for words of encouragement)-Oh, I-er-wouldn't worry, Miss Clara, a penny is not much.

"THERE'S a $5 bill," said Dumley, looking at it dubiously, "that I'm afraid is bad. Some miserable scoundrel has passed it on me." "Why don't you take it to a bank, Dumley, and find out if it's bad?" "And have them stamp it 'counterfeit' if it is bad? Why, I would never be able to get rid of it in the world."

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