latter would join Russia, but before action was taken, while negotiations were going on at the Hague and in a time of peace, the British cruisers seized two hundred merchant vessels, carrying cargoes worth fifteen millions of guilders. Subsequently, on the 3d of February, 1781, the British fleet captured the Island of St. Eustatius, situated in the leeward group of the West Indies. This island was a storehouse of merchandise from all parts of the world, and the whole was seized. Its value amounted to three millions of pounds, to which must be added numerous merchant ships and vessels of war.

The Dutch were always fierce and brave fighters on the sea. Their pledge to support the Armed Neutrality was not an idle promise. They had no sufficient navy when first attacked, but one was soon equipped and it boldly sailed out to encounter the fortunes of battle. In August, six months after the attack on St. Eustatius, a desperate engagement within musket-shot occurred between the English and Dutch fleets on the Doggerbank, in which neither party was victorious. Both retired from the field to their own ports. This engagement was a severe one, and the Dutch issued several medals in memory of the many officers who fell. The space allotted to illustrations will not admit of showing them. There is however one beautiful medal which may well be given a place. It commemorates an engagement off Cadiz, on the 30th of May, 1781, between two Dutch and two English vessels, in which the latter were defeated. The obverse shows the four ships, two of which are in good condition, the others well nigh helpless. The design of the reverse, Figure 3, is very simple, but very effective in its good taste and in the skill with which it has been executed. It is simply a trident, erected as a trophy on the sea shore, on which is suspended the shield of Holland; above it is a naval crown, and below are two smaller shields, carrying what are probably the arms of the successful commanders, Melville and Oorthuis, whose names and rank are inscribed on pennons floating gracefully from staves projecting from the top of the smaller shields on each side the trophy; behind the shield of Holland are two crossed anchors. What adds so much to the beauty of the medal, is the skill with which it represents the boundless sea and the sun half seen behind the distant horizon. The inscription begins on the obverse and is concluded on the reverse: VIS VI FORTITER REPULSA. PROPE GADES XXX MAY MDCCLXXXI. ANTIQUA VIRTUTE DUUM VIRI P. MELVILL

NAVARCHUS G. OORTHUIS NAVARCHUS [Force courageously repulsed by force and the old time valor of two men, P. Melvill, Captain, G. Oorthuis Captain, the place and date of the battle in exergue of its obverse, - near Cadiz, May 30, 1781.]

The United Provinces of the Netherlands were not allies of the United States. The government had not paid any attention to the communications addressed to it by John Adams, the American Commissioner, and refused to do anything that would amount to a recognition of their existence as an independent nation. It was not until 1782 that Mr. Adams was formally

I The dies of this beautiful medal were cut by I. G. Holtzhey, whose name appears in the exergue of the reverse. The upper shield has the rampant lion in gold, holding a sheaf of arrows and brandishing a falchion, on a red field: over his head are the letters A. R. The shield below, at the right, has the front of a house or building between two trees; this device, a blazon known as "armes parlantes," doubtless alludes to the name of

one of the captains: the charges on the other shield are not so readily distinguished, but the field is gold, and the devices seem to be three lozenge-shaped cushions of red, two over one, on each of which is a crescent of silver (these cushions might be taken for lozenges, but for the tassels at their corners). The lines denoting heraldic colors are delicately cut on the shields. ED.

received as the representative of the young republic. Holland was fighting solely for the protection of her own commerce, without reference to the interest of the United States, but like Spain, she was another enemy of England, and a dangerous one on the seas.

[To be continued.]

ORIENTAL COINS.

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THOSE OF SOUTHERN INDIA.

BY R. H. C. TUFNELL, M. S. C., F. Z. S.

[Continued from Vol. xx11, p. 84.]

Unlike ordinary Persian or Hindustani writing, numbers in the Arabic language are read from left to right, the numerals being represented as follows:

Their years are governed by lunar months, and therefore each year is eleven days shorter than ours, which amounts to about three years in each century. They are reckoned from the Hejrah or flight of Mohammed, which took place on the 16th of July, A. D. 622, and as the reduction of the Hejrah dates to those of our era is often necessary for the identification of many coins one meets with, especially those in which the year is legible while the name of the ruling sovereign is effaced, I append the Hejrah dates corresponding to the commencement of each half century of our era, the last column showing the month of the Christian year in which the Mohammedan New Year falls.

There is, however, one notable instance in which these do not hold good. On the accession of Tipu to his father's throne in Mysore, he greatly enlarged the number and variety of coins in circulation in his dominions; and, being withal a man of an inventive turn of mind, started an era of his own, which counted not from the flight but from the conversion of Mohammed, twelve years before the Hejrah. Hence it is no unusual thing to find coins of Tipu's to all appearance posthumous. This system he was pleased

I That is, commencing in the seventh month (July) of that year.

to christen' Muludie, and in it the numbers read from right to left. A specimen of this I figure as No. 26, on the reverse of which appears, "Sun Muludie 1226," corresponding to 1811 of our reckoning, whereas Tipu completed the sum of his iniquities in A. D. 1799.

During his reign,' two distinct systems of coins were in use in Mysorethe mohurs and rupees of the Mohammedans side by side with the pagodas and fanams of the Hindu. The former of these included double, single and half gold mohurs (though as far as I can learn there is no specimen of the first extant), and double, single and half rupees. The whole series (known as the "Sultani") resembles very closely the double rupee (Figure 27), though the inscriptions on all vary slightly in minor details. The usual inscription, which is in Arabic, may be rendered as follows: " By Hyder's victories is the faith of Ahmad made bright in the world. Struck at Pattan (Seringapatam) in the year of the Hejrah 1200." The smaller coins corresponding to this series are known as the "Bakri," struck in the sixth year of his reign (and so called possibly after Mohammed Báker, the Fourth Kalif), the "Jasri" or two anna piece, struck in the eleventh year, the one anna bearing the word "Kazmi," struck in the twelfth, and a half anna, also in silver, with the word "Kizri" impressed thereon. In all these coins the milling is different from that of any other coins I know; the lines instead of running straight across, as usually in milled coins, are angular, the angles pointing along the circumference, a feature which at once renders the detection of many forgeries an easy task.

(The pagodas and fanams struck by him and the states dependent on Mysore have been so recently and so fully treated on in the two papers to which I have alluded above, that they require no notice here.)

During Tipu's reign a very large number of copper coins were in circulation, and these are still common in every bazaar in the province. As a rule they bear the elephant on the obverse, and on the reverse the mint town. Above the elephant in some instances he places the date, sometimes reckoned by the Hejrah time, at others following his own patent system. Others again he inscribed with the name of a planet, usually that of Jupiter (Mushta) over the larger and of Venus (Z'hera) over the smaller, while others bear only the word "akhtur" (star). Another series, again, are distinguished by the addition over the elephant of one of the first three letters of the Persian alphabet. Hawkes, in his invaluable little pamphlet on the coins of Mysore (published in 1857), entered most exhaustively into the copper issues of Tipu, but unfortunately his useful little book is now out of print and no longer procurable, though an exhaustive catalogue of the coins in the Madras Central Museum, now in the press, will go far to supply its place.

On the fall of Tipu and the return to power of the Hindu line, the elephant was at first continued (Figure 28), but the Persian inscription gave place to Kanarese and a rude style of English in which it is not unusual to

64

1 Mir Hussein Ali Khan Kirmani, in his history of the reign of Tipu (a continuation of the "Neshani Hyduri"), says: The institution of the Muhammedi year, which is thirteen years more than, or exceeding that of, the Hejri, it being reckoned from the conclusion of the prophet's office, and the commencement of the duties of his mission (the office of a prophet and that of a partic

ular mission are considered distinct), being previously arranged and ready, was now made current throughout the whole extent of the Sultan's dominions."

2 Hence, in Article II of the "Treaty of peace between the confederated powers and Tipu Sultan," we read, "Three kroor and thirty lak of rupees to be paid by Tippu Sultan in gold mohurs, pagodas, or bullion."

find one or more letters upside down. Shortly afterwards the Mysore lion was substituted for the elephant (Figure 29), and this device continued to be in vogue till the province ceased to have a distinctive coinage of its own. In gold the Hindu raj still held to the old Ikkeri type of pagoda, which with a different reverse had been continued through the Mohammedan period, the words "Sri Maharajah Krishna" now taking the place of Hyder's initial. He also made a re-issue of the canteroy fanam and a series in silver of (approximately) four, two, and one anna pieces, bearing on one side the dancing figure of Chamundi and on the other an inscription in Hindustani on the larger, and in Kanarese on the two smaller issues. All these are very plentiful still in Mysore.' (Figure 31.)

Having thus rapidly glanced at the various coinages of the different dynasties which have been indigenous to Southern India, and endeavored to point out some of the symbols, which alone in so many instances can guide us in the identification of these coins, and in the hope that such may prove of some assistance to the student who is just beginning this most fascinating pursuit, I reserve for a future paper the consideration of those coins which, though still plentiful in Southern India, were struck by powers foreign to the country, such as the Romans, Pathans, Moghuls, Dutch, French, English, Portuguese, etc., all of which occur with more or less frequency and are apt to confuse the tyro considerably.

[To be continued.]

MEDALS OF KAISER WILHELM AND FRIEDRICH III.

THERE have been a large number of Medals struck in Germany, in commemoration of the late Emperor William, and in honor of his successor, whose untimely death has just been announced. We mention briefly a few that have come to our knowledge, and no doubt the number might be largely increased with but little search. First is a small silver Medal, with the portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm on the obverse and a cross on the reverse. There is a medal in britannia, or white metal, for popular wear; on the obverse a portrait of the late Emperor; on the reverse the inscription in German : "Kaiser Wilhelm todt. So klagt's von Mund zu Munde: Was er vollbracht? Das Deutsche Reich, der Erdball giebt die Kunde." Which may be rendered, "The Emperor William is dead! So run the mournful tidings from mouth to mouth! What has he accomplished? The German Empire, the round world proclaims the answer!" Size, 31 millimetres. Several struck in anticipation of his ninety-first birthday have also been placed in the market. A medal to Frederick II has on the obverse his portrait, above which the imperial crown, and on the reverse, a wreath of laurel with the inscription, "Gotte erhalte unsern Kaiser." This is struck in three sizes, — 26, 28, and 33 millim. There are also quite a number in his honor, struck before his accession, and indicative of the loyal sympathy for him in his fatal sickness. His death has been commemorated by similar issues, descriptions of which have not yet had time to reach America. Aside from these personal medals, the coins struck during the brief reign of the late Emperor are already sought by collectors, and from their scarcity now command an advance over their nominal value, and will soon be reckoned among the rarest of the German pieces. Most of the Medals can doubtless be procured through C. G. Thieme of Leipzig, if any of our readers so desire.

I The references of Figures are to the Plate in the April number.

M.

THE MEDALS OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO,

CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN.

BY DR. H. R. STORER.*

In the course of researches having for their end the medallic history of medicine, which includes mental as well as physical diseases, needs and remedies, I have entered certain by-paths that have led directly to convents, holy shrines, cathedrals, and even to the Vatican itself. These digressions have been extremely interesting, and productive of much half forgotten but none the less valuable historical material, a portion of which has proved useful for the purpose I have in mind. Curiously enough I have failed, although I have sought it far and high, to find the aid I had hoped in the quarter where it was most reasonably to have been expected, that is to say, among Catholic clergymen. Unlike their predecessors of a century ago, few of them at the present day, at least in this country, seem versed in these pursuits. The late Rt. Rev. Bishop Hendricken of Providence, although making no claim to be a numismatic expert himself, was so interested in this matter that he assisted me in searching for such among his colleagues, but in vain. I shall be glad if the present paper shall have the effect of inciting some one among this great body of scholars to prepare a work, corrected to a recent date, upon what would prove a fruitful and, from their standpoint, a very useful field of study, - ecclesiastical numismatics. In this there would be found to be several sub-departments; as, for instance,

I. Medals regarding the general subject, illustrated by many works, among which are

Loescher. Dissertatio de nummariae rei usu in historia ecclesiastica. Vit., 1695, 4to. Grainville. Lettre sur l'usage qu'on peut faire des Médailles par rapport à la religion. Mém. de Trev., Aug., 1715, pp. 1411-1433.

Seelen. De studio conservandi religionem per numos.

II. Biblical Numismatics.

Lubec, 1721, 4to.

Cavedoni. Numismatica biblica o sia dichiarazione delle monete antiche memorate nelle Sante Scritture. Modena, 1850, 8vo.; with Appendix in 1855.

De Saulcy.

Recherches sur la Numismatique Judaïque. Paris, 1854, 4to.

Werlhof. Biblische Numismatik, oder Erklärung der in der heiligen Schrift erwähnten Münzen. Hannover, 1855-6, 8vo.

Levy. Geschichte der judischen Münzen. Breslau, 1862, 8vo.

Madden. History of Jewish Coinage and of Money in the Old and New Testaments. London, 1864, 8vo.

Coins of the Jews. Boston, 1881, 4to.

King. Early Christian Numismatics. London, 1873, 8vo.

III. Purely religious medals and tokens, as those of Our Saviour, The Blessed Virgin, Saints, Congregations, Brotherhoods and Ecclesiastical Societies generally; a great many of which are in my possession.

Olearius. Prodromus Hagiologiae numismaticae. Arnstadt, 1709, 12m0.

Weinrich. Epistola de numis Sanctorum imagines exhibentibus. Erfurt, 1709, 4to.

Verzeichniss der Heiligen auf münzen. Leipsic, 1746, 8vo.

Woog. De S. Andrea Martyre in numis. Dresden, 1749, 4to.

Schlegel. Collectanea de Sanctis in numis. A manuscript mentioned by Lipsius as existing at Gotha in 1801.

* Read before the Newport, R. I., Historical Society.