Part 19

"Were we ignorant of the prices usually set upon the heads of all those emperors who had enjoyed but a few weeks' reign?" Did not every body, for instance, know that the African Gordians, both father and son, were, in _bronze_, worth their weight in gold? that a Vitellius in bronze was cheap at six pounds? and that he might be considered fortunate indeed who could convert his spare ten-pound notes into as many Pertinax penny-pieces, or come into the possession of a half-penny or a second module, as it is called, of Pescennius Niger, at the same price? Did not every body know that Domitia was coy at £20, and stood out for £25? That Matidia, Mariana, and Plotina smiled upon none who would not give £40 to possess them, and that Annia Faustina was become a priceless piece? Had we been so long returned to Rome and not yet heard of the Matidia now in the keeping of our gallant countryman, General A----, who was jealous (at least so B---- had told him) of showing her even to his best friends, lest she should prove too much for their virtue to withstand, and slept with her, and could not snore securely unless she was by his side? Well, he had paid £40 for her at Thomas's sale in London, and Rollin, on seeing her in Paris, would have gladly detained her there for £50, but the general was not to be bribed; "so you see, _dottore mio_, it costs a good deal to collect coins even in the baser metal." "So it would appear, indeed, Dedomenicis; and the next time a Pertinax in bronze turns up, we will most _pertinaciously_ refuse to bid for him; or if another Pescennius should ever again cross our path, we will mutter 'Hic _Niger_ est,' and remember to have nothing to do with him."

"And I think," said the old fellow, slily taking off his spectacles, and placing them on the table,--"I think you will not lose much if you adhere to your present intention."

"And yet it is annoying not to know the difference between the works of those _Paduan_ brothers, of a recent century, and such as really belong to the old Roman mint;" saying which we began to study them afresh, as a policeman would do to a rogue, whom he expected to meet again. "Is this knowledge, dear Dedomenicis, to be acquired 'per càrita?' let us not waste our time, if it be not." "_Lei lo sapra!_ it will come in good time. _Pazienza!_ be patient! you know our proverb--'time and straw ripen medlars,' and your judgment will mature in time, _just as the medlars do_."

Crude as an unripe medlar though our judgment certainly then _was_, still the prospect of its _mellowing into unsoundness at last_ was by no means consolatory; and so we told him, pocketing our false coins, and going home to consult the memorandum of their price,--here it is! _Eccola!_ as it was most ingeniously registered by us at the time--"Nov. 7, 1840--Bought to-day of a peasant on his way from Ricci to Rome, two _beautiful coins_, a Pertinax and a Pescennius Niger, in _perfect preservation_! only paid £5 for the two!! the _simple_ contadino, who can't read the epigraphes, asks whether they are not Nero's!!"[54]

A ring at the bell, and our courier has announced Signor Dedomenicis. "By all means, show him in then,"--for he had come, a year later, to see coins we had picked up during our summer trip to Sicily. "There," said we gaily, and to put him in a good humour at once, (for the remark showed we had made ourselves master of his physiognomy),--"there, Dedomenicis, is a Ptolemy Evergetes, who was, to judge by his coins, your very prototype--it is your nose--your chin--your"----

"Suppose you make it mine altogether then," said he slily; but we "prized it too much, on this very account, to part with it!" After which we go to the nearest cabinet in the room--unlock the door, take out drawer No. 1, marked Sicilian, and _rare_; and in the pride of our young beginnings, and little knowing what we were to bring upon ourselves in so doing,--

"Midst hopes, and fears that kindle hopes. A pleasing anxious throng; And shrewd suspicions often lull'd, But now returning strong,"--

we hand over the tray to Dedomenicis, whose running commentary, as soon as he had brought it into the field of his spectacles, was really appalling; and he plied it as destructively as a Sikh battery, or a Perkins's steam gun.

Prepared to see him take out the first coin in the row, to subject it to his magnifier, to turn it round, now on this side, now on that, and then to pause, ere he could decide upon it, little could we have supposed that in a second his battery was to commence fire; and that in less than a minute, he would have passed a summary sentence upon every coin of the lot.

"_One--two--three._"--Thus it began; "_roba commune_--common as blackberries; (four, five, six,) _niente di buono_--good for what you can get for them; (seven, eight, nine,) _Idem_; (ten, eleven, twelve,) _Idem_; thirteen, _not_ of Messina, as it pretended to be; and here had sold us a _Neapolitan cat_ in place of a _Sicilian hare_!" "_Come!_ a cat?" (for we called to mind what each of puss's _nine_ lives had cost us, and determined to die game for it), "_that_ coin a _counterfeit_?" "Si--Sig-no-re!" in that sort of sing-song gamut twang in which one Roman answers another's incredulity--"_anzi falsissimo_," with a most provoking lengthening out of the second syllable of that most provoking superlative; he knew all about its fabrication; the _gentleman_ who made these coins was an acquaintance--not a _friend_ of his; the original coin being in request, and somewhat expensive, he had contrived to get up a new issue of the Messina Hare,[55] which was much in vogue, and seemed, like Gay's Hare, to court an extensive acquaintance, and many friends. "That _Himera_[56] hen is of a brood that never lays golden eggs, and the sooner you can get rid of her the better. Time was when such poultry fetched its price; now, thanks to the prolific process of our modern hatchings, we see her as often in the market as widgeon, snipe, or plovers. _That's_ a fine lion; 'tis a pity you've no lioness to match him; but one such real _Rhegium leone_ is worth a host of counterfeits,--'_unus, sane, at Leo_'. As to your Ptolemies' eagles here, at least they are well preserved, and that always should give a coin some claim to a place in a _beginner's_ collection; though to us dealers, who see many of them, these eagles at last become somewhat uninteresting and vulgar birds. What a collection is here of Hieros[57] on horseback, all in good plight too! Well, I might have bought _in_ or _out_ of these ranks myself; but _I_ should not, I think, like you, have purchased the whole troop--of course you paid but little for them." "Yes," said we timidly, "not overmuch, not more than they were worth perhaps, six pauls a-piece," and we coughed nervously, and expected him to speak encouragingly; but he said nothing, and proceeded with his scrutiny of our box. "_Per Bacco!_ What a quantity of cuttlefish! Methinks Syracuse has rather overdone you with her _Lobigo_, but _that_ at least is genuine, for 'tis too cheap to make money of by imitation. This of _Naxos_ will do. _This_ of Tarentum, _va bene!_ this of _Locri, corresponde_." A faint "bravo!" escapes him on taking up an Athenian Tetradrachm, with the _Archer's_ name on the field; but he takes no note, has no "winged words" to throw away upon our winged horses, though every nag of them, we know, came from Corinth or from Argos.

The bearded corn of Metapontus, with Ceres or Mars on the reverse: Arion on his dolphin--that beautiful, most beautiful of coins--were, together with sundry others, all too common for his antiquarian eye to take pleasure in; he sought something less frequently presented to it, and at last he found it in a Croton coin with a rare reverse, which, "would we sell him, he would take at twenty dollars, and pay us in _living_ silver." A bow told him we were not disposed to part with it. And now he comes to what we consider to be our finest piece,--our Lipari bronze! And on it is a fat _dolphin_ sporting on a _green_ sea. Dedomenicis' manner is vastly discouraging, and we are prepared for new disappointment, yet we could have sworn that _that_ coin was genuine. But if false, as he believes it to be, why then not have done with it? why put it down to take it up _again_? why ask whether _we_ don't repute it false, when he knows we know nothing of the matter? And why _mouse_ it so closely under his keen eye, and look round the rim of it, and examine the face of it, and appear as if he would penetrate into its very soul,[58] and get at its history? Oh! 'tis all right, then; if "he may be mistaken," doubtless he _is_ so: and this is confirmed by his now proposing--thinking an exchange no robbery, of course--to exchange it for us. Ingenuous man! who hadst twice invoked the saints and the Madonna in our behalf when thou heardest the price we paid for our unlucky Hare; and when thou knewest how C---- had beguiled us into taking, and paying for a _Roman_, the price of an _Etruscan_ "As;" and now thou wouldst have robbed us of our best coin, have deprived us of the very _Delphin classic_ of our collection; it won't do! Our Messenian hare is welcome, but, old æruscator, we cannot let you swim away on our dolphin; and we rise to _replace him_ in our _monetaro_ accordingly.

A third interview with Dedomenicis is recorded in our entry-book of such matters.--"Here are the coins, Signor, which you gave me to clean last week: they are ten in number, for which you owe me as many pauls.--_Eccole!_" "Ah," said we, "you have not made much of them, I fear." "Look and see," was the laconic reply. By which time we had taken up the first, and were pleased to find that an Augustus, whose lineaments we could hardly recognise, when we gave him to Dedomenicis to _scale_, had come back to us perfectly restored. "Why, Dedomenicis," said we, "this is a restitution better than Trajan's, of this very Emperor's coinage; for that, after all, was but the _imitation_ of an old mint; but yours the _restoration_ of the old one itself. Henceforth I prefer _Dedomenicis' restituit_ to _Trajan's restituit_." "Well, then, when you have looked over the others, you will, I dare say, pay these and them at the same rate, as if they had been the issues of that Emperor."[59] We were indeed surprised at what we saw, so much had all our coins gained by the process to which Dedomenicis had subjected them. The second we took up represented the _Ostian harbour_, (Portus Ostiensis.) We had given it to him with a _foul bottom_--it was restored to us with its basin cleared out, and with all its shipping, just as it used to look in the days of Nero; in another, the whole arena of the Colosseum had been disencumbered; in another, Antonine's column shone bright from top to bottom; here we saw _Honos et Virtus_ (honour and military prowess) again taking the field; here the scales of Justice once more appeared, and librated freely in her hand; here Hope resumed her green trefoil; Pudicity _un_veils her face; and there sat Fecundity on a curule seat, with all her family about her; lastly, there were those three scandalous sisters of Caligula--the Misses _Money_ (Moneta,)[60]--standing together with their arms intertwined, and their names at their backs. All these ten restitutions cost only ten pauls! "And how did you manage to clean then so well, Dedomenicis?" "_Col tempo ed il temperino_,"--with time and a penknife: "_Ma ci vuo il genio_,"--you must have a talent for it.

SCALING A COIN.

"_Ci vuo il genio_,"--he was right; and think you 'tis so easy or simple a thing to clean a coin? to unmask an empress, pertinacious in her disguise, or to _scrape_ acquaintance with emperors? Try it;--not that you will succeed; but that the difficulties which you are thus made to encounter in the attempt, will dispose you the more readily to do justice to the skill of those who succeed in this delicate process, which, like the finer operations of surgery, requires at once precision and address, great nicety in the handling of your instrument; while the importance attached to the operation itself makes the successful performance of it not a little desirable. The penknife, guided by a _dexterous_ hand, may light upon a discovery that has been buried for ages; and a pin's point may make revelations sufficient to adjust some obscure point in history. Who knows what face may now lie hid (_facies dicatur an ulcus?_) under some obscure coating of paste? What an it be a Vitellius; what if a Pertinax should reveal himself? or suppose, when you have removed the foul _larvæ_, you _undermine_ a Matidia! a Plotina!! an Annia Faustina!!! and your fortune is made! 'Tis a lottery, we admit. But the very principle of the excitement--the charm is, that you know not what _may_ turn up; for a less chance, you may possibly have bought a "Terno" in a Frankfort lottery, the chance of an estate on the Moselle! But there are small prizes to be picked up occasionally--and here's a case in point:--"I was one day sauntering," said our friend C----, "by the tomb of Cecilia Metella, when a peasant came up with a handful of very dirty-looking coins, so firmly encrusted with mortar, that it seemed absurd to attempt its removal. Having nothing particular to do, and liking the wild quiet of the spot, I gave some 'baiocchi' to the man; and taking my seat on a bit of the old aqueduct, I opened my penknife, and began to scrape away. At first I saw the _trace_ of a letter; and digging round it, I at length disinterred a large M----a Roman M! It was probably Maximin, or his son Maximus, that I then had under my thumb; but it _might_ be a Marinus, in which case it was a valuable coin; so I wrought on with renewed vigour, and presently an _L_ was in the _field_. A better prospect this than the last; for if it turned out to be an Æmilianus, I should have made a good morning's work of it--and it was so! Little by little, line by line, grain by grain, I opened the field, till _C. Julius Æmilianus, Pontif: Max: in a full epigraphe, shone forth with the imperial_ head in full relief, all in a bright emerald patina. I have seen several Æmilianuses, but none like that; and it cost me only a penny."

Now, touching the difficulties in your way--should you still fancy them to be imaginary--take any dirty coin _nigra moneta sordibus_, and try to clean it; oil it, and scrub it as you may; pick into, poke at, finally, waste your whole morning over it, till your back aches, and your penknife is blunted; you will have to confess at last that your labour has been lost! Your only chance, then, is the fire; and if the _actual cautery_ fails, there is no longer any hope. As in learning to scale properly, you must come to sacrifice _a great many coins_ before you can hope to succeed, _fiat experimentum in corpore vili_--begin with those that are worthless. Never mind scratching a Faustina's face; set no store by Nero; you may, if you like, mutilate as many _Domitians_ as that emperor mutilated flies. For why?--they cost nothing; unless, indeed, there were something to be gained by _reversing_ the picture. But this only while learning, and to learn; for when you _know_ how to clean a coin properly, you will hardly waste your time in adding new Trajans to the ten thousands already in existence; nor whet your curiosity or steel upon an empress, known to be as common in bronze as she was wont to be in the flesh! When you have a really valuable coin, on which your pains will not be thrown away, your mode of procedure is, first to scrape, with extreme caution, on some small spot by the margin, till you have taken your proper soundings, and come down to the _patina_. Your next step must be, to ascertain whether that patina is hard, or soft and friable; in which latter case you will have to use all diligence not to poke your penknife in Crispina's eyeball, nor to wound her husband, with a few days' beard upon his chin. No _healing process_ can help you here to undo your clumsy surgery and want of skill. He will remain _cicatrised_, and she _lippa_ for life. Each separate feature requires renewed care. When your minute manipulations have brought out the eyeball _unspecked_, then comes the nose; and to remove the closely sticking plaster from its side, and expose uninjured the curling nostril underneath, requires more than Taliacotian sleight of hand to manage properly. You must not trifle with Faustina's _hair_, nor with Philip's _beard_. The "_flava coma_," which we do not consider as ornamental at any time, looks far worse in _brass_ than in _golden_ tresses. You must be an aurist when you come to the ear. Deal with the ear, and remember that it has its _portio mollis_ as you gently probe your way into its tube. Need we insist upon the necessity of respecting a lady's _lips_? and yet you will wound them, unless you are careful. And when all is done, you may find that your coin is no sooner cleaned, than it is seized with the _smallpox_,[61] which will become _confluent_ and spread, unless properly instructed. You have probed each cicatrix to the bottom, and filled the minute holes with _ink_. Thus you will see that patience, tact, and care are all required in scaling a coin; or, as Dedomenicis said, _ci vuo il genio_!

The collecting coins is a pleasant way of learning the chronology of the royal families of antiquity; and if you are culpably negligent in their arrangement, the first dealer who sees your cabinet takes care to apprize you of your mistakes, and will generally rate you soundly as he does so. The first time Dedomenicis visited our collection of the Roman emperors, he was in a great taking on detecting (which he did not fail to do at a glance) various anachronisms in our arrangement. "By all that should be, if here is not Agrippina the wife of Germanicus, and Claudius's Agrippina, in next-door neighbourhood! the two Faustinas (_che scandalo, dottore mio!_) lying side by side with _strange husbands_! Philip junior deposing his own father--_ci avevano questa consuetudine_, so let that pass; but here is a more serious affair. Pray separate all these Julias a little, my dear sir, _caro lei_, (looking at us very reproachfully;) here, in this one tray, you have mixed, introduced, and confounded together all the Julias of the Roman empire! Julia, the daughter of Titus, alone in her right place beside her first consort Domitian. But Julia Pia and Julia Domna are but the _aliases_ of the same empress, the wife of Septimius Severus; and here you have placed by mistake Julia Paula, the wife of Eliogabalus, after Julia Mammæa, who you _must_ remember married Maximin. Pray attend to these things; and whenever your series is deficient, leave vacant spaces in your trays to mark the deficiencies. Don't crowd your emperors thus together, when time has separated them in history," &c. &c. &c. We promised faithfully to attend to these hints; but it was all to no purpose, for in one week our friends, to whom we used to show our collection properly arranged, would again involve our chronology in inextricable confusion, especially certain dear young ladies of our acquaintance, who, by no means showing the same respect for old Time that old Time continued to demonstrate towards them, would make light of whole centuries; and we have known them so regardless of all dates, except perhaps their own, as to bring up a Constantine or Maxentius, and to place them under the very nose of Augustus!

FOOTNOTES:

[54] It is worth noting, because one does not see why it is so, that the only imperial _birbone_ of the lot universally known and execrated at Rome is _Nero_. One is much better able to understand (with Capri in front of one's windows) why a like exclusive and unenviable popularity at Naples attaches to _Tiberius_.

[55] The _hare_ was first introduced into Sicily by Anaxilaus of Rhegium, and was adopted by the Messenians on their coins, as was also the _chariot_, in commemoration of his victory in the _mule_ races at Olympia.

[56] On the urbic coins of Aquinum, Suessa, and Tiano, which are generally of bronze, the _cock_ figures on one side, the subject on the other varying; on those of Himera (a silver currency,) chanticleer is always confronted on the reverse by Dame Partlett.

[57] Hiero the Second, tyrant of Syracuse, who flourished 216 B.C., and was contemporary with Archimedes. The face is one expressive of refinement, and the coin of a very fine style of art, as indeed are all those that ever issued from the old and original mint of Sicily; but alas! there are now many small and illicit mints to which the travelling public that buys coins, is, without always knowing it, vastly more indebted. "Roba Siciliana"--Sicilian trash, exclaims the indignant Neapolitan, when you show him a modern forgery by which you have been duped. "Sciochezza di Napoli" retorts the dealer at Messina or Palermo, vindicating at once his own honour, which seems aspersed, and that of his Trinacrian associates. To reconcile these two statements, which are both true, the reader has only to be informed that there are mints every where, and coiners as cunning at Pozzuoli as at Palermo.

[58] By the word _anima_, or _soul_ of a coin, numismatists designate the interior of the metal, as opposed to its superficies or _field_.

[59] The _restitution_ of the coinage of one Emperor by his successor, consisting of a smaller issue of pieces than the original from which it is taken, has become comparatively scarce; hence such _restitutions_ fetch a much _higher price_ than those of the earlier currency, and Dedomenicis's remark was not without its meaning.

[60] Moneta, one of the many epithets or _aliases_ of Juno, borrowed by the Emperor Caligula for his three sisters, Agrippina, Drusilla, and Livilla, who are represented standing in a row, each with her cornucopia and scales, and her name behind her back.

[61] "_La petite verole_" is the name employed by French numismatists to designate this _disease_. They could not have hit upon a happier. A finely characteristic specimen of it is to be seen at present in the bronze impersonation of George IV. which stands on the Steym at Brighton, where the whole face looking seaward has become _balafré_ and pock-marked. It is strange that under the epithet of _pustular_, as applied to _silver_, the ancients appear to have meant the purest and most refined quality of that metal, when it is the alloy mixed with the bronze that makes it pustular.

THE LAST RECOLLECTIONS OF NAPOLEON.[62]

There are few things more striking than the analogy in civil and physical changes of the world. There have been in the history of man periods as distinctive as in the history of nations. From these periods society and nations have alike assumed new aspects, and the world has commenced a new career. The fall of the Roman Empire was the demarcation between the old world and the new. It was the moral deluge, out of which a new condition of man, new laws, new forms of religion, new styles of thought, almost a totally new configuration of human society, were to arise. A new settlement of the civil world took place: power absorbed by one race of mankind was to be divided among various races; and the development of principles of government and society, hitherto unknown, was to be scarcely less memorable, less unexpected, or less productive, than that voyage by which Columbus doubled the space of the habitable globe.