rude unengraved punches, between which the lump or oval-shaped bullet of metal was placed to receive the blow of the hammer. Subsequently the art of the engraver was called in to adorn the lower of the two dies, which was always that of the face or obverse of the coin, with the symbol of the local divinity under whose auspices the currency was issued.
As our object is to deal with coins from the point of view of metrology, the short summary here given of the genesis of the art of coining will suffice for our purposes.
Weight standards.
“Silver was very rarely at this early period weighed by the same talent and mina as gold, but,