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William Sherard - Thomas Owen - 1710-09-14

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William Sherard, Smyrna

William Sherard - Thomas Owen - 1710-09-14
FINA IDUnique ID of the page  15946
InstitutionName of Institution. London, Royal Society
InventoryInventory number. MS 256/627
AuthorAuthor of the document. William Sherard
RecipientRecipient of the correspondence. Thomas Owen
Correspondence dateDate when the correspondence was written: day - month - year . September 14, 1710
PlacePlace of publication of the book, composition of the document or institution. Smyrna 38° 25' 25.48" N, 27° 8' 34.09" E
Associated personsNames of Persons who are mentioned in the annotation.
LiteratureReference to literature. Burnett 2020b, pp. 612-13, 6181
KeywordNumismatic Keywords  Gold , Silver , Roman , Roman Imperial , Faustina , Coin Price , Price , Bronze , Medallions , Roman Provincial , Greek , Colony , Punic
LanguageLanguage of the correspondence English
External LinkLink to external information, e.g. Wikpedia 
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Grand documentOriginal passage from the "Grand document".

'I am sorry to see by yours of 5th past, yr former giving me an acct of a parcell of medalls, miscarried. Had it come to hand, I might have had time by a speedy answer, to have had some further acct of them, than what yr last gives me; I thank you, however for that.

Gold medals are not consistent wth ye convenience of every philosopher. Tis difficult as well as expensive to make a Parcel of them, & one in silver is all-together as instructive. Tis a known rule to buy none in Gold (yt are to be found in silver) unless they have two or more heads. Another consideration offers also in this country, yt ye metall is 25 to 80 p’ Cent dearer than in England. I suppose by Drams you mean Turkish, nine of wch go to an ounce.

I don’t remember to have seen an imperial medal of ye weight of Faustina’s, (I have 3 of kings, somewt heavier). However whether it be ye Senior or Junior, they are both co’mon in gold, & not above 5 or six yt are rare, whereof ye cheif PVELLAE FAVSTINIANAE in ye revers. As to ye others I can \make/ no judgment of them more than their weight. I guess they must reckon ye 13 gold at 130 dollars, ye 37 silver at 40, & ye 49 brass at 30 more to make 200. Amongst ye silver considering their weight most of them ought to be medaillons, wch if of Emperors or kings (baring ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ & ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ) or Town pieces, they may be worth more than I reckon them at. As to ye Brass I can say no thing; if you mean by ye 12 of ye largest sort, maximi moduli or medaillons, they are worth much more than what I put down; but, if as I suppose you mean primae magntitudinis only; if they be Latine they are as comon as ye lesser sizes, if Greek not. Ye 2 you write are rarities (if not counterfeat) may very much reduce the prizes of all ye rest.

You see Sr tis impossible to for me to make any true judgmt or even probably guess of their value. Wherefore I leave it intirely to yrself, & shall be satisfied wth what you shall please to do, either in buying them or not. The more Greek there are amongst them, ye more valuable they will be to me; of if by chance there be any wth Punick characters (as there were 2 silver in ye last you sent me) I shall esteam them ye more. I wish there were none gold among them (or yt ye others coud be bought wthout them) for he yt buys gold medalls, tis ten to one, he buys Gold too dear.'

(Royal Society, MS 256/627; Burnett 2020b, pp. 612-13)

References

  1. ^  Burnett, Andrew M. (2020), The Hidden Treasures of this Happy Land. A History of Numismatics in Britain from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, BNS Special Publ. No 14 = RNS Special Publ. No 58, London, Spink & Son.