Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Numismatic Chronicle, and Journal of the Numismatic Society, Vol. 17 It would be interesting to fix, if we were able, the pre cise time when this first gold currency issued from the Syracusan mint. To ascertain the date of a known coin, is at least as important as the discovery of a new type. But chronological questions regarding civic coins are beset with difficulties; and conjecture must generally supply the place of proof. It is this defect which detracts so much from the merit of the Greek series. Lovers of art may be enraptured with its beauty; but the historian experiences disappointment and regret. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.