The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

CHRONOLOGY OF THE COINS OF CHIOS. 11
to substitute Minoaii for Phoenician, it is, to say the
least, encouraging to find an independent tradition
supporting
the establishment of Minoaii culture in
Chios. Positive evidence as to this is lacking up to
the present. There are no remains such as Melos,
Thera, and even Delos have provided in such abun-
dance. But there are " pelasgic walls " near the village
of Myrmiki (MvpjjLrjKt) in the S.E. of the island that
invite the spade of the excavator.
In the meantime, since the continuity of a weightstandard
over such a long period of time cannot be
proved, it seems better to use the term Graeco-Asiatic
to describe the stater of the average weight of
225-6 grains (14-616 grammes). 25
II.
On the analogy of the evidence left by all the surrounding
states, the earliest coins of Chios were
presumably of electrum dating from the latter part
of the seventh century B.C. But a difficulty con-
nts us here at the outset. None of the extant
lectrum pieces are as rude in style as some of the
ilver didrachms that formed part of the Sakha hoard,
2G
d of another similar find in Lower Egypt [PL 1. 3],
not to mention the doubtful pieces belonging to the
Aeginetic
27
standard [PL I. 1 and 2]. We have, besides,
25 In doing this I am following the late Dr. Head in his Coins of
Ephesus, and Prof. P. Gardner in his Samos and Samian Coins.
26 Num. Chron., 1890, p. 4, PL i. 16; Num. Chron., 1899, pp.
276-7, PL xvi. 2 ; and Zeitsdirift fur Num., 1900, pp. 238-41 ,
No. 30, PL viii. 6.
27 Num. Chron., 1890, p. 18, PL ii. 15. With regard to the
general question of early Ionian silver see B. M. Cat., Ionia ,
Introd., pp. xxxii-iv.