The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

POLLUX' ACCOUNT OF ANCIENT COINS. 303
the Cyclops of Antiphanes
"
for I happen (to have) some
change." But in the Phil-Euripides of Philippides we
find
" He thinks to rob him of his small change
(icep/x,aTtov) ;" and Plato uses KaTaKCKepfjMTio-Oai (to be turned
into small change) of argument, and Aristophanes of silver
in the
"
Banqueters There is not even any silver in small
change ;" (89) and in the Wasps* 1 " The day before yesterday,
having received a drachm (to share) with me, he went
and changed it in the fish-market." In the Aeolosicon he
calls want of change dxep/AaTta. And as in the case of
Kf.pp.ara the old Attic writers very rarely used the singular,
so in that of apyvptov, they avoided the plural. For
rapyvpia, for silver, can be very rarely found in them ; I
have seen it in the Islands of Aristophanes, only that
the play is suspected of being spurious. (90.) But there
is no doubt about the Flatterers of Eupolis, in which he
8a y 8
" They seize and carry from the house the gold ;
the silver is
(rapyvpia) plundered." lu the Triphalev,
Aristophanes has apyvp&iov, too
"
I asked the women for
some silver (dpyvpuW) ." What is now called a copper
(xttA/cd?), the Attic writers usually call x a^ov , like apyvpiov
from apyvpo9, arid xpvo-iw from xP uo "
St As Aristophanes
savs in the Frogs "For we do not use these at all,
though they are free from alloy, and the best of all
coin, as I think, (91) the only ones true-struck and
with the right ring, but those wretched coppers
w 1. 788.
,
68 struck but yesterday from the worst die."
68 1. 721. This is a very interesting passage, and explains
much in the history of Athenian money. The silver coin of
Athens which has come down to us is almost pure from alloy,
and is very cleanly and strongly struck. It is, however, very