THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

INTRODUCTORY
his pages the option of inquiring further, and of regu-
lating their course by the general indications here sup-
plied. In the space allotted to him, to accomplish
more than this was impossible.
It is obvious enough that the multiplicity of books
and pamphlets on coins equally attests the vivid and
lasting interest in the subject, and the slowly cumu-
lative method whereby we have enriched our stores and
our knowledge in this direction. Some of the most
momentous additions to our means of properly under-
standing the ancient and mediaeval series have accrued
in the most fortuitous manner ; one discovery has often
led the way to others, till a chain of evidence has been
gradually completed, and what appeared at first sight
to be a stray and unconnected item has proved to be a
member of a consecutive series ;
and incalculable service
has been rendered to the cause by the host of honorary
workers M rho have identified themselves with a small
branch of the inquiry, or even with an isolated group
of numismatic remains. We may mention, for ex-
ample, the obligations under which we lie for the
Bactrian coins to the late General Cunningham ; for
those of Cyzicus to Canon Greenwell ; for the coins of
Metz and Lorraine to M. Robert ; for those of Venice
to Schweitzer and Count Papadopoli ; for the Sieben-
biirgen series to the Count of Montenuovo ; and for
innumerable revisions and additions in every depart-
ment to the Numismatic Societies' Transactions of
England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland.
The works of Hoffmann and Poey D'Avant are of im-
17 B