THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

COLLECTORS AND COLLECTIONS
admirers long before Prince Henry, eldest son of
James I., directed his attention to numismatics in con-
junction with his pursuits as a book-lover. At hisl
death in 1612 his medals and coins were valued at
something like ^3000 ; it must have been a large and!
important body of examples, if we take into accouni
the difference in the monetary standard. The most
remarkable point seems to be, that the taste developed
itself thus strongly and abruptly in the Stuarts, a
Scotish house influenced by French culture, if not by
Spanish magnificence and fondness for display.
The great Pembroke collection, of which we fortu-
nately possess a catalogue, belongs to the two succeed-
ing centuries, and was probably formed during the reigns
of Charles II., James II., William III., Anne, and
George I., by Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and
Montgomery (1685-1733), an enthusiastic antiquary;
it is especially noticeable, inasmuch as it for the first
time recognises the English and Scotish series side by
side with the Greek and Roman ; they constitute Part iv.
of the posthumous Catalogue, 1746. The whole has
been dispersed ; and the prices realised by the fourth
portion were very high, as it comprised numerous rari-
ties acquired by the original noble owner, not for that
reason, but for a far better one—their archaeological
interest.
It was doubtless the precedent set by such persons
as Lord Pembroke, who has had occasional successors,
such as Lord Ashburnham, Lord Hastings, and Lord
Grantlev, which encouraged the pursuit on the part
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