THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

THE COLLECTOR SERIES
Electrum—A natural amalgam of gold and silver,
brought into use by the Greeks at a very early period
as a medium more suitable, on account of its hardness
and durability, than pure gold for the purposes of
coinage ; but in estimating its relation to the higher
metal its composite character has to be taken into
account. It continued in occasional employment at a
later period by the Merovingian moneyers of the
seventh century.
English and Scotish legends and mottoes—These par-
take of the empirical and insincere character of those
found on the money of the Continent, and, with certain
exceptions, as the Declaration, Petition, and Reddite
types, have no historical value. The reverse legend on
a silver testoon of Mary I. of Scotland (1561) is curious :
Domine . Salvvm . Fac . Popvlvm . Twin.
Ephor—The name of an officer found on an autono-
mous coin of Lacedaemon.
Eponym—The term usually applied where the name
of a locality is traditionally derived from that of a
person—usually a mythical one.
Essai—A pattern or trial-piece.
Exergue—The space on a coin below the linear
boundary of the space occupied by the field. There
are many coins so struck as to leave no room for the
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