THE COIN COLLECTOR - World eBook Library

TERMINOLOGY
Vis-a-vis type—seen on the money of Philip and
Mary of England—may be considered as having, with
the early money of Spain, a common Gothic origin ;
but the idea and germ are, of course, Greek. It also
occurs on some of the early German money, on that
of the Low Countries under Spanish sway, and on a
francescone of the modern kingdom of Etruria, 1807.
Weight—A principle in monetary computation which
enjoyed a universal acceptance and recognition prior to
the establishment of standards, of which the ancient
Greeks had several, chiefly borrowed from the East.
In the mediaeval period all large business transactions
were conducted on this basis, and down to the eight-
eenth century Sweden had a currency in copper which
practically amounted to a system of exchanging weight
for weight.
Weights—Metallic standards which appear to have
been produced and preserved from time to time for
the purpose of testing and verifying the current money.
Numerous specimens exist in all metals, including some
in the Anglo-Gallic series. (See Head, Hist. Num.,
xxiv., and Hazlitt, " Coinage of Europe, 11
p. 241.)
Some of the nomenclature of ancient coins, and many
of the terms applied to the more modern, refer to the
original import of weight, as drachma, libra, lira, peseta,
cneia, &c. (Comp. Mark, Money of account.)
Wildemannsgulden or thaler—The gulden or thaler
with the wild man type, originating perhaps in Saxony
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