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ROYAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY. 37Eckhel meant simply the principal face of the coin.Where,as on some early Lydian coins, there were punch-marks onlyon one side he spoke of it as the antica simply. The use ofthe terms " obverse " and " reverse ", according to the traditionalplan, was due to an estimate of which was the moreimportant side, and was based on individual judgement ora general consensus of opinion. It was "psychological",therefore, in character.That such a distinction was often arbitrary it must beadmitted.conveniences.Yet as a rough and ready method it had distinctIt did not, however, square with the scientificplan of distinguishing between the impressions from theupper and the lower die. Thus a new nomenclature wasintroduced by Mr. Hill, 1and followed by Kegling, Tudeer,and others, by which the word " obverse " is confined to theside of the coin impressed bythe lower die let into theanvil, and " reverse " to the upper die that was actuallystruck by the hammer. This, as opposed to the other, maybe called the "technological" system.Apart from the fact that it is always difficult to runcounter to a system in general use not in itself a sufficientargumentit seems to me that certain grave inconveniencesattach to the new system. It is founded on no principlesuch as is implied by the comparative importanceof thetwo sides of a coin. It is quite true, indeed, that in theearlier classes of coins the new system generally correspondswith the old. Owing to the use of the punch-marks onthe upper face of the coin the development of the design wasexcluded or greatly restricted on that side, and was relegatedto the lower die. Thus on many earlycoins there isreally no type except that of the obverse as above defined.Later on, however, as the punch-marks developed intothe quadratum incusum, and that itself finally disappeared,Coins of Ancient Sicily, Introduction, pp. 5, 6.