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214 J. MAVROGORDATO.I base this suggestion chiefly on grounds of style,though it is possible that the coins in question oughtto be placed nearer to the imperial issues bearingnamed denominations.The chief characteristic in the style of this period,taken as a whole, is the much greater variety to beobserved among the designs of the coins than at anyprevious period. Though the main elements of thetypes are still unchanged there is an absence of thatconservatism which, from whatever cause itmay arise,is a proof of local patriotism, and has been such anoticeable feature of the Chian series hitherto.Theintroduction of Alexandrine tetradrachms, though itwas a step taken by most of the Greek states of the day,may be said to have been the first sign that this spiritwas on the wane. All the same, the old types both fordrachms and bronze coins were faithfully preserved, aswe have seen, till at least half-way through the secondcentury B.C. There was a little slackening then,exemplified by the way in which the design fordrachms breaks up into the five separate groups oftype No. 66, and by the new bronze type No. 67, butthe coins now to be described show a different designfor nearly every issue. There would no doubt havebeen a tendency to adhere to old traditions for a whilewhen the Chians first returned from their exile, andthis has encouraged me to begin this period with thesmall bronze coins of type No. 74 [PL IX. 4], andothers of kindred style both silver and bronze [Pi. IX.1 and 3], instead of including the first named at leastamongthe somewhat similar issues attributed to thelast period (type No. 67). After this last flicker ofconservatism the individualistic types probably began