iscussed, the chief inquired
about the news of the learned world; and his inclination was no sooner
expressed than every guest opened his mouth, in order to ratify his
curiosity. But he that first captivated his attention was a meagre,
shrivelled antiquary, who looked like an animated mummy, which had been
scorched among the sands of the desert. He told the patron, that he had,
by accident, met with a medal, which, though it was defaced by time, he
would venture to pronounce a genuine antique, from the ringing and taste
of the metal, as well as from the colour and composition of the rust. So
saying, he produced a piece of copper coin, so consumed and disguised
by age, that scarce a vestige of the impression was to be perceived.
Nevertheless, this connoisseur pretended to distinguish a face in
profile, from which he concluded that the piece was of the Upper Empire,
and on the reverse he endeavoured to point out the bulb of the spear,
and part of the parazonium, which were the insignia of the Roman Virtus,
together with the fragment of one fold of the multicium in which she was
clothed. He likewise had discovered an angle of the letter N, and, at
some distance, an entire I; from these circumstances conjecturing, and
indeed concluding, that the medal was struck by Severus, in honour of
the victory he obtained over his rival Niger, after he had forced the
passes of Mount Taurus. This criticism seemed very satisfactory to
the entertainer, who, having examined the coin by the help of his
spectacles, plainly discerned the particulars which the owner had
mentioned, and was pleased to term his account of the matter a very
ingenious explanation.

The curiosity was circulated through the hands of all present, and every
virtuoso, in his turn, licked the copper, and rung it upon the hearth,
declaring his assent to the judgment which had been pronounced. At
length it fell under the inspection of our young gentleman, who, though
no antiquarian, was very well acquainted with the current coin of his
own country, and no sooner cast his eyes upon the valuable antique, than
he affirmed, without hesitation, that it was no other than the ruins of
an English farthing, and that same spear, parazonium, and multicium, the
remains of the emblems and drapery with which the figure of Britannia
is delineated on our copper money. This hardy asseveration seemed to
disconcert the patron while it incensed the medallist, who, grinning
like an enraged bab