with a fess (? Austria), the date 1590, and over the eagle is the initial G.; the reverse plain. Mr. Dickinson observed that he had previously seen a similar plate with the same date, and with the blank reverse; he conjectured that these objects served as ornaments upon horse trappings. He adverted to the fashion of the spoons, as compared with the description of such objects in the Winchester Inventory, given by Mr. Gunner in this Journal (vol. x. p. 236), and the earliest form of spoon described by Mr. Octavius Morgan (see his remarks given in vol. ix. p. 301), to which the example from Worcester bears a general resemblance. Mr. Morgan observed that the spoons which had been kindly sent by Mr. Hampden did not appear earlier than the XVIth century; the shears were probably of more ancient date.
Antiquities and Works of Art exhibited.
By Mr. Bartlett, of Burbage, Wilts, through Mr. Quekett.—Two coins and a diminutive bronze axe, dug up in 1821 with some other coins much decayed, by Mr. Bartlett, at the Eastern gate of Silchester. A space about three feet square was excavated, and within the depth of three feet these reliques were found amongst ashes and fragments of bones, deers' horns, &c. One of the coins is a second brass of Maximian (A.D. 286—310) struck at Treves, and in good preservation; the other is a British coin of silver. Mr. Bartlett stated that he saw several miniature axes at Silchester, in 1821, in possession of the widow of the schoolmaster, Mr. Stair, who had formed a considerable collection of coins. A bronze securicula, also found at Silchester, has been figured in this Journal, amongst the illustrations of Mr. Maclauchlan's Memoir (vol. viii. p. 245).[1] The example now produced is of ruder workmanship (see woodcut, orig. size); on one side diagonal lines are cut, the other side is plain. One of these bronze relics was found in the villa at Woodchester, and is described by Lysons as "a little votive axe."[2] Similar crepundia have likewise been found with Roman remains in France and Germany, and a large variety of such objects, including axes, adzes, &c., may be seen in the Museum at Bonn.
We are indebted to the Rev. Beale Poste for the following remarks on the ancient British coin, which claims notice both as being struck in silver, and as having been found in such close juxtaposition with Roman remains. "This coin is of a type considered as belonging to the Karnbrê class, as sometimes designated from the remarkable discovery in Cornwall in 1749, recorded by Borlase.[3] It seems nearly similar to those in his "History of Cornwall," pl. xix. (pl. xxiii., 2nd edit.) figs. 9, 10, and 11; but it is exactly the same as
- ↑ See the remarks on these miniature objects,—crepundia, which were possibly charms, or worn merely as fanciful ornaments, rather than children's toys, as some suppose.
- ↑ Lysons's Woodchester Villa, pl. 35. It differs slightly in form; the dimensions are nearly the same. Two miniature bronze axes found with Roman remains at Rennes, are figured by Toulmouche, in his Hist. de l'Epoque Gallo-Romaine de Rennes, pl. 2, figs. 15, 16, p. 112. He supposed them intended for some uses of the toilet.
- ↑ See further the observations in Mr. Poste's recent publication, "The Coins of Cunobeline and of the Ancient Britons," p. 139.
