Joannes Zimisces, a monk who rose to the throne after the murder of his
benefactor Nicephorus Foca, was the first who ventured with dissimulated piety to
put the effigy of Christ upon his coin. They were thence called (
Greek characters). The
modern Greeks erroneously ascribe them to Constantine the Great. It is a curious
fact, that these, which are the most recent coins in the cabinet of the Asiatic
Society, should be in the worst state of preservation.
Note.—Since writing the above, the Society has become possessed of 250 Roman coins, purchased from an Armenian; as they were not found on the continent of India itself, I do not feel called upon to include them in the present list, although they will be of great use in forming the germs of a future cabinet. Some of them are in high preservation; they comprise
2 of Augustus
2 Nero
1 Galba
6 Vespasianus
1 Titus
3 Domitianus
2 Nerva
2 Trajanus
6 Hadrianus
45 Antoninus Pius
16 Commodus Ant.
2 Maximinus
1 Septimius Severus
1 Sept. Geta
4 Alexander Pius
1 Gordianus
8 Philippus
6 Trajanus Decius
8 Gallienus
4 Claudius Gothicus
2 Aurelianus
8 Probus
32 Diocletianus
27 Maximianus
18 Constantinus
2 Constantinopolis
11 Constantius
2 Valens
2 of Greek Towns
1 Severa
1 Lucilla Augusta
4 Faustina
2 Mammæa
and 20 others, more or less illegible. Should any of them turn out to be new or rare, I shall take occasion to notice them hereafter.
III.—Observations of the Transit of Mercury. By James Prinsep, Sec. Phys. Cl.
On the 5th of May, the expected transit of Mercury over the sun's disc, a phenomenon which occurs twice in an interval of about 12 years, invited all lovers of astronomy to be prepared at their telescopes. Unfortunately, in Calcutta, the day proved cloudy just at the time when the ingress took place, and, as the sun set before the egress, little advantage could be taken of the event in correcting the longitude; much less in attempting to furnish data for the calculation of the parallax of the sun or of the planet. From half past four to a quarter past five p. m., there were intervals of sunshine sufficient to afford a transient view. Lieutenants Waugh and Rennie, Engineers, endeavoured with me to profit by these moments in taking the position of the planet on the sun's disc. We were permitted the use of a
