there you are said mother stretching her arms when we got back. oh dad what have you done to your hand. nothing connie, sharp rocks. it was dusk so we drove slowly through town under the old gas lamps still there with the street names printed on the glass. clouds of white ants and moths. that was the year did i say the gass got in no, im muddling it up never mind.
haveitoldyouhowitgotitsname.yass.greg, thatisntatrue story, it has its etymology. as i was saying. be quiet and help me with this casserole. argie barking at something under the house. theres a dance at the lawn tennis club tonight, jim, you ought to go, catch up on some old faces. is there, well i dont know, perhaps i will. the pilot was on his way out of the house to check on the aeroplane. he took a slab of bread and kissed grandmother weil. fuel for the oven. you never stop do you. x and i played for a while in the wool shed because someone had told us to go out and amuse ourselves. sup aaa. aaa. aa. bkn. lks. i very nearly went down the chute. what are you two doing in here said grandfather from the lighted doorway. this is no place to muck around in. dad was with him. he came into the cool of the shed and took his hat off and wiped his forehead. this is an efficient looking set up you have here, gregory. its a double boarded shed, said grandfather, best kind for viewing your workers.
dad had run into mr triggs in town and got us all invited back to his shopfront on comur street to look at his coin collection. uncle jim said hed come too but then he met us there because he had a visit hed forgotten to return on green street or morton avenue or iceton place or castor or pollux street or plunkett street or glebe st. and we all had to be getting back to town the next day.
mr triggs met us on the street and took us up to his office. he was a polite man, erudite, paid his debts with interest collected incunabula read a lot kept up the price of sheep. his wife collected pieces of lace that had belonged to royalty. he had someone with him already, a professor from western australia, shann, lounging in a corner of the office browsing the land when we got there. no it was another mag. he stood up and shook hands all round. dad took off his hat. pleasure. talk up your work in the office. uncle jim came running in from the landing. saw gruber in the street. everyones out for the dance. hope i havent missed anything. no jim, just got here.
mr triggs opened one by one the shallow drawers of a wide mahogany commode where his coins rested on layers of felt. x and i stood up front. for me it was a matter of waiting until the displays got lower than my head. these bean shaped pieces of electrum are probably the origin of coined money. you see the rude impressions. and this one here with the irregular rectangular sinking and the striated surface on the other side. this struck during the reign of gyges, famous for the supposed magic ring rendered him invisible, probably the earliest coin known. whats it called when its stamped just on one side. a throat was cleared. this from philadelphia, associated with the seven churches of the revelation. a thunderbolt in olive wreath. a drachm from epheseus. bee with curved wings. in the field, on either side, a volute. the sphinx at chios was probably symbolical of the cultus of dionysus. from rhodes, head of helios three quarter face towards the right, hair loose. rosebud. bunch of grapes. radiate head of helios. all those who formed the new city of rhodes claimed descent from helios so the two symbols were naturally chosen as coin types. head of athena in archaic style. incuse square, within which, owl, right, head facing wings, closed. behind it an olive spray and a small decrescent moon. this piece was current for nearly two centuries. the waxing moon was probably connected to the panathenaic festival held every four years between july and august. a whole night vigil before feast day, carol singing, choral dance of young men and maidens. at that time the moon did not rise till after midnight. head of athena as before. owl. apparently the fish wives were indignant when large bronze coins replaced these diminutive pieces. they had the habit of keeping their change in their mouths. chryselephantine statue in the parthenon. head of zeus tykaeos with pan on the rocks, god of the woodlands, arcadian league. this is probably the goddess desponia, the mistress, daughter of posidon and demeter, pausanius dread. two heads united, in opposite directions, upwards and downwards. may be meant for the setting sun god. sea eagle on a dolphin. the coins of the archaean cities seem to point to a commercial alliance. like this one from metapontum with the ear of corn in high relief and the ear of corn incuse. head of persephone, veiled, wearing corn wreath, earring and necklace. ear of corn with leaf on which harvest mouse. professor shann shuffled his feet. bust of nero, radiate, wearing aegis. what did they call seleucus. these from the roman republic, from the silver mint and legal depository. dont touch that drawer chick, wait till we get down there. i put my hand on my belly and deny but it is no good. how do you like the look of that. just look. male head of gaul. vercingetorix. long pointed beard, hair flowing back, chain around neck. admired by republic for resistance. mask of medusa, palm branch. l. plautius. they were coming out at my chin now. because of the peoples resentment at the expulsion of the tibicines plautius had the latter put, intoxicated, in wagons one night and conveyed back to rome wearing scenic masks so they would not be recognised when they arrived in the early morning. i think i have that pretty well. how, as browne said, they left so many coins in the countries of their conquests, eccetera. this is preroman ring money. anglo saxon iron with ubiquitous stamp, passed into the marks of after ages. the rust makes it worthy again, ha, ha. the minne of sarai. this is an interesting one that reads backwards on the back, a long voided cross united in the centre.
here is the earliest gold money from under edward the second. it was henry the eighth oversaw the first change to the standard, the introduction of crown gold, because the price at which the metal sold in france and flanders was causing the wholesale exportation of english money. professor shann made a noise. is that what i think it is. indeed, a number of coins have been found that have preserved their scent. incredible. is that a guinea. henrie x viii x rvtilans x rosa xx sie x spia x. eloye mestrell began producing milled coinage in the tower and was later detected falseggiando la moneta. no maria theresa i am afraid.
but here, this is especially interesting for us other worshippers of the paltry plated. the events during the reign of charles the first were reflected in coinage more varied and extensive than before or since. one effect of the contest between king and parliament was the establishment of local mints across the country. i felt the rolled up barrel of the western mail in my back. shann was fit to burst.
11
that brings back memories. my first money box. at kingsclere x had her own room. there was a page just for us in the catalogues. we went to the store with mother and helped her carry everything back. dad read her magazines and it made him arch all over again. we speak, as kinduno said, a different language. when we got in from the farm he held the door open for us and we went through one by one mother and i and x faltering a little then stood staring up the stairwell as we waited for the lift, her hand resting absently on the pomegranates carved in the balustrade or are they another mistake. what is she looking at. come on dear snap out of it, we go up in this.