=Ancient false Coins.=--With the exception of the Italian heavy copper, which was cast, nearly all ancient coins were struck in dies, and most of the false pieces which have survived are defective in the quality of the metal, while the fabric is good. In the later Roman Empire, when all the standard money was of base metal, the surface was so bad that the coins could easily be counterfeited by casting, and great numbers of the clay moulds used by forgers or by the monetary authorities date from this period. Among the large collection here exhibited (No. =49=) there are some unbroken moulds, and some with the run metal still adhering. Base metal was detected by the use of the touch-stone, and pieces of doubtful weight were tested by the balance. An ivory folding balance is shown (No. =49*=). The long arm is made just too light to counterpoise a good denarius--the test being that if the coin were heavy enough it would fall off the plate at the end. For Greek and Roman coins in general, see Hill, _Handbook of Greek and Roman Coins_ (with the Bibliography there given); G. Macdonald, _Coin Types_ (Glasgow, 1905); Head, _Historia Numorum_ (2nd ed. 1911.) [Footnote 8: i. 94.] [Footnote 9: Michel, _Recueil des inscr. grecques_, No. 8.] [Footnote 10: Livy, iv. 60.] [Footnote 11: Macr. _Sat._ i. 7, 22. pueri denarios in sublime iactantes capita aut navia exclamant.] III.--DRAMA. (Table-Case K and Glass Shade above.) The antiquities illustrating the ancient drama are placed in one half of Table-Case K, and under the glass shade standing above it. =Greek Drama.=--This was in its origin essentially religious, and retained up to the decline of tragedy at the end of the fifth century B.C. the character of a religious ceremony. Thus tragedy gradually developed out of the rude dances in honour of the wine-god Dionysos, which were performed at country vintage festivals. The name tragedy means "goat-song," and is probably to be associated with the sacrifice of the goat, the enemy of the vines. The dramatic part of a tragedy was at first confined to a dialogue between a single actor and the leader of the chorus, with long musical interludes, but the number of actors was gradually increased, with the result that more stress was laid on the dramatic action. Aeschylos introduced a second actor, Sophokles a third, and Euripides, the last of the great tragedians, reduced the lyrical element of the play to comparatively insignificant proportions.