Numismatics is the science which has for its object the study of coins and medals, especially those struck by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The word is derived from the Greek [Greek: nomisma], or the Latin _numus_, _coin or medal_. Numismatics is now regarded as indispensable to archaeology, and to a thorough acquaintance of the fine arts; it is also of great assistance in philology and the explanation of the ancient classics; it appears to have been entirely unknown to the ancients, but since the middle of the sixteenth century, it has occupied the attention of many learned men. The name of _coins_ is given to pieces of metal, on which the public authority has impressed different marks to indicate their weight and value, to make them a convenient medium of exchange. By the word _medals_, when used in reference to modern times, is understood pieces of metal similar to coins but not intended as a medium of exchange, but struck and distributed to commemorate some important event, or in memory of some distinguished personage. The name of medals, however, is also given to all pieces of money which have remained from ancient times. The term _medallion_ is given to medals of a very large size, many of them being several inches in diameter. The parts of a coin or medal are the two sides; first, the _obverse_ side, face or head, which contains the portrait of the person at whose command or in whose honor it was struck, or other figures relating to him: this portrait consists either of the head alone, or the bust, half length, or full figure; second, the _reverse_ contains mythological, allegorical, or historical figures. The words around the border form the _legend_, and those in the middle the _inscription_. The lower part of the coin, which is separated by a line from the figures or the inscription, is the _basis_ or _exergue_, and contains subsidiary matter, as the date, the place where the piece was struck, etc. Numismatics has the same divisions as history.--Ancient Numismatics extends to the extinction of the empire of the West; the Numismatics of the middle ages commences with Charlemagne; and modern Numismatics with the revival of learning.