One of the most graceful historical allusions is conveyed in the great seal of Queen Anne, after the union of Scotland with England. A rose and a thistle are growing on one stem, while, from above, the crown of England sheds effulgence upon the tender young plant. HUMOR PICTURED ON MEDALS. The medal of George I., on the reverse, boastfully presents “the horse of Brunswick” flying over the northwest of Europe, symbolizing the Hanoverian succession. The overthrow of the “Invincible Armada” was the occasion of a Dutch medal, showing the Hollanders richer in faith than in art culture, for the obverse of this medal presents the church upon a rock, in mid-ocean, while the reverse suggests the thought that the luckless Spanish mariner was driving against the walls of the actual building. ARCHITECTURE INDEBTED TO COINS. Architecture is largely indebted to coins, medals, and seals for accuracy and data. We learn from the medal of Septimus Severus the faultless beauty of the triumphal arch erected to celebrate his victory over Arabs and Parthians. This medal was produced two centuries before the Christian era, and is a marvel of art, for its perspective is wrought in bas-relief—an achievement which was not again attained before the execution of the celebrated Bronze Gates by Ghiberti, for the Baptistery at Florence, A. D. 1425. This exhumed arch was excavated long after its form and structure were familiar to men of letters through the medals. LANGUAGE UPON COINS AND MEDALS. The effect of coin on language is direct, and many words may be found whose origin was a coin, such as Daric, a pure gold coin; Talent, mental ability; Sterling, genuine, pure; while Guinea represents the aristocratic element, and, though out of circulation long ago, “no one who pretends to gentility in England would think of subscribing to any charity or fashionable object by contributing the vulgar _pound_. An extra shilling added to the _pound_ makes the _guinea_, and lifts the subscriber at once into the aristocratic world.” Copper is much preferred to gold for medals. Its firm, unchanging surface accepts and retains finer lines than have yet been produced upon gold and silver, and it offers no temptation to be thrown into the crucible.[1] In the preparation of this work, I am much indebted to several gentlemen connected with the United States Mint; also, to Messrs. R. Coulton Davis, Ph.G., and E. Locke Mason, who are acknowledged authority on the subject of numismatics. If it shall be found useful to the public, and especially to visitors of the Mint, it will be a source of satisfaction, and more than repay the labor bestowed in its preparation. G. G. E. _Philadelphia, March 1, 1888._ THE UNITED STATES MINT.