I am rather of opinion that we have not arrived at the right reading, and that _pax_ has nothing to do with it. It is PAXS, AXSP, XSPA, or SPAX: for I find, on comparing nineteen different coins, the letters stand in different positions compared with the cross, which denotes the beginning of the inscription around them; so no one can tell which letter of the four in the circles near the large cross should come first. Besides, what does the "S" stand for, after you get the "PAX?" I am not a member of the Antiquarian Society, but have asked gentlemen belonging to it to explain this puzzle (to me), without success. I now ask them and others, through your pages, to give a solution of the difficulty. W. M. F. * * * * * Minor Queries. _Peculiar Customs at Preston, in Lancashire._--I wish to know if it be true that the use of _mourning_ is nearly, if not altogether, discountenanced at the above town, even for the loss of the nearest and dearest friends; and that a widow's cap is only worn by those to whom another husband would be particularly acceptable? If these, and other peculiar customs prevail, I wish some correspondent from Lancashire would kindly enlighten the readers of "N. & Q." with respect to them. ANON. _Obsolete Statutes._--There was published, in the pamphlet form (pp. 61.), in 1738, a capital piece of _irony_ under the title of-- "A Letter to a Member of Parliament, containing a Proposal for bringing in a Bill to revise, amend, or repeal certain Obsolete Statutes, commonly called 'The Ten Commandments.' 4th Edition." As this will doubtless be known to some of your readers, may I ask the name of the author, and the occasion of its publication? J. O. _Sale of Offices and Salaries in the Seventeenth Century._--Has the subject of the sale of offices in former times ever been investigated? In the reign of Charles II., a new secretary of state, lord chamberlain, &c., always paid a large sum of money to his predecessor, the king often helping to find the required sum. Was this the case with all offices? I do not think the lord chancellorship was ever paid for. When and how did the practice originate, and when and how fall into disuse? Has the subject of salaries of offices (including fees) in these times ever been accurately investigated? What were the emoluments of the lord chancellor, chancellor of the exchequer, and president of the council, in the reign of Charles? C. H. _Board of Trade._--A council for trade was appointed during the recess of the Convention Parliament after the Restoration. Are the names of that council anywhere published? Did this council continue to exist till the appointment (I think in 1670) of the Council of Trade, of which Lord Sandwich was made president? C. H.