RARE COINS AND MEDALS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17155, 26 May 1921, Page 5

RARE COINS AND MEDALS.

■ • : —i Qwing to the generosity .of the family of the late Mr James Rattray the Otago University /Museum has lately become , possessed of a very valuable collection ' \ of coins and war/ medals. The gift was reported to the University Council this week, in a letter from the curator [Dr. Benham), who stated that 'there are.in the collection about 240 coins, of gold, - silver, and bronze, and 20 medals «n commemoration of Peninsular,' Crimean, Indian Mutiny, and. South African cam- . paigns. The collection-was made bjrtho late Mr Rattray, and each specimen is ■ a picked one in perfect condition. It . includes sets of gold and silver coins of each of the English sovereigns front Elizabeth to Edward VII.; other sets of Jajpanese, Turkish,. Russian, and Indian coins; a series of silver- crown , pieces from Elizabeth to Edward VH.; ' and European five frano pieces, dollars, - and tholers, as well as Venetian ducats. There are very early English coins from A.D. 500, and Scottish coins from 1185; a series of fine specimens of Greek and Roman gold and silver coins; and medals struck by various popes and several of those of Napoleon Bonaparte. The value of the collection and its interest is enhanced by a descriptive catalogue compiled by Mr Rattray, in which a short account is given of each coin and ita history, as well as the price paid for it to a dealer. The Museum has so far had no collection of coins and this forms a very handsome foundation for such a collection.