Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1880 — What a Coin Did. [ARTICLE]

What a Coin Did.

A coin is in itself a history. Thera was once a lost city which owes its place to a coin. For over a thousand years no one knew where Pandosia was. History told ns that at Pandosia King Pyrrhus collected thoee forces with which ne overran Italy, and that he established a mint there; but no one could put their finger on Pandosia. Eight yean ago a coin came under the sharp eyes of a numismatist. There were the letters Pandosia inscribed on it, bat, what was better, there wae an emblem, indicative of a well-known river, the Crathis. Then everything was revealed with the same certainty as if the piece of money had been an atlas, and Pandosia, the mythical dty, was at once given its proper position in Bruttium. Now, a coin may be valuable for artistic merit, but when it elucidates a doubtful point in history or geography its worth is very much enhanced. This silver coin, which did not weigh more, than a quarter of a dollar, because it cleared up the mystery of Pandosia, was worth to the British Museum 91,000, the price they paid for it