Excerpt from The Coin Book: Comprising a History of Coinage; A Synopsis of the Mint Laws of the United States; Statistics of the Coinage From 1792 to 1870; List of Current Gold and Silver Coins, and Their Custom House Values An inquiry, therefore, into the coinage of a country like great britain, from the earliest times, possesses an interest apart from the subject itself as a mere antiquarian research, because it throws an indirect ray of light on the social condition of the people from age to age, and enables us to note the progressive steps of their improve ment in taste, refinement, and mechanical invention, as well as to ascertain their comparative wealth and social comfort, indicated by the value of the necessary articles of life. The subject partakes not, indeed, of the true dignity and importance of history; but, in a less ambitious channel of research, it is not without utility and instruction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www. forgottenbooks. com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. | The Coin Book by Isaac Smith Homans, Paperback | Indigo Chapters