Coins of Ancient Sicily

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. It can hardly be denied that the popularization of archaeological studies is not from certain points of view a desirable undertaking. The disadvantages which every specialist must perceive in any but a rigidly scientific treatment of his subject are as patent in the case of coins as elsewhere; and I may therefore be expected to apologize for adding to the number of books which increase the bulk of the literature of numismatics without bringing grist to the mill of science. I have no apology which will not appear to halt in the eyes of the professional numismatist; but the archaeologist who is not specially trained in the study of coins will, I hope, be more merciful. The technicality of the study - a necessity if that study was ever to advance beyond the stage of dilettantism in which it once lingered - is rapidly increasing. The classification and arrangement of coins are being effected with extraordinary minuteness, made possible by recent progress in methods of mechanical reproduction.