| Show coal tokens as currency undoubted proof that roman turned out coins of bituminous material that did service as money coal was once used as money but if was a long time ago and in eng land fhe coal money was in ane shape of disks approximating coins in size and was from homan work shops where articles of ornament were made on lathes aa er say on the dorset coast in the isle ot to the west of st alban s head an outcrop occurs of bituminous shale which extends more or less for some miles As a source of fuel this shale or coal has been worked from very early times and is to the present day used by the cottagers of kimme ridge some of this shale is of so compact a texture that it is capable of being worked into ornamental ar tides taking a high polish similar to jet the romans when occupying this part of dorset discovered not only the properties of this deposit as a fuel but also its capabilities of being turned in a lathe into rings beads and armlets which were no readily purchased by the ladles in the am town of Dur dor chestar tr a few miles distant some estimate may be formed of the magni tude of this industry by the number of disks which have been discovered from time to time in the neighbor hood as they are without doubt the cores or centers left after turning ar tides of ornament these discarded disks have been invariably found carefully hidden away under the surface of the ground at a depth of about two feet some times with or in roman pottery and sometimes between two flat stones placed on edge covered with a third stone at the top that they were carefully stored and hidden away la beyond question hence they must have represented some value to mhd possessor it would appear reason able to conclude that they were used by the ancient britons as tallies 0 money the turning lathe of the en lightened roman was an instrument unknown to the natives and these waste disks tearing the tool marka the turner would have been as am possible to counterfeit by the savage briton as a minted coin that they have been known from early times as coal money is well au As many as have been found together in one place but always protected by covering stones or pottery in size they vary from one and three quarters to two and one half inches in diameter and about one half inch in thickness with holes to secure them to the mandrel of the lathe they are all strikingly sim liar in appearance |
