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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ewomack, post: 3915493, member: 15588&quot;]While reading the <i>Discourses</i> of Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived in the 2nd Century, A.D., I came across this passage (which others may already know about) concerning counterfeit coins and it offers a fascinating little peek into the numismatic past:</p><blockquote><p><br /></p><p><i>&quot;Therefore, the first and most important duty of the philosopher is to test impressions, choosing between them and only deploying those that have passed the test. You know how, with money - an area where we believe our interest to be much at stake - we have developed the art of assaying, and considerable ingenuity has gone into developing a way to test if coins are counterfeit, involving our senses of sight, smell, hearing and touch. The assayer will let the denarius drop and listen intently to its ring; and he is not satisfied to listen just once: after repeated listenings he practically acquires a musician&#039;s subtle ear. it is a measure of the effort we are prepared to expend to guard against deception when accuracy is at a premium.&quot;</i></p><p><br /></p><p>-Epictetus, <i>Discourses</i>, Book I, §20 &quot;Concerning reason, and how it studies itself.&quot;</p><p><br /></p></blockquote><p>Some things never change.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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