The Coin Cabinet
The fiscal year was one of important additions to the collection. Mrs. Olivia Garvey Lincoln's gift of the Jem Sultan collection was of surpassing importance. The story of this collection is told in the report of the Islamic and Asian department, but the number of coins (almost 12,000, nearly equally divided between the Jem Sultan collection of Ottoman coins and Mrs. Lincoln's assemblage of coins of South Asia) makes this the most significant year in memory for that department.
A much smaller but equally significant gift was the bequest of John D. Leggett, Jr., for many years a Councillor and for almost as many Treasurer of the Society. Mr. Leggett died in 1996 and bequeathed his collection to the Society; his selection of Greek coins, particularly those of Sicily, was superb, and his collection will be a permanent and fitting memorial to his devotion to the institution.
The medieval department made its largest purchase in many years, which still only offset part of the value of the Kay collection of stycas. The cooperation of the family made possible this acquisition, detailed below, which would otherwise have been beyond our means.
Donors to the collection are recognized elsewhere in this volume, but here we take note of some of those who have volunteered their time and effort on behalf of the Society. Chief among these is Kenneth MacKenzie, who has been giving loyally for more years than any current curator can remember. Finally this past summer Kenneth received a "Distinguished Volunteer" award, small recompense for time and energy conferred unstintingly. The award is intended not only to recognize past service but to encourage other volunteers including Sarah Cox, David Jen, and Jyoti Ray.
METCALF
Greek
The Greek Department this year acquired 603 coins by purchase and through the generous donations of Mr. and Mrs. Harlan J. Berk, Mr. and Mrs. William Bogdan, Daniel M. Friedenberg, Richard Giedroyc, Charles A. Hersh, Arthur Houghton, Jonathan Kagan, Frank L. Kovacs III, the estate of John D. Leggett, Jr., Edoardo Levante, Herman Miller, Sidney Peerless, Mrs. Thomas F. Troxell, Jr., Chantal and Jan Vagassky, Paolo Visona, William B. Warden, and Dr. Arnold-Peter C. Weiss.
The total represents a significant increase in number over last year but more importantly the quality of some of the new holdings is outstanding. For example the bequest from the estate of John D. Leggett, Jr., added 225 superb coins, mainly from Sicily but also from South Italy and the Greek world in general. Not since the Arthur J. Fecht bequest in 1980 has the Greek department benefited from such a broad and qualitative improvement. A special exhibit features the Sicilian coins from the Leggett collection so only two examples will be illustrated here. A tetradrachm of Akragas belonging to the end of the fifth century B.C. (422-406 BC., Hess-Leu 36, 17-18 Apr. 1968, 55) (fig. 1) shows on the obverse a pair of eagles standing to r. on the body of a dead hare. The one nearer to us is lifting his head and screaming, the other is flapping his wings and lowering his head ready to strike. The reverse features the usual crab--representing the local river god Akragas--in a somewhat reduced format to leave room for the increased size of t