Collection of over 600 coins

This collection of 600 Greek coins, dating from the 5th to the 3rd century BC, constitute one of the most important donations of their kind in the twentieth century. Richard Boys Lewis, the collector whose widow donated them to the British Museum, had been a regular visitor to the Department of Coins and Medals at the museum, where he acquired a particular interest in Carthaginian coinage. Seven coins in his collection are Carthaginian. The donation also includes one American double eagle $20 coin from 1904. Part of a bequest to four museums by Mr Lewis through the Art Fund.