Historical-Political Dissertation on Coins, Both Functional and Commemorative

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Forewarning of the President,

Concerning the method and use of this undertaking.

Since, dear reader, it was my intention to continue the thread begun in the assertion and defense of the preeminence of natural jurisprudence; but, while I was again applying my hand to this labor, behold! The most Reverend and Learned Mr. Joh. Simon Tilger / a most vigilant Pastor in the fields of Breunisheim, in the territory of Ulm, not only approached me himself, but also, both through his most humane letters and through his most beloved son, lovingly insisted that I should take upon my shoulders the defense of this numismatic theme, the foundations of which he himself provided. For a long time, I refused this difficult and arduous province, preferring that it be devolved upon another man better suited to it, especially because I observed that not a few things pertained more to history than to political and moral study, which I first read in the two drafts presented. And indeed, I considered it a rash enough venture on my part to sustain the role of president in such a very ample study, in which, I do not deny, I had never even been a student, and thus was by no means imbued with the required knowledge of numismatics. And to finally dedicate labor to it now, neither the expenses, nor the time, nor the consideration of my duties, especially those that are sacred, seemed to allow for it any longer.