-Letter of 20 JUne 1648 (from Nijmegen to Westminster): "D. Heinsius mihi Mediolano nunciat, se Veneteis argenteos aliquot emisse. Pro Florentiae collectione florenos nostrates mille septuingentos circiter, sed frustra obtulit, eidemque adhuc serio instat. Si nummos istos obtineat ex aureis sibi XXX tantum seriei complendae servabit, reliquos eo quo ipsi constabunt pretio venditurus. Ego quamquam territorio nostro me pene circumscripserim, et norim quum fortunulas meas satis tenues, utilius alibi quam in nummis aureis otiosis collocare possim, fateor tamen mihi salivam ab ipso motam: cum scribat viginti primorum Impp. seriem illic duplicatum vel triplicatum extare, ut et cogitem de eadem ista serie in meis absolvenda, quod VII, nempe, Julii, Aug., Caji, Othonis, Nervae, L. Aelii et Pertinacis nummis, si favet, consequar. Reliquos qui mihi desunt aureos Tiberium, Titum, Trajanum, Hadrianum hic sperem me empturum. Est enim aurifaber qui aureos omnino decem Tiberii, Claudii, Neronis, Vespasiani, Titi et Antonii Pii hic inventos venales habet. Mitterem istorum indiculum nisi aversae earum partes vulgares essent, pretiumque aliquanto quum par est majus postularetur.
Et Tu, Vir Spectatisse, quantum ex literis colligo cogitationem de aureis istis Florentinis nondum abjecisti, nec obscure testaris, ab istis vel omnib. vel earum parte accessionem Te aureis tuis quaere. Referam ergo ad d. Heinsium de mente sua, quod feliciori quam antehac ut fiat successum, atq’ utriq’ ut gratum sit summopere desidero. Sic illustris thesaurus tuus, non vestro Britannico tantum, sed et majore nostro urbe claritatem suam diffundat"
(Mr Heinsius informs me from Milan that he has bought some silver coins in Venice. For the Florence collection he offered about 1700 of our florins, but in vain, and he is still pressing earnestly for the same. If he should get them, he will keep only 30 of the aurei for himself to fill out his series, and he will sell on the rest at the price which they shall agree. Although I should confine my collection to my own territory and although I knew that my own little fortunes are rather small, and I could deploy them more usefully elsewhere than in unecessary gold coins, nevertheless I confess that my appetitite has been whetted by him: since he writes that the series there of the twenty early emperors is in duplicate or triplicate, so I might also consider detaching them from that collection into my own, because I could obtain seven, certainly, from the coins of Julius, Augustus, Caius, Otho, Nerva, L. Aelius and Pertinax, if he agrees. I would hope that I could buy the other gold coins which I lack – Tiberius, Titus, Trajan and Hadrian – here. For there is a goldsmith who has altogether ten (of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus and Antoninus, which were found here and are for sale. I will send a little catalogue of them unless their reverses are common and since the price demanded is somewhat more than is fair.
And You, most distinguished Sir, as far as I can understand from your letters, have not yet given up your thoughts concerning these Florence aurei, and you have made it clear that you want to add from them either all or some of them to your own. I shall therefore report your thoughts to Mr Heinsius, which I hope will turn out more happily than before, and I am really very keen that it should be good for both of you. In this way the fame of your famous collection will spread not only in your British city but also even more in ours) (British Library, MS Harley 376, f.162r).
