'No,' said the lady coldly.
'He has a very fine collection.'
'I see no good in coins that are not current.'
'Difference of opinion, you see, there, mother. An old piece, which when it was current was worth only perhaps a farthing or two, now when its currency is long past would sell maybe for fifty or a hundred pounds.'
'That is very absurd, Pitt!'
'Not altogether.'
'Why not?'
'Those old coins are history.'
'You don't want them for history. You have the history in books.'
Pitt laughed.