ANCIENTS: Oddly Shaped Ancients

This posting is NOT to solicit coins made to be oddly shaped like the Olbia dolphins but regular round format coins that were a bit different than usual. King of this genre is the 'pig trotter' Nemausis in the British museum.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explor...bjects/cm/b/bronze_coin_with_pig_trotter.aspx

I have nothing approaching that level but offer a few I am happy to own.


Persian sigloi are supposed to be oval so this one is not unusual in that was but it was struck with the flan crosswise on the dies making the design not fit the flan. This oddity probably explains why so many bankers felt the need to test the coin but it is good silver and official style so it must have been just an accident.


This stater from Arados, Phoenicia, made the most of its very oval flan. Somehow both the obverse head and the reverse galley fit on the flan with a good strike of the legend above the galley. A round flan would be much less likely to contain all these important parts as well.



This Widow's Mite clearly shows the round dies but the flan is a cut rectangle. In fact these crude coins come in all sorts of odd shapes but this is the largest square I have seen.

Who has oddly shaped coins that were supposed to be round?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Okay, I'll be the test guinea pig ...

Ummm, does this coin qualify?

 

I don't have much to contribute here, but I will offer this one Nabataean bronze, which is typical of the issues of Aretas IV. The dies were clearly round, and occasionally you get a round coin, but this sort of shape is far more common...

​

I think it's logical to assume that their flan production technique consisted of rolling out a strip of bronze, then cutting it up with a circular punch whose diameter was larger than the width of the strip. This would account for so many of the pieces having both square and rounded edges...

​

 

One of my favorite coin... The odd shape fits the devices perfectly imo...

Satraps of Caria, Hekatomnos AR Tetradrachm
(392-376 BC)
Obv.: Zeus Labraundos holding labrys over shoulder and spear.
Rev.: Lion crouching.
SNG Kayhan 868-9.

 

Alexander Jannaeus, Hasmonean AE Prutah. 103-76 BC, 2.6g, 15.59mm

OBV: Three lines of Hebrew text inside wreath.

REV: Two cornucopias, pomegranate between them.

REF: Hendin 1145.

This coin is kind of oddly shaped and more so because the off center reverse makes look even more so. It looks sort of round on the obverse, flip it over and it looks oddly shaped.

 

The only other piece I own that qualifies for this thread is this bronze of Constans that clearly has a sprue attached to it. It suggests that the flan was part of a casting tree. Some authors even suggest that the coins were struck on the tree before they were broken off.

​

 

The prutahs all look like they were cut from scrap - lots of unusual geometry going on there.

 

Yes, exactly. I have coins from Nabatea, Judea, Kyrenaika, and Roman Egypt all made the same way. It seems this entire part of the world for hundreds of years made small value bronzes in strips then broke the coins off individually.

Its amazing how similar they all are.

 

Two flats and two rounds show up in most eras. This Thasos hemiobol is from about 750 years before the Philip sestertius. Were the flans made in the same way?

 

Here's mine, which was an oddly shaped flan, but before being struck the little "tab" was folded over on itself. One of the benefits of very high karat gold

 

Some of Anoob's Odd Shaped Coins

The coins ancient coins of Sicily and Sardinia have bits of metal on each side, the flans were cast in a chain struck and separated. They were minted in different locations and by different cultures at different times. Yet so very similar.

Dominion of Carthage
Sardinia c. 264 -241 BC
AE Shekel 5.56 g x 20.2 mm
Obverse: Tanit Left Double Drop Ear rings
Reverse: Bust of Horse right
Ref: Zeugitana, Carthage c. 300-241
No Pellet Variant of SNG Copenhagen #169-171

Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t223891/#ixzz2OOFdNi1j



Italy,Sicily,Syracuse
AE Litra 25.16 g x 29.2 mm
Time of Dionysios I - Third Democracy
405-367 BC. Struck after 395 BC.
Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with an olive wreath - SYPA
Reverse: Octopus between two dolphins.
ref: Calciati II pg. 128, 62/70; SNG ANS 454; SNG Morcom 697. Sear #1189

Read more: http://www.cointalk.com/t224072/#ixzz2OOEuFp1M

 

Hey, Noob! I'm just curious. Where do they call Carthage, the Dominion of Carthage?

The main article on Wikipedia calls it a monarchy, and then a republic.

 

A Dominion is closer to the truth than a Monarchy or Republic, but still not there...

An Oligarchy is closer than a Dominion, but is not there..

Carthage was a... I forgot the word... It means rule by water, where your entire empire is close to the water, like Carthage's.

 

Off- centered, probably unlisted, Weird .. this coin is among the first medieval Islamic issues which began during the reign of Umeyyad Calif Abdul Malik. His sons, the princes among whom prince Al Walid were in dispute after his death . It is likely that prince Al Walid struck this coin after the death of his fathert the Calif.
On the obverse, I can read in Arabic " God is Great " . On reverse, " The prince Al Walid ". The coin needs still cleaning by a professional .

 

It's very interesting how similar they are...

My example:

Carthage



Siculo-Punic Mint
370-325BC
Wreathed head of Tanit left
Horse galloping right
17mm, 5.5 grams
gVF
Sassari 56-136, Holleman Munten List 106

It draws your attention to the horse, but unfortunately, Tanit was struck a little high

However, I have done a little more research on this coin type, and it is fairly common in low to very low grades, with corrosion and damage being common.
This is the Best I have found... and I've looked through almost everything on Google Images (that took a very long time)

Also, check your PMs Anoob...

 

=> Boar & Lion ......... ummm, is it wonky enough for the likes o' you guys???

 

Ummm, apparently this coin was supposed to be round!!! => yup, the wine was flowin' at the ol' mint that day!!?

fine ... it's a lie

 

Sorry, those were supposed to be cut with corners. A round one would fit here better.

 

Why yes. Yes it is.