Details of the engraving process

This coin is one of my better examples as it is in relarively good condition, well centred and virtually complete legends. It has a variety of manufacturing attributes that I believe make it slightly more interesting, to me at least. I suppose all these attributes would have been eliminated in later strikes of the die.

Septimius Severus denarius
Obv:– L SEPT SEV P-ERTE AVG IMP - II, Laureate head right
Rev:– FORT R-DVC, Fortuna (Hilaritas), standing front, head left, holding long palm and cornucopiae
Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare, A.D. 194
References:– RIC -



The reverse shows the guide circle used by the engraver when placing the reverse legend.

There are fine diagonal lines running across the coin at 45 degrees on the reverse. I don't know for certain what they are but my supposition is that after engraving the die there would have been some raised burrs on the die that were removed with a file.

The interior of some letters e.g. on the curves of the O, R or D on the reverse show very fine tool marks where the engraver has formed the shape of the letters.

All these attributes can be seen together on the following section of detail from the reverse.



I find it all an intriguing glimpse into some of the processes used in the making of this coin.

Martin

 

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Very cool coin Martin, I thought that the guide circle was one of those ring die cracks.

 

Interesting! I find the engraving process of ancients an amazing area of study.

 

Wonderful coin and a very interesting area of coin production that most of us rarely consider....

 

Nice coin/write up.
I would think the file marks were made before the die was engraved. They are parallel which suggests the die was filed as a whole and that the file was not used in between detail which would have been very difficult?

 

Interesting. Wouldn't we all like to travel back in history if for no other reason than to see the process of making a coin.

 

The detail of the coin on the die are cut in relief leaving the fields (which is where the lines are) as a flat surface. The filing could have been on the flat area which is the fields and any small pieces of metal from the edges of the letters and devices could have been removed as part of this filing. There would be no need to ge "between the detail" as these are all carved out.

 

I have see many of these on my Eastern Septimius coins but not so much in the general collection. Was the process different in Syria 193-196 or is this just a sign that I have not handled enough hiigh grade others?

 

Good point...

 

Doug,
I have a few circle guides from Emesa I am aware of the circle guide on coins from other mints too. I have seen it on very sharp coins of Constantine the Great from Lugdunum, Vespasian from Antioch.



Regards,
Martin

 

Do the coins only have the circle guides on the reverses?

 

Nice stuff, Martin. Stuff like that makes ancients all the more interesting.

I still own no coins with die circles, I do look though.

 

I prefer the OP's explanation for the "die polish."

 

Me too...

 

Very cool piece. What looks like radial lines on the outside of curves could be what engravers call "heel drag". When turning an engraving tool (graver) to cut a curve, if the cutting edge is not shaped properly it will leave these marks.

 

If you make coins/medals, you are going to be a welcomed addition to CT for sure!

 

A very interesting writeup, thanks.

 

Circle guides must've been fairly standard for engravers to use no matter the mint or time period. Here are two that I have from Ephesus and Rome.

Vespasian
AR Denarius
Ephesus mint, 71 AD
RIC 1422C (R2), BMC - , RSC - , RPC -
Obv: IMP CAESAR VESPAS AVG COS III TR P P P; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: CONCORDIA AVG; Ceres std. l., on ornate high-backed chair, with corn ears and poppy and cornucopiae; in exergue BY


Titus
AR Denarius
Rome Mint, 79 - 80 AD
RIC 89 (C), BMC 106, RSC 25
Obv: IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG PM; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: BONVS EVENTVS AVGVSTI; Bonus Eventus, a naked youth, standing l., holding patera in extended r. hand and corn-ears and poppy in l.

I have a few Antiochene denarii with circle guides as well. Funnily enough, not all of my high grade coins have them, and some with more wear do. I wonder if they were supposed to be removed at some stage by the engravers?

 

I suspect that they are not related to wear but more related to how fresh the dies were. If they are there on a fresh die then they will be on the fields and thus the low parts of the coin and being less involved in the process of wear. It would be interesting to know how many strikes would be needed to eradicate them from the die.

 

Good point. A fresh die would of course have circle guides, while one that had been in use for a time would lose the fine details. This as you say is totally unrelated to wear.