Brockages have one side an incuse version of the other. When coins were struck sometimes the coin stuck to the upper (pile) die and its obverse relief served as the pile die for the next coin, making an incuse obverse where there should have been a reverse in relief. Enough brokages escaped the mint for it to be easy to find one, especially among Republican denarii. They tend to cost about the same amount as a regular original. Head of Victory right, with part of her wing behind. The reverse is a mirror image of the obverse. It should have been like this: L. Valerius Flaccus, 108 or 107 BC. Mars walking left holding spear and trophy, apex before, grain ears behind. L VALERI FLACCI downwards on left Crawford 306/1. Sear I 183. The larger the coin type, the fewer the brockages. A heavier coin is less likely to stick to the upper die. If the coin falls off, as it should and almost always does, the next coin won't be a brockage. Some brockages were restruck. When the minting error was noticed, mintworkers could have used the recently-struck coin as a flan to strike again and get it right. Maybe someone can show us a coin where there is evidence it was a brockage, but restruck correctly to almost erase the evidence of the error. High relief on the original obverse makes for a deep depression on the incuse side of a brockage. If that coin is restruck, in might be that the reverse die does not have enough relief to reach into that depression and obliterate that part of the brockage strike. Here is the most dramatic example of that I have ever seen. It is a large Byzantine anonymous bronze of Class A2, 28 mm and attributed to Basil II and Constantine VIII, 976-1025-1028. Byzantine bronze was struck with die-axis 180 degrees. The top of the obverse is the bottom of the reverse. The high-relief head of Christ made a deep depression on the bottom of the reverse. Byzantine quality control is usually not high, but this time they caught the brockage error and restruck the coin. The obverse lined up nicely and looks like a single strike. The reverse is as well struck as most anonymous bronzes, but the depth of relief of the reverse die (which has only lettering) was not enough to reach down and delete the deeply incuse head of Christ. Turn the reverse upside down and Jesus Christ, King of Kings, stares out at you as shown in the upper right detail. An amazing restruck brockage! Show us your brockages and brockage restrikes.
Indeed. That's amazing. I like the Republican denarius in the OP as well. The only ancient brockage I've had was also a Republican denarius. It wasn't a particularly striking example [note accidental pun], but one thing I found interesting about it was that the coin had circulated considerably, losing detail on its high points that were preserved in mirror-image in the deeper recessed areas of the brockage side.
I "reported" this to the admins. Wooo, you're in troublllle. LOL Feature-worthy, I say. I mean, look at @TIF's reaction. I don't think she is easily impressed. Plus, it's a good writeup. Nominated.
Very interesting! Most "restruck brockages" are actually die-clashes! That's one's the real deal! This is the only brockage I own. It's darkly patinated and has rough surfaces, so it was tough to photograph: Faustina Junior, AD 161-175 Roman AE provincial; 7.93 g, 23.9 mm Uncertain mint Obv: ΦΑVCΤΕΙΝΑ CΕΒΑCΤΗ, pearl-diademed and draped bust, right Rev: Brockage of obverse
I believe that is a restruck brockage but only the second one I have seen that I believe to be that. Most I have seen advertised are actually clashed dies. I doubted there were any restruck brockages until I saw the Magnentius AE2 coin below. The coin shows one strike of the obverse die, two normal strikes of the reverse die (one on each side) and one incuse image of the reverse from the brockage strike. The first strike was a brockage of the reverse (suggesting the obverse die was on top) giving a coin with two reverses, one incuse. The coin was then struck a second time placing the normal obverse over the normal reverse and a normal reverse over the incuse reverse. I suspect that the coin would have looked more normal if the coin had not been flipped over between the strikes. Then there would be two strikes of the reverse on one side and the obverse die should have done a better job erasing the incuse reverse. I need to find another coin that demonstrates or disproves this theory. My largest brockage is a dupondius of Claudius but is not the official Rome mint product so may not count.
I've only got one, but I have a special place in my heart for "mint errors". I used to collect US mint errors as a kid while my dad collected ancients. I remember asking him one day if there were any mint errors in ancients and he told me "they're all mint errors". L. Postumius Albinus. 131 BC. AR Denarius (3.93g, 18.9mm, 12h). Obverse brockage. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; apex behind, mark of value below chin / Incuse and reverse of obverse. Cf. Crawford 252/1; cf. Sydenham 472; cf. Postumia 1.
Wow, that restruck brockage is super interesting! Coincidentally, my only RR brockage is the same type as the first coin in the OP. I'd really really love to get my hands on a regular example that used the same obverse die. My heaviest brockage is this Germanicus as.
Super cool write up and coins!! Bravo!!! I think it is neat how the incuse of the brockage often protects detail that gets lost on the regularly struck side.
I like ancient "mint errors", but I think they were not considered errors in that the workers converted metal into coins. Quality control was good, but I think coins per pound and per day were the key production criteria. One of my favorites is an Octavian - both portraits are great! I bought a lot of late Roman and Jewish mint errors a while back. Most of the LRB errors were brockages: I was the under-bidder on what I think is a die clash. You can see the letters under Tych's chin. Later I bought a similar coin with less clash indication. I am less than certain about the coin I bought.
That is a totally awesome coin, Valentinian!!! I love it. Looks very spooky. I posted this Saturninus once before, I think it's quite unusual, but it didn't get any comment. It's a wildly off-centre brockage, where I guess another coin got stuck between this coin and its obverse die. Seems like that would be kinda hard to do? And then there's this one, which I just got (not in my hands yet). It is double weight, perhaps a brockage that never came apart! The two flans are basically fused together. Gallienus ant, 6.26 g, Cologne mint.
I was hoping to win that one! My bid on it was exceeded by yours and another. Congrats on the cool buy .
Nice coins. The Romans produced plenty of not standard coins. Show us a side shot when your Gallienus coins arrive.
Thanks! And apologies too, I'm sorry I was competing against another CoinTalker ... Will do! I'm curious to see what it looks like...
Nothing to feel sorry about! Someone has to win these coins... at least it was another CoinTalker who took it home rather than the other guy. Unless of course there were three of us after it .
