Favorite broken coins

Nice Balbinus portrait! "Sulla80" linked to my current interest in that time period, the politics, the people, and ultimately the transition from republic to empire.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

haha...i think thats so kool TIF...i have a couple of brokes, this is my most cherished one so far...and even broke, it's still one of my most favorite coins.. i likely will go to my reward with this in my collection..^^

 

Is that Otho/VICTORIA OTHONIS?

 

it surely is Sulla80

 

Actually I think the winged iguana shows some definite artistic flair.

 

That knife was cast by the state of Qi between 400 and 250 BC

 

Here's a William I (The Conqueror) penny that I bought knowing it was broken in two and glued together. It's one of the rare sword type pennies and would be way out of my budget if not broken. I'm thrilled to have it.

 

I chose Severina and Constantius II.

 

Here is my favourite 'broken' coin. It is denarius of Caligula with a chip out of it on the reverse.


Gaius (Caligula), with Divus Augustus. AD 37-41. AR Denarius
(17.5mm, 3.26 g, 5h).
Lugdunum (Lyon) mint. 1st emission, AD 37.
Obv :Bare head of Gaius (Caligula) right C. CAESAR. AVG. GERM. P. M. TR. POT. COS
Rev: Radiate head of Divus Augustus right, between two stars.
RIC I 2; Lyon 157; RSC 11.
Fine, toned, deposits, chipped at edges, a few scratches.
CNG E-auction 428 Lot 344 September 5, 2018

 

I'm not sure why I ignored the break on this Commodus AE28x25 from Flaviopolis. It has a decent patina, three clear busts (Isis and Serapis reverse) and would have been at least $100 if round. That day, I thought it worth the $30 price. Some days I agree more than others.

 

The only broken coin I have is this Augustus denarius. I got it at a very good price considering the condition of the rest of the coin. Interestingly, it weighs 3.5g, more or less what it should weigh intact. Makes me wonder if someone clipped it in antiquity, or even at the mint.

 

This coins has a pretty good chunk taken out of it. It's had to tell in my pic, but you can see some of the legend down in the bent portion, so I assume this was done after the coin was struck.



Postumus Antoninianus, 260-269 AD

O:Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. R: Rev: IMP X COS V, Nemesis wtih palmbranch in left hand. 20 mm, 3.3g.

 

As we’ve talked about here before, some types like this Augustus/Agrippa COL NEM Croc are often found halved to make change. There are a few posters that have many examples better than mine.

 

Some fantastic examples in the kidney bean flan Augustus, Caligula, Otho, Balbinus, Severina, Postumus, and others, and for me the irregularities and scars tell interesting stories of:
- the emperors and their time period
- the mint making process
- the environmental factors that a coin must endure to be here 2000 years after minting
- the interests and the mindsets of their owners
It is these stories that grabbed me when as an curious 11 year old in Italy a friendly shop owner gave me a roman coin - a heavy corroded AE that I puzzled over trying to see letters in the corroded surface and make out the outline of the emperor's face and imagine what people looked like and the streets felt like at that time.

 

My favorite broken coin:


AR Denarius
Macrinus, Rome mint.
1st emission 217 AD

 

Coins of Tiphonia are on my want list a long long time. But they are quite rare...and very expensive...

 

BROKENS?:


Carthage - Zeugitana AR Shekel-Didrachm 360-264 BCE Tanit Horse r head l palm SNG COP 141



Egypt Ptolemy II 285-274 BC AE 17mm Eagle Cornuc SV762



Etruria Aes Grave 3rd C BCE Sextans 23mm 25.15g Club-2 Dots HN 54 Vecchi-Th 172



RI Trajan Egypt AE Dichalkon Laureate hd L Rhinoceros walking L LI-Z yr 17 CE 113-114 12.9mm 1.25g Emmet 719 var. rhino right



RR Gaius Cassius Longinus & P Corn Lentulus Spinther AR den 42 BCE military mint Brutus Cassius Smyrna Libertas r- jug & lituus 18mm 3.3g

 

Silk road "Hunnic" Peroz-imitation drachms; made of a brittle, high-tin alloy that snaps easily. They go up in price exponentially when they are fully intact.

 

@Multatuli great portrait on the Macrinus! Contemporary attempts to erase him from public memory after his death and declaration of "hostes" by the senate, were happily incomplete.

 

Thank you, @Sulla80! It would be a coin in EF condition if it were not broken.
Fortunately, the vast majority of damnatio memoriae in history have not been successful.