While researching a question I had from another CT discussion I ran across an article online that I considered worthwhile. https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/4629/ancient-coin-grading/ This is on the importance of looking at the edges of coins. I keep telling myself that I should take more details photos of interesting things like edges but I have yet to do it in a major way. Maybe someday? I found that NGC has posted a monthly essay on some ancient topic for a decade now (OK, I'm late to the party). These vary in interest to me but cover a range of topics and are illustrated with pertinent photos courtesy of CNG. https://www.ngccoin.com/news/series/ancients/1/ Part of the reason I have missed this (other than the ubiquitous excuses of age and laziness) was my strong dislike of the slabbing of ancient coins. I shall remain a person who prefers to be able to touch my coins but not making use of the NGC material is a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. These essays are not long and will not turn the beginner into a graduate level expert on the subjects but will still add interest and enjoyment to aspects of our hobby that might not have been seen before. Those who read Coin Talk could get the idea that the subjects of special interest to some of our members (Septimius Severus, Flavians, Republicans, etc.) are all there is to consider. We might benefit by shopping through the NGC backlog of topics and seeing what there is that might be worth knowing.
I read the NGC ancients section every month. Some of it is things I already know, but it's usually a short read and some interesting coins are posted. The majority are out of my reach.
Hi Doug - thanks for pointing out the essays - here's a feeble attempt to share a 'third side of the coin". Egypt, Alexandria, Nero (54-68), Tetradrachm, Dated RY 12 (65/6). Obv: NEPΩ KΛAV KAIΣ ΣEB ΓEP, radiate bust of Nero right, wearing aegis Rev: AVTO KPA / LIB (date), draped bust of Alexandria right, wearing elephant skin headdress Size: 12.94g, 25mm Ref: RPC I 5289
thank you for the link, @dougsmit It would be nice (for me at least) to see examples of the different edges mentioned in the essay. I dont have that many examples and edges are not often, or better, almost never displayed on auction sites. I would like to see more examples. My most special side edge is the dupondius of Augustus and Agrippa, struck in Nemausus. I dont have a picture of just the edge, but one can see a bit of the edgde on this picture of the reverse, on the left side. Its a messy edge. Then there is this coin, of SA. Its a sestertius, but a very light one (15,50 gr). The sides are made square. Is it to take of some value material (not that valuable though?). Or is it so it could fit some sort of quare bezel? I don't know.
Thank you Doug for pointing out those articles. It did strike me as a bit odd that an article about the importance of coin edges had no actual edge-on photos of the coins - that would have been helpful for me so I would know what to look for. For example, Andres2's post above really makes it clear what a folded edge might look like.
@Limes those sestertii square planchets were made that way. nothing was removed from the edge: another akward edge looks like a seam, but it aint the edge of the planchet was made that way.
Thanks, I will look into that. I get a lot of ancient Indian and VOC coins and I routinely inspect the edges initially to ascertain whether or not they are of recent manufacture. Edges can tell a lot about a coin. Many of the dumps I have were hammered on the edges to make them slightly more round in shape, or to smooth over the chisel cuts. Some of the fakes show a casting seam or file/grinder marks.
The NGC essays are illustrated with photos from CNG auctions. CNG has been wonderful for years by providing high quality coin photos for educational use by others but we can not expect them to take edge photos for all the coins they handle. CNG files are also weak in a few areas. They can provide rather few shots of the cheap and ugly coins that make up some of our collections and that show something quite educational. I'll see what I can find in my collection but it would help if any of you have ideas of the sort of edge photos that we might want to include. Obviously, everyone will think of an edge seam from a cast fake but there are probably a hundred other things to be seen on edges that we might not think of immediately. I invite anyone with ideas to contact me by private conversation even if you do not shoot your own edge ideas. Some coins have a lot to show on their edges while others are just boring. Some are really hard to photograph in a way that will tell the tale. The owl below what shot to show the test cut but the edge accidentally shows a fold from the period when Athens hammered old coins flat and folded over the new blanks. There are many of these with much better examples of this than this poor coin. I'd say I'm working on it but truth is closer to I'm thinking about working on it. That is a step in the right direction.
