I guess they let it fly because they needed the money in circulation and they might not have had the time to remelt it and strike it again. But in any case, whoever struck it knew they were way off.
I can picture some merchant being like "sorry, sir, it's only worth half a nummus because it only has half a portrait" and laugh all the way to the bank, for whatever a half nummus could buy haha
This is the most off-center coin in my collection: Gallienus, AD 253-268. Roman billon antoninianus, 1.89 g, 18.5 mm, 11 h. Rome or Mediolanum, AD 260-268. Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head, right. Rev: PA[X AVG?], Pax standing left, raising branch in right hand and holding long transverse scepter in left. Refs: Too off-center to attribute precisely.
Double-Strike...ooops. RR M Furius ERROR DOUBLE-STRIKE AR Den119 BC Janus Trophy Carnyx S 156 Cr 281-1
Off center, but the whole snout is still there : L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, Denarius Rome mint, 62 BC PAVLLUS LEPIDVS [CONCORDIA] diademed and draped bust of concordia right Trophy with Lepidus Paullus on the right and three captives on the left (king Perseus of Macedon and his sons). TER above and PAVLLVS at exergue 4.00 gr Ref : RCV # 366, RSC, Aemilia # 10 Q
It is cool to see all of these ancient errors! Any reasoning as to why the obverse it more off center than the reverse?
Mine is like @Cucumbor ... off-center, but made it by a NOSE! Additionally, mine is an oblong flan, AND the nose made it on-flan on the NARROW side. RImp Marc Antony & Octavian AR Quinarius 1.58g Military Mint Gaul 39BCE Concordia r Hands clasped caduceus Cr-529-4b Sear 1575 Syd-1195
I'm not sure. My example has the same level of off centering on both sides, which suggests to me that the obverse and reverse dies were aligned to each other, and the encapsulated flan was struck by a hammer on the upper die, pressing the metal in between. If only one side is off center, I think this might suggest that one die was fixed-in-place, while the other die was part of the hammer. As the hammer-die struck the flan, it was off center on one side, while being more centered on the other side. Just my guess. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Nice stroke of luck there! I am fortunate in that my little Arcadius has both the ruler's name and the mintmark intact. With your coin, so many things could have gone wrong! Lucky break
Perhaps. However, if the coin not appealed to my eye, I would not had bought it. So, no luck involved on my part.
Off-centre on both sides and an uneven strike..... Look at the edge of the coin and note the varying thickness. Thick = little or no force from strike, thin = most force from strike