I bought this As of Titus very cheap. I suspect that the seller assumed it was a poor misshapen example. I suspect it's a 'protocontorniate'. Titus Protocontorniate Æ As, 10.53g Rome mint, 80-81 AD Obv: IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P COS VIII; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l. Rev: S C in field; Spes stg. l., with flower RIC 238 (C). BMC 214. BNC 221. Acquired from eBay, January 2021. This common as of Titus may have served another life centuries later functioning as a protocontorniate. Nathan T. Elkins describes them as such: 'A protocontorniate is a normal, large-module bronze coin, typically a sestertius, which at some point was later altered by hammering the edges of the coin so that it could serve some other use. A common assumption is that protocontorniates functioned as game counters since the rim created through hammering could protect the designs. Andreas Alföldi believed protocontorniates to be forerunners of the contorniates of the fourth and fifth centuries. He argued that protocontorniates were New Year’s gifts and that the older coins were actually hammered in the fourth century before the contorniates proper came into being.' Although this coin is not a sestertius, I believe it to be one of these so called 'game counters'. The edges appear to have been hammered in antiquity because of their similar patina to the coin's flat surfaces. For the priced a nice dinner out on the town I think I've acquired a nifty numismatic oddity. Please feel free to share your coin oddities!
I looked then up on ac search and it certainly fits the bill! https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1¤cy=usd&order=0 Congrats on the great score
Ps, I forgot to add a few oddities per your request: I think this possible weight/ gaming piece may have been an empress. I believe the obv of sideways and that I faintly see DIVA at about the o'clock. Bought for two euros as a snack due to the strange pie shaped countermark. Another snack. Presumably some type of votive offering. I bought it thinking it was a hippo head. The more I look at it in hand the less sure I am. And lastly, one purchased from a favorite metal detecting buddy in France. Probably more modern, but a fun decoration.
My Avatar definitely looks as if it was cut down for some reason, probably for jewelry(?). Anonymous, Time of Basil II & Constantine VIII. Circa AD 1020-1028. Æ Follis (21x25mm, 10.00g, 6h). Constantinople mint, Class 3. Obv: Nimbate bust of Christ facing, holding book of Gospels; five pellets in nimbus. Rev: +IhSЧS / XRISTЧS / bASILЄЧ / bASILЄ in four lines across field; ornament above and below. Ref: DOC A2.40; SB 1818. Good Fine, nice patina, stuck on a highly oblong adjusted flan.
Very nice David. I'd take that over a dinner out all day long. I sold this Nero As proto-contorniate years ago. It was supposed to be published by the new owner, but never heard anything about it since... Such curiosities. NERO CAESAR AVG GERM IMP Laureate head right PACE P R VBIQ PARTA IANVM CLVSIT SC Temple of Janus with doors closed Rome 65 AD 9.22g Edges hammered in antiquity (1st-3rd century) to create a "proto-contorniate"
Nice bargain, and very interesting! Overall I'd bet slightly against it being a proto-contorniate, given that it's not a sestertius, and the edge-hammering is considerably cruder than what is normally seen on these. But it may have been hammered to place in some sort of frame, which is one idea for what's going on with the proto-contorniates. So, maybe a proto-proto-contorniate? My Commodus:
Great coin and story. I was not aware of this kind of reuse of a large bronze. I have seen some that were retarrifed. Half a RR As to 5 ??? I have a few that were repurposed as weights. Trajan LRB I saw some of these weights and bought a few. I did a bit of looking around and found a few archaeological reports that had reused coins as scale weights. The first pic I have listed as: Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Sarr. You can read more at Kent Archaeological Society's Archaeological Collection - Introduction (kentarchaeology.org.uk) If you click on the Sarr link and to #26 they show a balance and repurposed coins as weights.
