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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3872563, member: 19463&quot;]It seems perfectly within reason that some finds may have been &#039;mint bags&#039; direct from the mint and all made the same day.&nbsp; From such, we would expect many die duplicates.&nbsp; When a hoard is assembled of coins removed from circulation, die matches would not be expected in quantity. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Another &#039;problem&#039; with die ID work is that some dies are easier to spot than others and lead us to think they are more common when actually they are just more noticeable.&nbsp; An example of this is my Septimius Severus die with a particulary weak nose.&nbsp; I was able to spot with no difficulty six different reverse dies.&nbsp; Were the obverse lacking in a red flag characteristic, it might have been easier to overlook specimens when shopping coins offered.&nbsp; What I find interesting about this set is that I have never seen a second reverse die of any of the reverse types used with this die.&nbsp; There are two Victory dies but one shows her on a globe rather than a ground line.&nbsp; t would seem that one obverse was used with six different reverse types for a reason other than needing more dies but I have no idea why.&nbsp; Perhaps each reverse was the mark of one team or one day of the week or...</p><p><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/die03.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>I also find it interesting that I failed to find any of these reverse dies used with other obverse dies but other dies of most of the types are found with other obverse dies.&nbsp; Die studies can provide many questions beyond simply whether or not a die is a match or not.&nbsp; It can be fun to follow the life cycle of a die from when fresh and new until when worn or falling apart.&nbsp; I enjoy the two Julia Domna coins below.&nbsp; The top one was struck before the reverse was damaged by the die clash that shows on the lower specimen. </p><p><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/jdbefaftclash.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>I doubt those who define collecting as getting one coin per ruler have read this far but there most certainly are many ways to enjoy the hobby that will appeal to only a few of us.&nbsp; Die studies are something that I find interesting.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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