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<p>[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 8289628, member: 26430"]I wanted the halved AR Shekel below not only because I love the type (and the controversies over its interpretation) and knew I'd never get a full one in this condition, but also because, when I saw the weight (4.09g), I was curious about something....</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Question</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>Could it have been halved, not simply for change, but for <i>currency conversion</i>?</p><p><br /></p><p>It's just a speculation, likely mistaken, but I've nicknamed it my "Punic Drachm" or "Hannibal Denarius" (for those who believe he's portrayed on the obverse). Despite being cut, it's a favorite of mine. (Really, I like the irony of the phrase "Hannibal Denarius," even if it may be unrealistic on a couple different levels.)</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1465122[/ATTACH]</p><p><i>Coin-in-hand video: <a href="https://imgur.com/gallery/R9ycdq1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://imgur.com/gallery/R9ycdq1" rel="nofollow">https://imgur.com/gallery/R9ycdq1</a> </i></p><p><br /></p><p>Measurements for my remaining "half": 4.09 g, 13mm X 22mm, 11h die axis.</p><p><br /></p><p>I calculated that it represents about 61.5% of the original mass (assuming constant surface area to volume). The original would've weighed about 6.65 g (a bit on the light side for the standard 7.2 g Shekel). The missing "half" would've weighed somewhere around 2.56 g.</p><p><br /></p><p>Once the 2nd Punic War ended, and Spain returned to Roman influence, could someone have been dividing 7.2g-average Punic AR Shekels into roughly 4g Denarii-Drachms & 3g Victoriatus-Hemidrachms-Tetrobols (or something along those lines)?</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Cut Itself</b></p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse portrait was carefully preserved, the angle of the cut, diagonal from 6h to 1h, was chosen to maximize the amount of the face retained (and forepart of horse on the reverse). If it had been cut along the vertical axis, as is traditionally done on evenly halved coins, or parallel with it but shifted to the right, a segment of the upper portrait would have been sacrificed (including the distinctive sideburns). Cutting vertically, but shifted left, would have left a sliver of the face on the smaller segment.</p><p><br /></p><p>The cut was made by placing the chisel on the front of the coin, just behind the face, and chopping at a backward angle away from the face. It was halved in a single stroked, followed by manually separating the thin sections that weren't completely severed (near the center and ~6h).</p><p><br /></p><p>Retaining the face not only would make it more recognizable as having once been a Shekel (and thus of the same quality silver), but would've been more aesthetically appealing for the users (which we know from other evidence people did care about). I don't know the fate of the smaller piece, but, of the two, at least this one was preserved rather than melted.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Comparanda</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>There's only so much you can say about a single piece of datum. So I looked for others and found my coin's "companions" in CNG's prior sales. (I couldn't find any others in ACSearch, but they may be around.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Mine was the last of five such examples sold by CNG in 2011 (I bought it later at <a href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7316626" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7316626" rel="nofollow">CNG EA 477, Lot 1</a> in September 2020), so I would guess they were all from a single find/hoard.</p><p><br /></p><p>I didn't see anything too obvious to the distribution of weights. In order of sale:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>5.55g, 3.51g, 3.93g, 3.09g, 4.09g (my specimen).</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>But others who know this region/period better might see something. (Including randomness, which is fine, it's still been interesting.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are the other four (probably not to a consistent scale):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1465121[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=179899" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=179899" rel="nofollow"><font face="Georgia"><font size="4">249, Lot: 1. Closing Feb 09, 2011 at 10:00:20 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (22mm, 5.55 g, 12h).</font></font></a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189494" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189494" rel="nofollow"><font face="Georgia"><font size="4">259, Lot: 1. Closing Jul 06, 2011 at 10:00:20 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (21mm, 3.51 g, 1h).</font></font></a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189495" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189495" rel="nofollow"><font face="Georgia"><font size="4">259, Lot: 2. Closing Jul 06, 2011 at 10:00:40 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (19mm, 3.93 g, 12h).</font></font></a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189496" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189496" rel="nofollow"><font face="Georgia"><font size="4">259, Lot: 3. Closing Jul 06, 2011 at 10:01:00 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (21mm, 3.09 g, 6h).</font></font></a></p><p><br /></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><b>A couple relevant articles on contemporary <i>Hacksilber </i>and cut coins (please share if you know anything else relevant)</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Andrew McCabe. 2015. “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/15713015/Andrew_McCabe_A_Hoard_of_Cut_Roman_Denarii_from_the_Second_Punic_War_in_Fides_Contributions_to_Numismatics_in_Honour_of_Richard_B_Witschonke" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/15713015/Andrew_McCabe_A_Hoard_of_Cut_Roman_Denarii_from_the_Second_Punic_War_in_Fides_Contributions_to_Numismatics_in_Honour_of_Richard_B_Witschonke" rel="nofollow">Hoard of Cut Roman Denarii from the Second Punic War</a>,” pp. 221-238 in <i>Fides</i> (<i>Essay RBW</i>).</p><p><br /></p><p>Peter G. van Alfen, Martín Almagro-Gorbea and Pere Pau Ripollès. 2008. "<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43580315" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43580315" rel="nofollow">A New Celtiberian Hacksilber Hoard, c. 200 BCE</a>," <i>American Journal of Numismatics</i> 20: pp. 265-293.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtis, post: 8289628, member: 26430"]I wanted the halved AR Shekel below not only because I love the type (and the controversies over its interpretation) and knew I'd never get a full one in this condition, but also because, when I saw the weight (4.09g), I was curious about something.... [B]The Question [/B] Could it have been halved, not simply for change, but for [I]currency conversion[/I]? It's just a speculation, likely mistaken, but I've nicknamed it my "Punic Drachm" or "Hannibal Denarius" (for those who believe he's portrayed on the obverse). Despite being cut, it's a favorite of mine. (Really, I like the irony of the phrase "Hannibal Denarius," even if it may be unrealistic on a couple different levels.) [ATTACH=full]1465122[/ATTACH] [I]Coin-in-hand video: [URL]https://imgur.com/gallery/R9ycdq1[/URL] [/I] Measurements for my remaining "half": 4.09 g, 13mm X 22mm, 11h die axis. I calculated that it represents about 61.5% of the original mass (assuming constant surface area to volume). The original would've weighed about 6.65 g (a bit on the light side for the standard 7.2 g Shekel). The missing "half" would've weighed somewhere around 2.56 g. Once the 2nd Punic War ended, and Spain returned to Roman influence, could someone have been dividing 7.2g-average Punic AR Shekels into roughly 4g Denarii-Drachms & 3g Victoriatus-Hemidrachms-Tetrobols (or something along those lines)? [B]The Cut Itself[/B] The obverse portrait was carefully preserved, the angle of the cut, diagonal from 6h to 1h, was chosen to maximize the amount of the face retained (and forepart of horse on the reverse). If it had been cut along the vertical axis, as is traditionally done on evenly halved coins, or parallel with it but shifted to the right, a segment of the upper portrait would have been sacrificed (including the distinctive sideburns). Cutting vertically, but shifted left, would have left a sliver of the face on the smaller segment. The cut was made by placing the chisel on the front of the coin, just behind the face, and chopping at a backward angle away from the face. It was halved in a single stroked, followed by manually separating the thin sections that weren't completely severed (near the center and ~6h). Retaining the face not only would make it more recognizable as having once been a Shekel (and thus of the same quality silver), but would've been more aesthetically appealing for the users (which we know from other evidence people did care about). I don't know the fate of the smaller piece, but, of the two, at least this one was preserved rather than melted. [B]Comparanda [/B] There's only so much you can say about a single piece of datum. So I looked for others and found my coin's "companions" in CNG's prior sales. (I couldn't find any others in ACSearch, but they may be around.) Mine was the last of five such examples sold by CNG in 2011 (I bought it later at [URL='https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7316626']CNG EA 477, Lot 1[/URL] in September 2020), so I would guess they were all from a single find/hoard. I didn't see anything too obvious to the distribution of weights. In order of sale: [INDENT]5.55g, 3.51g, 3.93g, 3.09g, 4.09g (my specimen).[/INDENT] But others who know this region/period better might see something. (Including randomness, which is fine, it's still been interesting.) Here are the other four (probably not to a consistent scale): [ATTACH=full]1465121[/ATTACH] [INDENT][URL='https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=179899'][FONT=Georgia][SIZE=4]249, Lot: 1. Closing Feb 09, 2011 at 10:00:20 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (22mm, 5.55 g, 12h).[/SIZE][/FONT][/URL] [URL='https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189494'][FONT=Georgia][SIZE=4]259, Lot: 1. Closing Jul 06, 2011 at 10:00:20 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (21mm, 3.51 g, 1h).[/SIZE][/FONT][/URL] [URL='https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189495'][FONT=Georgia][SIZE=4]259, Lot: 2. Closing Jul 06, 2011 at 10:00:40 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (19mm, 3.93 g, 12h).[/SIZE][/FONT][/URL] [URL='https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=189496'][FONT=Georgia][SIZE=4]259, Lot: 3. Closing Jul 06, 2011 at 10:01:00 AM ET. SPAIN, Punic Spain. Circa 237-209 BC. AR Shekel (21mm, 3.09 g, 6h).[/SIZE][/FONT][/URL] [/INDENT] [B]A couple relevant articles on contemporary [I]Hacksilber [/I]and cut coins (please share if you know anything else relevant)[/B] Andrew McCabe. 2015. “[URL='https://www.academia.edu/15713015/Andrew_McCabe_A_Hoard_of_Cut_Roman_Denarii_from_the_Second_Punic_War_in_Fides_Contributions_to_Numismatics_in_Honour_of_Richard_B_Witschonke']Hoard of Cut Roman Denarii from the Second Punic War[/URL],” pp. 221-238 in [I]Fides[/I] ([I]Essay RBW[/I]). Peter G. van Alfen, Martín Almagro-Gorbea and Pere Pau Ripollès. 2008. "[URL='https://www.jstor.org/stable/43580315']A New Celtiberian Hacksilber Hoard, c. 200 BCE[/URL]," [I]American Journal of Numismatics[/I] 20: pp. 265-293.[/QUOTE]
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