Post your coins that show evidence of pre-striking flan preparation! Jere M. Wickens, in his essay, "The Production of Ancient Coins," written for Bearers of Meaning: The Otillia Buerger Collection of Ancient and Byzantine Coins at Lawrence University, notes that flans "were cast en chapelet, that is, using open or closed moulds in which a number of mould hollows were connected by channels. Clear evidence for this method exists; the runners that connected the flans were not always completely removed." This denarius of Julia Domna shows evidence of such a runner at the edge of the flan at the 9:00 position of the obverse: Julia Domna, issued under Septimius Severus Roman AR denarius; 3.24 gm, 19.8 mm Rome mint, AD 207 Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, r. Rev: FECVNDITAS, Terra reclining l. under tree, left arm on basket of fruits, right hand set on globe, spangled with stars; in background, four children advancing r., representing the four seasons. Refs: RIC 549; BMCRE 21; Sear 6579 In addition, flans were often prepared by lathe-turning, resulting in a "centration dimple," around which sometimes concentric circular scratches can still be seen. Examples of coins with such dimples abound, particularly in provincial issues from the Balkans and issues of Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period. Here's an example. Note the dimple between the two portraits on the obverse and on Asklepios' right thigh on the reverse: Gordian III (AD 238-244) and Tranquillina Roman provincial AE 26.4 mm, 12.98 g Thrace, Anchialus, AD 241 Obv: Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ CΕΒ-[...], laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian and draped bust of Tranquillina, wearing stephane, confronted. Rev: ΟVΛΠΑΝW[ΑΝ]ΧΙΑΛΕWΝ, Asklepios standing facing, head left, with serpent climbing staff to left. Refs: Moushmov 2936; AMGN II 665; Varbanov 672; SNG Copenh --; BMC Thrace --
Dimpled PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy III Euergetes. 246-222 BC.AE Drachm (41mm, 69.07 g, 11h). Alexandreia mint. Series 5. Struck 230-222 BC. Diademed head of Zeus-Ammon right / Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt; filleted cornucopia to left, XP monogram between legs. Svoronos 964; SNG Copenhagen 171-2. VF, attractive brown patina CNG 377 6/29/16 Sprue-formerly owned Syracuse. Deinomenid Tyranny. 485 - 466 v.Chr. Tetradrachm, (17.16 g.), 485-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm Struck under Gelon, circa 485-480 BC. Charioteer driving quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses SURAKOSION/ Diademed head of Arethusa right; four dolphins swimming around. Boehringer 120 ex Gorny
Runner on Claudius Gothicus: Runner broke off a denarius of Julia Aquileia Severa, taking a chunk of flan with it:
When it comes to slamming out thousands of poorly made coins in minimal time with the least attention to detail, it is hard to beat the Judaean Widow's Mites. First is an Alexander Jannaeus with exceptional sprues remaining. The Antigonus Matthias below shows that the flans were cast in a two sided mould but the halves were in this case poorly aligned so the flan has half thickness ledges on opposing edges. Both of these coins might have looked more normal were it not for the poor centering of the strike which left our evidence intact. The flan for the Castulo AE28 below was cast in a one sided cup mould with tapering sides to facilitate removing of the blank. Most of these were struck harder than this one so the flan was spread and flattened more than here where we can still see the tapered edges on the reverse. The obverse flat surface is considerably larger and completely flat. The same open cups were used for flans for Alexandrian drachms but the sides were rounded rather than tapered in a straight line. Therefore the coin shows an obverse with rounded over edges and a reverse that is flat. Antoninus Pius here shows why it is hard to get full obverse legends on these. These variations of how coins were made is what we call 'fabric'. I consider the study of fabric an extremely important part of collecting. In addition to all the interesting details to learn, we need to know which issues ALWAYS have some particular fabric clue and which ones were pretty much random. If you find a coin always made on a certain type flan that is not as it should be, you must consider it fake until proven good. I love coins that show special fabric.
Tailored to size! India Kingdom of Magadha Bimbisara to Ajatasatru AR Karshapana (BC 550- 470) 28 mm x 3.42 grams Obverse: 5 Large Punchmarks and one bankers mark(?), Archaic bent rayed sun, Bow with Arrow, 6 rayed design, Bull head circle Bull Head, Large Solar symbol, center Tree(?) Ref: G&H Series I (Variation) Note: Buddha Cash coin!
I was trying to figure out which coin to post. This Sept Sev is a treat and I happen to know Ajax likes it to. So here it is again
Sicily Syracuse Timoleon Third Deocracy 344-317 BCE AE Hemidrachm Zeus Thundrbolt RR Anon AE Double-Litra 275-270 BC Apollo Lion S 590 Cr 16-1a Egypt Ptolemy IV 221-205 BC AE 37mm 42g Drachm Zeus-Ammon Eagle Tbolt SV 974
A couple of new ones I bought from Warren Esty. The first has a huge chunk of flan missing where the sprue broke off: The second is so off center that one can see where the edge of the reverse die was:
