Log in or Sign up
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
Nikopolis ad Istrum
>
Reply to Thread
Message:
<p>[QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 3253433, member: 19463"]Where the letters break can get creative. An enjoyable sidelight of these coins is watching how the die cutters dealt with fitting the letters into the space available. It seemed there were no rules. Many just abbreviated by stopping when they ran out of space. Others put the surplus in the fields as here with the last two letters flanking the bust of Serapis (this die reversed the denomination E and the bust direction from the usual but cut the encircling letters normally).</p><p>[ATTACH=full]854215[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This Gordian III ran out of room and put the C tiny in exergue before stacking the river name in the field. There would have been more remainders had the cutter not used several ligate letters around the edge.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]854219[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This Philip II did a two letter paired stack before ending with a ligate pair.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]854234[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Continuing letters in exergue might require more than one line. On this Gordian III, the first line starts just right of the short groundline. The cutter realized he needed a lot of extra space and could not afford to waste any space.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]854249[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>My favorite oddball is the Septimius assarion that ended the circle with ΠΡΟ and continued in exergue. Usually they would have started the exergial letters at the left but here the CIC is either inverted from the right as if it were continuing the circle but flipped the TPO to avoid it being upside down <b>or</b> reversed (boustrophedon) the entire exergue to read right to left with all letters bottom down. You can not tell top from bottom on CIC.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]854213[/ATTACH]</p><p>A person could assemble a specialize collection of these coins based solely on variations of letter placement. I have not sought these out but do admit that I have bought a few coins that I happened upon just because of the letters. Call it an 'accidental specialty'???</p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry, my examples included a couple not from Nikopolis.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="dougsmit, post: 3253433, member: 19463"]Where the letters break can get creative. An enjoyable sidelight of these coins is watching how the die cutters dealt with fitting the letters into the space available. It seemed there were no rules. Many just abbreviated by stopping when they ran out of space. Others put the surplus in the fields as here with the last two letters flanking the bust of Serapis (this die reversed the denomination E and the bust direction from the usual but cut the encircling letters normally). [ATTACH=full]854215[/ATTACH] This Gordian III ran out of room and put the C tiny in exergue before stacking the river name in the field. There would have been more remainders had the cutter not used several ligate letters around the edge. [ATTACH=full]854219[/ATTACH] This Philip II did a two letter paired stack before ending with a ligate pair. [ATTACH=full]854234[/ATTACH] Continuing letters in exergue might require more than one line. On this Gordian III, the first line starts just right of the short groundline. The cutter realized he needed a lot of extra space and could not afford to waste any space. [ATTACH=full]854249[/ATTACH] My favorite oddball is the Septimius assarion that ended the circle with ΠΡΟ and continued in exergue. Usually they would have started the exergial letters at the left but here the CIC is either inverted from the right as if it were continuing the circle but flipped the TPO to avoid it being upside down [B]or[/B] reversed (boustrophedon) the entire exergue to read right to left with all letters bottom down. You can not tell top from bottom on CIC. [ATTACH=full]854213[/ATTACH] A person could assemble a specialize collection of these coins based solely on variations of letter placement. I have not sought these out but do admit that I have bought a few coins that I happened upon just because of the letters. Call it an 'accidental specialty'??? Sorry, my examples included a couple not from Nikopolis.[/QUOTE]
Your name or email address:
Do you already have an account?
No, create an account now.
Yes, my password is:
Forgot your password?
Stay logged in
Coin Talk
Home
Forums
>
Coin Forums
>
Ancient Coins
>
Nikopolis ad Istrum
>
Home
Home
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Activity
Recent Posts
Forums
Forums
Quick Links
Search Forums
Recent Posts
Competitions
Competitions
Quick Links
Competition Index
Rules, Terms & Conditions
Gallery
Gallery
Quick Links
Search Media
New Media
Showcase
Showcase
Quick Links
Search Items
Most Active Members
New Items
Directory
Directory
Quick Links
Directory Home
New Listings
Members
Members
Quick Links
Notable Members
Current Visitors
Recent Activity
New Profile Posts
Sponsors
Menu
Search
Search titles only
Posted by Member:
Separate names with a comma.
Newer Than:
Search this thread only
Search this forum only
Display results as threads
Useful Searches
Recent Posts
More...