Oddball Lot from eBay - Hadrian As & French Republic Overstrike

I recently picked up a lot of four oddballs on eBay for $0.99 - the seller's photo was a bit dark, but what looked like an as from Hadrian seemed worth the gamble. The other three were modern(ish) and I didn't really care about them.

When the lot showed up, I was pleased with the Hadrian, which has a thick green patina which mostly obliterates the obverse legend, but is otherwise pretty nice (for a quarter).

The other three I didn't pay much attention to at first - a very worn Spanish copper of Ferdinand VII c. 1820 (no date) and a dateless Indian head penny. But the French Republic copper was weird - it appeared to be struck over another coin. Sure enough, it is a 1 Decime struck over a 2 Decime - after poking around online (and my paper copy of Krause) I found it - and ugly as it is, it is about as good as they get. The undertype bust is clearly visible protruding from the chin and throat of the overstrike. On the reverse, the undertype D (at 7 o'clock) and one of the mint symbols can be seen, barely. Not exactly rare (12 million overstrikes recorded) but not many seemed to survive.

I thought they made an unusual pairing - any other oddball lots out there?





Hadrian Æ As
(121-122 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate and draped bust right / PM TR P COS III, S C, Pax standing left, holding branch and cornucopiae.
RIC II 616c var. (cuirass); Cohen 1142 (same).
(11.34 grams / 26 mm)

France L’An 5 (1796-1797)
First Republic
Decime
Limoges Mint
Overstruck on 2 decime, n.d. (L’An 4-5 1795-1797) from the Paris Mint (?) KM 645.1
(20.53 grams / 30 mm)

 

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That certainly is an odd assortment.

 

Not a bad lot for 99 cents!

 

....deal of the century..

 

That must be the cheapest decent Hadrian ever!

Cool overstrike too.

John