Picked up this one of Trajan Decius It has me wondering if maybe the good artist did the portraits on the dies and another not so good did the letters. Look at the obverse letters especially the T and reverse letter (B) in ABVNDANTIA AVG. My grandson could do a better with that letter B.
I have a similar one... Trajan Decius A.D. 249-251 AR Antoninianus, 4.1 grams, 23 mm Rome mint Obverse: IMP C M Q TRAJANVS DECIVS AVG, Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right Reverse: ABVND ANTIA AVG; Abundantia standing right, emptying cornucopiae held in both hands. Reference: RIC IVc 10b, p. 121 From: the Arnoldoe collection
I am of the opinion that each die was often touched by several workers. One did letters; one did a rough-in of the portrait; one (a master) did the final work on the portrait. That way, the best workers did not waste time with digging out deep holes when an apprentice could do that a well and gain experience so he could move up. Certainly there may have been specialists in reverses or even dotted borders. Obviously not all mint operations would work the same but a large shop with several teams striking simultaneously would be more efficient with such a system.
I am often struck by the labor intensiveness of the whole process, and even the smelting of the metal, the creation of flans, the engraving of the dies, the strike and so on. I wonder how many coins the mint of Rome (or indeed other mints) could produce in one day?
Interesting coin. That lousy "B" might actually be a "D". I have a Volusian antoninianus from Antioch that puzzled me the same way. The terrific site Four Bad Years notes: "Misspelled UDERITAS, a common error existing on many dies and mentioned in nearly every book that discusses this series." http://sonic.net/~marius1/mysite/Volusian Antioch First and Second Issues.htm This type of misspelling seems to be more of an Antioch phenomenon. Anyway, here is mine: Volusian - Æ Antoninianus (251-253 A.D.) Antioch Mint - Officina 4 IMP C V AF GAL VEND VOLVSIANO AVG, radiate, draped bust right 4 dots below/ VDERITAS (misspelt) AVG, Uberitas standing left w/ purse and cornucopiae, 4 dots below. (3.10 grams / 25 mm)
One thing to keep in mind, as well, is that the letters, being at the edge of the die, are more subject to the effects of die wear than the portrait and central devices.
