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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4885789, member: 19463&quot;]I see no reason to call that a &#039;cast piece&#039;.&nbsp; As with most coins, the blank was cast and then the design was stamped on it using a hammer and dies.&nbsp; It is unusual in that they did not clip off that extra piece of metal where the mold for the blank overflowed.</p><p><br /></p><p>My &#039;Widow&#039;s Mite&#039; was a round die used on a square blank.&nbsp; These things were made at a breakneck pace so you find everything.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1178937[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Trimming off sprues between the blanks was too much extra work.&nbsp; If the cut was near the coin, we would have a rounder flan but when the cut was nearer the neighbor, you got handles.&nbsp; Evidence suggests they were struck while the strip of blanks was still attached and coins separated after striking.&nbsp; Note the one below shows a bit of the neighboring strike on the top sprue.&nbsp; The intention was for there to be a thin channel between coins but this one overflowed a bit so we see a deep central channel and a thinner overflow outside the channel.&nbsp;&nbsp; [ATTACH=full]1178938[/ATTACH] </p><p>Occasionally you get a round one but that would be more luck than skill.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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