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 Replies: 35 / Views: 3,148 |
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
I have just been photographing coins ready for ebay and when cropping I saw the reverse of this commem had the obverse pattern on it...but I was confused by the dot in circle pattern to the left of the left wing? I can see the two tie ends clearly, but the other shape confused me a little....any thoughts. NB. it looks like the obverse die was on its way out judging from the die cracks visible on the obv.   Edited by Yeoldecoins
11/17/2013 5:14 pm
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Valued Member
 384 Posts |
 ok, I get it now....its the O !! between the N and P..duh! |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
I don't know what to call it, it's not a brockage in the true sense. How thick is the coin? Is it normal thickness? If it's thinner than normal than it's possible that the pressure from the obverse strike might show on the reverse.
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
yes its nice and chunky....no chance at all that it could have come through.
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
Plus, the detail showing on the reverse is not raised, but rather embedded in the coin... ( I dont know the correct terminology for this sorry)
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
I have a theory...
flan A is placed on top of the rev die and struck from above with the obv die, producing coin A. Coin A is left in by mistake and flan B (this one) is placed on top of coin A and struck with obv die ..... the workers realise this and see two coins in the die. They decide that as coin B now has a well struck obverse and a reverse with a weak negative imprint on it (bronze struck on bronze producing a weaker strike), rather than leave it, they put it back on top of the rev die and strike it again with just the hammer.... this produces this coin. That would seem to explain how it may happen, but would they have bothered, were they really that conscientious? Maybe the first jobsworths?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Looks like a restruck brockage to me. I've seen it with Salonina...some clout has caused a brockage and thought 'woops' and gone ahead and restruck it correctly. Reading what you put, id say thats exactly it. Id keep it and sell it to someone personally rather than ebay...make sure the right person finds it. |
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
It might even be restruck over and earlier coin. If it is a brockage I would expect to see more of the obverse details showing. In any event it's and interesting coin that's worth holding onto.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Ech, the reverse matches the obverse. The 2 dots handing off the back of Constaninopolis are seen with the O slightly above and to the right.
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
yes its definitely struck with the same obv die I would say. I do not think it was struck again with the obv die either, otherwise you would expect a double hit or slightly off struck bust as I do not see how they would get the die exactly on top of the other bust struck the first time. I think it was restruck on the rev die with just a hammer or blank ? The obv die also had hairline cracks in it I think....
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
Now I look more closely, it definitely looks like the bust has been hit with something else after the first strike. Do you notice the flattening of the eye and cheek area which seems strange on what is an otherwise well defined obverse. This would support my theory of it being hit with a blank or plain old lump hammer, which maybe had small cracks in it, not the die...? I will seek out an expert in brockage if such a person exists.....and see if I cant get an answer. It seems this coin has its own little creationist theory..
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Granted my eyes aren't as good as they used to be, I only see a very small fragment of the obverse. So IMO it isn't a true brockage where you would expect to see the entire obverse showing.
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
Echi, Do you have a theory as to how the coin obtained this negative ghost image if it was not struck on top of the previous coin? the coin is certainly too thick to have the impression come through from the other side....
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Honestly I don't, what I'm saying is that if it is a brockage you would expect to see a deeper impression of the full obverse. This is a small coin and it wouldn't take much of a hammer stroke to leave a fuller impression. Even if it was restruck again I would expect to see a distortion in the flan an doubling on both sides. I'm basing this at what I've seen of brockage coins over the past 12+ years of collecting ancients. I hope that some of the more experienced collectors would weight in on this thread. In any event it's a neat error whatever the error is called.
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Valued Member
384 Posts |
Yes, I agree.....I am not bothered whether its a 'brockage' by definition, but intrigued as to how it has the ghosting and the reverse. I imagine the guy doing the hammering giving it a hesitant hit (thus the light imprint) which he had tried to stop when the poor guy removing the struck coins shouted..'desino!!)' and nearly got hit on the thumb.
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Replies: 35 / Views: 3,148 |
Posted 11/17/2013 5:09 pm
