Posted 07/28/2015 6:54 pm
Unlike coins, intact coin dies (from any era) are very rarely found, because they were very rarely lost. Being a celator (die-engraver) was a craft, and like any other ancient craft its tools and techniques were trade secrets. Coin dies were especially guarded, since dies falling into the wrong hands would create counterfeits.
The majority of "dies" you do find are almost certainly counterfeiter's dies, because they're far more likely to be simply thrown away. We often have no idea what actual, genuine ancient coin dies from certain places and time periods would look like, because none have survived.
Reverse dies are more likely to survive, as these were the "hand-held" tools, not unlike a punch. The obverse dies were, as far as records and the few surviving examples testify, usually designed to be set into an anvil-like block, with a long tapering spike for a "handle". What we have in this particular instance is a reverse die that has a coin still stuck in it, showing the obverse. Presumably, the mint-worker put it aside with the intent to try again at prising the coin out at a later date, and somehow it got lost.
As they say on the website, brockages were likely struck from it. A tribute penny brockage is a rare thing - I couldn't find a picture of one on the Net, though such things no doubt exist - and a die used to create tribute penny brockages would be even rarer. That die sold for $11,000.
The majority of "dies" you do find are almost certainly counterfeiter's dies, because they're far more likely to be simply thrown away. We often have no idea what actual, genuine ancient coin dies from certain places and time periods would look like, because none have survived.
Reverse dies are more likely to survive, as these were the "hand-held" tools, not unlike a punch. The obverse dies were, as far as records and the few surviving examples testify, usually designed to be set into an anvil-like block, with a long tapering spike for a "handle". What we have in this particular instance is a reverse die that has a coin still stuck in it, showing the obverse. Presumably, the mint-worker put it aside with the intent to try again at prising the coin out at a later date, and somehow it got lost.
As they say on the website, brockages were likely struck from it. A tribute penny brockage is a rare thing - I couldn't find a picture of one on the Net, though such things no doubt exist - and a die used to create tribute penny brockages would be even rarer. That die sold for $11,000.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
