Roman Provincial Coin - Need Help Iding Please

The provincial mints, especially Nikopolis, often crammed the legend elsewhere on the coin when they ran out of space on the outside. Sometimes it would go into the fields, sometimes it would plough straight into the ex. Here, it seems this celator learnt his lesson from the example Bob linked - he has managed included the text from the ex. in the legend proper on your example:

Obv: AV K Λ CEΠ CEVHPOC ΠE.
Rev: VΠA AVP ΓAΛΛOV NEIKOΠOΛI ΠPOC IC.
Ex. blank

I think it is fair to say this is the same issue, but a legend break variant. Very helpfully, the key bit of the emperors name is the only surviving part of the obverse legend: [SE]P SEV[EROS].

Awesome, thanks so much Bob and Ben! I never knew that about how they pushed the exergue into the legend..

Links didn't work bob, but I was able to look up the Varbanov # on Wildwinds:


Septimius Severus AE27 of Nikopolis ad Istrum. Magistrate Pol. Auspicos. 10.16 g.

AY KAI CEP CEYHROC PER, laureate head right.
YPA POL AYCPIKOC NIKOPOLI PROC IC, Nike standing left, leaning on column, holding wreath and palm.

Varbanov 2785; Moushmov 920

They look very much alike. I'm sorta new to coins so I'm not sure if it's a die match. Does that mean it was struck by the same exact die as mine

That begs the question, did they copy dies too? Like use the same mold to make more than one, or does each place make their own?

I agree, looks like a die match on both faces. A 'die match' implies that the same exact die has been used to strike both coins. It can be hard to tell sometimes - some mints used their dies right up until they fell apart, so even two mint state coins from the same dies can look very different, with chips, die cracks and worn out details. They would also re-cut dies to sharpen up the details and extend the useful life of the die - that is often seen on the obverse, where it is important to keep the emperors features crisp. This also explains why so many coins (especially 3rd century antoniniani) have a sharp obverse die paired with an almost unreadable reverse die.

They hand cut each die, rather than cast them, so there were no direct copies (unlike modern dies which are all copies). Forgers would cast coins using reusable clay molds, many of which have been found in archaeological digs. Each mint cut their own dies and later each officina would cut its own dies too, leading to the unique styles seen for each mint mark. You can see the style of each officina within a mint city if you stare at enough of their coinage - though celators (die sinkers) could move between these officinas, or perhaps trained others by moving between them. Once a die was worn out, it would be destroyed - very few have survived to the modern day, but heres an example from the roman provinces:



One die would be secured facing up, the other die would be held in tongs by one worker, while another whacked it with a sledge hammer.

Wow, thanks so much Ben. That is nothing short of amazing. How did they carve these intricate details into stone?

Like, I see some of the most beautiful coins from Rome and then I see coins from like 1200 years later (english hammered) and it's like a child made it. What blows my mind is how detailed the Romans were in preserving coins and likenesses in not only stone, but coin as well!