Transcript Ancient Coin Project - Lexington Catholic High School

Photo by Doug Smith; http://dougsmith.ancients.info/
Ancient Coin Project
created by Latin teacher Cathy Scaife for
Ancient Coins for Education
classroom attribution project.
Photo by Doug Smith; http://dougsmith.ancients.info/
Ancient Coin Project
Part II
Production of Roman Coins
The Making of a Coin:
---authority to issue and guarantee coin’s worth
---possession of metal
---ability to refine metal to desired purity
---tools/techniques to fabricate coin from
metal
Possession of Metal
Ability to Refine Metals
(Pliny, Natural History Bk. XXXIII)
Alloy:
the mixing of precious metals with base
metals to create a usable material
Electrum: natural alloy of gold and silver
Bronze:
Silver
Gold (rare)
alloy of copper and tin
Tools and Techniques to Mint a Coin
Juno Moneta
Roman goddess of
the mint
---a temple to
Juno Moneta was
dedicated on the citadel
of Rome In 344 B.C.
---an adjoining building
contained the mint of
Roman state.
The Making of a Coin:
Mints in the Roman Empire
The Minting
of Roman Coins
---casting in a mold
---striking
Cast Bronze Coinage:
5th c.- mid 2nd c. BCE
1. Aes rude, central Italy, 3rd c.
2. AE dolphin money, Olbia, 5-4th c.
http://dougsmith.ancients.info/
3. Aes grave, wheel coins
4. Tooth-shaped, Akragas, Sicily, 5th c.
5. Arrow or leaf ,6th-5th c.
Aes Grave
Janus / Galley As (pl. Asses)
Striking: Making a Flan
ancient coin mold
funnel-shaped bronze
for pouring liquid metal
into cast
Striking: Making of a Flan
---cabo de barro (cob style) cookie dough style
(chiseling the end off a rod)
Severus Alexander
---hammering a bronze wire
The Making of a Coin:
Tools/techniques to fabricate coin from metal
---flan
---dies (obverse & reverse)
---tongs
---striking process
---coin rotation
Medieval Striking Rig
(but set up is similar to a
Roman rig)
A Coin
Maker’s Tools
Display,
Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.
Much Slave Labor Required
Celatores (signatores) = die engravers cut master die from which working
dies were made; dies lasted for 10,000 – 50,000 strikes
Suppostores = “placers”
Malleatores = “strikers”
Dies
Byzantine die
Islamic die
Byzantine
coin
Forgers’ Dies
1-Sestertius
2-Mark Antony
3-Republican
Modern Die and Hub
American Numismatic
Association Museum,
Colorado Springs
The Making of a Coin:
Tools/techniques to fabricate coin from metal
---flan
---dies (obverse & reverse)
---tongs
---striking process
---coin rotation
Medieval Striking Rig
(but set up is similar to a
Roman rig)
Coin Denominations
Roman denominations
during the Republic
Obverse (“heads”)
CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES
“Constantius Nobilissimus Caesar”
Reverse (“tails”)
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
“to the genius of the Roman people”
Attribution of the Images on the Coin
Nero
Claudius
Caesar
Augustus
Germanicus
Pontifex Maximus
Tribunicia Potestas
Imperator
Pater Patriae
“Caesar Augustus Nero
Claudius, High Priest and
Ruler of Rome and
Germany, Supreme
Commander of the armies of
Rome, the father of his
country, leader of the
Triumviratefor as long as he
shall live.”
Gold Coins:
Fine Coin Craftsmanship
Plantation Place, England
The Kentucky Quarter
What similarities and differences
do you see with ancient coins?
GOOFS
• Brockage: the result of a coin sticking in
a die when a second coin gets struck.
GOOFS
Clashed Dies: Dies are hammered together without a coin
in place, so that the softer reverse die receives a partial
impression of the obverse.
1.Clodius Albinus, AVG.
from Lugdunum
2.Julia Domna denarii
SPECIAL
TECHNIQUES:
Silvering: technique of soaking coins in salt water to give
them a silvery appearance
Debasement: the weakening of currency by reducing the
amount of precious metal content
SPECIAL
TECHNIQUES
Countermark: Small punch mark used by a mint to retariff a
coin.
COUNTERFEITING ??
Baked Clay Molds
used for casting Roman coins made of bronze
COUNTERFEITING
Fouree: the coating
of a copper coin with
a silver wash.
Serrated Edges: perhaps
used to prove coin was not
a fouree and edges not shaved
Image Sources
• Meshorer, Ya’akov. Coins of the Ancient World. Lerner Archaeology
Series: Digging Up the Past. (Lerner Publications Company,
Minneapolis, 1980).
• Russell, Solveig Paulson. From Barter to Gold: The Story of Money.
(Rand McNally & Company, Chicago, 1961).
• Website by Doug Smith. http://dougsmith.ancients.info/
• Website, American Numismatic Museum. www.money.org
• Other Images donated by supporters of Ancient Coins for Education,
as listed at http://www.bitsofhistory.com/acc/CI.html