Coin Dies
Various articles about coin dies from the
Pictures of Sasanian and Hessian dies
I remember that ancient coin dies were a topic here not long ago. I came
across this on-line example while browsing through the State Museum of
Berlin catalog web site:
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18204574 (Large Picture:
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18204574&size=2&content=1&side=1)
Cheers,
Chris Hopkins
www.parthia.com
Also:
Another Sasanian Die:
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18201599 (Large Picture:
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18201599&size=2&content=0&side=1)
Hessian Die
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18201605 (Large Picture:
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18201605&size=2&content=0&side=1)
A second die from the same ruler.
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18201606 (Large Picture:
http://www.smb.museum/ikmk/object.php?id=18201606&size=2&content=0&side=0)
The first die is much shorter. However, the second die
suffered a fatal fracture. It suggests that the die faces actually outlived the
dies. That they were used until either the face was
unusable or the die could no longer be held even with tongs
or pliers.
Austrian Hammered Die - 1623
http://www.oenb.at/de/popup/popup_mo_muenzstempel_24_kreuzer_1623_page.jsp
And here is the original article:
http://www.oenb.at/de/ueber_die_oenb/geldmuseum/oesterr_geldgeschichte/taler/das_zeitalter_des_talers.jsp
Tirol - Circa 1195
The image is small, but four dies, two uber (top) and two ober (bottom) are
shown in side view.
http://sammellust.tiroler-landesmuseum.at/objekte/1861b.html
Elizabeth I of England die
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=77512
Byzantine
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=6002&AucID=8&Lot=2253
Kushan Dies
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=151612&AucID=181&Lot=586
What is interesteing about these is how short they are. Obviously they had to be
held with tongs or set into some kind of collar.
Same dies with better views
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=105428&AucID=111&Lot=829
Roman dies
These are all crude. Maybe the work of forgers
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=159779&AucID=195&Lot=117
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=167169&AucID=209&Lot=416
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=191905&AucID=245&Lot=2861
These are button like. Again, the probably set into a collar or holder of
some type.
http://www.numismatikforum.de/ftopic18826.html
An article in Swiss about a possible Roman
counterfeiter
mint or perhaps a legal temporary mint. Some good pictures.
http://www.archaeologisch.de/forschung/muenzen/muenzen.html
Here is a rough translation:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.archaeologisch.de/forschung/muenzen/muenzen.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DM%25C3%25BCnzstempel%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DGGLG,GGLG:2005-45,GGLG:en%26sa%3DN
A large selection of forger dies
Roman
http://www.barakatgallery.com/Store/Index.cfm?FuseAction=subcatItemsDetails&UserID=0&CategoryID=33&SubCategoryID=882
What is interesting is that many appear to be bronze.
A forger die for Rome Republican Denarius
Made of bronze and not much more than a stub. The explanation says that it was
made to fit into a casing that would protect the die itself.
http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/jencek/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=5288&large=0
Broken die of Caracalla
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=66232
Augustus
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=48828
Nero
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=48828
More dies
http://www.snible.org/coins/christodoulos/
"Modern" die - 1845-1847
http://www.numispedia.de/M%FCnzstempel
Coin Dies from York, England
While browsing through Num. Circ. 1980 the other day I came across an
article by Martin Walker (p.400) titled "Proof that die was cast in York".
It begins:
"The first pre-1066 die for making coins to have been found in Britain has been
unearthed in York's Coppergate excavations. Researchers at the York
Archaeological Trust believe that this is the first die from the Dark Ages to
have been found in Europe. Strikingly, it suggests that York's tenth century
craftsmen had some knowledge of the technology of steel. The die is made of
iron, coated with charcoal and burnt to produce a crude kind of steel which
could withstand the stamping of hundreds of coins. The die produced coins for
the special ecclesiastical mint of the York Minster, during the Viking
occupation of the city, at about A.D. 915 to 925. It stamped coins [silver
pennies apparently - R.G.] with a hammer and sword motif, and the words Sancti
Petri Meonetus - St. Peter's Pence.
...
The Minster may have produced coins to earn money after the looting of its
treasures by the Vikings, or to alleviate a local coin shortage.
...
The die, an iron rod about 4 inches long with the design carved in one end, is
the single most important find to have come the trust's excavations in
Coppergate.
..."
Very interesting - an ancient steel, rather than iron, die - and NOT apparently,
a forger's copy.
Ross Glanfield
This die (St. Peters Penny) is one of two found at York in 1980/81 (the other
being a die (cap) for an Aethelstan penny), within about 30 feet of each other.
They can be read about in the report:
Pirie, Elizabeth J. E., Post-Roman Coins from York Excavations 1971-81 (York
Archaeological Trust, York 1986), 83 + xx pp., 20 pls.
Other (more accessible) accounts may be found in:
Addyman, Peter V., "Eburacum, Jorvik, York," Scientific American, March 1980,
pp. 76-86.
Addyman, Peter V., "Excavating Viking Age York," Archaeology, May/June 1980, pp.
14-22.
Best wishes,
Bill Malkmus
Forger Dies from the late middle-ages
http://www.exeter.gov.uk/timetrail/07_middleages/object_detail.asp?photoref=7_34