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Anyone know why they had so much trouble making the coins round? In fact I feel a lot of ancient metal work looks a bit non-symmetric (dare I say sloppy?) - tho
by geokon 5y ago
Anyone know why they had so much trouble making the coins round? In fact I feel a lot of ancient metal work looks a bit non-symmetric (dare I say sloppy?) - though there doesn't seem to be any technical limitation at play
- JoeAltmaier 5y agoGuessing that was due to filing, or a counterfeiter without the proper tools. A good roman Denarius should be thick, heavy and quite round.
- uticus 5y agoI would love to hear more on theories with this. From an armchair-level of knowledge, I agree: filing would be serious indeed if the value was based on weight.
- masklinn 5y ago> In fact I feel a lot of ancient metal work looks a bit non-symmetric (dare I say sloppy?) - though there doesn't seem to be any technical limitation at play Clipping[0] is probably the main reason: at the time, coin face value was directly based on their metals content. If you shaved and sold off the metal while using the coin for its face value, you'd make a profit. That might go on until the coin got so obviously debased it wouldn't be accepted anymore. Warding against clipping is (supposedly) the reason why modern coins are often ridged and inscribed. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_coin_debasement#Coin_clipping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_coin_debasement#Coi...
- geokon 5y agoI think you're just guessing In the link you provide the first picture "An unclipped siliqua" it's clearly not round and off center If anything the clipped ones are rounder and more symmetric
- Ekaros 5y agoI think something to remember is that they were mass produced by hand with relatively primitive tools. No precisely aligned powered(steam or anything) presses available. Often forgotten that precise machining is quite late invention from around 1800.