1. Ancient Coin Project created by Latin teacher Cathy Scaife for
Photo by Doug Smith;
Ancient Coin Project
created by Latin teacher Cathy Scaife for
Ancient Coins for Education
classroom attribution project.

2. Part II Production of Roman Coins
Photo by Doug Smith;
Ancient Coin Project
Part II
Production of Roman Coins

3. 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

4. Possession of Metal

5. 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: alloy of copper and tin
Silver
Gold (rare)

6. Juno Moneta Tools and Techniques to Mint a Coin 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.

7. The Making of a Coin:
Mints in the Roman Empire

8. The Minting of Roman Coins
---casting in a mold
---striking

9. Cast Bronze Coinage: 5th c.- mid 2nd c. BCE
1. Aes rude, central Italy, 3rd c.
2. AE dolphin money, Olbia, 5-4th c.
3. Aes grave, wheel coins
4. Tooth-shaped, Akragas, Sicily, 5th c.
5. Arrow or leaf ,6th-5th c.

10. Aes Grave
Janus / Galley As (pl. Asses)

11. Striking: Making a Flan
ancient coin mold
funnel-shaped bronze for pouring liquid metal into cast

12. 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

13. 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)

14. A Coin Maker’s Tools

15. Display,
Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.

16. 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”

17. Dies Byzantine die
Islamic die
Byzantine
coin

18. Forgers’ Dies
1-Sestertius
2-Mark Antony
3-Republican

19. Modern Die and Hub
American Numismatic
Association Museum,
Colorado Springs

20. 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)

21. Coin Denominations
Roman denominations
during the Republic

22. Obverse (“heads”)
CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES
“Constantius Nobilissimus Caesar”
Reverse (“tails”)
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
“to the genius of the Roman people”

23. Attribution of the Images on the Coin

24. 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.”

25. Gold Coins: Fine Coin Craftsmanship
Plantation Place, England

26. The Kentucky Quarter What similarities and differences
do you see with ancient coins?

27. GOOFS
Brockage: the result of a coin sticking in a die when a second coin gets struck.

28. 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

29. 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

30. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
Countermark: Small punch mark used by a mint to retariff a coin.

31. COUNTERFEITING ?? Baked Clay Molds
used for casting Roman coins made of bronze

32. 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

33. 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.
Website, American Numismatic Museum.
Other Images donated by supporters of Ancient Coins for Education, as listed at