to mark the Royal Jubilee here are some Royal Medallions courtesy of Charles
www.charlesriley.co.uk
special announcement for April 1st
Archaeologists have discovered a hoard of countermarks which
are not with the coins. This is unusual as countermarks are usually on coins.
It is believed that these were either trial strikes, the ancient countermarker
could not obtain host coins to stamp, or simply the person missed the coin when
stamping.
In ancient times coins were sometimes countermarked for use
by Legions or to refer to a new emperor. In these cases where only the
countermark is left and not the coin – probably the ancient coin maker ran out
of coins.
The theme this month was travelling mints. (Not travel
sweets)
An army on the march would need vast quantities of coin and the technology for minting coins was quite portable. Roman armies may have had mobile mints. Some coins are common in some areas where there was campaigning for example this coin featuring Britannia.
Roman Denarius issued by T. Carisius (46BCE) showing the
moneyer's die, anvil, hammer and tongs
By Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.
http://www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=524450
This bronze as (top coin) , dated to AD 155, was common in Britain but
rare in other parts of the Roman Empire. It may well have formed part of a
special shipment of coin to the island or produced at a travelling mint.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
Happy New Year