This is interesting, though probably not "coin of the day" material. It's a
denarius of
Hadrian with a base metal loop attachment. Thanks to Andreas for pointing this one out to me.
The loop reacts with medium strength to a magnet. It must therefore contain a ferromagnetic substance such as iron, cobalt or
nickel. The rusty appearance suggests some iron content, but the magnetic effect is not strong enough for it to be pure iron.
The lumps on each
face of the loop look like the heads of a rivet, so a hole in the coin can be deduced. The off-side positioning of the loop, which is now corroded in place, suggests that at one time it swivelled freely.
A light-coloured core is visible on both sides of the loop, suggesting that the coin was once suspended on a silver wire.
Given the likely iron content, this loop might not have been attached in ancient times, but it does not look particularly modern, either.
This is another example of a coin with an astrological theme being chosen as a personal adornment. The off-centre positioning of the hole seems to be quite common in
ancient coins. In more modern times, the attraction of symmetry is irresistible.
This image is an amalgam of four different photos. I
had to combine two to get a decent image of the
reverse. The depth of
field in these shots is so shallow that the loop and the coin were not both in focus at the same time.
