Nummus letter punches

[mauseus]

Hi,

I recently acquired the follis or nummus below and noticed a mis entered letter O on the obverse:

Constantius I as Caesar 293-305 AD
AE Follis
Obv: FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C
Laureate bust right
Rev: GENIO POPVLI ROMANI
Genius standing left, altar to left
-/-//-
Uncertain continental mint (Boulogne?) operating around the time of the British invasion
RIC (VI) Lyon 17a

The letter O of CONSTANTIVS is composed of two punched arcs of different curvature, mis-aligned on the die.

The other letter O's on both the obverse and reverse are also created from two curved punches of different curvatures but mostly much better aligned. Look, for example, at the O in POPVLI on the reverse.

That the Romans used component punches is not a surprise, and the practice was certainly done in mediaeval times, but this is the first time I've seen such a blatant mis-match. The letter O would certainly be difficult to construct as a single punch to produce a decent round shape even though its finished form is so simple.

Regards,

Mauseus

[leetoone]

If you look at the O in GENIO and in POPULI you can see that they are formed in the same fashion with the same punches in the same alignment. A very interesting coin, Mauseus.

[Congius]

Interesting coin, Mauseus. Great proof of the use of punches.

I'd never noticed one of these before, but looking specifically at these "Boulogne" coins I did find another online:

http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/natto/id/maximian/maxi153.jpg

And from Lyons itself here's another that sold "online" last year. No misalignment, but you can see a "flat" side on the O's where a shorter less-curved punch was used to finish them.

Ben

[mix_val]

Would it be correct to say that the punches to the die were made after the portrait was etched? 
It seems to me that the obverse legend of Mauseus' coin is initially compressed and becomes significantly less so as one progresses clockwise.  The reverse's legend is a better job.  One of the things that I find appealing about ancient coins is their hand-made quality

[jamesicus]

.......... I recently acquired the follis or nummus below and noticed a mis entered letter O on the obverse .......... The letter O of CONSTANTIVS is composed of two punched arcs of different curvature, mis-aligned on the die .......... The other letter O's on both the obverse and reverse are also created from two curved punches of different curvatures but mostly much better aligned. Look, for example, at the O in POPVLI on the reverse.

That the Romans used component punches is not a surprise, and the practice was certainly done in mediaeval times, but this is the first time I've seen such a blatant mis-match. The letter O would certainly be difficult to construct as a single punch to produce a decent round shape even though its finished form is so simple ...........

I too have seen occasional blundered letters, Mauseus.

Having cut/inscribed Roman Capital letters myself in stone, wood/linoleum blocks and various metals I can imagine the die engravers  would have used a selection of chisels and punches -- the quality of the lettering may therefor have depended  to a great extent on the skill of the tool makers. The size of the planchet and the quality of the coin metal would also be determining factors. Certainly blundered letters did occur as evidenced by the S in CAES (poor spacing too) and the S in COS on the following almost mint state Quadrans of Claudius.
 

CLAUDIUS, RIC Volume I, No. 88