RIC 238 Titus Protocontorniate

Æ Protocontorniate As, 10.53g
Rome mint, 80-81 AD
Obv: IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P COS VIII; Head of Titus, laureate, bearded, l.
Rev: S C in field; Spes stg. l., with flower
RIC 238 (C). BMC 214. BNC 221.
Acquired from eBay, January 2021.

This common as of Titus may have served another life centuries later functioning as a protocontorniate. Nathan T. Elkins describes them as such: 'A protocontorniate is a normal, large-module bronze coin, typically a sestertius, which at some point was later altered by hammering the edges of the coin so that it could serve some other use. A common assumption is that protocontorniates functioned as game counters since the rim created through hammering could protect the designs. Andreas Alföldi believed
protocontorniates to be forerunners of the contorniates of the fourth and
fifth centuries. He argued that protocontorniates were New Year’s gifts and
that the older coins were actually hammered in the fourth century before the
contorniates proper came into being.' Although this coin is not a sestertius, I believe it to be one of these so called 'game counters'. The edges appear to have been hammered in antiquity because of the similar patina with the coin's flat surfaces.

For the price of a nice dinner out on the town I think I've acquired a nifty numismatic oddity.