Holed Coin of Hadrian

[v-drome]

Hi. Here is a piece of lead, apparently used to hole a coin of Hadrian.  The lead was laid over the coin and a nail was struck from the back, leaving a partial impression of the obverse.  In the right light the inscription clearly reads HADRIA..., and shows half of a laureate head.  There is a faint impression of another coin in the left top corner.  The maker may have had a strip of lead, and each piece was broken off after it was punched to make room for the next coin.  Any comments or ideas are welcome, Regards, V-drome

32.5x23x2.0mm 12.11gm.
Diameter of impression: 19.0mm.

[SC]

Fascinating.

I have several dozen holed coins but have not seen anything like this before.

Like many holed coins I have seen it appears that care was taken to ensure that the hole did not pass through the Emperor's bust.  But putting a sheet of lead over the coin before hammering in the nail would have made that kind of precision much more complicated.  The top of the lead sheet does not even seen to be rounded in a way that would show the coin outline from above and make it easier to hit the spot.

I wonder what exactly it was for?  All I can think of is that simply placing a nail on the coin surface and hitting it might have led to the nail bouncing around and thus scratching the surface before actually penetrating the coin.  Perhaps the use of the lead sheet allowed the nail to "bite in" better.

Shawn

[*Alex]

Like many holed coins I have seen it appears that care was taken to ensure that the hole did not pass through the Emperor's bust. 
Shawn

Taking that a bit further perhaps the lead was to protect the bust from being damaged by being hit with the hammer. If the nail was already through the lead it wouldn't make positioning it on the coin too difficult.

Alex.

[PeterD]

The lead was laid over the coin and a nail was struck from the back, leaving a partial impression of the obverse.

No that's not possible. All the force would be down the nail, with no force impacting on the lead except at the point of the nail. And the burr on the hole in the lead would not stick out like that. It seems as if the burr is in the hole in the coin, but it wouldn't be as the nail would be there -if you see what I mean.

I think that an un-holed coin has been pressed into the lead by hitting the coin or the lead, maybe as some sort of identification mark. Then at a later stage the lead sheet has been nailed to something. Just coincidence that the nail has gone through the coin impression.

Still interesting though.

[v-drome]

Hi Peter, Shawn and Alex.  I appreciate your ideas.  It is correct that there is no sign of impact on the back of the lead, and I was wondering about it.   My first thought was that the coin may have been pressed in or sandwiched between two pieces of lead prior to striking, with the goal of preventing the coin from bending.   The top and bottom edges seem to be evenly cut with a chisel or shears, while the right and left sides look like they were snapped off by bending back and forth.  If, in fact the lead was used to hole the coin, I would not rule out the possibility that the high burr was created when the nail or punch was extracted.  Do you think this was a denarius?  Thanks, again, Jimi

[v-drome]

Well, I just spent a half hour trying to drive a nail, and then a steel punch, through a quarter and I am here to tell you that there is nothing easy about it.  After my thumb heals I may try it again.  Peter's explanation seems more likely to me now.  I have seen some holed coins that were apparently drilled, and this seems like a much more practical method, but I really have no clue.   Thanks, Jimi

(edit) OK, with a big enough hammer and sharp enough nail it is actually not too difficult.  The next step is to get a strip of lead and see what happens when they are stacked up. v-drome.

[djmacdo]

A quarter is harder than silver.

[SC]

I am working on an article on holed coins.

Yes, some were drilled, but punched seems to be more common and there is good evidence that many of these were heated before they were punched.

SC