How about we make a
thread for unusual coins, strange stories, and out-of-the-ordinary discoveries?
Have you
had any coins that were damaged or altered on purpose? Did someone scratch a mustache onto
Caesar? What about that one time when you found a coin in an old
Roman toilet?
Let's hear these stories.
Anyway, I'll start.
I got this coin mixed in along with a bunch of other uncleaned coins. I didn't think much of it at the time, and I originally thought it was a worthless metal slug, since it was misshapen, and clearly broken up.
However, after I'd soaked it in olive oil for 6 months and brushed it off, it became clear that at some point 1700 or so years ago, some ancient person
had cut the image of the emperor out of the coin!
Who knows why they did it. Was it an art project? Were they removing the bronze, but were afraid to cut the image of their ruler? Were they just bored? Their reason is forever lost to
history.
Feel free to move this thread if you think it belongs elsewhere