Overstrike (numismatics)
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In Numismatics Overstrike refers to when a coin is overstruck with the same or a different design. This occurs when the first strike is unsatisfactory and a coin is deliberately overstruck, or accidentally if the blank slips out of place or if the dies judder, and normally results in slight doubling of the design.
Sometimes old and worn coins were used to strike new designs on by later rulers. This occurred in the Roman Empire, see sestertius, and also in more modern times. Due to a shortage of silver the mint of George III of Great Britain used Spanish silver dollars in the early 1800s, and overstruck the king's image and legends on them.
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[edit] Ancient world
In the ancient world, use of overstrikes was no uncommon, since the manufacture of flans was resource consumptive; thus a foreign or outdated coin could be overstruck with less investment than new mintage.[1] Evidence of overstriking appears as early as about 500 BC when coins of Aegina were overstruck by the ancient city of Kydonia on Crete.[2] In this case and many others, the overstrike can be a valuable aid to dating an ancient coin, an era when dates were not commonly affixed to the design.[3]
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[edit] Line notes
[edit] Reference sources
- Michael Crawford, Emilio Gabba, Fergus Millar and Anthony M. Snodgrass (1983) Sources for Ancient History, Cambridge University Press, 250 pages ISBN:052128958
- C. Michael Hogan, Cydonia, Modern Antiquarian, Jan 23, 2008 [1]
- Otto Mørkholm, Philip Grierson and Ulla Westermark (1991) Early Hellenistic Coinage, Cambridge University Press, 273 pages ISBN:0521395046
