Introduction

It must have been frustrating for the British rulers when they introduced the earliest gold staters. Soon after production started, the dies began to crack and chip. We know die damage started soon, because fresh dies with sharp images show the early stages of deterioration. The mint workers must have had no choice but to continue using the damaged dies. Soon, parts of the images became unrecognizable. The plans of the rulers to create impresssive gold objects were dashed.

It took the Ancient British die-cutters about forty years to learn how to make durable dies. Although they had the skills to create dies with wonderful images, they overestimated how many coins could be struck from them. As a result, the dies were used long after they had become broken – no longer fit for use.

Of the seven major issuing authorities, the coins of six show such damage: Atrebates, Cantii, Corieltauvi, Durotriges, Iceni and Trinovantes. The Dobunnic series stated later and it appears the mint workers had the benefit of better knowledge when they struck the first coins. (Details)

We don't know whether the dies were made of bronze or iron, but both metals become work-hardened with use. As coins were struck, the dies became harder and increasingly brittle. Eventually, they became damaged as bits of metal broke off from the edge of the die, or from the die's face.

After years of trial and error, the die-cutters probably learned how to choose the correct alloys and how to heat treat them for durability. They also learned that the way the dies were cut could also influence die-life.

Over the last forty years, I obtained examples of damage to study the various kinds seen on Ancient British gold. The use of a stereomicroscope was central to the analysis.

Die-damage can usefully be divided into two kinds: piece-outs and surface damage.

A) Piece-Outs or "Cuds"

Piece-outs or "cuds" occur when a piece of the die breaks off from the edge, and the coin is no longer struck by the die in this area. A raised area on the coin appears at the edge of the coin without any image on the side of the broken die. (Info)

Cuds usually appear on reverse dies, because they receive the direct blow of the hammer. But they also occur on obverse dies, and sometimes both dies have the damage.

Spectacular Cud on a Gallo-Belgic F Stater

Die damage appears on some of the Continental coins imported into Britain. The problem must have been wide-spread at the time. Thus, the British mint workers likely received little guidance from Gaul to solve the problem.

This Gallo-Belgic F stater has suffered massive die damage to the reverse die. A piece of the die has broken off above the horse, the damage extending all the way to the horse's tail.

The reverse die shows very little damage otherwise and it must have failed almost immediately.

The obverse die also shows damage. The upper wreath leaves have become connected, and a large cud has obliterated the lower leaves.

The massive damage may have been caused by a heavy-handed mint worker. The coin has been struck with such force that the flan has been bent out of shape. The flan has bent and curled up around the broken reverse die.

The cud's "cliff-face" shows something very unusual. At the red arrow, there's an overhang of material. The cliff-face was produced as the jagged edge of the broken die scraped the flan. Thus the overhang cannot have been a feature of the die.

The most likely cause of the overhang is that the flan was struck twice, the second strike producing the overhang. Note that the striations on the overhang are not parallel with those on the rest of the cliff-face. The die must have been angled differently when the second blow was struck.

Growth of a Cud on a Pair of Cheriton Staters

These two coins have been struck by the same dies, probably in close succession. The die axes of the two coins are almost identical, suggesting the mint worker never laid down the reverse die between the strikes. (Caution)

The first coin shows a flat spot on the obverse, where the cud appears on the reverse. On the second coin, the mint worker shifted the reverse die to the left, to avoid the cud. Thus the reverse die could now strike-up the obverse image. The shift has now created a new problem – what remained of the die was too small to cover the right side of the coin.

The two coins are not, however, successive strikes. There's been a bit more die damage with the second coin.

Cuds will continue to grow as additional pieces break off the edge of the die. Here, at the upper red arrows, the cud has engulfed more of the pellet. With the lower pair of red arrows, the cud moves closer to the leg of the "crab" below the horse. All this is consistent with the right hand coin being the later strike.

This state of affairs must have been frustrating for the mint workers. Both of the dies were fairly new when the reverse die broke. The workers must have believed they could produce thousands of more coins when disaster struck.

B) Surface Damage

Most of the earliest coin types show damage to the die faces. These dies were used often well beyond their useful life.

The die-makers lacked experience with alloys and cutting techniques. It would take them about forty years until they could produce durable die surfaces.

As dies are used, the constant pounding eventually causes small pieces pieces to break off the face. The pounding also work-hardens both iron and bronze dies. This makes them harder, but more brittle, increasing the rate of damage.

Die-cutting techniques make the situation worse. Punching deep laurel leaves, closely set, produces thin walls of metal between the leaves on the die. These walls quickly break off. If lines are sharply cut with a graver, the edges of the cuts are a weak place. They become worn away as metal flows into the engraved line during striking.

Die wear first shows up on the highest points of the die, and gradually expands to the point where the image is lost. Thus the first places to look for the early stage of die wear are the spaces between laurel leaves, pellets and other closely spaced image elements. Other places would include areas next to deeply-cut (or punched) image elements.

South Ferriby Stater Showing Early Stage of Die Damage

South Ferriby staters are a good series to start with, because the dies are very deeply cut. The image elements are often close together. These factors created many places where the dies could become damaged almost immediately. The dies for this stater were fairly new when damage began. The two curves that make up the breast and belly of the horse almost touch at the red arrow. On the die, the area between them is a very thin sliver of metal which quickly broke off.

On the die, the area between the breast and belly curves has already broken off (lowermost red arrow). There is almost nothing left of the wall between the two elements and they have become connected on the coin.

Additional areas of die loss appear between the curves of the horse's neck and belly (other three red arrows). This damage is only just starting on this stater, but will eventually become much worse. If the dies are used for enough strikings, eventually the horse's neck, breast and belly will become completely interconnected. Note that the breast and neck of the horse were cut so close on the die that there was no wall of metal between them.

Southern Westerham Stater

On this Southern Westerham stater the walls between the laurel leaves have become so damaged that there is now a deep depression in the die (red arrow). The result is a large, raised blob of metal on the coin and complete loss of the imagery. Note similar damage to the laurel leaves at the top of the coin.

Atrebatic Abstract Quarter Stater

On this Atrebatic Abstract quarter stater, the reverse die was damaged all over the surface. The three strands of the horse's tail are almost fused into one blob. The spur rowel below the horse has almost fused with horse's breast and front legs. The field object above the horse has fused into a large shallow blob as the surrounding surface of the die has chipped away.

Early Whaddon Chase Stater

Dies for the Whaddon Chase staters and quarters are another series showing extreme die damage. On this Early stater, the laurel leaves have fused into one large blob of metal. On the die, the walls between the leaves have completely broken away and the metal underneath has continued to chip away (red arrow).

Middle Whaddon Chase Stater

The die-cutters had not improved their work by the time the Middle Whaddon Chase staters were struck. The Middle Whaddon Chase staters were struck ten to fifteen years later than the first Early Whaddon Chase coins. This stater shows a large, raised blob of metal where the horse's rump, rear legs and tail once appeared. (red arrow)

Chute Stater

The Durotrigan mint did not escape the problem of die life. On this Chute stater, the horse's nose and front leg are becoming fused as the wall between them (on the die) breaks awaw. The horse's belly and the leg of the "crab" are becoming similarly fused.

Chute-Cheriton Transitional Stater

The Durotrigan mint's later coins show no improvement. The reverse die for this Chute-Cheriton Transitional stater has become damaged early in its life. Most of the imagery on the die is intact and sharp.

However, four pellets above the horse have become fused. If this die was used further, the pellets would become completely fused as the walls on the die all broke away. An enormous blob of metal would appear above the horse.

Cantian Quarter Stater

This Cantian quarter stater displays massive die damage on the reverse die.

Red arrows show large amounts of the reverse die's surface broken away. The image elements are merging and can no longer be seen clearly.

Icenian Coins

An earlier article has discussed die damage on an Icenian Norfolk Wolf stater – See: Van Arsdell 2021b Semiotics of Celtic Coins XIX – Dealing with Demons.

Flow Lines

When blanks are struck, the flan's metal is not only forced into the die, but the flan itself expands from the blow. Thus, the metal scrapes across the die as the coin is struck. The effect increases from the center to the edge of the coin.

Eventually, the scraping action produces fine grooves on the die. These are then struck up on later coins. The fine lines appear most prominently at the edges of the coin (red arrows).

Cantian Quarter Stater

The Cantian quarter stater discussed above also displays flow lines on the reverse die. On this enlarged image, the lines can be seen at the top of the coin (red arrows). The lines appear to start at the edges of imagery. This suggests that nicks appeared first at the edge of the image and these became elongated scratches over time.

That said, less obvious flow lines also appear all around the trophy. Thus the scraping action eventually appears all over the edge of the coin, regardless of the image locations.

C) Multiple Kinds of Die Damage

Very occasionally, a single coin exhibits several kinds of die damage – the following coin shows both surface damage and a cud. Such coins afford an easy opportunity to study the many problems facing a Celtic mint.

North East Coast Stater

This North East Coast stater once was part Archbishop John Sharp's collection. It was a 17th century find, becoming part of his collection sometime between 1685, when he began collecting, and his death in 1714. The collection was retained by the family for over 300 years. The Archbishop's stater became one of the earliest entries in the Celtic Coin Index (CCI 61.0064).

It was sold a number of times after 2017 and seems not to have found a permanent home.

It is, however one of those ugly coins that calls out for research. (Info) The Archbishop's stater has substantial damage to both of the dies – surface damage to the obverse and a cud on the reverse.

Unfortunately, with so few British Celtic Coins known during the Archbishop's time, there was little study of the numismatic details. It's instructive to note that this one coin would have allowed a numismatist to study the problems of a Celtic mint as early as early as the 17th century – had anyone taken notice.

The obverse of the stater shows rather advanced surface damage.

A coin struck from an earlier state of the die is known (CCI 01.1407). The earlier coin shows that the blob that runs between the curls of hair was once a sharp line.

The edges of the line have worn away on the die. The line has become merged with the curls (red arrows). A short segment of the original has survived (white arrow).

For the best representation of the original imagery see: CCI 93.0115. That coin was struck from a different obverse die, but the imagery is roughly the same and the die was almost new.

The coin's reverse shows a large cud below the horse (red arrows).

D) Other kinds of Damage Displayed on Later Coins

Clashed Dies

Clashed die damage occurs when the dies are stuck without a flan in place. Part of the image of each die is transferred to the other one. This produces an unusual combination of raised and imcuse imagery on both sides of any coins struck thereafter.

When this coin was struck, the clashed reverse die had already been replaced with a new one. Thus the clash marks do not appear on the reverse. Because the die was replaced, the locations of reverse image elements no longer correspond to the clash marks on the ovberse.

Clashed dies have been discussed in an earlier article: See Van Arsdell 1994e 'Clashed dies and the organization of Verica's mint (See Article).

Summary

The British rulers began to produce their own gold coins sometime around 70 - 60 BC. At this early date, the die-cutters would have had little knowledge of the skills needed to create coin dies. The mints could have received some guidance from tribes on the Continent. But those tribes were still learning the skills needed.

As a result, the dies for the first British staters failed prematurely. Coins struck from freshly-cut dies show evidence of die damage. Large pieces broke off the edges of some dies long before they they became worn out from use. As a result, the mints would have been faced with the prospect of making more dies than they anticipated needing. Ultimately, they had to learn how to improve die-life.

It would take forty years to learn how to improve the dies and another twenty to produce truly durable ones. We have no way to know whether the die-cutters changed the alloys of metals used, but better alloys might be expected. However, changes to methods of engraving the dies can definitely be detected in the imagery on the coins. This will be a topic for further study.

End