Charles shilling small over large XII

[Mat 2]

Hi

I know these issues are full of quirky differences and I know the reasons behind over striking a mm, however I have never come across a particularly plausible reason for striking a small XII over a large XII. Any thoughts? There is some doubling of the letters on that side of the coin so maybe it was finished off with another die.

I bought it a while ago but have only just got around to looking at it properly!

Cheers

Mat

[TomGoodheart 400]

From the way the 'R' of CAROLVS is slightly merged with the 'O' I think it's a result of double striking Mat. The coin has jumped a little in the die between hammer strikes (several were often needed to get a decent result) and the design has been restruck a bit out of alignment with the first strike.

That's one of the interesting aspects of hammered coinage. I remember one dealer having a coin that had flipped completely over and appeared to have the reverse design on both sides, though on closer inspection it was just possible to make out the bust under the design on one side.

[Mat 2]

From the way the 'R' of CAROLVS is slightly merged with the 'O' I think it's a result of double striking Mat. The coin has jumped a little in the die between hammer strikes (several were often needed to get a decent result) and the design has been restruck a bit out of alignment with the first strike.

That's one of the interesting aspects of hammered coinage. I remember one dealer having a coin that had flipped completely over and appeared to have the reverse design on both sides, though on closer inspection it was just possible to make out the bust under the design on one side.

I did assume that at first, however when examining the XII closely, it looks like the font is a different style, the larger XII does not have the same kind of serifs, the last I even has one in the opposite direction to the last I in the smaller XII. Of course if there are more than two strikes then it could all merge into one.