Stone Mold for Tokens
c. 510 BCE-395 CE
Description
Small block of whitish limestone. The top surface is smoothed and almost rectangular; the lower surface is rough, rising in the middle. In the upper right and lower left corner are the remains of iron pins. The top surface is apparently one half of a mould for making small tokens, presumably of lead. A groove runs from the bottom to terminate in a slightly sunk circle just below the upper end. From the groove branch off on each side three further grooves, each terminating in a similar slightly sunk disk. Each of the seven circles is carved with the design of Fortuna holding a cornucopia and rudder, common on such tokens, and is approximately 1.4 cm in diameter and each has a small hole in its center. The upper half of the mould would presumably have been a duplicate and could be centered by the two iron rods at the corners.
Dimensions
7.6 x 10.8 x 2.8 cm (3 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/8 in.)
Provenance
Gift of Professor Walton Brooks McDaniel to the Department of the Classics, 1943.
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