Most coins were made by first pouring a disc of metal in a mold. The disc was then placed between a lower die (usually "heads") and an upper die ("tails") and struck with a hammer. If the metal had cooled too much before striking, cracks usually formed at the edges of the coin.

Many small bronze Jewish coins were mass-produced. The mold created a strip of discs connected at their rims. Each disc along the strip was struck, usually a bit off center because of carelessness. The discs were then broken apart from each other to become coins. Notice the flat, protruding, or recessed edges along some coin rims. These are breakage scars. Look for them especially on the coin of Herod I and on those of the size of the "widow's mite".
[SGI 5527=H 490]

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