2008.118: Stone Mold for Tokens

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2008.118

Title

Stone Mold for Tokens

Classification

Tools and Equipment

Work Type

mold

Date

c. 510 BCE-395 CE

Period

Roman period

Culture

Roman

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/57273

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Stone

Technique

Carved

Dimensions

7.6 x 10.8 x 2.8 cm (3 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Gift of Professor Walton Brooks McDaniel to the Department of the Classics, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Alice Corinne McDaniel Collection, Department of the Classics, Harvard University

Accession Year

2008

Object Number

2008.118

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

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.

Verification Level