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Glossary · Numismatics

Flan and die

The blank disc of metal (flan) struck between two engraved dies to make a coin; ancient flans are hand-cut and struck off-centre, and their irregular edges and die cracks are what a cast fake lacks.

The blank disc of metal (flan) struck between two engraved dies to make a coin; ancient flans are hand-cut and struck off-centre, and their irregular edges and die cracks are what a cast fake lacks. A “die match” to a published specimen is a strong authentication.

Sources

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Flan and die" (Glossary). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16. https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/flan. Accessed 2026-09-21.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-flan,
  title        = {Flan and die},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/glossary/flan}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Glossary article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-16; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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