Anglo Saxon Coins and "Chinese Whispers"

It may be hard to believe, but the design of the central and right-hand coins is based on the Antoninianus (left). It seems that Anglo Saxon coiners had the difficult job of making copies of Roman coins with no access to the originals. They repeatedly copied images and writing that probably made little sense: a kind of numismatic "Chinese Whispers"! What fascinates me as a painter is that I use exactly the same process to refine and abstract an image. Most coins were created by bashing a metal disc with a steel mould, called a "die" and it was this that had to be engraved, not the coin. No wonder distortions occurred; those coiners were trying to copy a mysterious profile head and illegible Latin inscription onto a tiny steel disc, in reverse! Each punched hollow in the die forms a little bead-like shape, called a "pellet". There's a chain of them forming the mouth on the right hand penny. Even though these silver pennies are cruder in execution, repeated copying has strengthened their composition. Look at the meandering, weak shape between the profile and lettering of the Antoninianus. Compare this with the integration of the profile and lettering on the two pennies.