2017-03-04 Sat

Brockage refers to a type of error coin in which one side of the coin has the normal design and the other side has a mirror image of the same design impressed upon it.

Brockage errors are caused when an already minted coin sticks to the coin die and impresses onto another blank that hasn't been struck yet, pressing a mirror image of the other coin into the blank.

One can distinguish between obverse and reverse brockages. Obverse brockages occur when the previously struck coin was not ejected and gets stuck to the lower die, and reverse brockages when the previously struck coin remains stuck to the upper die.

Such coins come quite frequently in Western Kshatrapa coins and are known for their brockages. The other term used for brockage is ‘lakhi’. The term Lakhi is derived from word ‘lakh’ which signifies the number of coins struck after every one lakh coins are minted. The “kshatrap lakhi” coins are commonly found though the lakhi coins with dates on it are quite rare.

Similar types of brockages are even seen on Roman coins.

In Ancient India, Kshatraps were very particular and accurate about minting coins. It is believed that these all brockage coins were minted on purpose which signified a much synchronized structure.

Also, these were deliberate attempts to keep a track of how many coins have been minted and followed a structured approach which was very well monitored & well organized.

What do you think?
We see many brockage on British Indian coins also, so did they follow the minting technique of Kshatrap’s?

Here’s another interesting fact: We don’t see PMC’s and Cast coins having brockages due to their minting technique!