![]() Remember that the Romans used abbreviations to save space, so consult your manuals to work out the text.Ī silver coin of Emperor Trajan, via Wildwindsįor example, the legend reads: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P. If you can read the legend, you can use the databases to find the equivalent to your coin. The legend usually contains the name of the person depicted on the coin and his titles. ![]() If all the letters are clearly visible, half of your work is already done. The common elements of the obverse are the head/bust (usually of an emperor or a prominent Roman), the legend (inscribed words), the field (the space around the bust) and the frame (a beaded line that frames the legend and the image). When analyzing your coin, be sure to write down everything you can see on the obverse (front side) and the reverse (back side) of your coin. Legend Might Tell You Everything A silver coin of Emperor Domitian, via WildWinds OCRE (Online Coins of the Roman Empire) provides links to museum collections and maps as well as a catalogue of imperial coins.īanner of Online Coins of the Roman Empire, via OCRE WildWinds offers an extensive catalogue on both Republican and Imperial coinage, along with useful links and literature recommendations. There are two other online coin databases I would recommend to collectors. You can find printed versions of these (they are continuously being reprinted to include new finds) but luckily, there are digitized versions too. The two main sources every numismatist uses are British catalogue Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) and Henry Cohen’s massive corpuses on Roman Republican coins (Description Generale des Monnaies De La Republique Romaine, Communement Appelees Medailles Consulaires) and on Roman Imperial Coins (Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l’Empire Romain). Timeline of Roman coins, by the Museum of the National Bank, via National Bank of the NRM A great way to start is to check out the Digital Library Numis, an excellent research tool that contains a huge number of numismatics books, papers and manuals. If you’re an absolute beginner, I would recommend reading a couple of books or papers on Roman coinage to familiarize yourself with terminology, denominations, and general rules. For numismatists (scholars that study historical currencies) those tools are manuals, catalogs and online databases. ![]() Use Proper Literature To Identify and Date Roman Coinsīefore analyzing your coin, make sure to arm yourself with proper tools.
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