The reverses of Roman Imperial coinage feature a wide variety of deities, mythological figures, military images, and symbols of authority.īecause there were no banks in ancient times, citizens and soldiers often buried coins to keep them secure – and fortunately for collectors today, many of those hoards were never retrieved. These coins were often the only way to let the subjects know who was in charge and to some extent, what he looked like. Most old coins of the Imperial era depict the reigning emperor on the obverse along with inscriptions identifying the ruler and his titles. – when the Senate created the title of Augustus (emperor) for Octavian, granting him full authority over the entire empire. The Roman Republican era ended and the Roman Empire began in 27 B.C. Shown here are a Marcus Aurelius silver Denarius (top) and a Trajan Decius silver Antoninianus. Most Roman Imperial coinage depicts the ruling emperor on the obverse. During the third century A.D., the silver Denarius was replaced by the "Double Denarius" now commonly known as the Antoninianus – which in turn was replaced during the 284-305 reign of Diocletian with such denominations as the silvered bronze Follis and the silver Siliqua (originally known as the Argenteus). These hand-struck old coins included the gold Aureus, silver Denarius, bronze Sestertius, bronze Dupondius, and copper As – which often depicted mythological figures on issues of the Roman Republic, and usually depicted reigning leaders on Roman Imperial coinage. Before long, hand-struck Roman coins of various compositions appeared, which were issued through the remainder of the Republican era and well into the third century A.D. These were cast bronze coins – introduced during the third century B.C. The history of ancient Roman coins begins with the first old coins of the Roman Republic (c. Recording standing figure holding branch?', or the inscription PXV may help others identify your coin at a later date.Hand-struck Roman Republic silver Denarii like these were produced between 154-41 B.C. you could not work out who/what was depicted on the reverse) record as much information as possible. If you could not fully identify the coin (i.e. These are often difficult to read, but use the information under mints and mintmarks to help you. These normally appear around the margins of the design and at the bottom (the exergue). Some 3rd century radiates and almost all 4th century nummi have mintmarks that indicate where they were produced. Once you have identified the reverse of a 4th century nummus, try to identify the emperor from possibilities listed with it. The inscription may help you work this out. Once you have established the emperor shown on the early denomination or radiate, use the information and pictures under reverses/understanding reverse designs to try and determine who/what is shown on the reverse. This will give you the date of your coin, and a list of the possibilities of the emperor shown on the obverse. If your coin is a 4th century nummus, search the common types shown under reverses/common 4th Century reverse types. Use the information and pictures under inscriptions and obverses. If your coin is one of the early denominations or a radiate the next step is to work out the emperor from the inscription and the portrait. This will cut down the number of possible emperors that might appear on the obverse. Once you have established this you can roughly date the coin within the Roman period (i.e. Work out the denomination of the coin using the information and pictures under denominations. The suggested approach for identification or Roman coins. An introductory guide to identifying Roman coins
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