How do you identify Roman coins?
April 17, 2008 – 6:06 pmWhen trying to identify a certain coin, you must remember that some are easy to do while others may be too far gone for it. In the end it really depends on the condition of the coin.
The most important feature of identifying Roman coins is making sure the inscription is legible. Often parts will be worn off, but as long as the damage is not too bad you should be able to work with it. This is made easier by the fact that the letters in the Roman alphabet are all in use in English today, so you don’t have to worry if you’ve interpreted the character right, because they are all familiar. One potential pitfall here is that certain letters can resemble others. They are not very large and somewhat worn, so you have to make sure you are looking carefully.
It also helps to look at the picture of the ruler on the coin before beginning major research. A lot of times someone who has been doing this for awhile can identify the ruler on a coin simply by recognition. You should remember though that this technique should only be used as a guide and not necessarily as the final decision. For actually making the call on the identification of a coin you’ll need to combine all of its aspects and make a decision.
On a similar note, you should start to learn the styles of different types of coins. Things change over time and you can clearly see a progression by analyzing the dates of different Roman coins. Recognizing these styles on sight will give you a valuable tool as you’ll already have a good idea of where to begin your search.
When you are ready to start the identification process, the easiest place to go is an online database. Wildwinds.com is probably the most versitile one on the web and is very highly recommended. Using their partial inscription search, you should take any of the letters and words that you found and enter them in. This will give you a list of possible matches to your coin. Hopefully you have a small list so that you can quickly look through them and find your match. Often though, many coins have the same inscription so you’ll have to dig through them to find the correct one. A good way to do this is to keep in mind the details of the pictures so that you can quickly browse the list.
When you finally identify your coin it is a rewarding experience. You are no longer holding a random piece of metal, but a coin that represents a period in time and a the reign of an individual. This makes the hobby and the coins themselves infinitely more interesting and significant.
Tags: Coins
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