Identifying Roman Coins

Identifying a coin can be extremely easy given the right circumstances, but is often difficult or impossible depending on 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.

You should also take note of the pictures on the coin, the main one typically being the face of the ruler at the time of minting. It may sound far-fetched, but you can occasionally recognize the person on the coin just by their face, saving you a good amount of time. This should not however be used as the final determination, mainly because of similar art styles for different rulers.

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.

The simplest way to identify your coin is to search for any of the characters that you were able to read off of the coin. You need to use an online database and the best one is at http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/findstr.html. Enter any of the information you have in that search and it will tell you if that line appears anywhere in their records. This can often lead to a lot of choices, but it definitely helps narrow down the field. From here on out you can use visual references to narrow down your search.

A lot of times identifying a coin will take a lot of work, but it is always worth it in the end when you finally solve the puzzle. Your coin then transforms from something with no meaning to a piece of history representing the Roman Empire. This is why people continue with this hobby and why collecting coins has become so popular.

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