How to Read Roman Coins: Legends, Portraits, Reverses & Mint Marks
How to Read Roman Coins
Legends, portraits, reverses, and mint marks, decoded one clue at a time.
Most Roman imperial coins can be decoded by working through the same basic clues: the portrait or bust, the obverse legend, the reverse type and legend, the denomination and metal, and, on many later coins, the mint mark and officina.
The abbreviations look difficult at first, but the same titles repeat so often that a small vocabulary opens up a large part of the series.
Roman coinage changed enormously between the Republic and Late Empire, so no single rule applies to every coin. Not every Roman coin has an emperor on the obverse, not every reverse is propaganda in a simple sense, and mint marks are especially useful only in certain periods. The method below is designed as a practical starting point for imperial coins.
Identify the Obverse and Reverse
The obverse is usually the principal side and, on imperial coinage, commonly carries the emperor, empress, Caesar, or another member of the ruling house. The reverse usually carries a deity, personification, military scene, building, animal, standard, captive, ceremonial object, or other design accompanied by a legend.
Portraits are useful clues, but they should be combined with inscriptions. Hair, beard, diadem, laurel wreath, radiate crown, helmet, cuirass, and drapery can all help distinguish rulers and denominations.
Read the Imperial Legend
Roman legends compress names and titles into abbreviated Latin. Read around the coin and separate familiar title groups rather than trying to translate every letter at once.
- IMP, Imperator, originally an acclamation for a victorious commander, later a regular part of imperial titulature
- CAES, Caesar, Julius Caesar's family name became part of imperial titulature and often marked a junior ruler or designated heir
- AVG, Augustus, the principal imperial title, which can appear for one or more reigning Augusti
- TR P / TR POT, Tribunicia Potestas, tribunician power, often numbered and extremely useful for dating
- COS, Consul, often followed by a numeral showing which consulship the ruler held
- P P, Pater Patriae, "Father of the Fatherland," an honorific accepted at different points in a reign
- P F, Pius Felix, "Pious, fortunate," common in later imperial titulature
- D N, Dominus Noster, "Our Lord," especially common in Late Roman obverse legends
- S C, Senatus Consulto, "by decree of the Senate," prominent on many early imperial base-metal issues
A Simple Dating Example
Suppose an early imperial reverse legend includes TR P followed by a numeral and COS followed by another numeral. Those numbered titles can often be matched to a ruler's known sequence of tribunician powers and consulships, narrowing the coin to a particular year or short date range. This method is especially useful for rulers such as Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. It is less useful on many Late Roman coins, where titulature follows different conventions.
Decode the Reverse
The reverse identifies the message or subject of the issue. When identifying a reverse figure, look at attributes: a cornucopia, spear, patera, rudder, caduceus, scales, or thunderbolt may distinguish one deity or personification from another.
- PAX / PAX AVG, Pax, the personification of peace, often shown with branch, scepter, or other attributes
- VICTORIA AVG / AVGG, imperial or Augustan Victory, the ending matters because it can refer to one Augustus or multiple
- GLORIA EXERCITVS, "Glory of the Army," familiar on fourth-century bronzes showing soldiers and standards
- FEL TEMP REPARATIO, "Restoration of Happy Times," a major mid-fourth-century series under Constantius II and Constans
- IVDAEA CAPTA, Flavian coinage commemorating Roman victory in the Jewish Revolt, using captives, trophies, Victory, and personifications of Judaea
Look at the Exergue, Mint Mark, and Officina
The exergue is the space beneath the main reverse design, often separated by a ground line. On many Late Roman coins it contains the mint signature and workshop mark.
Mint marks are issue-specific rather than universal abbreviations. For example, forms beginning SMANT can identify Antioch on certain Late Roman issues; PTR can identify Trier with the P indicating the first officina in a particular system; forms beginning CON or CONS can identify Constantinople; and forms beginning SIS can identify Siscia. The exact letters, prefixes, suffixes, and workshop marks vary by reform, emperor, and issue.
An officina was a workshop within a mint. Workshops may be marked with Greek letters, Latin letters, numerals, or other symbols. Never identify an officina from a single letter without checking the exact coin series, because the same mark can mean different things in different mint systems.
Identify the Denomination and Period
Metal, size, and denomination together place a coin in its era. These are the principal imperial denominations a collector encounters.
- Denarius, introduced during the Republic, the principal silver denomination for centuries, important through the early third century
- Sestertius, a large brass or bronze denomination familiar from the early Empire, its broad flan allowing detailed portraits and scenes
- Antoninianus, introduced under Caracalla in AD 215, male rulers wear a radiate crown and female portraits appear above a crescent, silver content fell sharply in the third century
- Nummus / follis, Diocletian's reform introduced a large silvered copper-alloy coin conventionally called a follis, later fourth-century bronzes became much smaller
- Aureus and solidus, the aureus was the early imperial gold denomination; the solidus, stabilized under Constantine, became the dominant Late Roman gold coin
- Provincial coinage, not a denomination but a broad category of locally issued coinage under Roman rule, including bronzes, drachms, and tetradrachms
A Five-Step Identification Method
Put the pieces together in order, and most imperial coins will resolve to a ruler, a type, and often a date.
- Read as much of the obverse name and titles as possible
- Compare the portrait and bust type with likely rulers
- Identify the reverse figure, scene, and surviving legend
- Check metal, size, and denomination
- For Late Roman issues, read the exergue and field marks to identify mint and officina, then verify the full combination in a reference
Frequently Asked Questions
What does AVG mean on a Roman coin?
AVG abbreviates Augustus, the central imperial title. Its grammatical and political meaning depends on the complete legend and period.
What does IMP mean?
IMP abbreviates Imperator, a title rooted in military command and victory that became part of imperial titulature.
What is the exergue?
The exergue is the lower area of the reverse beneath the main design. On many Late Roman coins it contains a mint mark or other control information.
Can Roman coin legends date a coin?
Yes. Numbered tribunician powers, consulships, and other titles can date many early imperial coins closely. Later coins are often dated through mint marks, issue sequences, ruler combinations, and specialist catalogues.
Are all Roman mint marks the same format?
No. Mint signatures and officina systems changed repeatedly, so the entire mark must be interpreted within its specific issue.
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