Roman Coin Attribution Toolkit

Identifying Common Late Roman Bronze Coins
©2003 Scott Uhrick for Ancient Coins for Education, Inc
With Links Added to FORVM's Catalog and Helvetica's RIC Tables!

One of the most satisfying parts of working with ACE is going to a school where the students are well into cleaning their coins and helping the kids identify them. The skills I’ve picked up from cleaning a few thousand of these little bronze nuggets find their only useful outlet there, and my ego benefits greatly from having student after student come up with a coin they considered an unidentifiable slug and return to their friends with an attribution as to type or emperor. In the end very few are truly unidentifiable. The constantly repeated question is “How do you do it?” My less-than-helpful answer is always “pattern-matching”.

The fact is that the great majority of these coins are from a handful of Emperors, and these Emperors showed little variety in the designs they placed on their bronze coinage. The gold issues demonstrate a great deal more artistic effort (and no, you will never find one of those in these lots). Eighty percent of the coins you will come across fall into an identifiable set of Emperors and reverses and this guide is pointed toward helping identify those coins.

Part 1 – The Era of Constantine the Great, his Sons and Rivals (320 – 337 A.D.)

The main players – Constantine, Crispus, Constantine Jr., Constantius, Constans, Licinius and Licinius Jr.

OK – so only George Foreman has shown less originality in naming his sons.* It probably won’t surprise you that Constantine named his daughter “Constantia” (if you find one of her coins, call me at ‘203 790-1669’ - they are rarer than political scruples). Please note that the coins in this era identify Constantine as Augustus (“AVG”) and his sons as Caesars (“NOB C” or “NC”). This alone will help you ID coins of Constantine (the Great) vs. coins of his sons (the not-nearly-so-great).

*(George named all four of his sons “George”)

Obverses

a	b	c	d	e

Constantine	Crispus	Constantine Jr.	Constantius II	Constans
CONSTANTINVS P F AVG	CRISPVS NOB C	CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C	FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C	FL IVL CONSTANS NOB C

f	g	h	i	j

Licinius	Licinius Jr.	Constantinople Commemorative	Rome Commemorative	Delmatius
IMP LICINIVS AVG	LICINIVS IVN NOB C	CONSTANTINOPOLIS	VRBS ROMA	DELMATIVS (or DALMATIVS) NOB CAES

Hanniballianus

FL HANNIBALLIANO
REGI, Euphrates reclining reverse

For the purpose of ID’ing the person on the coin don’t pay too much attention to the titles (“FL”, “IVL”, etc…). Locate the name and look for the all-important “N” which makes the difference between “CONSTANTINVS” and “CONSTANTIVS”. Coins of Crispus and Constans are easier to pick out by counting the letters. Remember that the title of Augustus (“AVG”) was only granted to the children of Constantine after his death. A coin with the name of the child with the title “AVG” was minted after 337 (the year Constantine shuffled off this mortal coil. Went to meet his maker. Joined the choir invisible. Snuffed it, etc…).

Reverses

1	2	3	4	5

GLORIA EXERCITVS	CAESARVM NOSTRORVM VOT X	PROVIDENTIAE CAESS	IOVI CONSERVATORI CAESS	VICTORIAE LAET PRINC PERP VOT P R
The glory of the army	Because of the vows of our Caesars (pledged) for ten years (of service)	(Dedicated to) the foresight of our Caesars	(Dedicated to) Jove the preserver of the Caesars	The happy victories of the long-lived princes because of vows of the Roman people
Two soldiers standing beside one or two standards	The years of the vows commemorated within the dedication	A campgate with two turrets	Jupiter standing left holding Victory	Two Victories placing shield on altar – shield inscribed “VOT P R”

6	7	8	9	10

BEATA TRANQVILLITAS VOTIS XX	SOLI INVICTO COMITI	VIRTVS EXERCIT VOT XX	(ANEPIGRAPHIC) (Constantinople Commemorative)	(ANEPIGRAPHIC) (Rome Commemorative)
Blessed peace because of vows pledged for twenty years	(Dedicated to) our friend the invincible sun	The courage of the army because of vows pledged for twenty years	(ANEPIGRAPHIC)	(ANEPIGRAPHIC)
Altar inscribed “VOTIS XX”	Sol standing l. holding globe	Two captives seated at base of standard inscribed "VOT XX"	Victory walking l., foot on prow, holding scepter and leaning on shield	She-wolf standing left, head facing, Romulus and Remus below

Part 2 – The Era of The Heirs of Constantine (337 – 363)

After the death of Constantine his three remaining sons inherited the Empire. The eldest (Constantine) died trying to increase his share at the expense of his youngest brother. That brother (Constans) died in a revolt brought on by his religious and sexual eccentricities. The remaining son Constantius reigned for a respectable 24 years. His need for a co-ruler led him to elevate one of his few remaining relatives (Constantius Gallus)to the rank of Caesar. When Gallus didn’t work out Constantius had him executed and replaced with his only remaining cousin, Julian. Julian’s promotion worked out perhaps a little too well – Constantius died during a campaign to put down Julian’s rebellion. Julian lasted only two years before dying while campaigning against the Persians, and this tedious series of Constantines came to an end.

k	l	m	n

Posthumous commemorative for Constantine the Great	Constantine Jr.	Constantius II	Constans
DV CONSTANTINVS PT AVGG	CONSTANTINVS P F AVG	D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG	CONSTANS P F AVG

o	p	q

Constantius Gallus	Julian (as Caesar)	Julian (as Augustus)
D N CONSTANTIVS IVN NOB C	D N FL CL IVLIANVS NOB C	D N FL CL IVLIANVS P F AVG

It can be easy to confuse coins of Constantius II with those of Constantius Gallus. Coins of Constantius Gallus and Julian (while Caesar) never have a diadem (the jewel headband later Roman Emperors wore as a sign of royalty). With that as a guide one can often ID a coin with only a few letters showing.

I haven’t discussed coin size so far. All of the coins pictured above are ae3’s (“officially”, bronze coins from 17mm to 21mm, but these will sometimes be found a bit smaller). The coins you will usually find in uncleaned lots from the Constantine era will usually be of this size, although you will occasionally find some of the FEL TEMP series of the larger variety, up to 23mm.

Reverses

11	12	13	14

GLORIA EXERCITVS	FEL TEMP REPARATIO	VOT XX MVLT XXX	VICTORIAE DD AVGG Q NN
The glory of the army	The return of happy times	Because of vows, twenty years (already served) and with more vows, thirty.	The victories of our lords and emperors
Two soldiers standing beside one standards	Emperor standing rt., holding labarum, two captives at feet		Two Victories facing holding wreaths
These coins were minted for a few years at the end of Constantine’s reign and for a few years after he died.

15	16	17	18

FEL TEMP REPARATIO	FEL TEMP REPARATIO	FEL TEMP REPARATIO	FEL TEMP REPARATIO
The restoration of happy times	The restoration of happy times	The restoration of happy times	The restoration of happy times
Emperor standing l. in galley rowed by Victory, holding Victory and labarum	Phoenix w. wreath in beak standing r. atop pyre	Soldier walking r. leading child from hut beneath tree	Soldier spearing fallen horseman
			The most common coin found in uncleaned lots

Part 3 – The Post-Constantine Empire

After Julian the coins become more unimaginative and, in general, smaller. Valentinian begat Valens, Gratian and Valentinian II. Theodosius begat Arcadius and Honorius. And they all begat some pretty dull little coins.

r	s	t	u

Valentinian	Valens	Valentinian II	Gratian
D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG	D N VALENS P F AVG	D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG	D N GRATIANVS P F AVG
Reverses #19, 20		Reverses #23, 25, 22	Reverses #19,20, 21, 25

v	w	x	y

Theodosius I	Arcadius	Honorius	Theodosius II
D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG	D N ARCADIVS P F AVG	D N HONORIVS P F AVG