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Reading the Emperor's Name and Titles

In whose name were these little bronze pieces struck? Chances are, if you have a handvul of coins that are truly "late Roman" and no occasional 3rd century pieces, the emperor under whom the coins were struck will be one or more of the ones listed below. I will list the emperor and one or more possible obverse inscriptions that you might be able to make out. Don't worry if your obverse isn't one of these. There were many variations. Also, the legends tended to run words and abbreviations together instead of placing spaces between words as we do today. More will be said about abbreviations in a later article. Please note that I have placed spaces between words and abbreviations to aid the modern collector. The only break you will actually find will be a break in the legend above the emperor's head. This is indicated by the placement of the hyphen in the examples given below. Some legends are not broken and there is much political as well as numismatic significance to this. I will touch on this in a later article but you can read much more about it in some of the standard references including theDumbarton Oaks book and Carson, Hill, and Kent.

Another point that sometimes confuses the beginning collector is the style of lettering. The ends of the main strokes of each letter are often adorned with large flourishes or serifs. Often, the two main strokes of the letter "A" do not come to a point, but rather look like an "H" whose top is pinched together a bit. Reading the inscriptions will become easier after you have examined a few hundred coins. For now, it is enough that you look for patterns that match or are close to the inscriptions below. These are SOME of the most common abbreviations.


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Identifying Common Fourth Century Roman Bronze Coins
Reading the Emperor's Name and Titles
A Picture Gallery of Fourth Century Reverse Types
Camp Gate
Altar Inscribed VOTIS XX
Two Soldiers Standing With Two Standards
Two Soldiers Holding One Standard
Wreath With Legend Inside
Soldier Spearing a Fallen Horseman
VRBS ROMA Commemorative - Mother Wolf Suckling Twins Romulus and Remus
CONSTANTINOPOLIS Commemorative - Victory Standing on Prow of Ship
Two Victories Each Holding a Small Wreath
Two Victories Each Holding a Large Wreath on Centenionals of Decentius
Emperor Holding Labarum or Standard and Dragging Captive
Emperor Raising Kneeling Captive
Victory Advancing Left
A Key to Fourth Century Inscriptions
Some Scarcer Late Fourth Century and early Fifth Century Types

All New! More image galleries of late Roman bronze types.

Camp Gate
Altar with Votis, Victories with Wreath
FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Soldier Spearing Fallen Horseman
More FEL TEMP, including Barbarian and Hut tupes
Victory Advancing Left Holding Wreath
Emperor Holding Labarum and Dragging Captive