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 Replies: 45 / Views: 3,298 |
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Ok...I am trying to identify my first coin as practice. I am using the aorta book and believe that this coin is Constantin I. From the book the bust appears to be #59 and the reverse is #300. Now I am a bit stuck...any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! I am sure this will not take people very long in here.   |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
I believe he wants help with AORTA and not RIC. AORTA is a lean version of ERIC II.
I can help with that.
The first thing you want to do is read the legend and spell it out here on the board. That's the first step. We'll get to the next step soon.
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Valued Member
 Canada
88 Posts |
From what I can see...
Obverse
CONSTANT (and then) TINVA(?)
Reverse
CONSTANTINE (then the letters are unreadable for me) bottom letters MASDN (?)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
It's CONSTAN-TINVS AVG AORTA, ERIC II does not use line breaks so it's CONSTANTINVS AVG It takes awhile but you'll get the hang of reading legends on coins. Some of the legends can be worn but you can sometimes figure out what they are by the placement. There is something you need to read first and it's this page on FORVM Ancient Coins. Yes, attributing coins requires a learning curve but it mostly simple once you get the hang of it. It's mostly the same for every coin. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/nu...bution%20101In order to use the catalog you need this information. After you do that, then we can move on. |
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Got tricked on the obverse...thought the space indicated a new word- but Romans didn't use spaces. Heading to the Forum Page.
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Breaking down the legend....
CONSTANTINUSAVG- Contantinus Augustus
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Not trying to nitpick or anything but the legend has to be read precisely from the coin.
CONSTANTINVS AVG
There are no "U"s back in those days.
That legend is in fact Constantine I. So, you got the emperor right.
Edited by Gil-galad
01/23/2013 10:07 pm
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
I'm just thinking out loud here...
Reverse:
Wreath with the letters VOT (Vota)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Let's stick with the obverse for now. Trust me on this.
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Will do...stick to the obverse...
I take it I know look at the "obverse device"...
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Bust facing right, wearing a (pearl?) diadem
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Obverse devices will apply to nearly every coin and not just Roman Imperial coins. For this little walkthrough and in the book it would be called "Busts". Which is a obverse device.
There are five categories for a basic attribution before you look at the main table.
BUSTS:
OBVERSES:
REVERSES:
TYPES:
MINTS:
We'll start with "Busts" first. The bust refers to what type of portrait it is. In this case I believe the portrait in a diademed head right. Diademed refers to the crown type. In this case it's a pearl diademed. See there are three lines, some of them are really worn. And a bunch of dots.
There are other types like laureate crown, radiate crown, rosette crown, etc. But we won't get into those right now.
Edited by Gil-galad
01/23/2013 10:20 pm
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Cool...I had that right...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
For the "Busts" category it's going to be #10. #10: Diademed (pearls) head right. There is a difference between head and bust portraits. Yours has the head only. If the shoulder is there too, then it's a bust. These are my coins. First one is a head portrait.  Head  Bust See the difference? Edited by Gil-galad
01/23/2013 10:30 pm
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Valued Member
Canada
88 Posts |
Ok...that answers a question and solves one of the issues I had reading "aorta", but it creates another question...
The obverse of my coin is a head not a bust because the shoulder is not showing. In Aorta (page 727) my coin is #59...however, that page is labelled "busts". What am I missing here?
..and thanks for the help...
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Replies: 45 / Views: 3,298 |
Posted 01/23/2013 9:18 pm
