Roman Coins: Which Information To Write On 2By2 Cardboard Coinholders

Cataloguers have tended to historically place coins under the reign in which they were issued, irrespective of the actual name appearing on the coin. This is well and good for an archaeologist wanting to use the coins as dating evidence for their digs, but rather confusing for a coin collector, especially since there isn't usually any indication on the actual coin that this is the case.

Personally, I've always placed coins under the name that appears on the coin. If it's a posthumous issue, or the issue of a family member or colleague under a senior emperor, make a note of that on the 2x2.


I've noticed most coin dealers usually put the reign-dates on the 2x2. Personally, if I found myself needing to know what the reign-dates or birth-and-death dates of a Roman emperor were, I'd look up Wikipedia rather than my coin album. The information on the 2x2 ought to be restricted to information actually relevant to the actual coin sitting in that 2x2 - which for dates means the year of issue if known, or a time-period of issue if the precise date is not known.

If the date of issue is known from other contexts (eg. archaeological evidence) but isn't specifically stated on the coin itself, I would put the date of issue in brackets.

As for other information, I've found it helpful to include a brief description of the reverse. That way, if at some future point I've removed a bunch of coins from their 2x2s, I don't have to sit down and figure out which coin "belongs" in which 2x2.

Here's a typical Roman coin 2x2 description from my collection:

---

ROME - Empire
Denarius (AD 70)
Vespasian

Rev: JVDAEA CAPTA
{purchase price}

---

And on the back:

---

S 2296 09889




{provenance and purchase date}

---

"S2296" is the Sear catalogue reference. "09889" is my personal coin database catalogue number for this specific coin.

100% agree with this.

For me, I include on the front:
1. Name of Kingdom or Empire
2. Denomination
3. Year or year range of issue
4. Unique inventory number
5. Reference(s)
6. Weight
7. Diameter
8. Price paid
9. Grade
10. Date purchased
11. Mint (if known)

I sometimes also include the inscription and the name of the person pictured.

On the rev, I include:
1. Provenance going back as far as I can determine

I sometime also include the inscription.

You start by taking the coins out of 2x2 cardboard holders and put them in flips. Now you have a better way to store them that allows you to actually hold the coin.

You can also include a lot of information on flip inserts, printing on the front and back.

This is how most of my inserts look--

Maximianus
A.D. 301-303
#1236; follis 26x28mm 9.7g
IMP MAXIMIANVS AVG; Laureate and cuirassed bust left, holding club over his right shoulder and wearing lion skin over left.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing left, modius on head, naked except for chlamys over left shoulder, holding patera and sacrificing over lit altar, cornucopiae in left; In right field A.
In ex. PLG
RIC VI Lugdunum 120; Bastien 155 (2 ex.)

I gotta say that I'm really enjoying this thread. So nice to see how we all have converged on so many of the same pieces of information.

I store my coins in trays with my 2x2 cards and also keep any dealer or collector tags.

There's more





I have added several trays since taking those photos. I also have hundreds of unofficial issues in albums.

My partner has gotten used to the madness.. somewhat

"Honey, what did you do today?"
"Spent 6 hours looking at ancient coins"
"Oh, okay!"