Newbie Question Re Mysterious Letters And Numbers Describing Ancient Coins

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,233
drk1 Valued Member United States 51 Posts	Posted 06/03/2016 5:16 pm Since I don't know what these are even called, I haven't been able to look them up. Anyway, I've recently become interested in ancient coins, and have noticed that often when one is offered for sale online there are a bunch of letters and numbers that seem to be some sort of descriptors. For example, I just bought my first ancient coin, a Mark Antony legionary denarius (or would that be denarivs?) and the tag that came with it said: "Crawford 544/27; RSC I 42; CRI 367" What the heck does that mean, and can anybody point me to an online article about the subject? Many thanks! BTW, here are pics of the coin. It's from Legio XIII, believed to contain some veterans from Julius Cæsar's Legio XIII that crossed the Rubicon with him. There was also a Legion XIII that Octavian called up that also included remnants of Julius Cæsar's Legio XIII. Both Legio XIIIs were on opposite sides at the Battle of Actium. * Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. * Report this Post to the Staff

Spence Moderator United States 34430 Posts	Posted 06/03/2016 6:54 pm @drk1, welcome to CCF! I'm going to recommend that this gets moved over to the ancients area as this question may be better answered there. We'll see what the mods decide. However, I can also get things started. The coin has been listed in multiple books and each of these terms refers to the book and the particular number attribution. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
DavidUK Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 2624 Posts	Posted 06/03/2016 7:09 pm Nice coin to start with, though heavily faked so a bit risky (yours looks OK though) and a type that I recently added... not cheap in nice condition and well centred, I settled with something that wasn't too bad to look at but not such big bucks. As spence says those letters and numbers each refer to books and number attribution. These books are large and expensive, so not everyone owns them but some of the information can be found online (sites such as wildwinds.com) Report this Post to the Staff
echizento Moderator United States 23731 Posts	Posted 06/03/2016 7:20 pm to the community Your coin from Marc Anthony legionary series is a nice start for a collection of ancient coins. To answer your question. Those are reference works where you can find information about your coin they. Here is a link to Crawford online. http://davy.potdevin.free.fr/Site/crawford1.html RSC I= Roman Silver Coinage volume 1 and the CRI is Coinage of the Roman Imperators by David Sear. Report this Post to the Staff
drk1 Valued Member United States 51 Posts	Posted 06/03/2016 10:41 pm Thank you very much, one and all. Yes, I've already been burned by a bogus one of these on ebay that I sent back. This one came from a reputable dealer. A bit more expensive, but still a good price and worth it. Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 06/04/2016 09:16 am Drk1, welcome. Numiswiki is a great source of info on all sorts of ancient coins-related stuff: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/nu...iki/view.asp Just type in whatever term - or letters - you're looking for in the search box at left, or click on the first letter in the "Index of All Numiswiki articles" and then scan through terms that start with that letter. Here's an excerpt that may be helpful, from Wayne Sayles' "Ancient Coin Collecting" book: Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 5 / Views: 1,233

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: World Coins and Currency Forums Forum: Ancient, Greek, Roman, and Medieval Coins

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

View Last 100 New Topics

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.26 seconds to rattle this change.