Roman Imperial Coinage

This article is about a learned numismatic catalogue. For a history of Roman coinage, see Roman currency § Empire.

Roman Imperial Coinage, abbreviated RIC, is a British catalogue of Roman Imperial currency, from the time of the Battle of Actium (31 BC) to Late Antiquity in 491 AD. It is the result of many decades of work, from 1923 to 1994, and a successor to the previous 8-volume catalogue compiled by the numismatist Henry Cohen in the 19th century.

It is the standard work for numismatic identification of coinage struck by authorisation of the Roman emperors.

Production

The production of a chronological catalogue of Roman Imperial coinage was started in 1923 by Harold Mattingly, a numismatist at the British Museum, assisted by Edward Allen Sydenham. Their catalogue differed from its predecessor, produced by Henry Cohen in the 19th century. Cohen had classified the coins by emperor, and then alphabetically by the legend (text) on them. Mattingly broke down the classification further into which foundry, and in which series, each coin came from. Mattingly and Sydenham were joined by C. H. V. Sutherland in producing volumes IVb (1938) and IVc (1949), and by Percy H. Webb for volumes Va (1927) and Vb (1933). After 1930, the editorship of each of the final volumes was given to a specialist of the period. After Mattingly's death in 1964, Sutherland and R. A. G. Carson jointly took over editorship of the work.

In 1984, Sutherland published an expanded edition of the first volume of 1923, which was not as detailed as those that followed.

The RIC comprises 13 volumes:

volume 1 : Augustus–Vitellius (31 BC–69 AD), by H. Mattingly and E. A. Sydenham, London, 1923 (revised by C. H. V. Sutherland and R. A. G. Carson, 1984)
volume 2 : Vespasian–Hadrian (69–138), by Harold Mattingly, Edward Allen Sydenham, London, 1926
volume 3 : Antoninus Pius–Commodus (138–192), by H. Mattingly, E.A. Sydenham, London, 1930
volume 4a : Pertinax–Geta VII and Caracalla (193–217), by H. Mattingly, E. A. Sydenham, London, 1936
volume 4b : Macrinus–Pupienus (217–238), by H. Mattingly, E.A. Sydenham, C. H. V. Sutherland London, 1930
volume 4c : Gordian III–Uranius Antoninus (238–253), by H. Mattingly, E. A. Sydenham, C.H.V. Sutherland, London, 1949
volume 5a : Valerian–Florian (253–276), by Percy H. Webb, London, 1927
volume 5b : Marcus Aurelius Probus–Maximian (276–310), by Percy H. Webb, London, 1933
volume 6 : The Diocletian Reform–Maximinus II (294–313), by C. H. V. Sutherland, London, 1967
volume 7 : Constantine I–Licinius (313–337), by P. M. Bruun, 1966
volume 8 : The Family of Constantine I (337–364), by J. P. C. Kent, London, 1981
volume 9 : Valentinian I–Theodosius I (364–395)
volume 10 : The Divided Empire, 395–491, by J. P. C. Kent, London, 1994
- Western Roman Empire : Flavius Honorius–Romulus Augustus (395-476)
- Eastern Roman Empire : Flavius Arcadius–Zeno (395-491)

Each emperor is given a detailed history of the coinage of his reign, with a classification of the type of money, and within each type a registration, from its inscription.

For each coin listed, there is a description of both the obverse and reverse sides of the coin ("heads and tails"), and a notation depending on the rarity of known examples:

C: common
R1: rare, only twenty or so known
R2: between five and fifteen known
R3: four or five known
R4: two or three known
R5: only one known, unique

In the endpapers of each volume is a table of the coins that have reproductions.

Notes

References

Cohen, Henry; Gaidoschik, R; Feuardent, Gaston L; Probszt, G (1955) . Description historique des monnaies frappees sous l'empire romain communement appelees medailles imperiales: 2e ed [Historical description of coins struck under the Roman Empire commonly called imperial medals: 2nd ed.] (in French). Vol. 1–9. Graz, Autriche: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt. OCLC 757395413.
"VirtualCohen.com". www.virtualcohen.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23. Welcome to VirtualCohen.com, the online version of the legendary catalog of Roman coins by H. Cohen. The "Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain", 120 years after its publication, is still regarded as an important and useful reference for the Roman Imperial coinage. This site contains over 4,000 pages of the original book...
Zehnacker 1986, p. 202
Zehnacker 1986, p. 203
Zehnacker 1986, p. 204

Sources

Zehnacker, Hubert (June 1986). "Où en est le Roman Imperial Coinage ?". Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé (in French). 1 (2): 202–205. doi:10.3406/bude.1986.1299.

External links

Online Coins of the Roman Empire Online database of Roman imperial coins, built on the numbering system created by the Roman Imperial Coinage series.

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References

Sources

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