User:SimonTrew/Roman Imperial Coinage

Roman Imperial Coinage, abbreviated RIC, is a British catalogue of Roman Imperial Currency, from the time of the Battle of Actium (31 BC) to the Late Antiquity in 491 AD. It is the result of several decades of work, from 1923 to 1994, and a successor to the previous catalogue compiled by the numismatist Henry Cohen in the 19th Century. It is the standard work for numismatic identification of coinage minted by authorisation of 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. Although Cohen had classified the coins by emperor, and then alphabetically by the legend (text) on them. Mattingly broke down the classification further into which mint, 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.^[1] After Mattingly's death in 1964, Sutherland and R. A. G. Carson jointly took over editorship of the work.^[2]

In 1984, Sutherland published a facsimile edition of the first volume, dated 1923, which is not as detailed as those that follow.^[3]

volume 1 : Auguste–Vitellius (31 BC–69 AD), by C. H. V. Sutherland, London, 1984
volume 2 : Vespasien–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 : Diocletian–Maximinus II (294–313), by C. H. V. Sutherland, London, 1967
volume 7 : Constantine the Great–Licinius (313–337), by P. M. Bruun, 1966
volume 8 : Descendants of Constantine (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 empire, 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.

Sources

Zehnacker, Hubert (June 1986). "Où en est le Roman Imperial Coinage ?" [Where are all the Roman coins?]. Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé (in French) (2): 202–205. doi:10.3406/bude.1986.1299. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)