lr61 - Roman Bronze Coins from paganism to Christianity 294-364 A.D. FAILMEZGER Victor "Tory", images de Doug SMITH

During the seventy-year period covered by Roman Bronze Coins, Christian symbols on coins increased as that religion gradually replaced the traditional Roman gods as the official state religion. The book begins with the Emperor Diocletian’s empire-wide coin reform and his failure to establish price controls. It transitions into the fourth century where his successful reorganization of the Roman government paved the way for Constantine the Great’s thirty year rule that ushered the Christian transformation.
This convenient, one-volume reference uses the humble bronze coin to trace that story and provide coin collectors several different ways to identify and catalog the coin:
- By ruler or personage : Because so many rulers and personages shared the same name and titles, there are several charts that, by the process of elimination, help you identify the correct ruler.
- By the reverse type : If the reverse legend is visible, consult the General Index; if the reverse scene is visible, crosscheck the coin in the chapter, “Collecting by Theme, the Iconography of the Reverse.” Generally speaking, new reverse types for rulers are quiet rare, but if they exist, this book will help you spot them quickly.
- By reverse variety : Once you know the type, you can determine whether this is a variety that has been expanded in this book. The easiest way is to see if there is an asterisk (*) before the catalog number.
- By mint and year struck : The chapter, ‘Dating and Controlling the Coins, the Roman Way,’ lists different mint, sequence and other marks and is divided in exergue and field markings sections. It also contains speculation as to the meanings of these marks, letters, and symbols. Consulting the individual mint city pages will allow, by the process of elimination, the identification of the year(s) when a particular coin was struck.
- By historical context : Once you have determined the year or years that a coin was struck, look in Chapter One, the “History of the Period and Associated Coin Types” to see if that coin has been tied to a specific historical event.
The Coin Attribute Reference Chart, in Appendix A, should provide a ready reference for coin dates, names, value, weight, and other attributes..