Late Roman Bronze Coinage - An attribution guide for poorly preserved coins

In the course of the fourth century millions of bronze coins were struck in the Roman Empire: an area extending from modern Britain to Egypt. The iconography present in these modest remnants of a distant past provides a fascinating insight into the realities hopes and desires not only of the common people but also of those who ruled over them. It is possible to identify with a remarkable degree of precision where when and by whom coins of this period were struck. Traditional numismatic works rely heavily on a textual description and assume that one has a perfectly preserved specimen. Perhaps unsurprisingly given their age the majority of coins encountered are worn or incomplete making identification difficult. However as demonstrated by this work a closer study of their composition and iconography yields more than enough information to identify all but the most poorly preserved specimens. Translation of Die spätrömische Kupferprägung - Ein Bestimmungsbuch für schlecht erhaltene Münzen (1961).