Now, it would seem that it can be difficult in a small ordinary coin? Two planes on which various information is depicted. One of them is an obverse, and the other is a reverse. But distinguishing these sides is not so simple.
Coin and its "body parts"
The coin that you carry in your pocket “for good luck” may not be as simple as it sounds. Get her out and look carefully! Numismatists emit as many as 6 structural parts of a coin. This is the edge, edge, side, edging, as well as obverse and reverse coins.
The edge is nothing but the edge of a coin. It can be designed or unformed, it all depends on the technology of making the coin. The edge can be of several types: ribbed, mesh, patterned or text. What is need for a herd? First of all, in order to protect the coin from counterfeiting. A coin inscription is often applied on the coin rim.
The edge is called the elevated part of the coin, which borders it around the circumference. But the rim is an integral part of the edge in the form of a raised edge of the coin. It protects the coin from premature wear. Although the side may be absent. But in some countries a special role is assigned to him - to inform blind people about the face value.
The meaning of the word "obverse" and "reverse"
And now let's move on to the main components of any coin - these are obverse and reverse.
The obverse of a coin is, literally, “face facing”, “face”. The word comes from the Latin adversus.
Obverse is a numismatic term denoting the front part of a coin on which (as a rule) the state emblem or a portrait of a monarch or state ruler is applied.
The reverse in the same Latin is “reversus”, which means “reverse”. In Russian, this word first appears in the annals of 1710. Reverse is a numismatic term that refers to the opposite, opposite to the obverse, side of a coin or coin.
Obverse is ...
This may seem surprising, but in the special numismatic literature there is no consensus on how to distinguish the sides of coins. There are also no clear criteria by which the obverse of the coin could be determined. This, in essence, is the main side in any coin.
However, most of the numismatic catalogs offer a list of signs by which the obverse is determined. Here they are:
- image of a portrait of a famous person (king, monarch, president and the like);
- state emblem or emblem;
- name of country, territory;
- name of holder of coin regalia or issuing bank.
However, it happens that the emblem is applied on both sides of the coin. How, then, to determine where the obverse of the coin is? This can be done like this: to study both coats of arms and take the obverse to the side on which the coat of arms of a higher rank is depicted.
If the coin does not have any of the above signs, then the obverse should be the side opposite to the side with the coin face value.
Of course, it’s easiest to determine the reverse first. As a rule (with very rare exceptions), it is on it that the face value (value) of the coins is applied.
"Heads or tails"?
It is important to note that when a coin is depicted in a photograph or drawing, it is customary to first place its obverse (that is, on the left side), and then reverse the coin (that is, on the right). This rule is worth remembering, since it is generally accepted for all, without exception, images of coin money.
In the monarchical countries of Western Europe, it was customary to depict on all coins the head of the monarch, the king. This tradition was borrowed from the era of Ancient Rome, where they did exactly the same. And almost always the face of the monarch was depicted on the front side of the coin (that is, on the obverse).
The tradition of depicting the faces of rulers on coins was founded during the reign of Alexander the Great. And even after his death, his portraits continued to be minted on coins. After Alexander conquered Egypt, he decided to portray himself on the obverse of the coins as a god and a king. Thus, he wanted to get the favor of the Egyptians who revered their previous pharaohs as gods.
The following monarchs, who ruled after Alexander the Great, preserved this tradition. Their heads were also applied to the obverse of all coins.
So we figured out which “body parts” each coin has. As you can see, to distinguish where the obverse and where is the reverse is not so easy. A lot of debate and discussion arises about this among numismatists. However, for an ordinary person, the rules that are given in this article will be quite enough to determine the sides of the coin.