As most roman imperial coins have the portrait of the emperor facing right, ones with the portrait facing left always intrigue me. Does anyone know if there is any underlying meaning to portraits on Roman coins facing one way or the other. Thanks for your help. Constantius II as Caesar, AE Follis of Antioch. AD 330 and 334 OBV: FL IVL CONSTANTIVS NOB C, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust left REV: PROVIDEN-TIAE CAESS, Campgate, 11 layers, 2 turrets, star above, no doors, dot in doorway; SMANTI in ex. RIC VII Antioch 74I; Sear 17657.
Not that I know. I think left busts are the riddles of the Roman coinage, at least for some emperors. They are very rare for some emperors (Domitian, Trajan etc), but also common for some (Probus, some tetrarchs etc).
I have this Domitian Provincial - Antioch. Left facing Domitian with kind of an upward gaze. Domitian, A.D. 81-96 AE 25, 11.7 grams - SYRIA, Antioch ad Orontem Obverse: DOMITIANVS CAESAR, Laureate head left Reverse: Large SC within laurel wreath, representing Coele-Syria Reference: RPC 2016, BMC 246 Ex-Eng, Ex-JAZ, Ex-JB Good, Ex-Ira Ettinger Collection
Every single denarius and antoninianus I have from Augustus onwards has a right-facing bust until I get to Probus. (After Probus, I have some 20 mm. billon coins of Constantius II and Julian II with left-facing busts.) On the other hand, the few bronze asses I have -- for Augustus, Caligula, and Claudius -- all face left. In the early Empire, were left-facing bronze coins more common than left-facing silver coins? If so, does anyone know the reason?
I also checked the obverses of my small sample of 17 Roman Republican coins. 14 have right-facing busts or heads, one faces both ways (Janus on the M Fovri L.f. Philus [Furia 18] denarius), one faces forward (Medusa on the L. Plautius Plancus [Plautia 15] denarius), and only one faces left (Mars on the Q. Thermus M.f. [Minucia 19] denarius).
It varies by reign. For the Antonines, it's unusual to find a left-facing bust, and it is always as a variant, never as the normal type. Here are the only two I have of that entire dynasty:
AFAICT, it’s essentially random. I do know that “left” in Latin is “sinister,” but I do not know if they had the same kind of superstitions more contemporary people do surrounding the issue.
I am with @Andres2 ... Octavian looks like the culprit... Such a sinister-dude! Here is a couple Quinarii that I captured cuz of this SINSISTER mystery: RI Octavian as Augustus 25-23 BCE AR Quinarius RIGHT facing bust Emerita Augusta Sear 1642 Octavian as Augustus LEFT-Sinister 27 BC–14 AD Quinarius Emerita 25-23 AR 13.5mm 1.79g - P CARISI LEG Victory trophy C 387. RIC 1b SCARCE
Looks like the Roman Republic went sinister early... But, HEY! Those Horses had it right! RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius - Didrachm 275-270 BCE ROMANO Apollo Left-Galloping Horse Sear23 RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius - Didrachm 310-300 BCE 7.3g 21mm Mars-Horse FIRST Cr 13-1 Left
There are lots of odd lefties. I have some from Flavians through Antonines. Vespasian Domitian Hadrian Sabina Antoninus Pius Faustina Junior
One would think that given how much has been written about Roman coins in the last 150 years or so, somebody would have come up with some sort of speculative theory by now to explain the predominance of right-facing portraits, or to explain the exceptions. But if there is such a theory, I haven't seen it.
I'm sure there was a reason for some but not always the same reason. We know 'why' for some but many are 'just because'. For example, the first issue of FEL TEMP REPARATIO coins came in three denominations. The large and small had right facing busts while the middle faced left. I always wonder if there was a code on the ones where 99% were right and 1% left (give or take) but never figured out why. Some are RARE. Septimius Severus "Emesa' Geta as