Featured Roman Imperial coin lettering & inscriptions

ROMAN IMPERIAL COIN INSCRIPTIONAL LETTERING


My pen and ink rendition of typical
Capitalis Monumentalis lettering

Roman Imperial coin inscriptional letterforms are based on those of CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS employed by stone cutters for edifices, monuments, tombstones, etc. A fine extant example is found on Trajan's column in Rome and the essential constructs of these letterforms are the models for all Majuscule (Capital) alphabets used in the western world. Stone cutters in particular still employ their distinctive proportions and terminating serifs. It should be noted that only twenty letters were normally used in the ancient Roman alphabet: A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T V X. Our modern J and U were not used, their equivalents being I and V respectively. Thus, our modern JULIUS was written IVLIVS. The letter K was seldom used and then only before A. The letters Y and Z were only used when reproducing Greek words. W was not part of the ancient Roman alphabet at all. It was Medieval scribes who formalized the construction models for the letters J K U W Y Z.

There are numerous excellent photographs of actual CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS lettering (including that on Trajan's column) mostly accompanied by location information, translations and analyses, at Bill Thayer's Latin Inscriptions section of his LacusCurtius web site

Although in general the inscriptional letterforms employed by Roman Imperial coin die engravers, particularly those of the early Empire, closely follow CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS letterforms there are some subtle differences, mostly resulting from the limited space available on coins for inscriptional lettering. Most notably, they were modified to produce closer spacing and a compaction of the wide letters C O Q and M resulting in more uniform and "square" lettering. The essential letterform constructs were closely followed for coins of the early to mid Empire who's inscriptions are generally stately and elegant: E and F have equal length horizontal bars; A has a sharp apex; V has a sharp junction; the bowls of B P R S are always nicely formed. P is frequently rendered on Imperial coins with an open bowl, i.e. not touching the vertical stem at the bottom - especially on coins of the early Empire. The quality of Roman Imperial coin lettering reached its zenith on late period Julio-Claudian coins.


My pen and ink rendition of typical
Julio-Claudian coin lettering

The coin die engravers used a selection of chisels (burins), stamps and punches -- the quality of the lettering may therefor have depended to some extent on the skill of the tool makers. The quality of the die metal would also be a determining factor. Rendering well proportioned and constructed Capital Roman lettering has always demanded considerable skill and it seems there has always existed a disparity of skills among the crafstsmen who executed them -- regardless of the tools and media employed.

Examples of early Roman Empire coin lettering:





Examples of late Roman Empire coin lettering:





References:

• EXPLICATIO FORMARUM LITTERARUM (The Unfolding of Letterforms), Rutherford Aris, The Calligraphy Connection, St. Paul (1990)
• ROMAN LETTER FORMS, Tommy Thompson, Holme Press, (1946)
• WRITING & ILLUMINATING & LETTERING, Edward Johnston, Pitman Publishing (various Publishers), Bath, (1973-various dates)
• LETTERING, Graily Hewitt, Seely, Service & Co. Ltd. (various Publishers), London, (1930-various dates)

 

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Spectacular, Jamesicus!!!
You are indeed gifted.
You put my spastic writing to shame.

 

Thank you @PeteB - a product of my miss-spent youth.

 

Addendum to the previous page:


(Above) My pen and ink rendition of Roman Capitalis Rustica writing





Letter stroke order

 

Just amazing!!

 

A facinating post @jamesicus, and impressive and elegant hand lettering. You prompt me to look more carefully at the legends - the obverse legend of this coin of Tacitus strike me as unusually attractive for the later Roman Imperial period:
Tacitus, AD 275-276, Antoninianus, Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, 1st emission, November-December 275
Obv: Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Pax standing left, holding olive branch and scepter
Ref: RIC temp #3253

 

Thank you for posting that nice example @Sulla80. I would say that the engraver of the die for your coin was highly skilled for the time. Note the flattened apex and base of the A’s and V’s which are characteristics of late Empire lettering. The letterforms on the reverse have the typical heavier serifs of later Empire lettering.

Overall, the lettering on your coin IS far superior to that on the Diocletian coin I posted. There was always some disparity in the quality of lettering that varied by Mint and the individual skill level of engravers.

 

You have amazing penmanship @jamesicus. I was so impressed with it that I kept the envelope that you sent me.

Great and information and coins too, as always

 

Thank you @furryfrog02.

 

Another addendum:


RIC Vol I, Claudius, As, Rome, No. 106

Obverse depiction: Germanicus, bare headed facing right
Inscription clockwise from bottom: GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N

Reverse depiction: large S. C.
Inscription clockwise from top: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP PP




BMCRE Vol I, CLAUDIUS, As, Rome, No. 206 (Pl. 36.6)
RIC Vol I, CLAUDIUS, As, Rome, No. 113

Obverse depiction: Claudius, bare headed facing left
Inscription clockwise from bottom: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TRP IMP P P

Reverse depiction: Personification of Liberty, standing right, holding Pileus (Freedman’s cap) in right hand
Inscription clockwise from bottom: LIBERTAS AVGVSTA | S -------- C (left and right)

 

Absolutely stunning.

 

Thank you, Joe. Almost as nice (I mean the coin exemplars I posted) as some of your own fabulous coins.

 

A well centered Claudius sestertius, restored by Titus, with a pleasing patina and very nice lettering (circa. 80 AD).

 

Even a small quadrans can have nice lettering:


18 mm. 2.97 grams. The smallest Roman imperial denomination of the time.
Struck under Claudius, 41-54, in 41 (as COS DES IT)
CAESAR AVG TI CLAVDIVS, around modius.
COS DES IT PON M TRP IMP, around SC
RIC 84.

 

Is Roman-style lettering always that uniform and standard? One of the reasons I believe the below coin to be a barbaric imitation is due to what I perceive to be non-standard letters.

 

Yes indeed. That is a very nice example @Valentinian. Here are are a couple of mine that are not quite as nice:



There are some striking problems on the reverse of the first exemplar. I just couldn’t resist the second one because of its patination (some would say “grunge”) and the lettering that is nicely formed.

 

I think that was the case with early Empire coinage. The quality and uniformity of lettering gradually declined beginning sometime after the adoptive emperors and the lettering in general became noticeably cruder during the late Empire. And again, there was always some disparity in the quality of lettering that varied by Mint and the individual skill level of engravers.

 

I see that @octavius has joined the discussion. I hope he posts some of his magnificent Sestertii that feature some really superb examples of early Empire inscriptional lettering.

 

Here are two Roman funerary plaques I wound up collecting with Roman calligraphy. I'm not sure what century, though I would gusess @ 2nd century. I was hoping @jamesicus might have an idea.

The first is an infant.. C(aius) TAFLENIVS C(AII) F(ILIVS) V(IXIT) MENS(ES) VII
Gaius Taflenius the son of Gaius lived for seven moths.





the second...
TI(BERIVS) CLAVDIVS FAVSTVS VIXIT ANNOS XXX
Tiberius Claudius Faustus lived for 30 years.



Next is a Roman tile stamped with the stamp of the 2nd Augusta legion - @ time of Trajan/Hadrian.



Roman bread stamp @2nd century.. Has a Y for word with Greek roots.



some first century sestertii and as/dupond. with typical 1st cent, calligraphy.

 

Those are great artifacts - I think they could be 1st or 2nd century. The lettering is very good on each one. The “Roman tile stamped with the stamp of the 2nd Augusta legion - @ time of Trajan/Hadrian” appears to be freely, almost informally, hand scribed using a pointed chisel or burin (and with a couple of personalized serif flourishes) - very nice.

You did not disappoint @octavius - although I have seen your coins before, I cannot see them enough! Not only is their condition superb, but the lettering is magnificent. Thank you for posting them.

The Caligula three sisters, and the Claudius Ob Cives Servatos Sestertii are, as they say, to die for!