Guide · Roman numismatics
IMP, AVG, TR P, COS, DIVI F… Roman coin legends are written in abbreviated form. Here are the ones you will meet, expanded, translated and illustrated with real legends.
The legend usually starts at the lower left and reads clockwise. On the obverse it gives the emperor's names and titles; on the reverse, a deity, a virtue or a message.
Words are separated by a space or a dot, sometimes by nothing at all. V also stands for U, I for J, and some letters are joined together (ligatures, such as AE or NT).
Complete each abbreviated word with the glossary below. Titles follow a fairly stable order: name, victory titles, pontificate, tribunician power, consulship, Father of the Fatherland.
Many legends are in the nominative (“Caesar Augustus…”), but some are dative dedications: IMP TRAIANO AVG… reads “To the emperor Trajan Augustus…”.
Example · denarius of Trajan, 103–111
Tap a word of the legend:
“To the emperor Trajan Augustus, conqueror of the Germans and the Dacians, chief priest, holding tribunician power, consul for the fifth time, father of the fatherland.”
COS V dates this denarius to 103–111: Trajan became consul for the sixth time in 112.
Search for an abbreviation as it appears on the coin (TRP, AVGG), or a word (consul, Trier).
Imp(erator)
“Victorious general”, which became the emperor's own title. At the start of a legend it precedes the name; followed by a numeral (IMP VIII), it counts the imperial acclamations received after victories.
E.g. IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII
#Caes(ar)
Julius Caesar's family name, taken up by his successors as an imperial title. Used alone, without AVG, it marks the heir, from Vespasian's sons onwards and systematically from the 2nd century. IMP C reads Imp(erator) C(aesar).
E.g. IMP C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG
#Aug(ustus) · Aug(usti) · Aug(usta)
Title of the reigning emperor since Octavian (27 BC). On reverses it is often genitive: VIRTVS AVG, “the valour of the Augustus”. For an empress: AVGVSTA, abbreviated AVG.
E.g. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III
#Aug(ustorum)
Doubling the last letter marks the plural: AVGG for two Augusti, AVGGG for three. Common from the 3rd century, with shared reigns. The same rule gives DD NN, “our lords”.
E.g. CONCORDIA AVGG
#Nob(ilissimus) C(aesar)
“Most noble Caesar”: title of the heir or junior Caesar, common from the late 3rd century.
E.g. FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
#D(ominus) N(oster)
“Our Lord”: replaces IMP CAES at the start of legends during the 4th century and remains the rule into the Byzantine period.
E.g. D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG
#P(ius) F(elix)
“Dutiful and fortunate”: imperial epithets, routine from the 3rd century onwards.
E.g. IMP C VAL DIOCLETIANVS P F AVG
#Pius
“Dutiful”: Antoninus' surname, received in 138, later adopted by many emperors.
E.g. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III
#Invict(us)
“Unconquered”: imperial epithet of the 3rd and early 4th centuries, linked to the cult of Sol Invictus.
#Semp(er) Aug(ustus)
“Ever Augustus”: honorific formula, mostly from the late 3rd century.
#Ti(berius) · C (Gaius) · M(arcus) · L(ucius) · Cn (Gnaeus) · Q(uintus)
Roman first names are almost always reduced to one or two letters. C and CN read Gaius and Gnaeus: C once also stood for the G sound.
E.g. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS
#Fl(avius) · Val(erius) · Aur(elius)
Abbreviated family names, very common in the 3rd and 4th centuries: FL IVL for Flavius Julius, M AVR for Marcus Aurelius, C VAL for Gaius Valerius.
E.g. FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
#Tr(ibunicia) P(otestate)
“Holding tribunician power”. It was renewed every year, so its numeral (TR P XVII) dates the coin to within a year.
E.g. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III
#Co(n)s(ul)
Consul; the numeral counts consulships (COS III). The N is left out of the abbreviation. Consulships were spaced out, so one numeral can cover several years: combined with TR P, it dates precisely.
E.g. IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII
#Des(ignatus)
“Designate” for the next consulship: COS II DES III means consul for the second time, designate for the third.
#P(ontifex) M(aximus)
Chief priest of the Roman state religion. Title held by the emperors until the late 4th century.
E.g. IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII
#P(ater) P(atriae)
“Father of the Fatherland”, an honorary title granted by the Senate. Beware: on Byzantine coins, PP AVG reads Perpetuus Augustus, “perpetual Augustus”.
E.g. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III
#Cens(or) Per(petuus)
Censor, in charge of the census and the roll of senators. Domitian had himself made perpetual censor in 85.
#Proco(n)s(ul)
Proconsul: power of command outside Rome, mentioned mostly in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, when the emperor was on campaign.
#Divi F(ilius)
“Son of the divine”: Octavian presents himself as the adopted son of Julius Caesar, deified after his death.
E.g. CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE
#F(ilius) · N(epos)
Son and grandson: lineage, often adoptive, legitimises power. DIVI AVG F, “son of the divine Augustus”, is Tiberius' formula.
E.g. TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS
#Divus · Divo · Diva
“Deified”: posthumous honours granted by the Senate. DIVO is the dative form, “to the divine…”; DIVA is used for an empress.
E.g. DIVO CLAVDIO
#Consecratio
“Consecration”: reverse of coins struck for the deification of an emperor or empress, often showing an eagle, a funeral pyre or an altar.
#Mater · Matri Castrorum
“Mother of the camps”: honorary title of Faustina the Younger, then of Julia Domna and Julia Mamaea. On coins it is usually written out in full: MATRI CASTRORVM (dative) or MATER CASTRORVM.
#Germ(anicus)
“Conqueror of the Germans”. GERM MAX: Germanicus Maximus.
E.g. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P
#Dac(icus)
“Conqueror of the Dacians”: Trajan's title from 102.
E.g. IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P
#Parth(icus)
“Conqueror of the Parthians”: Trajan, Lucius Verus, Septimius Severus (PART MAX).
#Brit(annicus)
“Conqueror of the Britons”: Commodus, then Septimius Severus and his sons Caracalla and Geta.
#Part(hicus) Arab(icus) Part(hicus) Adiab(enicus)
Victory titles of Septimius Severus, taken in 195 after his eastern campaigns: conqueror of the Parthians of Arabia and of Adiabene.
#Sarm(aticus)
“Conqueror of the Sarmatians”: Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, then 4th-century emperors.
#Max(imus)
“Greatest”: added to victory titles (GERM MAX) and to the pontificate (PONT MAX).
#S(enatus) P(opulus)q(ue) R(omanus)
“The Senate and the Roman people”, paying tribute to the emperor. Under Trajan: S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, “to the best of princes”.
E.g. S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI
#S(enatus) C(onsulto)
“By decree of the Senate”: the mark of imperial bronze coinage (sestertius, dupondius, as), from Augustus to the mid-3rd century. It is not a mint name.
#Ex S(enatus) C(onsulto)
“In accordance with a decree of the Senate”: special issues authorised by the Senate, including in gold and silver.
#Virt(us) Aug(usti)
“The valour of the Augustus”: the emperor's military courage, often shown as a helmeted soldier.
#Fort(unae) Red(uci)
“To Fortune who brings back”: a vow or thanks for the emperor's safe return.
#Provid(entia) Aug(usti) · Provident(ia) Aug(usti)
“The foresight of the emperor”: his ability to provide for the Empire's future.
#Fides Milit(um) · Fides Exerc(itus)
“The loyalty of the soldiers”, “of the army”: a message to the troops, common in the 3rd century.
#Liberal(itas) Aug(usti)
“The emperor's generosity”: cash handouts to the people, numbered (LIBERAL AVG IIII = fourth largess).
#Adventus Aug(usti)
“The arrival of the emperor”: a ceremonial entry into a city, often Rome.
#Restitut(or) Orbis
“Restorer of the world”: a claim of 3rd-century emperors, notably Aurelian, after periods of crisis.
#Vot(is) X Mult(is) XX
Public vows for the length of the reign: the ten-year vows fulfilled, new vows taken for many more years, up to twenty. The numbers vary (VOT V, VOT XX MVLT XXX).
E.g. VOT X MVLT XX
#Fel(icium) Temp(orum) Reparatio
“The restoration of happy times”: the emblematic reverse of the 348 coinage reform, under Constantius II and Constans.
E.g. FEL TEMP REPARATIO
#Gloria Exercitus
“The glory of the army”: one of the most struck reverses, under Constantine and his sons, showing two soldiers and one or two standards.
E.g. GLORIA EXERCITVS
#Genio Pop(uli) Rom(ani)
“To the genius of the Roman people”: the standard reverse of the large bronzes (folles) of the Tetrarchy, spelled out (GENIO POPVLI ROMANI). The abbreviated GENIO POP ROM is mostly Constantinian (London, Trier, c. 307–317).
E.g. GENIO POP ROM
#Soli Invicto Comiti
“To the unconquered Sun, companion (of the emperor)”: a frequent reverse under Constantine, before pagan gods were dropped from coins.
E.g. SOLI INVICTO COMITI
#Iovi Conservat(ori)
“To Jupiter the preserver”, the emperor's protector, notably under the Tetrarchy.
#Pax · Salus · Spes · Aequitas
Personifications of imperial virtues: peace, health (or safety), hope, fairness. Followed by AVG, they belong to the emperor: PAX AVG, “the peace of the Augustus”.
#Concordia
“Concord”: harmony between emperors (CONCORDIA AVGG), with the army or within the imperial family.
E.g. CONCORDIA AVGG
#SM · ANT · Δ
In the exergue, below the ground line of the reverse, a short mark gives, mainly from the late 3rd century, the mint and the officina (team of workers) that struck the coin. It reads in three parts: prefix, mint, officina. E.g. SMANTΔ: Sacra Moneta, Antioch, fourth officina.
E.g. SMANTΔ
#S(acra) M(oneta)
“Sacred mint” (of the emperor): a frequent prefix before the mint name (SMN, SMK, SMH, SMTS).
#P(rima) · S(ecunda) · T(ertia) · Q(uarta)
Number of the officina, in Latin letters at western mints (PTR, SLG: first officina of Trier, second of Lyon), in Greek letters in the East (A = 1, B = 2, Γ = 3, Δ = 4, E = 5…).
#Roma
Rome. Often followed or preceded by the officina: RP, RS, RT, RQ.
#Tr(everi)
Trier (Augusta Treverorum), in Gallia Belgica (modern Germany), a major western mint in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
#L(u)g(dunum)
Lyon. An imperial mint under Augustus and his early successors, then again from 274 to the early 5th century.
#Ar(e)l(ate) · Const(antina)
Arles, renamed Constantina around 328, in honour of Constantine II: both names occur depending on the period.
#Lon(dinium)
London, a mint active from the late 3rd century until around 325, then briefly under Magnus Maximus (383–388, mark AVG).
#Aq(uileia)
Aquileia, at the head of the Adriatic.
#Sis(cia)
Siscia, in Pannonia (modern Sisak, Croatia), a highly productive mint.
#T(he)s(salonica)
Thessalonica, in Macedonia.
#Cons(tantinopolis)
Constantinople, a mint opened under Constantine around 326. CONS followed by a Greek-letter officina is typical of 4th-century bronzes.
#N(icomedia) · K (Cyzicus) · H(eraclea) · Ant(iochia) · Ale(xandria)
Eastern mints: Nicomedia, Cyzicus (Kyzikos in Greek, hence the K), Heraclea in Thrace, Antioch, Alexandria. Often preceded by SM.
E.g. SMANTΔ
#Con(stantinopolis) Ob(ryziacum) · Com(itatus) Ob(ryziacum)
Marks on gold coins (solidi) of the late 4th century and the Byzantine period. OB is most often read obryziacum, “refined gold”; another reading sees the Greek numeral 72, the number of solidi struck from a pound of gold. CONOB also appears on gold from other mints. COMOB, Com(itatus) Ob(ryziacum), marks gold from the court mint, which travelled with the emperor.
#Roma
On Republican denarii, the name of Rome signs the issuing authority, often beneath the helmeted bust of the goddess Roma.
#X (decem) · XVI (sedecim)
Value of the denarius in asses: X for 10 asses, XVI for 16 asses after the retariffing around 141 BC. After that reform, the barred X is generally read as a monogram of XVI.
#IIIvir R(ei) P(ublicae) C(onstituendae)
“Triumvir for restoring the state”: title of Mark Antony, Octavian and Lepidus from 43 BC.
#IIIvir A(ere) A(rgento) A(uro) F(lando) F(eriundo)
“The three officials for casting and striking bronze, silver and gold”: the moneyers, whose names appear on Republican coins and on Augustus' bronze.
#Aurum · Argentum · Aes · Billon
Catalogue abbreviations, not found on coins: AV (or AU) for gold, AR for silver, AE or Æ for bronze and copper, BI for billon, a low-silver alloy.
#Roman Imperial Coinage
The standard reference for imperial coinage, in ten volumes, from Augustus to the late 5th century. “RIC I 207” means volume I, number 207.
#Roman Republican Coinage
Michael Crawford's catalogue (1974) of Republican coins. Its references are written issue/variety, for example 494/23.
#Roman Provincial Coinage
The catalogue of Roman provincial coins, struck by the cities of the Empire, often with Greek legends.
#Cohen
Henry Cohen's Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire romain (2nd ed., 1880–1892), still cited in French sales.
#Droit · Revers · Obverse · Reverse
In descriptions, Obv. marks the obverse, the portrait side, and Rev. the reverse. In French: D/ (or Dr.) and R/ (or Rv.).
#No abbreviation matches. Try without spaces or dots (TRP), or a word from the translation.
Or let the app read the legendTribunician power was renewed every year: when the legend gives its numeral (TR P XVII), the coin is dated to within a year. The consulship was not annual: COS V covers the whole period until the next consulship. Cross-check the two, and catalogues such as RIC give the exact match.
IMP CAES VESP AVG P M COS IIII
Vespasian
72–73
Fourth consulship in 72, fifth in 74.
IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P
Trajan
103–111
Fifth consulship in 103, sixth in 112.
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III
Antoninus Pius
140–144
Third consulship in 140, fourth in 145.
Photograph the coin: Numismatista transcribes the legend, expands every abbreviation and translates it. An illegible letter stays marked as such — it is never guessed.