When a reference includes a rarity table, that table will be included on the
NumisWiki page for that reference.
RIC I,
HGC 2,
Emmett and
Varbanov I, for example, have rarity tables on their
NumisWiki pages. This information is important especially because for some references R1 means very common (the R only indicating it is a rarity
scale number not
rare), while for others it means
rare.
If you click on
rare, this is what you will see on the
NumisWiki Rarity and Scarcity pages...
Scarcity and Rarity
Also see
ERIC - Rarity Tables.
Rarity ratings for
ancient coins in sales catalogs, including
FORVM ANCIENT COINS'
shop are based on some or all of the following:
- Published rarity ratings when available (such as those in Roman Imperial Coins below).
- The number of examples in published
collections and other references.
- The number of examples in certain
hoards.
- The number of examples sold in
auctions over the past years.
- The number of examples currently on the market.
- The number of examples on the Internet.
- The number of examples handled by the cataloger or dealer in the past.
- The knowledge and experience of the cataloger.
An exact degree of scarcity and rarity of
ancient coins is rarely certain. Also, the rarity of a
type can change if a new
hoard is discovered. Often coins that were once listed as
rare in references are only cataloged as
scarce and coins that were once
scarce are cataloged as common today. Although unusual, a cataloger may also believe a coin is rarer than a published rarity rating or the number of examples in
collections implies. Highly desirable coins are found in disproportionately high numbers in publications and
collections because they were sought for each publication or
collection with greater effort than other coins. Such coins may actually be quite
scarce or
rare. Also, the cataloger may know or think a published rarity rating is in error.
Another rarity consideration is how narrowly the
type or variant is defined. A rarity rating might apply to the general
type or to a narrowly defined variety. A particular coin of a short reigning emperor may be listed as common but overall the coins of that emperor are much rarer than those of
Constantine, for example, who issued millions of coins. Yet, many
Constantine variants are identified as
rare or even extremely
rare. Rarity might even refer to a specific
mint workshop (
officina) or control mark on the coin. The same issue applies to
Greek coins. The coins of a city in general might be common or
rare, but even in a city that issued many coins, the coins of a specific magistrate, with a certain
monogram or a specific control mark might be unpublished and thus
rare. Rarity is sometimes based on an obscure magistrate name,
officina number or control mark because some collectors are interested in obtaining all of the variants of the
type.
The impact of
price on the rarity of coins is entirely dependent on demand. A
rare variant may not cost much more than a common variant of the same
type with similar
eye appeal. On the other hand, a
rare variant or
type might be much more expensive if there are a number of collectors that find the
type desirable. The greatest impact of rarity on
price applies when the specific rarity is necessary to
complete a highly collected series. Consider that some U.S. coins are extremely expensive when only the date or
mintmark varies from millions of others of the same
type. Collectors need to "fill a hole" and the
price reflects the demand created by that need. Fortunately, for most
ancient coins the need to "fill holes" does not apply to the same extreme - even some extremely
rare, unpublished, and even unique coins are sometimes
still affordable.
RIC Rarity Ratings
See
Emperors and their RIC volumes if you are uncertain which volume below applies.
RIC I (1984)
Sutherland, C.H.V. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. I, From 39 BC to AD 69. (
London, 1984).
C: Common to very common
S:
ScarceR:
RareR2: [
Rare] 11-15 known [in the
collections examined]
R3: [
Rare] 6 to 10 known [in the
collections examined]
R4: [
Rare] 2 to 5 known [in the
collections examined]
R5: [
Rare] Unique [only one in the
collections examined]
RIC II (1926)
Mattingly H. & E.
Sydenham. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II:
Vespasian to
Hadrian. (
London, 1926).
Unspecified, probably the same as
RIC IRIC II,
Part I (2007)
Carradice, I.A. & T.V. Buttrey. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol. II,
Part 1: From AD 69 to 96. (
London, 2007).
C2: Extremely common
C: Common
R:
RareR2: Very
rareR3: Unique [only one in the
collections examined]
RIC III (1930)
Mattingly, H. & E.
Sydenham. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol III,
Antoninus Pius to
Commodus. (
London, 1930).
Unspecified, probably the same as
RIC IRIC IV (1986)
Mattingly, H.B., E.A.
Sydenham & C.H.V.
Sutherland. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol IV, From
Pertinax to
Uranius Antoninus. (
London, 1986).
Unspecified, probably the same as
RIC IRIC V (1927 & 1933)
Mattingly, H., E.A.
Sydenham & P.
Webb. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol V,
Part I, Valerian to
Florian. (
London, 1927).
Mattingly, H., E.A.
Sydenham & P.
Webb. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol V,
Part II,
Probus to
Amandus. (
London, 1933).
CC: Very common
CC: Very common
C: Common
S:
ScarceR:
RareR2-R4: [
Rare] Additional degrees of rarity
R5: Unique [only one in the
collections examined]
RIC VI (1967)
Sutherland, R.A.C. & C.H.V.
Carson. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol VI, From
Diocletian's reform to the death of
Maximinus. (
London, 1967).
C2: [Very] Common in every major
collectionC: [Common] In every major
collectionS: [
Scarce] In most major
collectionsR: [
Rare] 26-50 coins known [in the
collections examined]
R2: [
Rare] 11-25 coins known [in the
collections examined]
R3: [
Rare] 6-10 coins known [in the
collections examined]
R4: [Very
Rare] 2-5 coins known [in the
collections examined]
R5: Unique [only one in the
collections examined]
RIC VII (1966)
Bruun, P.M. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol
VII,
Constantine and Licinius A.D. 313 - 337. (
London, 1966).
C3: [Common] more than 41 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
C2: [Common] 31-40 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
C1: [Common] 22-30 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
S: [
Scarce] 16-21 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
R1: [
Rare] 11-15 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
R2: [
Rare] 7-10 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
R3: [
Rare] 4-6 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
R4: [Very
Rare] 2-3 coins known [to the writers when the book was written]
R5: Unique [only one in the
collections examined]
RIC VIII (1981)
Carson, R., H.
Sutherland and J.
Kent. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Vol
VIII, The Family of
Constantine I, A.D. 337 - 364. (
London, 1981).
Unspecified, probably similar to
RIC VI or
VIIRIC IX (1933)
Pearce, J.W.E. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume IX,
Valentinian I -
Theodosius I. (
London 1933).
C-C3: [Common with] increasing degrees of commonness
S:
ScarceR-R4: [
Rare with] increasing degrees of rarity
R5: Unique [only one in the
collections examined]
RIC X (1994)
Kent, J. P. C. The
Roman Imperial Coinage, Volume X, The Divided Empire and the Fall of the Western Parts, AD 395 - 491. (
London, 1994).
Unspecified, probably similar to
RIC VI or
VIINotes:
- Although
RIC rarity is often criticized, better ratings are not available elsewhere.
-
RIC rarity is wrong for many individual coin
types but overall they are fairly accurate.
- Some of the RIC volumes are quite old and the ratings are dated. These volumes have many
types listed as
rare that are
scarce at best, yet overall they are
still fairly accurate. Most R5 coins are not unique but are very
rare. Most R4 coins are also quite
rare.
- Older volumes were based on older
collections that tended to have more Western
mint coins and fewer Eastern
mint coins. Since many coins are now found with metal detectors in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the rarity of Eastern
mint coins is more likely to be overstated.
- Rarity of very interesting
types and coins of very
rare emperors are probably understated because extra effort was likely expended to acquire those
types for the
collections examined.
- For RIC volumes that list the rarity of
types by each
officina the accuracy of rarity for the whole
type is usually more significant and the least
rare officina considered. Specialty collectors may, however, disagree and an R5 coin for a particular
officina is probably very
rare even if the
type is not.