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Author Topic: RIC Numbers  (Read 4799 times)

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Groover

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RIC Numbers
« on: January 14, 2004, 12:13:43 am »
Hi, I was really excited to find one of my coins in the ID database section of dirtyoldcoins! It is Antoninus Pius with Fortuna on the reverse. Dirtyoldcoins lists it as RIC 251. You can see this listing at http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/chitlins/id/ant.htm.

I then did a search on Google for "RIC 251". Now I am confused.

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/tetricus_II/i.html shows RIC 251 as being Tetricus II.

http://axesofevils.com/probvs/RIC.251.html shows RIC 251 as being Probus.

What is going on? I dont have any copies of the RIC volumes as I have just started out finding about my collection and really getting in to it. Am I misunderstanding the RIC numbers??

Groover

Offline Robert_Brenchley

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2004, 01:49:48 am »
That'll be RIC 251 of Tet 11. With the later emperors it also becomes important to list the mint, as each one is catalogued separately with its own numbering system.
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Offline maridvnvm

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2004, 06:26:01 am »
The structure of RIC differs from volume to volume, of which there are 10. Each volume covers a period of history and the emperors that cover that time period and hence you can get several emperors within each volume.

Each individual emperor is given a separate section within the volume, with RIC Id's starting at 1 and rising.  So a full RIC Id is typically structured as Volume, Emperor, RIC Id. Typically the Volume and emperor are left off as it is often assumed that you already know this information.

For later coinage they took a different approach and listed the coinage by Mint. Let me take an example of RIC Volume VI, which lists the coinage for the time period by mint and all the emperors that issued coinage from that mint during that period. In this case the coinage from the mint each start at 1 and consecutive RIC Ids actually identify different reverse types by emperor.

In order to help you identify your coin, please post a picture to the Identification section and the people here will help fully identify it.

I hope this has helped clear from of the confusion.

Maridvnvm

Offline cscoppa

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2004, 07:01:47 am »
RIC numbers are very confusing at first. As are the other little things about RIC like some times they group varoius mintmarkings under one number and other times a change in the mintmark will change the RIC number.  Just study them and you will get the hang of them.

Chip
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Offline maridvnvm

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2004, 07:24:24 am »
I agree with Chip. At first it is really confusing but once you know what volume you are dealing with then you just switch mind set to the way that the particular volume is structured.


Another strange numbering scheme appears with Probus. Here the RIC number identifies the Obverse legend, Reverse legend and reverse type but then lists the obverse types that are associated with this RIC Id and so a RIC Id doesn't identify an individual coin but a coin type with a list of known bust types.

The different volumes adapt to the coinage that was produced in the different time periods. This means that they are not consistent between volumes but do make some form of sense in the end.

Maridvnvm

Groover

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2004, 09:58:26 am »
Thanks for all the great replies! Sorry if this is a stupid question, but if the RIC number might not specify a single coin, then what is the use of the RIC numbers? Why do people use them?

Groover

Offline maridvnvm

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2004, 10:05:53 am »
For early coinage you can use RIC to provide a unique RIC Id with a combination of RIC Volume, Emperor, RIC Id. Later coinage will be unique RIC Volume, Emperor, RIC Id and the addition of Officina. The Probus coins for example would be represented as RIC Volume, Emperor, RIC Id and the addition of Bust Type.

Regards,
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Offline maridvnvm

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2004, 11:12:25 am »
Let me give you some examples. I have taken the libery of using some of the coins from the Forum catalog as examples here.

This coin is attributed as RIC Vol III, Antoninus Pius, RIC 229a



This coin is attributed as RIC Vol V part 2, Probus, RIC 925 Bust Type C



This coin is attributed as RIC Vol VI, Maxentius, Aquilea, RIC 121a, Officina S



I hope this helps,
Maridvnvm

Groover

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2004, 11:18:34 am »
Thanks!

So it seems to me that to be able to make use of the numbers properly, I need a copy of the relevant volume of the RIC, otherwise I might be omitting information or getting it plain wrong.

Groover

Offline maridvnvm

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2004, 11:43:03 am »
Not really. I only have a couple of volumes but have learned over time how to use the number properly.
Typically people do not use the full id. For the Ant.Pius above, RIC 229a is sufficient as a reference as people who understand the reference will infer the rest of the information.
Maridvnvm

Offline cscoppa

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2004, 09:38:37 pm »
Would it help if I post a RIC listing for a RIC number that has a lot of possible coins and another from the same issuer that could only be a single coin to show the difference?
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Offline cscoppa

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #11 on: January 14, 2004, 10:03:12 pm »
Here is a RIC number that can only be one coin.

Maximian RIC 577 vol V part II
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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #12 on: January 14, 2004, 10:05:18 pm »
And here is a RIC number (only a couple away) that can be several coins. (as I count upwards of 44 coins)

Maximian RIC 580 vol V part II (ONE OF MY FAVORATE COINS)
Chip

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Groover

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Re:RIC Numbers
« Reply #13 on: January 14, 2004, 11:17:28 pm »
Thanks for the replies! That helped me understand a lot about the RIC numbers.  ;D

Groover

 

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