The obverse is ... The obverse and the reverse are the sides of the coin

Here, it would seem, what can be difficult in a small ordinary coin? Two planes on which various information is depicted. One of them is the obverse, and the other is the reverse. But to distinguish these sides is not so simple.

The coin and its "parts of the body"

The coin you wear in your pocket "for good luck" may not be as simple as it seems. Take it out and carefully consider! Numismatists allocate as many as 6 structural parts of the coin. This is the edge, edge, edge, edge, as well as the obverse and the reverse of the coin.

Gurth is nothing but an edge of a coin. It can be issued or unformed, it all depends on the technology of making coins. The root may be of several types: ribbed, mesh, patterned or textual. What is the purpose of the edge? First of all, in order to protect the coin from forgery. On the coin edge, a coarse inscription is often applied.

Opuskoy called the sublime part of the coin, which fringes it around the circumference. But the border is part of the edge in the form of a raised edge of the coin. It protects the coin from premature wear. Although the edge may be absent. But in some countries, it has a special role - to inform blind people about the nominal.

The meaning of the word "obverse" and "reverse"

And now we turn to the consideration of the main components of any coin - this is the obverse and the reverse.

The obverse of a coin is, literally, "facing the face," "facial." There is a word from the Latin "adversus".

The obverse is a numismatic term denoting the front part of a coin on which (as a rule) a state emblem or portrait of a monarch or state ruler is marked.

The reverse in the same Latin is "reversus", which means "reverse". In Russian, this word is first encountered in the annals of 1710. The reverse is a numismatic term that designates the reverse side of the coin or the coin opposite to the obverse.

The obverse is ...

This may seem surprising, but in a special numismatic literature there is no consensus about how to distinguish the sides of coins. There are also no clear criteria for determining the obverse of the coin - the obverse. This, in fact, the main party in any coin.

However, most of the numismatic catalogs offer a list of features on which the obverse is defined. Here they are:

• Image of a portrait of a famous person (king, monarch, president and the like);
• State emblem or emblem;
• The name of the country, territory;
• The name of the holder of the monetary regalia or the issuing bank.

However, it happens that the coat of arms is marked on both sides of the coin. How, in that case, can you determine where the obverse has a coin? This can be done as follows: to study both arms and take the obverse to the side, on which the coat of arms of a higher rank is depicted.

If on the coin there is none of the above signs, then the obverse should be considered the side opposite to the side with the denomination of the coin.

Of course, the easiest way is to first determine the reverse. As a rule (with very few exceptions), it is on him that the denomination (value) of coins is put.

"Heads or tails"?

It is important to note that when a coin is depicted in a photograph or drawing, it is customary to first place its obverse (that is, on the left side) and then the coin's reverse (that is, to the right). This rule is worth remembering, since it is generally accepted for all images of monetary money, without exception.

In the monarchical countries of Western Europe, it was customary to depict on all coins the head of the monarch, the king. This tradition was borrowed from the era of ancient Rome, where they did exactly the same. And almost always the monarch's face was depicted on the obverse of the coin (that is, on the obverse).

The tradition of depicting the rulers' coins on coins was founded during the reign of Alexander the Great. And even after his death, the coins continued to mint his portraits. After Alexander conquered Egypt, he decided to depict himself on the face of the coins, like a god and a king. So he wanted to get the location of the Egyptians, who revered their previous pharaohs for the gods.

The following monarchs, who ruled after Alexander the Great, retained this tradition. Their heads were also applied to the obverse of all coins.

So we figured out what "parts of the body" each coin has. As you can see, to distinguish where the obverse, and where - the reverse, is not so easy. A lot of disputes and discussions arise in this regard among numismatists. However, for an average person, it is enough to have the rules that are given in this article to determine the sides of the coin.