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HELVETICA'S IDENTIFICATION HELP PAGE

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RIC INFORMATION

If you use any of the information in these lists on your website, in forums etc., please be fair and give credit where it is due. Thankyou.

RIC RATINGS RIC Rarities are no longer reliable in most cases. Some RIC volumes were written over 70 years ago when Roman coins were relatively rare. Also keep in mind that RIC rarity ratings refer to the numbers of coins found only in the collections (mostly museums) that the RIC authors used for reference up to 70 years ago. Added to that the fabulous hoards found in the past 20-30 years, most of which contain numerous "RIC Unlisted" types.

RIC I (New edition, 1984)
C: Common to very common * S (scarce): Scarce * R: Rare * R2: 11-15 known * R3: 6 to 10 known *R4: 2 to 5 known * R5: Unique
RIC II (late 1920's), RIC III (1930), RIC IV-1 & 2 (1934), RIC V-1 & 2 (1927/1933)
(CC: Very common) * C: Common * S: Scarce * R: Rare * R2-R5: "additional degrees of rarity" (R5 is usually unique)
RIC VI Rarity ratings (1967)
C2: Common in every major collection * C: In every major collection * S (scarce): In most major collections * R: 26-50 known * R2: 11-25 known * R3: 6-10 known * R4: 2-5 coins known * R5: Unique *
RIC VII Rarity ratings (1966)
C3: more than 41 known * C2: 31-40 known * C1: 22-30 known * S (scarce): 16-21 known * R1: 11-15 known * R2: 7-10 known * R3: 4-6 known * R4: 2-3 coins known * R5: Unique *
RIC VIII Rarity ratings (1981)
No information at all (at least, I can't find it!) Presumeably similar to RIC VII
RIC IX Rarity ratings (1933)
C3 - C: "increasing degrees of commonness" * S (scarce): Scarce * R - R4: "increasing degrees of rarity" * R5: Unique
RIC X Rarity ratings (1994)
No information at all (at least, I can't find it!) Presumeably similar to RIC VII

WHAT IS RIC ?
RIC (Roman Imperial Coinage) is the general abbreviation for a set of 13 volumes of identification catalogs of Roman coins. RIC references have become a standard in the world of collectors although it is not quite up to date any more due to so many new variations of coins being found. It is always a thrill to find a coin which is not in RIC.
Another excellent work with the coins currently in four volumes is "Sear". (ID abbreviations: Sear xxx or Sxxx). It is available from many coin suppliers and also direct from its very respected author Dr David Sear . The new Sear books go into much more detail as far as individual mintmarks etc. go than the old version, although I personally prefer RIC.
Another popular book is Van Meter which costs around $30 and which is an excellent guide to thousands of coins. There are however a number of errors in it. The abbreviation of coins identified using Van Meter is often "VM" e.g. VM1234.

DON'T HAVE EXCEL ?
These lists are in Excel format, written using an old (2002) version, which I have no intention of updating (I hate the "made pretty for newbies" look of the new versions). So they also work with later versions and happily, the dropdown columns also work excellently with the free OpenOffice Calc program. If you do not have Excel you can download OpenOffice for Windows or Mac or an Excel Viewer from Microsoft.

SAVE A LIST TO YOUR HARDDISK
To save a list as an xls file instead of having Internet Explorer open it first, right click the link and use the 'Save Target As..' option to save it straight to your harddisk. Firefox Users should right click the link and use 'Save Link As..'.

SUBMIT A COIN to the list
Do you have a coin of a variety which is not in the list and you would like it added ?
Please make a good, sharp, clear photo or scan (at least 300 dpi resolution - the two sides of the coin side by side should just about fill your screen), tell me what you think you can see or what you think it is and send it to me at the gmail email address at the top of the RIC list page.
Note: Comcast blocks emails from thousands of national mail servers all around the world and especially in Europe and my reply to comcast.com addresses will bounce back to me as undeliverable.
I am always happy to add new variations to the lists but - for obvious reasons - need to see the coin myself.

USING EXCEL'S AUTO-FILTER FUNCTION:

1. Click on the left hand edge of row 1 (the one with the column headers) of the coin list you wish to filter, or simply mark the line from A1 to ... whatever (e.g. to G1 if that is the top of the last column).
2. Click on "Data" in the menu line at the top of Excel's screen
(To work even quicker you can also add a filter icon to your icons line. see below)
3. Click on Filter > then Autofilter.
4. Use the drop-down arrows to filter the list e.g. on bust type, legend break etc.
5. Use Data.. Show All to get the entire list back, or add and use a "show all" icon to your menu icons.
6. To add any icon to your icons menu: click on Tools, Customise.. Commands.
7. Find the command you want by scrolling down the right and left panes
8. Click the required command in the r.h. pane, keep the mouse button pressed, carry the icon up to your icon menu and drop it there.
9. Keep the Customise window open, right click the icon or command you just dropped in your icon menu to change its settings (text only, change button image etc.)
10. With "change button image, you can select an icon image for "Show All" - I use a simple blue "arrow down" icon.

From the Swiss Declaration of Independence and Rütli Oath, anno MCCXCI: We are a united nation of brothers, which neither suffering nor danger shall tear asunder. We shall be free and would choose death before enslavement. We shall place our trust alone in God on high and shall not fear the power of men."
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