The mintmarks follow the following convention:
left field / right field // exergue
or
central field // exergue
All symbols are represented in parenthesis. -/-//TRP would represent a
reverse with no marking in the left, central or right field and TRP in the exergue.
(star)/-//PLG has a star in the left field, nothing in the central or
right field, and PLG in the exergue. (chi-rho)//PLG has a chi-rho in the
central field, nothing in the left and right field, and PLG in the exergue.
NB: LRBC uses the first officina (P in the west and A in the
east) as a placeholder for all officinae. A coin in your hand might read
-/-//TRS(dot), but the LRBC reference will be under
-/-//TRP(dot).
When searching by mint mark, @ stands for a field with something in it.
@/-//AQP is every mark with a symbol or a letter in the left field, nothing
in the right field and AQP in the exergue; @/@//TRP has both fields
occupied. An @ can also stand inside a field for one or more characters:
-/-//@SMKA is SMKA with something before it in the exergue, (dot)SMKA or
(star)SMKA. A pattern with a slash in it is read from the left edge of the mark, so
@//SMKA asks for the central field and is not answered by a right field.
Published in 1960, Late Roman Bronze Coinage A.D. 324-498 is an invaluable reference conspectus. Sadly, physical copies are no longer in print and are rarely available outside of select museum, academic, and heritage institutions. The work of P. V. Hill, J. P. C. Kent, and R. A. G. Carson must live on beyond the physical realm. This digital version of the reference catalogue was created by Hadley Sharman using AI tools (ChatGPT and Claude), Adobe Acrobat, and many hours of manual auditing.
The LRBC was designed to ‘record the maximum amount of detail within the smallest compass’ (LRBC, p. 3) which is a constraint no longer necessary in our digital age. Therefore, all individual records recorded as much detail as was given in 1960 but are fully unabridged. It is hoped that users of LRBC Online will find it much easier to read the references and transfer information from them.
The 1960 volume was split into two chronological parts:
There are 4,497 coin IDs in LRBC and this online version. To find your ID, you should apply filters. Examining the mintmark should provide you with a mint: click into the mint box and the mints are listed with the number of entries at each, or type a few letters. Next, identify the reverse motif or legend – type this into the reverse description box and it will suggest applicable reverse motifs or legends. The obverse description box answers for the whole obverse: it lists the people, what the bust wears (laureate, pearl-diademed, cuirassed), which way it faces, and the obverse legends, so CONSTANTINVS AVG or IVN NOB C can be typed there too. Pick a term from a box’s list, or type one and press Return, and it becomes a tag above the box, which is then ready for another; the × on a tag takes it off again. Once a box holds two terms an AND / OR switch appears beside its name: AND asks for entries that answer to every term, OR for entries that answer to any one of them. Finally, enter your mintmark into its box, or select the relevant coin ID from the catalogue.
The mintmarks follow the following convention:
left field / right field // exergue
or
central field // exergue
All symbols are represented in parenthesis. The symbols and their bracketed equivalents
can be explored in the ‘Mints and Mintmarks’ tab. In the mint mark box,
@ stands for a field with something in it: @/-//AQP finds
every mark with a symbol or a letter in the left field, nothing in the right field and
AQP in the exergue, and -/-//@ finds every mark whose fields are empty.
A term without an @ is looked for anywhere in the mark, so
AQP alone finds AQP in any position.
Alternatively, you can browse by ‘Reverse types’, which follow LRBC’s own index of reverse legends and types (Part I pp. 34–37, Part II pp. 108–111): one legend is one entry however the page breaks it, and where LRBC numbers the types under a legend the number is given. Or you can ‘Look up a reference’ via the tabs. References are cited as LRBC I 701 and LRBC II 783. To search for a coin, put the part and its number in any of these forms: LRBC I 701, I 701 or HK 701; LRBC II 783, II 783 or CK 783. A plain number search will serve coins from both parts; a suffix letter on its own (a, b) or the word variant lists every entry so marked. Each record shows the entry number and mintmark as printed in LRBC, cut from the page. Where LRBC left the cell blank or used a ditto, the line at the head of the block is shown as well.