Obverse and reverse

Front and back side of coins, medals, orders of merit, and paper bills

"Obverse" redirects here. For the concept in logic, see Obversion. For the book publisher, see Obverse Books.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Obverse and reverse" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message )

Roman imperial coin, struck c. 241, with the head of Tranquillina on the obverse, or front of the coin, and her marriage to Gordian III depicted on the reverse, or back side of the coin, in smaller scale; the coin exhibits the obverse – "head", or front – and reverse – "tail", or back – convention that still dominates much coinage today. Legend: SABINIA TRANQVILLINA AVG / CONCORDIA AVGG.

A Roman imperial coin of Marcus Claudius Tacitus, who ruled briefly from 275 to 276, follows the convention of obverse and reverse coin traditions. Legend: IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG / VICTORIA GOTTHI

Obverse and its

flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back

face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.

In numismatics, the abbreviation obv. is used for obverse,^[1] while ℞,^[1] )(^[2] and rev.^[3] are used for reverse.

In fields of scholarship outside numismatics, the term front is more commonly used than obverse, while usage of reverse is widespread.^{[citation needed]}

The equivalent terms used in codicology, manuscript studies, print studies and publishing are "recto" and "verso".^{[citation needed]}

Identification

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message )

On a Tetradrachma of Athens, struck c. 490 BC, the head of Athena

, (left), is regarded as the obverse because of its larger scale and because it is a portrait head; the entire owl is depicted in a smaller scale on the reverse. Legend: ΑΘΕ[ΝΑΙ]Ο[Ν], ie of Athenians.

Generally, the side of a coin with the larger-scale image will be called the obverse (especially if the image is a single head) and, if that does not serve to distinguish them, the side that is more typical of a wide range of coins from that location will be called the obverse. Following this principle, in the most famous of ancient Greek coins, the tetradrachm of Athens, the obverse is the head of Athena and the reverse is her owl. Similar versions of these two images, both symbols of the state, were used on the Athenian coins for more than two centuries.

In the many republics of ancient Greece,^[4] such as Athens or Corinth, one side of their coins would have a symbol of the state, usually their patron goddess or her symbol, which remained constant through all of the coins minted by that state, which is regarded as the obverse of those coins. The opposite side may have varied from time to time. In ancient Greek monarchical coinage, the situation continued whereby a larger image of a deity, is called the obverse, but a smaller image of a monarch appears on the other side which is called the reverse.

Obverse of the tetradrachm of Alexander the Great, intended to be seen as a deity, wearing the attributes of the hero, Heracles/Hercules

. 325 BC.

In a

god-king, at least partly because he thought this would help secure the allegiance of the Egyptians, who had regarded their previous monarchs, the pharaohs

, as divine. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and kept their images on the obverse of coins.

Solidus of Justinian II

after 705. Christ is on the obverse (left), the emperor on the reverse. Legend: D[OMI]N[US] IHS[US] CH[RI]S[TOS] REX RAGNANTIUM / D[OMI]N[US] IUSTINIANUS MULTUS A[ΝΝΙ].

A movement back to the earlier tradition of a deity being placed on the obverse occurred in

Caliph, Abd al-Malik, who previously had copied Byzantine designs, replacing Christian symbols with Islamic equivalents, finally to develop a distinctive Islamic style, with just lettering on both sides of their coins. This script alone style then was used on nearly all Islamic coinage until the modern period. The type of Justinian II was revived after the end of the Byzantine Iconoclasm

, and with variations remained the norm until the end of the Empire. Without images, therefore, it is not always easy to tell which side will be regarded as the obverse without some knowledge.

Madras

Presidency between 1817 and 1835. On rupees, the side that carries the name of the ruler is considered the obverse.

After 695 Islamic coins avoided all images of persons and usually contained script alone. The side expressing the Six Kalimas (the Islamic profession of faith) is usually defined as the obverse.

A convention exists typically to display the obverse to the left (or above) and the reverse to the right (or below) in photographs and museum displays, but this is not invariably observed.

Modern coins

The form of currency follows its function, which is to serve as a readily accepted medium of exchange of value. Normally, this function rests on a state as guarantor of the value: either as trustworthy guarantor of the kind and amount of metal in a coin, or as powerful guarantor of the continuing acceptance of token coins.

Traditionally, most states have been monarchies where the person of the monarch and the state were equivalent for most purposes. For this reason, the obverse side of a modern piece of currency is the one that evokes that reaction by invoking the strength of the state, and that side almost always depicts a symbol of the state, whether it be the monarch or otherwise.

If not provided for on the obverse, the reverse side usually contains information relating to a coin's role as a medium of exchange (such as the value of the coin). Additional space typically reflects the issuing country's culture or government, or evokes some aspect of the state's territory.

Specific currencies

Coins of the Eurozone

National side (obverse) of a Lithuanian €2 coin

Regarding the euro, some confusion regarding the obverse and reverse of the euro coins exists. Officially, as agreed by the informal Economic and Finance Ministers Council of Verona in April 1996, and despite the fact that a number of countries have a different design for each coin, the distinctive national side for the circulation coins is the obverse and the common European side (which includes the coin value) is the reverse.^[5] This rule does not apply to the collector coins as they do not have a common side.

A number of the designs used for obverse national sides of euro coins were taken from the reverse of the nations' former pre-euro coins. Several countries (such as Spain and Belgium) continue to use portraits of the reigning monarch, while the Republic of Ireland continues to use the State Arms, as on its earlier issues.

Coins of Japan