About the Identification Catalog
Search for candidate coin types by catalog number, ruler name, denomination, or description, or work from the clues you can see on your coin. Compare the results with its legends, images, and measurements before choosing a reference.
What the Catalog Covers
The NumisLens catalog draws on five major numismatic reference systems. Roman coverage includes types from Roman Imperial Coinage (RIC) and Crawford's Roman Republican Coinage (RRC). Greek and Hellenistic coverage draws from Price's corpus of Alexander coinage, Houghton and Lorber's Seleucid Coins, and Lorber's Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire.
Coverage and available images vary by series. A missing result does not establish that a coin is rare or inauthentic, and a visual match alone may not resolve its exact type. Some coins need a specialist reference or expert review. See the catalog data sources for the supported references.
Available type information includes the denomination, mint or region of issue, metal, approximate date range, obverse and reverse descriptions, and the primary catalog reference number. Where multiple reference systems overlap, cross-references are provided. Types with confirmed images from auction records are marked and shown with representative examples.
How Identification Works
Start with a reference you already know, or with the clues visible on the coin.
Catalog search is useful when you have partial information: a ruler name, a catalog number, a mint, or a phrase from the obverse or reverse description. The search helps you find candidate types to compare with your coin. An exact reference number is a useful starting point when you already have an attribution to check.
Identification from visible clues starts with what you can observe: metal, portrait, readable legend, reverse imagery, and mint marks. Combine those details to narrow the candidates, then compare both faces and any available measurements. Record uncertainty where the surviving clues do not distinguish two types.
What You Get per Type
Catalog entries provide reference information to help you attribute and record a coin. Depending on the source, this includes the catalog reference (system, volume where applicable, and type number), the standard denomination name, the issuing mint or region, the metal, the date range of issue, and the full obverse and reverse descriptions as they appear in the reference source.
Where images are available from the reference database, representative examples are shown to aid visual comparison. Once you have checked the attribution, record the reference in your cabinet alongside the details of your own specimen, such as condition, measurements, provenance, and personal notes.
Catalog Systems Covered
- RIC — Roman Imperial Coinage
- RRC — Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage
- Price — The Coinage in the Name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus
- SC — Houghton & Lorber, Seleucid Coins
- CPE — Lorber, Coins of the Ptolemaic Empire
Sear, BMC, and RPC numbers are not indexed. If you have one of those references, the concordance pages can help you cross to a RIC or RRC number where a published concordance exists.