What is the longest text/title on a Roman coin?

[Coinmaster]

Hi all,

I find the text on Roman coins fascinating and wonder: what is the longest text and/or title on a Roman coin? I think these are two questions:
1. most characters
2. most/longest titles

@DonnaMLperhaps you know this answer?

Perhaps it's this one from Trajanus (RIC 681): 
IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO PM TR P COS VI PP

Perhaps you're familiar already with this great site: https://chat.openai.com/chat. The answer I received was:

Quote

 

The coin type that has the longest title on it is believed to be a bronze coin minted in the 3rd century AD during the reign of the Roman emperor Maximinus Thrax. The full title of Maximinus Thrax appears around the edge of the coin in abbreviated form and reads:

IMP(erator) CAES(ar) GAL(erius) VAL(erius) MAXIMINUS P(ius) F(elix) AVG(ustus) NOB(ilissimus) C(omm) F(ilius) N(oster) INVIC(tus) A(ugustus)

 

Not sure which RIC-number this is, so I don't have a picture for this example. But the example from Trajanus seems better.

Any remarks, additions? Thank you!

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Coinmaster

[CPK]

I think it's safe to say that chat.openai is wrong on this one. It's almost certainly one of Trajan's coins - your pick looks like a good candidate, beating out mine by a few letters:

 

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

I believe this Trajan RIC 642 has the world record of all time : IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO PM TRP COS VI PP ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P R REDACTAE SC

52+44 = 96 letters.

 

 

[CPK]

12 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

I believe this Trajan RIC 642 has the world record of all time : IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO PM TRP COS VI PP ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P R REDACTAE SC

52+44 = 96 letters.

 

 

 

That is an extraordinary coin! Given your Forum name, I think you and Trajan have something in common. 😜

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

Here’s another interesting one owned by Bob L (not sure if he’s a member here ?)

[Valentinian]

Here is a Roman provincial coin with a long legend:

Macrinus and Diadumenian, 217-218
Struck at Marcianopolis in Lower Moesia
Asklepios standing, head left, with snake on staff.
21 around: AVK OΠΠEΛ CEVH MAKPEINOC
(Autok[rater] Oppel[ius] Seve[rus] Macrinus)
24 in three lines below the busts K M OΠΠEΛ AN/TΩNINOC ΔI/AΔOYME
C[aesar] M[arcus] Oppel[ius] Di/adume[nian]
Reverse: 24 around VΠΠONTIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛIT
[moneyer] Ponitianus Marcianopolis
2 below: ΩN (of)
1 in field left: E (denomination)
Total: 72 letters! (And, two obverse heads.)

[Spaniard]

Yes Trajan has got to be the king of legends!..Even his small, in comparison to the big bronzes, Denarius managed to squeeze in 45 letters.

Trajan ar Denarius 98-117AD 20mm/2.66gr (Minted 103-111AD) Obverse-IMPTRAIANO AVG GER DAC PMTRP laureate bust right, slight drapery on left shoulder Reverse-COS VPPS PQR OPTIMO PRINC Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. RIC II# 118

[shanxi]

1 hour ago, Spaniard said:

Yes Trajan has got to be the king of legends!..Even his small, in comparison to the big bronzes, Denarius managed to squeeze in 45 letters.

I don't think that he is the record holder for Denarii.

Compare with this Augustus Denar:

https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).aug.358

43 + 41 letters = 84

 

Not my coin !

And if you write out the abbreviations, the obverse reads:

"Iovi Optimo Maximo senatus populusque Romanus vota suscepta pro salute Imperatoris Caesaris quod per eum respublica in ampliore atque tranquilliore statu est"

Edited December 24, 2022 by shanxi

[Coinmaster]

Many thanks for all replies!

@shanxi I believe your example count about 85 characters.

@Spaniard indeed this is a great example of a denarius. I recently bought this beautiful denarius from Trajanus, that count even 48 characters! Would that be a record for the denarius? It's quite a puzzle to figure this out, see: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=ERIC - TRAJAN.

@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, your example with 96 characters seems indeed the winner, thank you!

[Coinmaster]

The 'winner'! One of the best examples I could find online (source: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=175066).

 

 

Quote

TRAJAN. 98-117 AD. Æ Sestertius (27.91 gm). Struck 116-117 AD. IMP CAES NER TRAIANO OPTIMO AVG GER DAC PARTHICO P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate and draped bust right / ARMENIA ET MESOPOTAMIA IN POTESTATEM P R REDACTAE, S C across field, Trajan, laureate and in miltary outfit, standing facing, head right, holding reversed spear and parazonium; Mesopotamia seated left at feet, in attitude of mourning; to left and right, Tigris and Euphrates seated, vis à vis, each leaning on inverted urn from which water flows, and holding reed. RIC II 642; BMCRE 1033; Cohen 39. EF, beautiful brown and olive-green patina. Superb detail. Probably the finest specimen known. ($15,000)
Beginning in 114 AD, Trajan began his campaign against Parthia. The immediate cause of the war was the situation in Armenia, a strategic and semi-independent kingdom which acted as an important buffer between the two empires. Parthia's deposition of the pro-Roman king of Armenia with one that was pro-Parthian upset the tenuous balance and thereby threatened Syria's wealthy cities. Trajan's campaign againt Armenia was swift and decisive; by 115 AD, Armenia had been absorbed as a Roman province. To secure the eastern frontier, he then moved southward through Mesopotamia, capturing the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, in 116 AD, bringing the "Cradle of Civilization" under Roman control. The reverse type on this coin is a direct allusion to Trajan's conquering of Mesopotamia, and is also interesting in that its personifications correspond to the actual geography of the region.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by Coinmaster

[Coinmaster]

I found a denarius from Trajanus with 58 characters (https://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2.tr.237) and from Hadrianus with 64 characters (source: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1532185)!

HADRIEN (117-138), AR denier, 117, Rome. Droit : IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC B. l., drapé, cuirassé à droite. Revers : PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F P M TR P COS PP Trajan et Hadrien en toge, debout face à face, tenant un globe entre eux. Ref.: BMC 237, 2; RIC 2c. 2,77g. Rare. Patiné.

See also: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces254576.html

Edited December 24, 2022 by Coinmaster

[shanxi]

Still less than my Denar example with 85 charcters 

 

[Coinmaster]

7 minutes ago, shanxi said:

Still less than my Denar example with 85 charcters 

 

Yes, indeed! An impressive denarius, thanks!
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces247839.html

[Coinmaster]

Interesting! 

 

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

2 hours ago, Coinmaster said:

@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, your example with 96 characters seems indeed the winner, thank you!

There is also an abridged version of the winner coin in the RIC :

[Kamnaskires]

12 hours ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

Here’s another interesting one owned by Bob L (not sure if he’s a member here ?)

LOL. I can safely say he's a member here, going by a different username. 😉

 

I can also safely say that the coin has been heavily tooled - and that the specific tools used were pulled from the menu bar in Photoshop. (The "Yada Yada" in the legend should be a giveaway!) It was from a thread posted, not coincidentally, on April 1st some years ago: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/have-these-been-tooled.314008/

 

[Roman Collector]

Sixty-two characters, if you count the denomination, E, in the field:


Gordian III, AD 238-244, and Tranquillina, AD 241-244.
Roman provincial Æ pentassarion, 12.34 g, 26.2 mm, 2 h.
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, legate Tertullius, AD 243-244.
Obv: ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ CЄΒ ΤΡΑΝΚVΛ-ΛЄΙΝΑ, confronted busts.
Rev: VΠ ΤΕΡΤVΛΛΙΑΝΟV ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛI-ΤΩΝ, Nemesis-Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae; wheel at feet; E in field, left.
Refs: Varbanov 2052; Moushmov 834; AMNG (Pick) 1185; SNG Cop 260.

 

 

[expat]

Best I have is 60

 

[Briac]

1 hour ago, Roman Collector said:

Sixty-two characters, if you count the denomination, E, in the field:


Gordian III, AD 238-244, and Tranquillina, AD 241-244.
Roman provincial Æ pentassarion, 12.34 g, 26.2 mm, 2 h.
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, legate Tertullius, AD 243-244.
Obv: ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ CЄΒ ΤΡΑΝΚVΛ-ΛЄΙΝΑ, confronted busts.
Rev: VΠ ΤΕΡΤVΛΛΙΑΝΟV ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛI-ΤΩΝ, Nemesis-Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae; wheel at feet; E in field, left.
Refs: Varbanov 2052; Moushmov 834; AMNG (Pick) 1185; SNG Cop 260.

 

 

may I ask why don't you use the RPC reference? 

A nice specimen of a scarce type, congratulation

https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/7.2/1444

[Jeremy]

The obverse of this Roman provincial coin from Moesia Superior probably has the longest legend of any coin in my collection at 36 characters. I thought it was a lot until I saw 62 characters in the example above! 😮

Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, Macrinus with Diadumenian, Æ Pentassarion

217-218 AD
Pontianus, legatus consularis.
Obverse: AVT K OΠEΛ CEV MAKPEINOC K M OΠEΛ ANTΩNEINOC; Confronted heads of Macrinus, laureate, and Diadumenian, bare-headed.
Reverse: VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛEITΩN; Serpent Glykon coiled right; E (mark of value) in field to left.
References: Varbanov 1286 var. (obv. legend).
27mm; 11.39 g