History Of Antique Roman Provincial Coins
Provincial mints issued the majority of the coins made of bronze although some ancient Roman Provincial coins were also minted in silver denominations. Rome controlled the issue of silver coinage and in regions of the Eastern Empire silver coins were more popular.This power allows the Roman government to organize and influence events in the provinces. The mint-right could be given and removed by the Empire to exert political pressure on cities and provinces. Imperial portraits were also sometimes omitted for those places regarded with certain favor. Newly established colonies were usually only given an authority to mint bronze coins.
About 600 provincial mints were set up in the Roman Imperial Era. Though mints were set up almost every where in the Roman Empire they were largely found in the Eastern parts of the province. Provincial cities like Corinth or Antioch enjoyed the facilities of mints within their boundaries. Among various mints quite a few issued the ancient Roman coins usable and valid for certain cities only, while some mints issued coins having validity coverage for the greater portion of Rome also.
A Greek Language of the inscription determines if a coin is an Ancient Roman Provincial coin. Small depressions or dimples are found in the middle of the obverse and reverse side of these coins. The depressions are a sign of a poorly understood process of preparing the blanks for striking. Perhaps both trimming off flashings from the edges, and smoothing the surfaces.
Mints located in Egypt and the Middle East make the blanks in such a way that the depth on the surface remains larger on the reverse rather than on the front side of the coin. Tapering or trapezoidal sections are clearly visible in such coins.
There are coins that are much different in style and larger or smaller than the standard Imperial denominations. Ancient Roman Provincial coins are devoid of the "S C" sign in their reverse side and the GreekObulos and Chalkous are the most notable denominations of bronze coins.
Some believed that particular ancient Roman Provincial coins were designed according to Roman denominations namely, sestertius. These ancient Roman coins prove to be a rare collector"s item that conveys the rich history and culture of the past.