Obverse (numismatics)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Face side ( 1-mark coin of the GDR )

The obverse (abbr .: Av. ) Is in the numismatics the front (abbr .: Vs.) of a coin or medal . It is also called the image page or main page . The back is called the lapel .

origin

The word obverse was taken from the French language to denote the front of numismatic objects. The French noun avers goes back to the Latin adversus " zugewandt " / "zuzugt" and means "front".

The terms obverse and lapel in the sense of "front" and "back" are also used for medals and decorations , seals and flags .

use

In numismatics, the term obverse is always understood to mean the front of a coin. But there are different opinions about which side of a coin is front and which back. So called official documents, as well as publications that uniform value side of the euro coins that the numerical value and the inscription Euro or Euro cents shows the front or European side of the coin , and the different aspect , which usually shows motifs with national-symbolic nature, as back or national side . The problem of assignment is increasingly being avoided by using the terms face and value side , which can usually be clearly assigned to coins.

However, there are also coins that have neither a front nor a back, such as the Schmalkaldic Bundestaler with a Saxon and a Hessian side.

Motifs

Often the face of modern coins of republics shows the national coat of arms, the state emblem or other sovereign symbols of a state . Coins from monarchies often show the portrait of the ruler , his monogram and possibly his name.

Heads of gods are mostly depicted on coins from Hellenism and the Roman Republic.

Coins from the Roman Empire (as early as Caesar ) almost always have a portrait of the emperor, and occasionally that of his wife or his fellow emperor.

literature

  • Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress Lexicon Numismatics. 3. edit and exp. Edition 1982. Berlin 1976, p. 37.
  • Gerd Scharfenberg, Günter Thiede: Lexikon der Ordenskunde , Battenberg Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-86646-051-5 , p. 41.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress lexicon numismatics. 3. edit and exp. Edition 1982. Berlin 1976, p. 37.
  2. ↑ a b c obverse, the. In: Duden online. January 19, 2013, accessed May 28, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b Differentiation between obverse and reverse on www.Muenztreff.de ( aspects of suitability for everyday use ). Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerhard Gierow, Willy Unger: Transpress lexicon numismatics. 3. edit and exp. Edition 1982. Berlin 1976, p. 408.
  5. ↑ Meridian (ed.): With the euro through Europe. ISBN 3-7742-0768-2 , Munich 2006, p. 8.
  6. ↑ a b c Differentiation between obverse and reverse on www.Muenztreff.de ( aspects of coin sovereignty ). Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  7. ^ Deutsche Bundesbank : The euro coins. P. 6 f. ( PDF ( memento of September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 14, 2015).
  8. ^ Deutsche Bundesbank: The euro coins. P. 14 f. ( PDF ( memento of September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 14, 2015).
  9. ↑ Obverse on www.Numispedia.de . Retrieved January 9, 2015.