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The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flag terminology, seals, , , 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. The surface between the faces is the coin edge.
In numismatics, the abbreviation obv. is used for obverse,David Sear. Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values. Spink Books, 1982. p. xxxv. while , )(Jonathan Edwards. Catalogue of the Greek and Roman Coins in the Numismatic Collection of Yale College, Volume 2. Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, 1880. p. 228. and rev.Allen G. Berman. Warman's Coins And Paper Money: Identification and Price Guide. Penguin, 2008. are used for reverse. Vexillology use the symbols "normal" for the obverse and "reverse" for the reverse. The "two-sided" , "mirror" , and "equal" symbols are further used to describe the relationship between the obverse and reverse sides of a flag.
In fields of scholarly method outside numismatics, the term front is more commonly used than obverse, while usage of reverse is widespread.
The equivalent terms used in codicology, manuscript studies, printmaking studies and publishing are "recto" and "verso".
In the many republics of ancient Greece, 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.
In a Western world monarchy, it has been customary, following the tradition of the Hellenistic monarchs and then the , for the currency to bear the head of the monarch on one side, which is almost always regarded as the obverse. This change happened in the coinage of Alexander the Great, which continued to be minted long after his death. After his conquest of ancient Egypt, he allowed himself to be depicted on the obverse of coins as 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 , as divine. The various Hellenistic rulers who were his successors followed his tradition and kept their images on the obverse of coins.
A movement back to the earlier tradition of a deity being placed on the obverse occurred in Byzantine coinage, where a head of Christ became the obverse and a head or portrait (half or full-length) of the emperor became considered the reverse. The introduction of this style in the gold coins of Justinian II from the year 695 provoked the Islamic Caliph, Abd al-Malik, who previously had copied Byzantine designs, replacing Christian symbols with 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.
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.
Traditionally, most states have been monarchy 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.
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.
The Chrysanthemum Crest was no longer used after the war, and so (equally informally):
By tradition, each British monarch faces in the opposite direction of his or her predecessor; this is said to date from 1661, with Charles II turning his back on Oliver Cromwell. Hence, George VI faced left and Elizabeth II faced right. The only break in this tradition almost occurred in 1936 when Edward VIII, believing his left side to be superior to his right (to show the parting in his hair), insisted on his image facing left, as his father's image had. No official legislation prevented his wishes being granted, so left-facing obverses were prepared for minting. Very few examples were struck before he abdicated later that year, and none bearing this portrait were ever issued officially. When George VI acceded to the throne, his image was placed to face left, implying that, had any coins been minted with Edward's portrait the obverses would have depicted Edward facing right and maintained the tradition.
Current UK coinage features the following abbreviated Latin inscription: DEI GRATIA REX FIDEI DEFENSOR ('By the Grace of God King, Fidei defensor'). Earlier issues, before 1954, included BRITANNIARUM OMNIUM ('of all the Britains'that is, Britain and its dominions) and, before 1949, INDIAE IMPERATOR ('Emperor of India').
The United States government long adhered to including all of the following:
The ten-year series of State Quarters, whose issue began in 1999, was seen as calling for more space and more flexibility in the design of the reverse. A law specific to this series and the corresponding time period permits the following:
The flag of Saudi Arabia is an exception to both conventions, with a right-hoisted ("sinister" ) obverse and an equal reverse to correctly arrange the calligraphic Shahada on both sides. Saudi Arabia: The Reverse of the Flag, FOTW Flags Of The World, 3 June 2019. Accessed 2 May 2020. Truly two-sided flags include the flag of Paraguay and the flag of Oregon, but are otherwise rare in the modern day.
Some national include provisions for when and how the reverse should be displayed. The United States flag code states that a vertically hung flag should be displayed with the reverse side out, such that the blue canton, or "union", be visible in the same position as it would be if the flag was being displayed horizontally on the obverse. "United States Flag Code", American Legion. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
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