The ancient Romans developed a coin making technique which is still used today, known as minting. The blacksmiths would either use cold or hot sheets of metal to create the coin and then heavy bronze or iron stamps to impress the details of the coin onto the metal body. It was thought to be a two or three person job. The images typically shown on the coin would be the profile of the emperor or someone from his family, or a notable leader. The profile image of their head would also be surrounded with letters usually detailing the name of the person on the coin and the date that the coin was made. On the obverse side the scene shown was typically showing a significant battle or religious scene.
This particular coin depicts the profile of Probus, deciphered from the legend on the obverse. He was a Roman emperor who ruled from AD 276 to 282. Probus spent most of his reign trying to consolidate the empire, generally by solidifying the borders which were increasingly attacked by external tribes. In AD 280 he also had to deal with internal insurrections. In AD 282, his rival Carus raised support and made a bid for power. Probus sent troops back to crush the movement, but these troops defected to the usurper and the remaining troops changed sides and assassinated Probus.
