Coin orientation


Coin orientation is the relation of the vertical orientation of the images on the obverse and reverse sides of coins to one another. The two basic relations are called medallic orientation and coin orientation.

Medallic orientation

Medallic orientation derives its name from medals tagged to a uniform. For a medal to display properly, when the obverse of the medal is right side up, a left or right turn must show the reverse also to be right side up. In other words, the tops of the obverse and reverse share the same position. In Britain this is sometimes called "British turnover". British coinage, most other Commonwealth coinage, Japanese yen coinage, and Euro coinage have medallic orientation.

Coin orientation

If, when the obverse of a coin is right side up, a left or right turn shows the reverse image to be upside down, then the coin has 'coin orientation'. United States coinage, South Korean coinage, Thai coinage and pre-Euro French coinage have coin orientation.