Using the RIC
RIC is the abbreviation of Roman Imperial Coinage, the standard catalogue of Roman imperial coinage. It is what the references on our records point to.
How it is arranged
The work is divided into volumes, each covering a span of years. Within a volume the arrangement is by emperor, then by mint, then by denomination, and finally by reverse legend, generally in alphabetical order.
A reference such as RIC V 288 therefore designates number 288 of the fifth volume. The note “var.” signals a variant not listed exactly: same type, but a difference of punctuation, of officina mark, or of bust detail.
Finding a coin
You start from the reverse, not the obverse. Record the reverse legend in full, then the exergue mark. With the emperor, those two elements are almost always enough to land on a single entry, or on a small group of entries that the bust type separates.
Bust descriptions are coded in the recent volumes: radiate, draped and cuirassed bust seen from three-quarters behind, for example, becomes an abbreviation. It is disconcerting at first, then very convenient.
Its limits
The RIC was published over nearly a century, and its oldest volumes have aged. Some mint attributions have since been revised by more recent work, and specialised catalogues are now authoritative for particular reigns.
It nonetheless remains the common language of the market: RIC is how dealers, auction houses and collectors understand one another.