obverse

The Latin word inversus derived in French envers, which came to our language What obverse. This term is used especially with reference to medals, tokens and coins to name the face or the most relevant side for the drawing they carry.

The obverse is usually the face that exhibits the face of a personality, a historical monument, the representation of a transcendental event or some allegory. The opposite side is known as back.

In this context, it is necessary to define the concept of numismatics, since it is about the study and practice of collect paper money and official coins in a country at a certain time. If the focus is solely on paper money, the more appropriate term is notaphilia.

The origins of numismatics date back to the Roman Empire; However, until now the exact point in history at which it became a social phenomenon is unknown, where it is generally spoken of collecting. As a science, it can be said that it began during the 19th century, and its importance is incalculable, since its findings serve to reconstruct an essential part of the story of the peoples, both in terms of their economy and their politics, religion and geography.

In this way, it can be said that the obverse is the most important face, while the reverse is the least important face. By extension to this idea, the duality between obverse and reverse appears in other areas beyond numismatics: papers, paintings and flags, for example, can also have a front and a back.

The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), in fact, recognizes the meaning of the concept of obverse in the field of the printing press to name the face where the first page corresponding to a sheet and the mold with which said impression is made.

Here comes into play the discipline known as coinage, which refers to the action of certifying, printing, stamping or minting a piece of metal with the use of a die or die. This is especially practiced on medals and coins.

The minted object acquires a value specific, exchange or intrinsic, and thus when we have a legal tender in our hands we can know what allows us to buy thanks to the data printed on its front and back, even if we ignore the value of the material and the processes used for its manufacture, since they have no relevance in a commercial exchange.

It should be noted that the obverse of banknotes and coins is usually used to render different tributes. The authorities of a country, responsible for minting the legal tender, can make the decision to include representative images or portraits of certain characters or events of great importance at the national level. In Argentina, to cite one case, the government created a series of hundred-peso bills that, on the obverse, present a woman with a scarf covering her head, the symbol of the Mothers and the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

In the learned language, the term obverse it can acquire a different meaning, far removed from material objects: it serves to describe the most important part of an event, a period or a process, among other periods of time. For example, when talking about a discovery scientifically, we can say that it has as its reverse a certain risk of environmental contamination, but that its obverse lies in the opening of new doors to knowledge and a growth at a technological level unprecedented so far.