A bust is a representation of a human figure – typically the head and upper shoulders – used as the primary design on the obverse of a coin. It is the most enduring convention in the history of coinage and remains in use on the circulating coins of virtually every monarchy today.
The bust identifies the issuing authority, asserts sovereignty, and provides immediate visual recognition. The orientation – left-facing or right-facing – has sometimes carried political significance. In the British tradition, for example, successive monarchs face in alternating directions on their coinage.
For the specialist, the precise rendering of a monarch’s bust – its die style, the treatment of the hair, the form of the truncation at the shoulder, and the exact character of the drapery or uniform – is one of the primary tools for attributing coins to specific issues, die varieties, or periods of a long reign.