Coin Flipping Through History: From Ancient Rome to Your Phone

People have settled arguments by tossing a coin for about as long as there have been coins to toss. The written record is thinner than most "history of the coin flip" pieces suggest, but a few solid sources and some well-documented famous tosses tell the story well enough.

Heads or ships in ancient Rome

The clearest early description of a coin-tossing game comes from Macrobius, a Roman writer of the early fifth century AD. In his Saturnalia (book 1, chapter 7) he repeats the legend that the god Janus struck the first bronze coins, with his own head on one side and a ship on the other. The proof, he says, is that boys still throw coins into the air and shout "capita aut navia": heads or ships.

The coins behind the phrase were real. Rome's early bronze as, made during the Republic from the third century BC, showed the two-faced head of Janus on the front and the prow of a ship on the back. You will often see the phrase quoted as "navia aut caput"; Macrobius's own Latin puts the heads first, "capita aut navia". Either way it is the ancestor of our "heads or tails".

It is worth being careful about what Macrobius does not say. He describes a children's game. He does not say Roman courts or officials decided cases with a coin, a claim that turns up online without a source.

Cross and pile, pile ou face, cara o cruz

In England the game was known for centuries as "cross and pile". The "cross" part is easy to explain: for hundreds of years English silver pennies carried a cross on the reverse. Where "pile" came from is less certain, and word historians do not fully agree. "Heads or tails" eventually replaced it in everyday English.

Other languages kept their own pairs, usually named after what was stamped on the coins: "pile ou face" in French, "cara o cruz" (face or cross) in Spanish, and "Kopf oder Zahl" (head or number) in German. Whatever the words, the idea is the same: two sides, one call, no arguing with the result.

Three coin tosses that changed something

The naming of Portland, Oregon (1845). Two landowners, Asa Lovejoy from Massachusetts and Francis Pettygrove from Maine, each wanted to name their new town after his home city. They tossed a coin, best two out of three, and Pettygrove won. Lovejoy's Boston lost out to Portland. The coin itself, an 1835 copper cent now known as the Portland Penny, is kept by the Oregon Historical Society.

The first powered flight (1903). On 14 December 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright tossed a coin on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to decide who would make the first attempt. Wilbur won, but his attempt that day failed. When they were ready to try again on 17 December it was Orville's turn, and he made the first successful flight. The brother who lost the toss got the place in history.

A European Championship semi-final (1968). On 5 June 1968 in Naples, Italy and the Soviet Union drew 0-0 after extra time. Penalty shoot-outs did not yet exist, so the referee took both captains aside with a coin. Italy's captain Giacinto Facchetti later told UEFA he called tails and got it right. Italy went on to win the tournament after a replayed final.

How the coin toss is used today

The coin toss is still the default way to hand out a small, fair advantage:

• Sport. Football, rugby and American football use a toss to choose ends or who kicks off. In cricket the toss decides who bats first, which can matter a lot depending on the pitch and the weather.
• Tied elections. Many US states allow a tied local election to be settled by lot, and a coin toss is one of the methods used.
• Everyday choices. Who goes first, who picks the film, who pays. The point is not the coin, it is that both people accepted the rule before the result was known.

There is also a more personal use. In 2016 the economist Steven Levitt published the results of a large online experiment in which people stuck on a decision, such as whether to quit a job or end a relationship, flipped a coin to help them choose. People whose coin told them to make the change were more likely to actually make it, and those who made a change reported being happier six months later than those who kept the status quo. Levitt's reading is that people may be too cautious about big changes. A coin will not tell you what is right, but it can break a deadlock, and many people notice that their gut reaction to the result tells them what they really wanted. Our guide on how to make a decision when you can't decide covers this and other methods.

Is a coin toss really fair?

Very nearly. A 2023 study led by František Bartoš recorded 350,757 flips by 48 people and found that a caught coin lands on the side it started on about 50.8% of the time. That is close enough to 50/50 that it makes no practical difference for one toss, but it is real. Heads and tails as such showed no meaningful difference. We go through the details, including streaks and why spinning is less fair than flipping, in Coin Flip Odds: Is Heads or Tails Really 50/50?

If you do not have a coin in your pocket, our online coin flip uses your browser's cryptographic random number generator, so every flip is an independent 50/50 with no starting side to worry about.

Sources

• Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.7.21-22 (Latin text). LacusCurtius, University of Chicago
• Portland Penny. The Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society
• Wright Brothers National Memorial: Frequently Asked Questions. US National Park Service
• "Lucky man" Facchetti on Italy's semi coin toss. UEFA.com
• Levitt, S. D. (2016). Heads or Tails: The Impact of a Coin Toss on Major Life Decisions and Subsequent Happiness. NBER Working Paper 22487
• Bartoš, F. et al. (2023). Fair coins tend to land on the same side they started: Evidence from 350,757 flips. arXiv:2310.04153

FAQ

When did people start flipping coins?

The earliest clear written description is from the Roman writer Macrobius in the early fifth century AD, who says boys tossed coins and called "capita aut navia" (heads or ships). The game is probably older, since the coins he describes date from the third century BC.

Why is it called heads or tails?

Most coins have a ruler's head on the front, so that side became "heads" and the opposite side "tails". Older English used "cross and pile", and the Romans said "heads or ships".

Was a city really named by a coin toss?

Yes. In 1845 Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove tossed a coin, best two out of three, to name their town in Oregon. Pettygrove won and chose Portland, after Portland, Maine.

Does flipping a coin help you make decisions?

It can break a deadlock. In Steven Levitt's 2016 experiment, people who let a coin push them toward a big change and made it reported being happier six months later than those who stayed put.