ROMAN CURRENCY

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ROMAN CURRENCY

• BY AURELIUS DOMITIANUS

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The First Money in Rome

• The first currency of Rome consisted of large
  irregular lumps of bronze known as aes rude.
• Aes rude were impractical since they needed to be
  weighed for every transaction they were
  eventually replaced with large cast objects that
  were round or rectangular called aes signatum.
• The first Roman coins were called denarius, and
  they were silver. The became the main currency in
  Rome.

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The Use of Coins

• Roman coins were used very often, through buying
  selling, trading, and pay. Still many Romans
  used donkeys as the main currency. The whole
  Roman currency table was built upon the donkey.
  Heres a table
• Name Metal
  Values
• As bronze
  -----
• Dupondius bronze
  or copper 2 asses
• Sestertius metal
  alloy 4 asses or 2
  Dupondii
• Denarius
  silver alloy 16 asses, 8 Dupondii or 4
  Sestertii Aureus gold
  400 asses, 200 Dupondii,
  100 Sestertii or 25 Denarii
• After the Second Punic War (i.e., after 201 BC).

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Figures on Coins

• The Roman coins had current emperors, or a god
  or goddesss head on them. It might also have an
  inscription of the emperors name. Some coins
  depicted battle scenes.
• Depending of the value of the coin, it would
  either have a clean carving, or a cruder one.
• On reverse side of the coin, there may be a
  inscription like Augustus our God, or a carving
  of the figure doing something like riding
  dolphins or fighting a lion.
• By looking at the coins carvings, we can tell
  when it was made.

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Example Coins

• This (coin 1) is a very common copper coin of
  the Roman emperor Constantine the Great who ruled
  307 to 337 AD. This coin is 23 millimeters in
  diameter (almost an inch, like a quarter, a
  dupondius).
• This one (coin 2) is a common silver coin the
  size of a dime (19 mm diameter, a denarius). The
  head is emperor Septimius Severuss, 193-211 A.D.
  

Coin 1
Coin 2
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 FAQ

• Some don't look perfectly round. That is the
  result of the ancient minting technique. Coins
  were made by using a hammer to strike coin
  blanks. The pressure often caused the coin to
  stretch. What were they worth? Small coins were
  pretty valuable then. In Roman times, silver
  coins the size of a dime were worth 40 today.
  You could support a small family with one small
  silver coin. Aren't they very expensive? Most
  aren't. You can spend 100 or 500 on a great
  coin if you want, but many low-grade coins only
  cost 5-15. Some of the most common can be found
  in good condition for 10 to 30.

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Biography

• http//esty.ancients.info/numis/
• http//www.dl.ket.org/latin2/mores/currency/curren
  cy.htm
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_currency

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Thank U