Aureus - Denarius - Sestertii

Description

AUREUS The aureus (pl. aurei) was a gold coin of ancient Rome valued at 25 silver denarii. The aureus was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the solidus. The aureus is approximately the same size as the denarius, but is heavier due to the higher density of gold. Before the time of Julius Caesar the aureus was struck very infrequently, usually to make large payments from captured booty. Caesar struck the coin more frequently and standardized the weight at 1/40th of a Roman pound (about 8 grams). The mass of the aureus was decreased to 1/45th of a pound during the reign of Nero. In 301 AD one gold aureus was worth 833 1/3 denarii, by 324 AD the same aureus was worth 4,350 denarii. In 337 AD, after Constantine converted to the solidus, one solidus was worth 275,000 denarii and finally by 356 AD one solidus was worth 4,600,000 denarii. Constantine introduced the solidus in 309, replacing the aureus as the standard gold coin of the Roman empire. The solidus was a larger diameter and flatter coin, while the aureus was smaller and chunky and similar to the denarius in fabric. DENARIUS The Roman currency system included the denarius (plural: denarii) after 211 BC, a small silver coin, and it was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus. The denarius was first struck in or about 211 BC during the Roman Republic and at the same time as the Second Punic War, with a weight of 4.5 grams on average at the time. It remained at this weight for a while and then decreased to about 3.9 grams during the second century BC (a theoretical weight of 1/84 of a Roman pound). It then remained at almost this weight until the time of Nero, when it was reduced to 1/96 of a pound, or 3.4 grams. The gold aureus seems to have been a "currency of account", a denomination not commonly seen in daily transactions due to its high value. Numismatists think that the aureus was used to pay bonuses to the legions at the accession of new emperors. It was valued at 25 denarii.[citation needed] 1 gold aureus = 2 gold quinarii = 25 silver denarii = 50 silver quinarii =100 bronze sestertii = 200 bronze dupondii = 400 copper as = 800 copper semisses = 1600 copper quadrans SESTERTIUS The sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small silver, and rare, coin issued only very occasionally. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The name sestertius means "sistertio", the coin's original value in asses, and is a combination of semis "half" and tertius "third", that is, "the third half" or "half the third" (two units plus half the third unit, or halfway between the second unit and the third). Parallel constructions exist in Danish with halvanden, halvtredje and halvfjerdje. The form sesterce, derived from French, was once used in preference to the Latin form, but is now considered old-fashioned. The sestertius was introduced ca. 211 BCE as a small silver coin valued at one-quarter of a denarius (and thus one hundredth of an aureus). A silver denarius was supposed to weigh about 4.5 grammes, valued at ten asses, with the silver sestertius valued at two and one-half asses. In practice, the coins were usually underweight. When the denarius was retariffed to sixteen asses (due to the gradual reduction in the size of bronze denominations), the sestertius was accordingly revalued to four asses, still equal to one quarter of a denarius. It was produced sporadically, far less often than the denarius, through 44 BCE. In this movie there are the following parts: * Roman coin Aureus * Denarius coins * Sestertii coins