The Romans captured the silver mines at Macedonia and this further promoted the availability of silver from 167 BCE 157 BCE especially saw a boom in silver coin minting. The largest quantity of Roman gold coins was minted by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE.īronze was later replaced with silver for making coins following the ability of the Roman Army to overrun several cities and capture treasures from their enemies. The popularity of Roman coinage spread like wildfire even further due to the place to place movement of the Roman Army. The only city producing coins in Italy was Rome as from 200 BCE. Other gold and bronze coins were also created during this period, but they were not constantly or widely used. The silver Victoriatus is yet another example of the coins developed during this period this coin had the same value as a three-quarter of a denarius called the quinarii, which is also worth half of a denarius. The denarius has the same value as 10 bronze asses and each of the asses weighed 2 oz. Initially, the coin was funded by taxing the property of Romans and through war booty, especially because the Romans were having the upper hand in the wars against Carthage. This coin later became the primary silver coin of Rome and persisted until the 3rd century CE. This new coinage system appeared for the first time in the form of the silver denarius and the plural form is denarii. His event was rare and it was never repeated until the first century BCE.Īn entirely new coinage system came up in the ancient Roman Empire in the 211 BCE. Gold coins were minted as a result of financial necessity. The weight of the coin was later reduced as a result of the financial excesses that occurred during the Punic Wars the metal content of the bronze bars was also reduced. The coin had the same value as two Greek drachmas and also bored the symbol of the legend ROMANO, which was later changed to ROMA. It looked similar to the modern day Greek coins. ![]() The first silver ancient Roman coins ever produced came up on the 3rd century BCE. ![]() The very first Roman coins were very small in size and were first produced in 326 BCE at Neapolis. This led to the production of the first set of coins. ![]() As a result, they had adequate bronze, silver, and gold to produce the ancient Roman coins. The expansion of the Roman Army over the central part of Italy gave them more access to precious metals obtained from war booty. They were very heavy, but the weight never discouraged their production until 218 BCE. These were very large units one unit was equivalent to 11 ½ oz or 324g in weight. Instead, they used a system of bronze weights called the as rude. Most of them bore the images and likeness of famous imperial monuments and emperors most Romans of those days and the present day had and have to depend on the images on the coins for any knowledge of the monuments and emperors.Ĭoins were not used in the early Roman Republic. The coins, both in the past and present, have been used as a means to propagate the image of the ruling class in the ancient Roman Empire. Today also, one can make identical and large payments easily and this has made possible an entirely new scale of commercial activity. The ancient Roman coins gave the modern world an idea of currency and how to use it as means of exchange and the world is greatly benefiting from the idea today so that the exchange of goods and services could go smoothly. The ancient Roman coins were perfect representations of widely recognized and guaranteed value permitting easy exchange of values in many societies and this helped and is still helping in promoting technological development and commerce. Over time, the denarius and the sestertii persisted for a long period and also were renamed as one of the most famous ancient Roman coins in global history. These denominations and values were changed from time to time all through their histories. It weighed 11 to 15 g and had a diameter of 29mmĪll the ancient Roman coins were divided into various values and denominations. It weighed 5 to 12 g and had a diameter of 26 mm It weighed 9 to 12 g and had a diameter of 27 mm It weighed 20 to 30 g and has a diameter of 35mm It weighed 1 to 3g and has a diameter of 18mm It weighed 3 to 5g and has a diameter of 21mm It weighed 1 to 5 g and has a diameter of 14mm It weighed 3g and measured 19mm in diameter It weighed 0.5 to 1.5g and measured 14mm. It weighed 2 to 4g and measured 18mm in diameter It weighed 4 to 5 g and measured 20 mm in diameter ![]() It weighed 7g and measured 20 mm in diameter
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