Group work by

Andrea, Luigi, Daniela and Cristina

3rd form/E

Mini-lecture text

Video-recorded and projected at school

Roman coins offer a unique view into ancient Roman life because they were used by almost everyone on a daily basis. There were no assembly lines of punching machines. They first created two punches of bronze, one of the obverse (the heads) and one of the reverse (the tails).

Most modern currency has a numeral value clearly printed on it. This is not true of roman currency. A coin's value was based on the relative values of the metals that it was made from. Coins were made of precious metal. Coins were legally mutilated for two reasons:

1)coins were cut in half to make change

2)merchants sometimes made a test cut on a coin.

In 23 B.C., Augustus organized the coinage system creating the following relationship:

1 aureus   = 25 denari

1 denarius= 4 sestersius.

Aureus

Aureus is a standard gold coin of the Empire. These coins were stuck only to make paying large debts more convenient . Julius Caesar introduced it into common circulation. These coins were made of pure gold. The aureus suffered more basement and devaluation when Costantine replaced it with the solidus, that was a golden coin created by him.

Denarius

A denarius is probably the most common Roman coin. It was first minted during the Second Punic war and continued to by minted into the 3rd century A.D. At the beginning of the Empire the denarius was more than pure silver.

Sestertius

It was originally made of pure silver. Its use died out later on. The sesterce had golden appearance. For this reason collectors often prefer sestertii over smaller silver and gold coins. Towards the end of its life, the sesterce became a bronze coin.

Inscription

The inscriptions are fundamental for understanding the structure of name and a few abbreviations. Emperors put their name and their titles on coins for recording their achievements. Many times the coins had indicated "SC"(Senatus Consulta) or it had the abbreviated name of the God pictured there.

NAMES

Romans had at least three names, a Praenomen, Nomen, and Cognomen.

PRAENOMEN

Imperial coins usually had lots of titles on them because the Emperor was legally the leader. In fact the titles mentioned were Caesar, Augustus and Imperator.

AUGUSTUS

It was a title originally created by Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus for himself. He used his position as Emperor. His was considered the golden age of the Roman Empire.

Caesar

It was originally a cognomen belonging to the Julians, of which Julius Caesar was the most renowned.