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Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. [1] From its introduction during the Republic, in the third century BC, through Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomination, and composition. A feature was the inflationary debasement and replacement of coins over ...
- “Parva Ne Pereant”
- Adventures in Greek Metrology
- Electrum Fractions
- The Littlest Romans
- The Widow’s Mite
- Collecting The Tiniest Ancient Coins
- Notes
- References
IN 2014, THE British Royal Mint issued a gold proof 50p coin only eight mm in diameter*, weighing in at 1/40 Troy ounce (0.8 grams.) This is the smallest coin the UK has ever struck and surely one of the smallest modern coins. For comparison, the smallest coin the United States Mint has ever produced–the U.S. gold dollar, struck in several designs ...
Metrology is the study of weights and measures. With relentlessly logical minds, but lacking the advantage of decimal notation, ancient Greeks created systems of weights based on simple fractions. These became the basis of their coinage denominations. Let’s start with the silver drachma of the Athenian or “Attic” standard, weighing 4.3 grams. For c...
To find the tiniest ancients we have to go even further back in time, to the electrum coinage of Lydia and the Greek cities of Asia Minor. Like most questions in classical numismatics, the dating of these coins is controversial, but circa 650 BCE is the earliest guess for unmarked types and ca. 630-620 for types stamped with designs. The weight sta...
The practical Romans had little use for impractically tiny coins. The smallest regular imperial denomination until the mid-second century CE was the copper quadrans, worth 1/16 of a silver denarius. At 15 mm diameter and about two grams, it is roughly comparable to the modern euro cent (16.25 mm, 2.27 g). In the King James Bible (1611), the English...
Any discussion of tiny ancient coins would be woefully incomplete without mentioning the Biblical “Widow’s Mite.” As told in the Gospel of Luke: And He looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And He said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow...
In 1964 the British numismatist Colin Kraay(1918-1982) wrote: “Unless there was a supply of low value coins sufficient for the needs of daily retail trade, coinage cannot have been used in anything like the way with which we are familiar today. …the great majority of ancient coins reach us through hoards, which represent deliberate accumulations of...
In The Wasps (lines 790-1), Philocleon puts fish scales into his mouth, thinking they are coins. When he goes home with his jury pay under his tongue, his daughter (lines 608-9) manages to get it away from him with a welcoming kiss! Uelpides (The Birds, 503) swallows an obol when he is startled.
Gardner, Percy. “Coinage of the Athenian Empire”, Journal of Hellenic Studies33. (1913) Hendin, David. Guide to Biblical Coins, 5th edition. New York, (2010) Kraay. Colin M. “Hoards, Small Change and the Origin of Coinage”, Journal of Hellenic Studies84. (1964) Linzalone, Joseph. Electrum and the Invention of Coinage. Dennis McMillan (2011) Weather...
- Mike Markowitz
Nov 12, 2013 · The smallest was the 1¼th solidus, essentially a revived aureus, which today is called a ‘festaureus’ because it is thought to have been a ceremonial coin. As the Roman Empire gave way to the Byzantine Empire, this system of gold coinage would continue into the 9th century, when dramatic changes would be made once again as the empire attempted to right itself in the face of near-collapse.
Aureus. The aureus (pl. aurei, 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver denarii (sin. denarius). 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 was about the same size as the denarius, but heavier ...
Apr 12, 2011 · There was a steady decline in the intrinsic value of Roman coins, which rebounded only briefly in moments of reform that were well-intended but typically ineffective. The core denominations in the early empire were the copper “as”, the silver denarius and the gold aureus. The as had been a fundamental unit since the earliest days of ...
Gold Aureus and Solidus. The need for a standardized and valuable gold coin led to the introduction of the gold aureus. Here are some key features of the aureus: Weight: approximately 8.00 grams. Gold content: around 24 Greco-Roman carats. Primary gold currency in the Roman Empire from the 1st century BC to the early 4th century AD.
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Oct 15, 2022 · AV, AR and AE : Metal Designation s. A bronze Antoninianus is what is meant by “AE Antoninianus” (often abbreviated to just AE Ant). A silver denarius is known as a “AR Denarius.”. Many beginning collectors begin with the ordinary bronze pieces from the fourth century, both the follis and AE grades, but eventually move on to the lovely ...
