Description

• Roman coinage was first introduced in the late 4th century BC. The first Roman coins were made of bronze, copper silver as well as gold. The most common Roman coins were the silver denarius and the bronze As or Sestertius. The denarius was initially worth 10 As (hence its name a denarius meaning 10) but this was later changed to 16 Asses, while the sestertius was initially worth 2.5 Asses and later worth 4 Asses.
• The denarius was a standard silver coin used during the Roman Republic and Empire. It was first minted in 211 BC and functioned as the backbone of the roman coinage system - it was used as the standard for payment of military troops. The word "denarius" is derived from the Latin word for "ten", as it originally worth ten asses. Not surprisingly, half a denarius was known as "quinarius", stemming from the word for 5:quinque. Ongoing inflation caused the denarius to be debased and eventually replaced by the double denarius, commonly referred to as "Antoninianus" in the middle of the 3rd century AD. The word "denarius" lies at the root of common modern monetary terms such as the Arabic "Dinar" or Italian word "denaro" and Spanish "dinero" meaning money.