Roman Republican currency

The bronze coinage was initially a more or less full value currency rather than a token currency, based on the "libral standard" where the as weighed one Roman pound (libra) with fractions in units of Roman ounces (unciae), with 12 unciae in a libra. The "uncia" was thus also both a weight and a coin of the same weight. This changed when the weight of the aes grave was decreased to approximately 10 unciae ca 270 BC (the "light libral standard", remaining at that level until 225 BC, then suddenly to 5 unciae (the "semi-libral standard") c. the start of the second Punic war in 218 BC, finally falling to 1.5–1 unciae around 211 BC.^[4]

In addition to the as and its fractions, multiples of the as were also produced. Fractions were much more common than asses and their multiples during the period of aes grave.

Bronze Denominations in Crawford (1974)
Obverse	Reverse	Name	Mark	Earliest Example	Date	Value (Asses)	Value (Unciae)
		Decussis	X	RRC 41/1	215–212 BC	10	120
		Quincussis	V	RRC 41/2	215–212 BC	5	60
		Tressis	III	RRC 41/3	215–212 BC	3	36
		Dupondius	II	RRC 41/4	215–212 BC	2	24
		As	I	RRC 14/1	280–276 BC	1	12
		Dextans	S𐆐𐆐	RRC 97/23	211–208 BC	5/6	10
		Dodrans	S𐆐𐆑	RRC 266/2	126 BC	3/4	9
		Bes	S𐆐	RRC 266/3	126 BC	2/3	8
		Semis	S	RRC 14/2	280–276 BC	1/2	6
		Quincunx	𐆐𐆐𐆑	RRC 97/11	211–208 BC	5/12	5
		Triens	𐆐𐆐	RRC 14/3	280–276 BC	1/3	4
		Quadrans	𐆐𐆑	RRC 14/4	280–276 BC	1/4	3
		Sextans	𐆐	RRC 14/5	280–276 BC	1/6	2
		Uncia	𐆑	RRC 14/6	280–276 BC	1/12	1
		Semuncia	𐆒	RRC 14/7	280–276 BC	1/24	1/2
		Quartuncia	𐅀	RRC 38/8	217–215 BC	1/48	1/4

Introduction of Greek-style silver coinage

Greek-style struck bronze coins were produced in small quantity with the inscription ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ around 300 BC; only a handful of examples exist today. They are believed to have been produced on behalf of Rome by Neapolis, based on the similar style and weight with Neapolis' own coinage, and used to facilitate trade in the wake of the construction of the Appian Way, started in 312 BC.

O: Bearded head of Mars with Corinthian helmet left.	R: Horse head right, grain ear behind.
The first Roman silver coin, 281 BC. RRC 13/1

Rome entered into a war against Tarentum in 281 BC; the Tarentines enlisted the support of Pyrrhus of Epirus. It was in this context that Rome produced its first Greek-style silver didrachm (RRC 13/1) with the head of Mars wearing a Corinthian helmet on one side and the head of a horse with the inscription ROMANO (worn off on the example shown) and a grain ear behind. This coinage may have predated the aes grave discussed above, but was minted and used largely in Magna Graecia and Campania. It was clearly part of a broader trend; payment of Roman and allied troops fighting in the Pyrrhic war appears to have been crucial in spreading the use of Greek-style coinage throughout the southern Apennine areas of Italy.^[6] This issue is today thought to have been minted in Neapolis because it was minted on that weight standard (7.3 g), not that of Metapontum, Tarentum, and other South Italian cities (which was 7.9 g at the start of the war but fell to 6.6 g during its course).^[7] This issue was thought earlier to have been minted in Metapontum because the grain-ear is the most common type on Metapontine coins and the Mars head is very similar to the head of Leucippus (a local hero, the Messenian king who re-founded Metapontum, not the philosopher) on an earlier coin produced there.^[8]

O: Diademed head Hercules right, club on shoulder.	R: Wolf suckling twins, ROMANO in. ex.
The first Roman silver coin minted at Rome, 269 BC. RRC 20/1

A number of different coins were minted in increasing volumes over the next few years, but the first silver coin now thought to have been minted in Rome itself is the Hercules/She-wolf didrachm (Crawford 20/1). The date of this issue is likely 269 BC, as the devices on this coin refer to that year's

This last and most other Roman coins were produced in small numbers until the introduction of the didrachm we refer to as the quadrigatus. The quadrigatus, produced in large quantity starting around 235 BC, was named after the reverse image of Victory driving a quadriga and was produced for about 2 decades, becoming more and more debased (to as little as 30% silver) during the second Punic war.

The denarius system

As introduced

O: Head Roma Right. IIS	R: Caped Dioscuri riding right with couched lances, stars above.
Sestertius, Anonymous, Rome, 211 BC. RRC 44/7

The

Bronze asses and their fractions (all now struck rather than cast) continued to be produced to a standard of about 55 grams; this was very quickly reduced to a sextantal standard and finally an uncial standard of roughly 32 gms. By this time, asses outnumbered their fractions, perhaps because legionary pay was increased to the point where the as could become the principal component.^[11]

In gold, there were three pieces worth 60 asses (RRC 44/2, marked ↆX), 40 asses (RRC 44/3, marked XXXX) and 20 asses (RRC 44/4, marked XX). All featured a head of Mars on the obverse and an eagle with outspread wings standing on a thunderbolt on the reverse.^[12] The eagle is somewhat reminiscent of the eagle that had consistently been a symbol on Ptolemaic coinage since the very beginning of the century, and it has been suggested that Ptolemy IV Philopator may have provided gold for this issue to act as a counterweight to the involvement of Philip V of Macedon on the side of Carthage.^[13]

The victoriatus, another silver coin (RRC 44/1), was also introduced in large quantity at the same time. It seems to have been quite separate from the denarius system proper as X-ray fluorescence spectrometry has shown that these were produced to an entirely different standard of fineness. While an analysis of 52 early denarii, quinarii, and sestertii showed a silver concentration of 96.2 ± 1.09%, 19 victoriati from the same period have highly variable fineness ranging from 72 to 93%.^[14] Early finds of victoriati are primarily in Southern Italy and Sicily and it is thought that the victoriati with a weight of 3/4 of a denarius were used to pay non-citizens with experience of the Greek coinage system in the drachma format to which they were accustomed, but with debased/overvalued coins. The quadrigatus didrachm, which had been retariffed to 15 asses (1.5 denarii), was removed from circulation almost immediately.

Evolution: weights and fineness

Over the next 40 years, the denarius slowly lost weight. The reason for this is unclear, but in the early days it may have been the ongoing pressure of the Second Punic War. Afterwards the Roman state had a debt equivalent to 25 years direct taxation on Roman citizens (~1 million denarii); this was not fully repaid until Cn. Manlius Vulso returned with the spoils of Asia after the Treaty of Apamea, (188 BC).^[15] The weight was officially changed from 72 to the pound (6 scruples) to 84 to the pound at that time; it remained relatively stable thereafter.^[16]

O: ANT AVG III VI R R P C, dromon galley facing right.	R: LEG III, aquila and two legionary standards.
Legionary denarius of Mark Anthony, 32 BC. RRC 544/15

The silver content during republican times remained well above 90%, usually above 95% with the exception of

Evolution: silver vs bronze

Obverse, RRC 224/1, 141 BC.	Obverse, RRC 243/1, 134 BC.
Two denarius obverses showing alternate indications they were worth 16 asses.

By about 140 BC (the exact date is unclear) the denarius was retariffed to 16 asses, indicated by XVI on the obverse of the denarius. This appears first on the coinage marked L.IVLI (RRC 224/1), commonly dated to 141 BC. The clear marking with the number XVI was soon again replaced with an X, but often now with a horizontal bar through the centre as shown in the second example on the left (RRC 243/1); this is sometimes read as a monogram of XVI with all the letters superimposed. The re-tariffing is thought to have been a recognition of a relationship that had developed because of decreased as weights, both due to wear of old asses and to decreasing mint weights of newer ones. This meant that the quinarius was worth eight asses, and the sestertius four asses. The new denarius-to-as ratio lasted for hundreds of years. At about the same time the unit of account changed from asses to sestertii (HS). This may well be an indicator of inflation.^[18]

The victoriatus continued to circulate well into the 2nd century BC. Victoriati were later popular in places such as Cisalpine Gaul where they circulated alongside drachmae of Massalia (Marseille).

Evolution: gold

The gold 60, 40, and 20 as coins were only minted for a few years; gold in general appears to have been used at first only as an emergency coinage. Gold coins reappeared in 82 BC when

Eventually a new reverse appeared, first

Families who had already had members in the Senate were more likely to have further family members elected to political office (and thus become senators). This was so much more likely that only a few consular

O: Head Lucius Junius Brutus right, BRVTVS.	R: Head Gaius Servilius Ahala right, AHALA.
Denarius of Marcus Junius Brutus celebrating his ancestors, 54 BC. RRC 433/2

Over time, the politics of the day became more and more visible in the coinage. In 54 BC, the

• • Lucius Junius Brutus of the Junia gens, who was made the first consul of the republic of Rome in 509 BC after he expelled Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Roman kings, and
  • Gaius Servilius Ahala, who killed Spurius Maelius – a knight who endeared himself to the populace of Rome by providing free grain during a famine – reputedly in a bid for seeking kingship – in 439 BC. Marcus Brutus was also known as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, as he had been adopted into the gens Servilia, from which he was descended on his mother's side.

In the face of famine in 57 BC Pompey had been made a special commissioner to control the supply of grain; this included the control of all ports and trading centres for five years. There was earlier bad blood between them; Pompey had put down an earlier insurrection by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in which Brutus's father had been involved; Pompey had had him executed. It was the opposition of Cato the Younger, Brutus's half brother on his adopted family's side, to Pompey's requests for land for his veterans of the war against Mithradates that gave Pompey the incentive to be part of the triumvirate. M. Brutus was clearly making a pointed, uncompromising statement of opposition to Pompey and the triumvirate while praising his ancestors.^[25]

O: Head Caesar right, CAESAR. IM P M	R: Venus standing holding Victory in right hand and sceptre in left. L. AEMILIVS BVC.
Denarius minted in the name of Caesar by L. Aemilius Buca 44 BC. RRC 480/4

In 44 BC,

, 44 BC.

Head Brutus Right. BRVT IMP, L.PLAET.CEST	Two daggers flanking pileus. EID.MAR
Modern forgery of denarius of L. Plaetorius Cestianus celebrating Brutus and his action on the Ides of March. 43–42 BC. RRC 508/3

The assassination could not revive the republic. Two years later, just prior to the

The dates on all the coins mentioned above can not be known with absolute certainty. Sometimes particular coins can be linked to a well defined event in history, e.g. the "dict perpet" denarii of Caesar can be dated very closely to his assassination, but this is rarely the case. Much dating of the coinage is based on evidence from coin hoards. The hoarding of coins, especially by burial, was a "banking system" often used in ancient times, particularly in times of crisis; hoarding during the civil war between Caesar and Pompey was so extensive that it resulted in a liquidity crisis.^[28] Hoards can present evidence in several ways

• The location of the hoard can speak to where the coins in question circulated.
• The archaeological context of a coin hoard can set an approximate date for the production of the coinage. As an example, excavations of the
  terminus ante quem
  for the period of their production can be deduced.
• The differential wear of coins in a hoard can be used to establish a relative chronology. Coins that had circulated longer prior to burial should show more wear.
• The composition of the hoard in terms of coin types can speak to what sorts of coins circulated in the same place at the same time and their relative abundance. From this, relative chronologies can sometimes be extracted.
• Comparison of multiple coin hoards can help to establish relative chronologies; if a series of coins is well represented in one large coin hoard and some are missing from a second large hoard, it is likely that they were minted after that hoard was buried.

Despite all of this, the evidence remains unclear. In this case, numismatic scholars attempt to make their best estimate of the absolute and relative chronology. In English, the current standard work is Crawford 1974 which built on and superseded the work of Sydenham 1952, Grueber 1910, Babelon 1886, and Mommsen 1850.^[29] The chronology used by this article and the identification of coins by the label RRC xx/yy identifies a particular item in that catalogue. There is however newer evidence, particularly in the period 170–149 BC, where analysis of the recently discovered Mesagne hoard has led to the alternate chronologies of Hersh & Walker 1984, and Harlan 1995. An alternate naming of the coinage of the form "gens ##" (e.g. "Fabia 11" for the 11th coin minted by a moneyer of the gens Fabia; i.e. RRC 268/1) is also sometimes still used. This was devised by Babelon and used by Grueber, Sydenham, and many newer books.

See also

• List of historical currencies
• Roman currency
• Roman provincial currency
• List of Roman moneyers during the Republic

Notes

References

• Alföldi, Andreas (1985). Caesar in 44 v. Chr. 2 Volumes, Das Zeugnis der Münzen, Vol 2, 1974
  ISBN 3-7749-1390-0
• Babelon, Ernest (1885–6). Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la république romaine, 2 Volumes
• ISBN 0-89130-811-3
  .
• Burnett, Andrew (1987). Coinage in the Roman World, Seaby,
  ISBN 0-900652-85-3
• Burnett, Andrew &
  ISBN 1-902040-02-3
• Crawford, Michael H. (1974). Roman Republican Coinage, Cambridge University Press, 2 Volumes.
  ISBN 0-521-07492-4
• Crawford, Michael H. (1985). Coinage and Money under the Roman Republic, Methuen & Co.
  ISBN 0-416-12300-7
• Feig Vishnia, Rachel (1996). State, Society, and Popular Leaders in Mid-Republican Rome 241–167 B.C., Routledge.
  ISBN 0-415-10512-9
• Grueber, H.A. (1910). Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum, 3 Volumes, The Trustees of the British Museum.
• Harl, Kenneth W. (1996). Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700, Johns Hopkins University Press.
  ISBN 0-8018-5291-9
• Harlan, Michael (1995). Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins 63 BC–49 BC, Seaby.
  ISBN 0-7134-7672-9
• Harris, William V. (1979). War and Imperialism in Republican Rome 327–70 B.C. Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 0-19-814866-6
• Hersh, Charles & Walker, Alan (1984) The Mesagne Hoard, Museum Notes, American Numismatic Society 29 pp. 103–134
• Kroh, Dennis J. (1993), Ancient Coin Reference Reviews, Empire Coins, Florida.
  ISBN 0-9638751-0-8
• Meadows, A.R. (1998). The Mars/eagle and thunderbolt gold and Ptolemaic involvement in the Second Punic War in Burnett 1998:125–134, plate 12
• Melville Jones, John R., 'A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins', London, Spink 2003
• Metcalf, D.M. &
  ISBN 0-901405-14-0
• Mommsen, Theodore (1850). Das Römische Münzwesen, Leipzig
• Rutter, N.K. (1997). The Greek Coinages of Southern Italy and Sicily, Spink.
  ISBN 0-907605-82-6
• Rutter, N.K. (2001). ed Historia Numorum: Italy, The Trustees of the British Museum.
  ISBN 0-7141-1801-X
• Sear, David R. (1998). The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49–27 B.C., Spink & Son.
  ISBN 0-907605-98-2
• Scullard, H.H. (1973). Roman Politics 220-150 B.C., second edition. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
  ISBN 0-19-814816-X
• Smith, William (1875). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
• Sutherland, C.H.V. (1974). Roman Coins, G.P. Putnam's Sons.
  ISBN 0-399-11239-1
• Sydenham, Edward A. (1952). The Coinage of the Roman Republic, Spink & Son Ltd
• Thomsen, Rudi (1974). Early Roman Coinage, a Study of the Chronology, 3 Volumes, 1961, 1961, 1974, Nationalmuseet, Stockholm.
  ISBN 87-480-0038-8
• Vecchi, Italo (2013). Italian Cast Coinage. A descriptive catalogue of the cast coinage of Rome and Italy. London Ancient Coins, London 2013. Hard bound in quarto format, 84 pages, 92 plates.
  ISBN 978-0-9575784-0-1
• Walker, D.R. (1980). The silver contents of Roman Republican coinage, in Metcalf 1980:55–72
• Willis, James A. (1972). The multiples of the as. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 76: 233–244

• Collectors price guides:
  • Fernández Molina, José & Fernández Carrera, Manuel & Calico Estivill, Xavier (2002). A Guide to the Denarii of the Roman Republic to Augustus,
    ISBN 84-607-5776-5
  • Sear, David R. (2000). Roman Coins and their Values; The Millennium edition. Volume I, The Republic and the Twelve Caesars. Spink
    ISBN 1-902040-35-X
• Politics, economics, and coinage:
  • Crawford, Michael H. (1985). Coinage and Money under the Roman Republic, Methuen & Co.
    ISBN 0-416-12300-7
  • Harlan, Michael (1996). Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins 63 BC-49 BC, Seaby.
    ISBN 0-7134-7672-9
  • Harlan, Michael (2012). Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins 81 BCE-64 BCE, Moneta Publications.
    ISBN 978-0-9654567-0-8
  • Sear, David R. (1998). The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49–27 B.C., Spink & Son.
    ISBN 0-907605-98-2
  • Vecchi, Italo (2013). Italian Cast Coinage. A descriptive catalogue of the cast coinage of Rome and Italy. London Ancient Coins.
    ISBN 978-0-9575784-0-1
  • Wiercinska, Janina (1996). Coins of the Roman Republic: Catalogue of Ancient Coins in the National Museum in Warsaw, National Museum in Warsaw.
    ISBN 8-3710-0162-2

• University of Saskatchewan Roman Coins
• Doug Smith's Ancient Greek and Roman Coins
• Roman coins database