Dioscuri riding right, ROMA in linear frame below. RSC4, C44/7, BMC13
AR 0.96 g – RSC4, C44/7, BMC13
The sestertius (pl.: sestertii) or sesterce (pl.: sesterces) was an ancient Romancoin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin.
The name sestertius means "two and one half", referring to its nominal value of two and a half asses (a bronze Roman coin, singular as), a value that was useful for commerce because it was one quarter of a denarius, a coin worth ten asses. The name is derived from semis, "half" and tertius, "third", in which "third" refers to the third as: the sestertius was worth two full asses and half of a third.
English-language sources routinely use the original Latin form sestertius, plural sestertii; but older literature frequently uses sesterce, plural sesterces, terce being the English equivalent of tertius. A modern shorthand for values in sestertii is IIS (Unicode 𐆘), in which the Roman numeral II is followed by S for semis, and the whole struck through; but because this symbol and striking through letters are not always convenient, HS may be used instead, with the horizontal bar of the 'H' representing the strike through the numeral II, rather than the letter H.[1]
Example of a detailed portrait of Hadrian 117 to 138
History
The sestertius was introduced c.211 BC as a small silver coin valued at one-quarter of a denarius (and thus one hundredth of an aureus). A silver denarius was supposed to weigh about 4.5grams, valued at ten asses, with the silver sestertius valued at two and a half asses (1.125 grammes). In practice, the coins were usually underweight.
When the denarius was retariffed to sixteen asses (due to the gradual reduction in the size of bronze denominations), the sestertius was accordingly revalued to four asses, still equal to one quarter of a denarius. It was produced sporadically, far less often than the denarius, through 44 BC.
In or about 23 BC, with the coinage reform of Augustus, the sestertius was reintroduced as a large brass denomination, while the as, now made of copper, was worth one quarter of a sestertius. Augustus tariffed the value of the sestertius as one hundredth of the gold aureus. The sestertius was produced as the largest brass denomination until the late 3rd century AD. Most were struck in the mint of Rome but from AD 64 during the reign of Nero (AD 54–68) and Vespasian (AD 69–79), the mint of Lyon (Lugdunum), supplemented production.
The brass sestertius typically weighs in the region of 25 to 28grams, is around 32–34mm in diameter and about 4mm thick. The distinction between bronze and brass was important to the Romans. Their name for brass was orichalcum, also spelled aurichalcum (echoing the word for a gold coin, aureus), meaning 'gold-copper', because of its shiny, gold-like appearance when the coins were newly struck (see, for example Pliny the Elder in his Natural History Book 34.4).
Orichalcum was considered, by weight, to be about double the value of copper. This is why the half-sestertius, the dupondius, was around the same size and weight as the bronze was, but was worth two asses.
Sestertii continued to be struck until the late 3rd century, although there was a marked deterioration in the quality of the metal used and the striking even though portraiture remained strong. Later emperors increasingly relied on melting down older sestertii, a process which led to the zinc component being gradually lost as it burned off in the high temperatures needed to melt copper (zinc melts at 419°C but boils at 907°C, copper melts at 1085°C). The shortfall was made up with bronze and even lead. Later sestertii tend to be darker in appearance as a result and are made from more crudely prepared blanks (see the Hostilian coin on this page).
The gradual impact of inflation caused by debasement of the silver currency meant that the purchasing power of the sestertius and smaller denominations like the dupondius and as was steadily reduced. In the 1st century AD, everyday small change was dominated by the dupondius and as, but in the 2nd century, as inflation hit, the sestertius became the dominant small change. In the 3rd century silver coinage contained less and less silver, and more and more copper or bronze. By the 260s and 270s the main unit was the double-denarius, the Antoninianus, but by then these small coins were almost all bronze. Although these coins were theoretically worth eight sestertii, the average sestertius was worth far more in plain terms of the metal it contained.
Some of the last sestertii were struck by Aurelian (270–275 AD). During the end of its issue, when sestertii were reduced in size and quality, the double sestertius was issued first by Trajan Decius (249–251 AD) and later in large quantity by the ruler of a breakaway regime in the West, named Postumus (259–268 AD), who often used worn old sestertii to overstrike his image and legends on. The double sestertius was distinguished from the sestertius by the radiate crown worn by the emperor, a device used to distinguish the dupondius from the as and the Antoninianus from the denarius.
Eventually, many sestertii were withdrawn by the state and by forgers, to melt down to make the debased Antoninianus, which made inflation worse. In the coinage reforms of the 4th century, the sestertius played no part and passed into history.
The sestertius was also used as a standard unit of account and was represented on inscriptions with the monogram HS. Large values were recorded in terms of sestertium milia, thousands of sestertii, with the milia often omitted and implied. The wealthy general and politician of the late Roman Republic, Crassus, who fought in the war to defeat Spartacus, was said by Pliny the Elder to have had "estates worth 200 million sesterces".
A loaf of bread cost roughly half a sestertius, and a sextarius (c. 0.5 L) of wine anywhere from less than half to more than one sestertius. One modius (6.67kg) of wheat in 79 AD Pompeii cost seven sestertii, of rye three sestertii, a bucket two sestertii, a tunic fifteen sestertii, a donkey five hundred sestertii.[2]
According to Tacitus' Annals, book I, chapter 17.4 and 17.5, soldiers of the Rhine army who rose against Tiberius were paid ten asses a day, out of which they had to pay, among other things, for their own uniforms. They demanded to be paid a denarius a day, and they got it.[3]
Records from Pompeii show a slave being sold at auction for 6,252 sestertii. A writing tablet from Londinium (Roman London), dated to c.75–125 AD, records the sale of a Gallic slave girl called Fortunata for 600 denarii, equal to 2,400 sestertii, to a man called Vegetus. It is difficult to make any comparisons with modern coinage or prices, but for most of the 1st century AD, the ordinary legionary was paid nine hundred sestertii per annum, rising to twelve hundred under Domitian (81–96 AD), the equivalent of 3.3 sestertii per day. Half of it was deducted for living costs, leaving the soldier, if he was lucky enough to get paid, with about 1.65 sestertii per day.
Numismatic value
A sestertius of Nero, struck at Rome in 64 AD. The reverse depicts the emperor on horseback with a companion. The legend reads DECVRSIO, meaning "a military exercise". Diameter 35 mm
Early brass sestertii are highly valued by numismatists, since their large size gave engravers a large area in which to produce detailed portraits and reverse types. The most celebrated are those produced for Nero (54–68 AD) between the years 64 and 68 AD, created by some of the most accomplished coin engravers in history. The brutally realistic portraits of this emperor, and the elegant reverse designs, greatly impressed and influenced the artists of the Renaissance. The series issued by Hadrian (117–138 AD), recording his travels around the Roman Empire, depicts the Empire at its height, and included the first representation on a coin of the figure of Britannia; centuries later it was revived by English king Charles II, and continues to feature on the United Kingdom coinage.
As a result of ceasing production and withdrawals from circulation in the 4th century, sestertii are less common as a whole compared to other Roman bronze coins. Fully struck examples with sharp detail often command high premiums at auction.[4]
The denarius was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War c. 211 BC to the reign of Gordian III, when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very small quantities, likely for ceremonial purposes, until and through the Tetrarchy (293–313).
The as, occasionally assarius, was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.
The dupondius was a brass coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire valued at 2 asses.
The antoninianus or pre-reform radiate was a coin used during the Roman Empire thought to have been valued at 2 denarii. It was initially silver, but was slowly debased to bronze with a minimal silver content. The coin was introduced by Caracalla in early 215 AD. It was silver, similar to the denarius, except that it was slightly larger and featured the emperor wearing a radiate crown, indicating it was a double denomination. Antoniniani depicting women featured the bust resting upon a crescent moon.
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. 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 the centuries. Notable examples of this followed the reforms of Diocletian. This trend continued with Byzantine currency.
Orichalcum or aurichalcum is a metal mentioned in several ancient writings, including the story of Atlantis in the Critias of Plato. Within the dialogue, Critias says that orichalcum had been considered second only to gold in value and had been found and mined in many parts of Atlantis in ancient times, but that by Critias's own time, orichalcum was known only by name.
The aureus was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver denarii. 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.
A fourrée is a coin, most often a counterfeit, that is made from a base metal core that has been plated with a precious metal to look like its solid metal counterpart; the term is derived from the French for "stuffed". The term is normally applied to ancient silver-plated coins such as the Roman denarius and Greek drachma, but the term is also applied to other plated coins.
The quinarius was a small silver Roman coin valued at half a denarius.
The semis was a small Roman bronze coin that was valued at half an as. During the Roman Republic, the semis was distinguished by an 'S' or 6 dots. Some of the coins featured a bust of Saturn on the obverse, and the prow of a ship on the reverse.
The pfennig ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, it lost its value through the years and was the minor coin of the Mark currencies in the German Reich, West Germany and East Germany, and the reunified Germany until the introduction of the euro. Pfennig was also the name of the subunit of the Danzig mark (1922–1923) and the Danzig gulden (1923–1939) in the Free City of Danzig.
Roman Republican currency is the coinage struck by the various magistrates of the Roman Republic, to be used as legal tender. In modern times, the abbreviation RRC, "Roman Republican Coinage" originally the name of a reference work on the topic by Michael H. Crawford, has come to be used as an identifying tag for coins assigned a number in that work, such as RRC 367.
From c. 1124 until 1709 the coinage of Scotland was unique, and minted locally. A wide variety of coins, such as the plack, bodle, bawbee, dollar and ryal were produced over that time. For trading purposes coins of Northumbria and various other places had been used before that time; and since 1709 those of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and then of the UK.
Aksumite currency was coinage produced and used within the Kingdom of Aksum centered in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia. Its mintages were issued and circulated from the reign of King Endubis around AD 270 until it began its decline in the first half of the 7th century where they started using Dinar along with most parts of the Middle East. During the succeeding medieval period, Mogadishu currency, minted by the Sultanate of Mogadishu, was the most widely circulated currency in the eastern and southern parts of the Horn of Africa from the start of the 12th century.
Silver coins are one of the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 BC. Before 1797, British pennies were made of silver.
The double sestertius was a large Roman coin made of orichalcum ("gold-brass") first issued by Emperor Trajan Decius in AD 249–251, as a response to the inflationary pressures of the time which had devalued the buying power of the conventional sestertius. In reality the new coin was little bigger than the traditional sestertius, which by then was being manufactured at a lower weight and smaller size than it had originally been, and was not a success.
The British pre-decimal penny was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄240 of one pound or 1⁄12 of one shilling. Its symbol was d, from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier English penny, and in Scotland it had the same monetary value as one pre-1707 Scottish shilling. The penny was originally minted in silver, but from the late 18th century it was minted in copper, and then after 1860 in bronze.
The coinage reform of Augustus refers to the reform of Roman currency undertaken by Augustus in 23 BC.
The Carolingian monetary system, also called the Carolingian coinage system or just the Carolingian system, was a currency structure introduced by Charlemagne in the late 8th century as part of a major reform, the effects of which subsequently dominated much of Europe, including Britain, for centuries. It is characterised by having three denominations with values in the ratio 1:20:240, the units of which went under different names in the different languages, but which corresponded to the Latin terms libra (pound), solidus (shilling) and denarius (penny), respectively.
References
↑ Kennedy, Benjamin Hall (1930). The Revised Latin Primer. London: Longmans. p.214.
↑ Tacitus, Annales 1.17.4 and 1.17.5: Enimvero militiam ipsam gravem, infructuosam: denis in diem assibus animam et corpus aestimari: hinc vestem arma tentoria, hinc saevitiam centurionum et vacationes munerum redimi. At hercule verbera et vulnera, duram hiemem, exercitas aestates, bellum atrox: aut sterilem pacem sempiterna) Nec aliud levamentum quam si certis sub legibus militia iniretur, ut singulos denarios mererent, sextus decumus stipendii annus finem adferret, ne ultra sub vexillis tenerentur, sed isdem in castris praemium pecunia solveretur.
↑ Sear, David R. (1981). Roman Coins and their Values. London: Seaby. pp.10–12. ISBN0-900652-57-8.
External links
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