Roman Coins

• The Roman Republic first used money when it minted metal coins in c.300 CE, influenced by the coins already produced in the nearby cities of Magna Graecia.
• The Motifs of early coins were based on Greek Coinage, later coins carried images of the Emperors. The coins were of bronze alloys, silver Orichalcum and gold. The Mint of Rome produced coins until 491 CE.

First coins

• The Chinese appear to have invented the first ever metal coin, a cowry shell shaped bronze coin from Anyang, dated to c. 900 BCE.
• Metal coins made from Electrum (650-625 BCE) were found in the Great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and provide the first known coins of the western world. Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver.
• The Lydian Lion coins (610-560 BCE) were the first coins used in public circulation, also made from Electrum.

Roman coin types

• Roman Coins were produced by the Roman Republic from c.300 BCE and continued until the Fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE.
• The coins were made from gold, silver, bronze, brass, copper and billon.
• They were inscribed with the date of minting and a depiction of a God, or under the Empire, a portrait of the Emperor.
  • Roman Coin List

Coin Inscriptions

• AVG          Augustus
• BRIT         Britannicus
• CAES        Caesar
• CENS        Censor
• COS           Consul
• DN             Dominus Noster
• FIL             Filius
• GERM        Germanicus
• IMP            Imperator (Emperor)
• IVN            Junior
• NOB          Nobilissimus
• OPT           Optimo Principi
• PIVS, PF   Pius Felix
• PM             Pontifex Maximus
• PP              Pater Patriae
• SC              Senatus Consultas
• TRP           Tribunicia Potestate
• VC              Vir Clarissimus

Carausian Coins had quotes by Virgil

• Coins with unique titles and quotes were issued by Carausius from London and Rouen:
  • Expectate veni:
    • meaning ‘Come, expected one’, a quote from the Aeneid by Virgil.
  • RSR:  ‘Redeunt Saturnia Regna’
    • meaning ‘The Golden Age is back’ from Virgil.
  • INPCDA:
    • ‘Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto’
    • meaning ‘Now a new generation is descended from heaven’. These are the 6th and 7th lines from Virgil’s Eclogue.
• The educated Romans knew this to be Virgil, as famous lines from poetry were frequently reduced to sets of initials.

Roman Wages and Prices

• Diocletian's Price List (310 CE) was an Edict issued in 301 CE by the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284-305 CE), which proclaimed the Maximum Prices, ‘Edictum de Pretiis Rerum Venalium’.
• It was designed to stop runaway inflation.
• The List is a useful tool for historians to assess the cost of Roman Goods and Services.

Roman Inflation

• Roman Inflation became a problem during the Crisis of the Third Century, which was a 50 year period of civil wars.
• It was caused by the gradual Debasement of the Gold Coin, the Aureus and the Silver Coin, the Denarius.

How Debasement led to Inflation

• The Roman Government insisted all Taxes be paid in Gold or Silver. However, new Gold and Silver coins were continually being debased.
• As a consequence, Prices were increased to cover the shortfall and Inflation became a continuous and chronic problem.
• The Gold Aureus and the Silver Denarius
  • The Aureus was a gold Roman Coin worth 25 Silver Denarii
  • It was issued by the Mint of Ancient Rome between c.100 BCE and 312 CE.
• Repeated Debasement of the Aureus Gold Content:
  • 8.18 grams: Julius Caesar
  • 7.27 grams: Nero
  • 6.55 grams: Caracalla
  • 5.45 grams: Diocletian
  • 4.55 grams: Constantine I replaced it with the Solidus
• Finally, the Aureus was replaced by the Solidus
  • After 301 CE, Diocletian started to replace the Aureus with the gold Solidus worth 1,000 Silver Denarii.
  • After 312 CE, Constantine I decided to permanently replace the Aureus with the Solidus, which was now worth 275,000 Silver Denarii.

Most Important Roman Mints

• Rome
• Lyon (Lugdunum)
• Alexandria

Roman Hoards

• This is a list of some of the larger Roman Hoards found in Britain.
  • Roman Hoards

Roman Banking

• The Temples in the Ancient World were the Banks.
• The Roman Temple was a safe Depository built as a stone fortress with defensive doors. The Temple of Diana in Rome was the Aerarium or State Treasury, which received all revenues from the Senatorial Provinces.
• The Romans had no State Bank, unlike certain Greek cities and Ancient Egypt.
• Instead, Finance was raised through a system of Banking Houses located in Rome and in the Provinces. These made Loans and took Deposits.

Nummularii

• The Nummularii were the Officers of the Mint who operated a bank which placed new coins into circulation and removed the old coins.
• They also eventually undertook the same financial transactions as the Argentarii, taking deposits, making loans and attending auctions.

Money Transfers

• Transfers between the Provinces and Rome were made with Gold and silver coins. Local mints only produced the base coinage which stayed in each Province.

Egyptian Coinage

• Between 30 BCE and 296 CE, Egypt had a separate sealed currency based on the Alexandrian Tetradrachm.
• The Tetradrachm was not allowed to leave Egypt and had to be exchanged on the frontiers.

Roman Taxation

• Augustus abandoned the use of the Publicani, and instituted a comparatively advanced Tax System using Flat Rate levies.
• He ordered a Census to be held every 14 years throughout the Roman Empire. Each individual City was then assessed and instructed to pay a certain amount of Taxes.
• The individual taxpayer paid the City. Provincial Magistrates were responsible for the collecting the taxes in that City and its surroundings.
• Taxes were paid either in Coins, Goods or by Services.