![]() Coins were more portable and durable than other forms of currency and could be easily exchanged for other goods and services. As the Empire expanded, so did the need for a reliable currency that could be used for transactions. Why did the Roman Empire produce more coins?The Roman Empire minted coins primarily to ease trade and tax payments, and also to pay their soldiers. The coins were used for trade and taxes, and they provide valuable insights into the economic and political system of the time. Some of the most famous mints were located in Rome, Lugdunum, Antioquia and Constantinople, among others. They were issued in various locations throughout the Empire, with each mint producing coins with unique features and symbols. Numerous types of coins were minted during this period, but some of the most well-known are the denarius, aureus, sestertius and as. These coins were circulated across a vast region, including Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The assarion was replaced in 1367 by two other copper denominations, the tournesion and the follaro.Which coins are classified as Roman coins (time and geographical framework)?The usage of Roman coins dates back to the 4th century BC during the Roman Republic and persisted until the Roman Empire's downfall in 476 AD. It appears that the designs on the assarion changed annually, hence they display great variations. 3–4 grams and forming the lowest denomination of contemporary Byzantine coinage, being exchanged at 1:768 to the gold hyperpyron. It was a low-quality flat copper coin, weighing ca. 1282–1328) and minted in great quantities in the first half of the 14th century. The as, under its Greek name assarion, was re-established by the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. The last as seems to have been produced by Aurelian between 270 and 275 and at the beginning of the reign of Diocletian. It was the lowest valued coin regularly issued during the Roman Empire, with semis and quadrans being produced infrequently, and then not at all sometime after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The as continued to be produced until the 3rd century AD. During certain periods, no asses were produced at all.įollowing the coinage reform of Augustus in 23 BC, the as was struck in reddish pure copper (instead of bronze), and the sestertius or 'two-and-a-halfer' (originally 2.5 asses, but now four asses) and the dupondius (2 asses) were produced in a golden-colored alloy of bronze known by numismatists as orichalcum. As the weight decreased, the bronze coinage of the Republic switched from being cast to being struck. The as was originally produced on the libral and then the reduced libral weight standard. This is said to have been a result of financing the Punic Wars.ĭuring the Republic, the as featured the bust of Janus on the obverse, and the prow of a galley on the reverse. The denarius, or 'tenner', was at first tariffed at ten asses, but in about 140 BC it was retariffed at sixteen asses. Earlier Roman silver coins had been struck on the Greek weight standards that facilitated their use in southern Italy and across the Adriatic, but all Roman coins were now on a Roman weight standard. At about the same time a silver coin, the denarius, was also introduced. The following fractions of the as were also produced: the bes ( 2⁄ 3), semis ( 1⁄ 2), quincunx ( 5⁄ 12), triens ( 1⁄ 3), quadrans ( 1⁄ 4), sextans ( 1⁄ 6), uncia ( 1⁄ 12, also a common weight unit), and semuncia ( 1⁄ 24), as well as multiples of the as, the dupondius (2), sestertius (2 1⁄ 2), and tressis (3).Īfter the as had been issued as a cast coin for about seventy years, and its weight had been reduced in several stages, a sextantal as was introduced (meaning that it weighed one-sixth of a pound). 280 BC as a large cast bronze coin during the Roman Republic. The system thus named as was introduced in ca. The Romans replaced the usage of Greek coins, first by bronze ingots, then by disks known as the aes rude. ![]() The as ( PL: assēs), occasionally assarius ( PL: assarii, rendered into Greek as ἀσσάριον, assárion), was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. JSTOR ( November 2008) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.
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