By Rasiel Suarez
Copyright 2005 by Rasiel Suarez. All Rights Reserved. Dirty Old
Books
A tongue-in-cheek subsidiary of:Dirty Old Coins, LLC PO Box 8996
Asheville, NC 28814-8996 USA www.dirtyoldbooks.com FAX
1-612-677-3842 No part of this book may be reproduced mechanically
or otherwise without written permission from the Author. Brief
excerpts may be published without prior authorization for the
purposes of review and evaluation. Quantity discounts of this book
are available. Requests to the Publisher should be directed in
writing using the contact information provided above. Catalog
number cross-referencing permission extended courtesy of Spink
& Son, David R. Sear, David L. Vagi & Trustees of the
British Museum. Photography credits listed in the end section.
Typesetting by Publication Services, Inc. Font conversion provided
by Applied Symbols. First Published January, 2005 Library of
Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Suarez, Rasiel., 1969 ERIC
st The Encyclopedia of Roman Imperial Coins / Rasiel Suarez1 ed.
Includes Index and Bibliographical references. 1. Numismatics. 2.
Coins: Ancient. 3. Coins: Roman Imperial ISBN 0-9764664-0-6 Printed
in Hong Kong, China Regal Printing Co.,
www.regalprinting.com.hk
For ERIC
Table of Contents Foreword Introduction About Roman Coins
Denominations Coins of Other Ancient Cultures Identifying Roman
Coins How To Use This Book Mintmarks Mint Map Pricing And Grading
Bibliography Reference Catalogs Cited Imperial Catalog Coin Terms
Used Glossary Rarity Tables Index of Rulers Photography Credits
Additional Web Resources i ii iii iii viii xiii xiv xv xvii xviii
xix xix 1 611 613 614 617 618 618
i
ii
IntroductionRoman imperial coins are probably the most studied
and written about era in the field of ancient numismatics. It might
be questioned why another book on the subject is necessary given
the lopsided attention this part of history has already received.
Many of these books will focus on a limited topic or time period
and study it in depth while others attempt to tackle the entire
length of the Roman empire. Some appeal to the casual history buff
and others are written for and by scholars. And all of them,
including this effort, suffer from being quickly outdated thanks to
new discoveries of coins, historical data and analyses that
constantly reshape old theories. The aim of this book is to provide
first and foremost the collector of Roman coins with an easy to use
guide to understand in as concise a manner as possible the corpus
of money issued from the time of the first emperor to the last; a
period in history spanning over half a millennium. Naturally, as
user-friendliness is given top priority for the sake of the
collector other users may be disappointed. The scholar will lament
the exclusion of obscure issues, the historian will find little new
research, the investor and others concerned primarily with the
worth of their coins will find this book nearly useless and those
whose interest lies in any subject not covered will rightfully feel
disenfranchised. On the other hand Roman coin collectors will at
long last find in a single book a comprehensive account of nearly
every variant of legend and type known for each of the over two
hundred emperors, empresses and other imperials in whose name coins
were minted during this time. In addition, a full-fledged catalog
of known coins is also provided with each entry having a unique
number to facilitate reference among collectors and students.
Traditionally, coin guides for ancient coins tend to have full
pages of coin photographs at the end of the book. While a more
efficient and cost-effective approach, I have chosen instead to
include the photographs at the end of each emperors section to make
them more accessible. Every feature, again, has been crafted to
make this enormous amount of information as easy to understand as
possible in as condensed a format as is practical. Just like with
any other reference book, the data herein could not possibly have
been compiled without extensive help from many others whose
interests and expertise are as diverse as the coins themselves. Of
particular importance in this endeavor must be noted The Roman
Imperial Coinage series of books which is largely regarded as the
most definitive and certainly most consulted work on Roman coins.
This 13-volume set took the better part of a century to complete
and is, in fact, an ongoing project with the collaboration of many
of the worlds top numismatists. Spink and Son, its publishers, have
graciously allowed for the cross-referencing of their catalog
numbers to the listings in this book. David Sear, an author who has
devoted his life to the study of ancient coins has also allowed for
similar cross-referencing rights to his own highly acclaimed books.
Many, many friends, too numerous to list have provided photos of
their coins and sometimes the coins themselves for inclusion. The
Swiss numismatic firm of Leu donated hundreds of dollars worth of
old catalogs, always a prime ground for research. The British
Museum provided photographs of some of the worlds rarest coin
photographs free of charge. And I am equally indebted to CNG,
Numismatik Lanz, Mnzen & Medaillen and many other firms and
scores of individuals for making a wealth of information accessible
over the last two years it has taken to put all of it neatly across
the space of a few hundred pages.
Co-founder Dirty Old Coins, LLC
Rasiel Suarez
iii
About Roman CoinsOne of the most recognizable cultural traits of
the Romans was how systematic and methodical they were. In war,
politics and art the Romans preferred a strict discipline and
adherence to their rules. Naturally, this emphasis on consistency
carried over into their currency policies. For hundreds of years
millions of coins were handmade by untold numbers of craftsmen and
almost every one is instantly recognizable to the collector or
student as Roman. It is remarkable that in good times and in bad
they could be counted on to make one coin look nearly identical to
the next. Even to the bitter end, when coins were little more than
metal scraps with scribbled on designs they retained a look and
feel uniquely theirs. Asides from aesthetics the Romans were
consistent as well with the content they chose to portray on their
coins. From them we inherit the legacy of mating a persons face to
the obverse, appropriately referred to as heads informally, with a
design on the back. Many of the themes they chose to put on these
reverses have also become staple ingredients in modern western
culture as well. The Romans were masters of propaganda and learned
early on how to exploit every element of a coins design to further
the imperial message of a strong and cohesive empire. To this end
they employed a vast number of symbols, insignia and inscriptions
to drive home the point. Most Roman coins feature religious or
military themes. Issues of a civic or purely secular nature are
relegated to a secondary role and the few times they appear they
are still meant to glorify the pomp and glory of the emperor and,
by extension, the Roman people. Ancient coins have been collected
since antiquity as ambassadors to the past. Augustus, the first
Roman emperor, is said to have amassed a world-class coin
collection specimens of which he often gave to dignitaries. So many
kings and nobles from the middle ages on collected ancient coins
that the collecting of coins itself became known as the hobby of
kings. Nowadays there are millions of coin collectors the world
over and many are discovering that owning an ancient coin need not
be hopelessly expensive. European metal detectorists are finding
coins in record numbers of every culture that made them. While the
silver and gold ones are sold directly to dealers many of the
coppers, which are found in the hundreds of thousands every year,
are individually too difficult and/or damaged to restore. These are
therefore often sold in their as-found state for as little as a
dollar or two each. Any would-be archaeologist then has the chance
to restore, attribute and value their ancient coin and in the
process have a lot of fun learning about ancient history.
DenominationsRoman coins came in many different denominations.
The weight and metal type of each coin determined how much
purchasing power each coin had. Eventually, coin designs would to a
certain extent explicitly state the value of the coin but it is
uncertain whether these official values were honored by merchants
and the public in general. The absolute base unit in Roman coinage
is the Uncia, a small copper coin the size of a small button which
was never struck in large quantities and is today very rare. 16
Unciae are equivalent to an As which is the first commercially
functional coin. In turn, 16 Asses make up the famous Denarius, a
silver, U.S.-dime sized coin which circulated for hundreds of years
and influenced coinage in just about every successive Western
culture up into modern times. Although a fascinating subject, its
disappointing to learn that we lack a good understanding of what
the actual value of Roman coins were. Necessary food staples were
often heavily subsidized by the government to ensure their
accessibility. The emperor and his officials understood that a
hungry citizenry was a grave liability. What records survive,
therefore, tend to point out these set prices but the going rate
for other luxuries is largely speculative. For what its worth, a
rough sketch of salaries would have a gold Aureus or Solidus as a
months pay for an ordinary soldier. And a Denarius or two could be
earned in a day by a skilled laborer. In turn, a family meal
consisting of bread, olive oil, wine and perhaps some meat would
cost a Denarius or one of its equivalents. For early imperial
coinage the relative values are as follows: 1 Aureus = 2 Quinarii =
25 Denarii = 100 Sestertii = 200 Dupondii = 400 Asses = 800
Quadrans = 6,400 Unciae Considering the expense in labor and
materials that was borne in the production of the small-change
Quadrans and Uncia its not hard to see why these denominations
existed more as a theoretical currency keystone than as real
coins.
ivThe first crack in the Roman economical machine appeared under
the reign of Nero who cut back the purity of the Denarius from 98%
fineness (essentially as pure as could possibly have been refined
on a large scale basis back then) to 93%. The debasement did not
link up with an official decrease in the nominal value of the coin
itself so that the extra 5% silver was clear and free profit for
the emperor. However, it took virtually no time for the public at
large to see that the old Denarius was intrinsically worth more
than the new one. This created an immediate hoarding of the old
silver coins which could now be melted and then sold as scrap. In
fact, finding today a pre-reform Denarius is considerably more
difficult and expensive than Neros new Denarii. From then on each
new emperor lowered the fineness of the Denarii a percent or two so
that by the time of Gordian III, the last emperor to issue
significant quantities of Denarii, a Denarius was actually no more
than about 35% silver by weight. Another unintended effect was that
as the silver coins became cheaper the copper ones became more
expensive. After all, each Denarius was now being made by more and
more copper to fill in for the missing silver. What was happening
was that a 3 gram silver coin was 2 grams copper but the whole coin
was still valued at several multiples more than the Sestertii,
Dupondii and Asses which weighed between 10-30 grams a piece.
Therefore, rather than the government risk striking copper coins
which would only wind up being melted it chose to not strike them
much in the first place. Gold on the other hand was considered
sacred. As much as it may have pained each emperor to part with his
dwindling supplies of its most precious metal no soldier would risk
his life unless it was for real gold. Not until the situation had
grown into a series of deep crises in the middle of the third
century that emperors decided to tinker with the next best thing:
their weight. The Aureus which had traditionally weighed between
7-8 grams each went as far down as just over 2 grams under the
reign of Gallienus. How the paymasters kept a straight face on pay
day is anyones guess and its quite possible that the scam was
masqueraded as salary increases by paying two or three of these
Aurei while, of course, the total outlay of metal was still below
the traditional amount. As the fineness in silver was steadily
lowered, and the weight of the Aureus became erratic, new
denominations were introduced to further blur the governments
cost-cutting schemes and attempts to curb rampant inflation. The
silver Antoninianus was introduced around the year 215 under
Caracalla at a nominal value of two Denarii and, for gold, the
Binio was introduced a few years later as a double Aureus. Since
gold coins were never a major part of everyday commerce the Binio
was a nonstarter but the Antoninianus drove the Denarius into
extinction within 30 years of its introduction. And it, too, would
suffer severe debasement and reduction in weight. By the mid-250s
the Ant reached the critical low point in the silver-copper alloy,
about 18%, where it no longer resembled a silvery coin even when
freshly minted. Debasing this coin further served no practical
purpose because it was blatantly obvious it was no longer silver. A
decision was therefore made to stop making silver coins altogether
and simply apply a silver wash to the Ants as a last processing
step of the coin blanks. When new, these coins looked much better
than the previous 18% silver Ants. However, shortly after entering
circulation the silver coating wore off across the high points of
the coin to reveal the copper beneath. Many such coins continued to
circulate long after the silvering was fully gone and yet they were
still officially considered silver coins! By the early 290s the
Roman economy was in a state of near-collapse as the old currency
value schedules were maintained relative to a silver coinage that
existed only as a dim memory. The emperor Diocletian set into
motion a series of monetary reforms meant to rectify the situation.
The Antoninianus was suspended and new denominations introduced
including a new Denarius of high silver content termed Argenteus
(but officially worth 2.5 Denarii each) and the Follis which had a
negligible amount of silver but was as hefty as an old As. The
Aureus would be reborn under more predictable weights as well and
the whole coinage system was overhauled from top to bottom in the
hopes of stabilizing the economy. Some of the denominations caught
on and some, specifically the Argenteus, would see a quick demise
due to the chronic lack of silver. What little silver was initially
breathed into the Follis was pulled and the weight, too, dwindled
swiftly from a high of about 10g until it was a small copper coin
of about 2-3g each within a few years time. This reduced Follis
enters the fourth century as the new de facto standard copper coin
to serve the same general purpose as the Denarius of two centuries
before (if not the actual buying power). Since it is unclear what
the Romans of the time called it todays numismatists give it the
generic term of a class three bronze or AE3 for short (AE is the
abbreviation for Aeratus, Latin for copper).
vEven though during the fourth century the AE3 is king there are
several other important denominations. After Diocletians reforms
settle into a new swing over the following years, a new gold
standard is introduced under Constantine I with the flagship
Solidus, a successor to the old Aureus which is now made to
unerring precision at 72 to a Roman pound of gold, or about 4.4g a
piece. It is so successful that it was still being made 500 years
later under Byzantine emperors easily outlasting the Denarius
itself and, possibly, any other denomination to this age. While the
relationship between bronze coins and their silver and gold cousins
are poorly understood the relative values between silver and gold
are as follows: 1 Solidus = 2 Semisses = 3 Tremisses = 24 Siliquae
The Siliqua is the last major successor to the old Denarius. It is
thinner and lighter at only 2-3g each and never approaches the
popularity of the Denarius. Except for rare occasions it is the one
denomination that is not survived by the fall of the Roman empire
itself in 476. While the gold and silver remain stable into the
fifth century and beyond the last days of the Western half of the
Roman empire see the bronze coinage shrink quickly into a morass of
teeny coppers known as AE4s. They survive in large quantities today
but prove difficult to identify due to careless minting methods and
heavily debased alloys which fared poorly in the soil upon their
loss or burial. The following table lists the most important
denominations with rare fractions and multiples being omitted.
Main Roman Imperial Coin DenominationsDenomination Aureus Binio
Quinarius Solidus Metal Gold Gold Gold Gold Weight 7-8g 5.5-6g
2.5-4g 4.4g Value 25 Denarii 2 Aurei Aureus 24 Siliquae Solidus
Solidus 9 Siliquae 4 Sestertii Circ. Dates c.200 BCE 305 CE 251-310
c.200 BCE 305 CE 310-c.963 Notes Weights fluctuate wildly mid-third
century Weights fluctuate wildly mid-third century. Very rare The
Solidus is reborn as Basil Is Histamenon Nomisma with same weight
and purity until replaced in the 1040s by the Hyperpyron. th Rare
prior to 6 century Scripulum is a measure of weight. Ancient name
remains unknown. Extremely rare. Weights were never adhered to very
strictly but typical Denarius in Augustan times was nd 3.8g
dropping to 3.4g by 2 century and sometimes as low as 2g under the
Severan dynasty. When first introduced in 211 BCE the Denarius was
tariffed at 10 Asses and was retariffed to 16 Asses in 118 BCE. A
denomination meant for use in the eastern provinces to mimic
traditional silver coinage in the region but using Latin legends
and imperial portraits. The name of this coin in antiquity is
unknown. Present usage is named after Caracalla whose formal name
was Antoninus and who first introduced this coin. The radiate
bronze coins under Diocletian may be a separate denomination or
simply a size-reduced Antoninianus. A severely debased Argenteus is
minted in Trier from c.310-319. Note also that this coin is
essentially the same as the light Miliarense. Rare
Semissis Tremissis 1- Scripulum Denarius
Gold Gold Gold Silver
2.25g 1.5g 1.7g 2.5-4g
310-c.867 c.380-c.867 310-c.380 211 BCE 244 CE
Cistophoric Tetradrachms Antoninianus
Silver
10-12g
3 Denarii
27 BCE 138 CE 215-285
Silver
3-5g
2 Denarii
Argenteus
Silver
3-4g
2- Denarii
c.290-c.310
Quinarius
Silver
1.3g-
211 BCE
viSiliqua Silver 2g 1.5-3g Denarius th 1/24 Solidus c.230 CE 310
c.650 Weights were erratic but steadily diminished over time from
around 3g early th on to less than 2g by the 5 century. Although
sporadically minted during Byzantine times it had been phased out
of general production by the 460s. The Miliarense comes in three
separate weight categories of uncertain value relative to the
Siliqua or Solidus except as raw bullion weight. The light
Miliarense of approximately 3.5g, a regular ~4.5g coin and the
heavy miliarense of ~5.2g It is possible that the Sestertius
continued to be struck in extremely limited quantities until
Diocletians reform in or around the year 285. However, after the
Severan dynasty the Sestertius became increasingly scarce and
underweight, occasionally falling to under 10g. Prior to 23 BCE the
Sestertius existed as a rare denomination in silver. Its value
however had always been fixed to a quarter of a Denarius. The
Sestertius and the Dupondius are typically struck from Orichalcum,
a brassy alloy. Using the convention of radiate crowns for double
value, the double Sestertius is an exotic denomination begun under
Trajan Decius. Some rare pieces have been noted weighing upwards of
44g but typical weights hover around 25g. The last double Sestertii
were apparently minted during the reign of Aurelian at a rather
emaciated weight of ~17g. From the year 64 forward emperors on the
Dupondius are depicted with a radiate crown. This visual aid eases
the distinction between it and the larger Sestertius and the
smaller As. Empresses do not get a similar distinction until the
220s when a bust resting on a crescent was introduced, a feature
which was never thoroughly consistent in use. It is often
impossible to tell for certain whether a coin is a heavier than
usual As or a light Dupondius on those coins that normally lack a
radiate crown. Rare and often struck anonymously. Last issues were
used in the outer provinces. Julian II introduces a large silvered
bronze coin of ~8.5g, quite possibly a rebirth of the Follis. It is
continued by Jovian and struck in very limited quantities by Valens
& Valentinian I before disappearing. Large copper medals and
so-called contorniates are minted sporadically from the early 300s
and well into the 500s. They were
Miliarense
Silver
3.5g5.2g
~2 Siliquae
310-c.717
Sestertius
Bronze/ Brass
22-30g
Denarius 2 Dupondii
23 BCE c.275
Double Sestertius
Bronze
25-40g
2 Sestertii
251-274
Dupondius
Bronze/ Brass
11-15g
Sestertius
23 BCE c.260
As
Copper/ Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze
10-12g
Dupondius As Semis ?
c.280 BCE c.275 c.210 BCE c.180 CE c.210 BCE c.180 CE 360s
Semis Quadrans AE1
2-3g 2.5-4g >25mm
viirare in their own time, struck for ceremonial purposes, as
presentation pieces or other special occasions and unlikely to have
entered circulation as money. The typical AE2 weighs 4-5g and is
sometimes called a Centenionalis though the term is far from
universally accepted. th AE2s from the 5 century are exceedingly
rare but, strangely, seem to have had a little revival under Leo I
and his wife Verina in the 450s. The greater part of extant ancient
Roman coins fall under this category. Perhaps hundreds of millions
were struck during the fourth century and seem to have served as
the general-purpose coin in commerce of the day. They typically
weigh about 3g each and were largely phased out of production by
the last decade of this century but erratic production continued
until Anastasius reform in 498. The AE4 is to the fifth century
what the AE3 was to the fifth. They are found today in large
quantities but careless production processes, poor alloys and small
size conspire against easy identification. This class of bronze is
proposed to differentiate them from the larger AE4s th struck in
the first half of the 4 century which were initially conceived as
posthumous coins struck in honor of deified emperors and empresses
and then as the very large issue in celebration of the refounding
of Byzantium as Constantinople. The first mainstream AE4s appeared
late in the 340s but were abandoned within a decade until 379 when
the emperor Gratian authorized the minting of a small coin of about
12mm diameter. This smaller module would quickly eclipse the AE3 in
popularity and is apparently the main engine of small commerce for
the entire fifth century with larger bronzes becoming practically
nonexistent during this period. Its weight hovered around 0.9-1.14g
and by the early 400s settles into a diameter range of about
10mm.
AE2
Bronze
2225mm
2x AE3 (?)
350-c.390
AE3
Bronze
1622mm
?
c.300-430
AE4
Bronze
