![]() D., around the time of Jerusalem’s sacking by the Roman army, the coin was roughly equal with the Greek drachma at 1/96 of a Roman pound. ![]() This debasement of the currency gradually changed the purity of the coin. Roman emperors would change the Silver content of denarii over time and take the extra Silver to finance various programs. The one constant trend with the denarius was debasement. A later reduction took place to reduce it to 96 denarii in a Roman pound - many believe this took place in the reign of Nero, but this is not entirely certain. The early Roman Empire standard was 1/84 of a Roman pound, as noted in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. Originally these coins were equal to 1/72 of a Roman pound. There was a slight variation in weight between each coin. The total of each batch had to come out equal to a pound, but each coin was not held to a specific weight. ![]() The coin was not established to a set weight for each coin, but rather a set number in each Roman pound. The better-known denarius was created in a revamp of coinage, which happened around 211 B.C. The denarii prototypes were probably the “quadrigati,” Silver coins with a Roman four-horse chariot on the reverse. This was a reference to its original exchange rate. The name “denarius” came from “deni,” which meant 10. Ten bronze asses (an aes grave with the image of Janus) made up a denarius once the denomination was established, though due to the rarity of Silver, that ratio was adjusted to 16 asses several years later, around 145 B.C. Silver coins from Greece slowly filtered into the Roman Republic, and Rome eventually created their own version. These coins were cast and could be manufactured in bulk, but they were too cumbersome for regular commerce and needed to be replaced with something of higher value. Originally the Roman Republic used bronze or lead ingots for their currency, Traditional Roman coins had been bronze and were known as aes grave, or “heavy bronze”. The denarius marked a change in Roman coinage, brought about by commerce with Greece. Its rise and decline are similar to what we see with many modern currencies, and its legacy still reverberates today. In the late Roman Republic through the early days of the Roman Empire, the denarius was the daily wage for laborers and regular legionaries. ![]() Struck continuously through the golden age of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the coin was one of the most commonly circulated in its time. ![]()
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