Roman coin

“ The first money in use among the Romans was nothing more than unsightly lumps of brass, which were valued according to their weight. Servius Tullius stamped these, and reduced them to a fixed standard. After his reign, the Romans improved the old, and added some new coins. Those in most frequent use, were the As, Sestertius, Victoriatus, Denarius, Aureus.
The As was a brass coin, stamped on one side with the beak of a ship, and on the other with the double head of Janus. It originally weighed one pound ”

“ It is, however, observable that near the borders of the empire the inhabitants set a value upon gold and silver, finding them subservient to the purposes of commerce. The Roman coin is known in those parts, and some of our specie is not only current, but in request. In places more remote the simplicity of ancient manners still prevails: commutation of property is their only traffic. ”

“ If coins should be identified as Roman coins, we've had so much experience with "identifications" that we know a phantom when we see one—but, even so, how could Roman coins have got to North America—far in the interior of North America—or buried under the accumulation, of centuries, of soil—unless they did drop from—wherever the first Romans came from? ”

“ What is somewhat remarkable is, that no two, we believe, have been found of the same coinage. They are almost all more or less dish-shaped, or hollowed on one side—a circumstance which is common also to many Roman coins, and may be supposed to have been occasioned by the want of the proper guards to prevent the metal from being bent over the edges of the die by the blow of the hammer. The British coins thus inscribed with Roman characters are some of them of gold, some of silver, some of bronze, some of copper. ”

“ The influence of the old religious beliefs nevertheless maintained so firm a hold on men’s minds that the reverses of Greek coins continued to bear sacred types throughout the Roman Imperial period; and even on the money of the Byzantine emperors when Christianity had become the State religion, the figures of Christ and the Virgin, or the sign of the Cross, still bear witness that the same religious sanction in a new form continued to be invoked for the coin of the realm. ”

“ Victories in war and political revolutions are never directly referred to on Greek coins, although the unintentional records of such events may often be traced in a sudden change of coin-types. Thus, for instance, at Syracuse when the Corinthians succeeded in liberating that city from the tyranny of the Dionysian dynasty, the coinage of Syracuse is for a time assimilated to that of Corinth ”

“ Luke 3:19) , and of Herod Agrippa I are known. One is shown in Fig. 200.
(6) Roman Coins.—The most common silver Roman coin was the denarius, rendered in the Authorized Version “penny” and in the Revised Version “shilling.” Its weight varied at different times. In the time of Christ it weighed about 61.3 grains Troy, and was worth 162⁄3 cents of American money. As the ministry of Christ occurred in the reign of Tiberius, the tribute money shown to Christ (Matt. 22:19; Mark 12:15-17) was probably a denarius of Tiberius, such as is shown in Fig. 196. ”

“ Small objects represented either in the field or the exergue as adjuncts to the main type are called symbols.
Portions of a coin which are sunk below the level of the surface are said to be incuse.
§ OF THE TYPES OF GREEK COINS.
The types of Greek coins were from the earliest times down to the age of the successors of Alexander almost exclusively religious. The reason for this is not far to seek. In an age of simple faith the head of a god upon the coin was the best of all [103] guarantees for purity of metal and good weight. ”

“ When so represented, the god is commonly seated as at peace; but there is one coin of Messene which shows him holding the bird while he is standing and thundering. Later coins show combinations which are particularly interesting in connection with the symbolism of our own coins. One of the best of these is a Macedonian coin of the time of Perseus—obverse, head of Perseus; reverse, an eagle on a thunderbolt, within a wreath of oak. In connection with this example should be examined a Roman gold coin of about 269 b.c.—obverse, head of Mars; reverse, an eagle holding in its talons a thunderbolt. ”

“ Springhead, where this antique scrap was found, stands near the Roman Watling Street; and from the soil in its vicinity, which is chalky, great numbers of coins—many fibulæ, some fictilia, etc. — belonging to various periods in the early history of our country, but particularly the Roman, have been picked up during a number of years. The coins are chiefly brasses, some of them very old. Only one gold coin has been discovered — that of the Roman Emperor Valentine. The three, specimens next exhibited (figs. 85, 86, 87) ”

“ I believe that Roman coins continued in circulation long after the Romans quitted Britain, that they were succeeded by base imitations which are frequently found even now, and are almost universally rejected as valueless, and therefore appear scarce. ”

“ The Sicilian mints—last of all that of Syracuse in 542—were closed or at any rate restricted to small money in consequence of the Roman conquest, and ... in Sicily and Sardinia the denarius obtained legal circulation at least side by side with the older silver currency and probably very soon became the exclusive legal tender. With equal if not greater rapidity the Roman silver coinage penetrated into Spain, where the great silver-mines existed and there was virtually no earlier national coinage; at a very early period the Spanish towns even began to coin after the Roman standard. ”

“ The science of Numismatics (from the Greek word νὁμυὁμα, a legally current coin) embraces the study of the coins of all the nations of the earth who have at any period impressed upon pieces of metal—gold, silver, bronze, brass, copper, iron, tin, lead, etc. etc.—any devices (types) , or inscriptions, indicating that such pieces of metal were issued by authority for public use as money. ”

“ The study of the Roman medals has, in this respect, an advantage over that of Greek coins, since they serve not only to illustrate the chronology of reigns, but to aid us in the interpretation of particular events. To this purpose, besides the portrait of the prince, and date of his consulship, or of his tribunitian power, we have a representation, or poetical symbol, of some grand event on the reverse. In a word, the series of Roman coins presents the very best suite of documents relating to the Roman History. ”

“ The figures upon it were distinct, and represented "a warrior or hunter and other characters, apparently of Roman origin."
The means of exclusion would probably be—men digging a hole—no one else looking: one of them drops a coin into the hole—as to where he got a strange coin, remarkable in shape even—that's disregarded. Up comes the coin—expressions of astonishment from the evil one who had dropped it. ”

“ The coins of Alexander and his father exceed in beauty all that were ever executed, if we except those of Sicily, Magna Grecia, and the ancient ones of Asia Minor. Sicilian medals are famous for workmanship, even from the time of Gelo. The coins of the Syrian kings, successors to Alexander, almost equal his own in beauty; but adequate judges confine their high praises of the Greek mint to those coins struck before the subjection of Greece to the Roman empire. The Roman coins, considered as medals in a cabinet, may be divided into two great classes—the consular and the imperial ”

“ He was elected an associate of the British Archæological Association in 1845, and on the establishment of the Numismatic Society in 1836 he became a member. For many years all his leisure time was engaged in composing a complete dictionary of Roman coins. His idea was to give an explanation of the types, symbols, and devices on consular and imperial coins, biographical notices of the emperors from Julius to Mauricius, and mythological, historical, and geographical notices in elucidation of rare coins. ”

“ The excellence of the designs of very many Greek coins struck during the period of the best art is indeed so great that, were it not for their smallness, they would form the finest series of art-studies in the world. The Roman coins, though at no time to be compared to the purest Greek, yet represent not unworthily the Graeco-Roman art of the empire. ”

“ Roman coins, while not often beautiful, are an important source of information relative to political and economic conditions. These facts may be noted with regard to the practical side of ancient coinage; Greek coins are not dated, they will not stack, and marks of value are more often absent than present. The earlier Roman coins resembled the Greek in these features, but, later, marks of value were added and the date indicated.
FIG. 143. DIKAST’S TICKET
A number of small bronze instruments in Case 5 may have been part of a physician’s or pharmacist’s case. ”

“ The former are very abundant in the south of France, and extend, growing more rare, as we go on into the center and north. Gallic coins with legends in Roman characters gradually become more numerous, and were general after the conquest of Gaul by Julius Cæsar, some of the Gallic populations having only begun to coin money during the earlier period of the Roman occupation. ”

“ We have already observed that the Roman coins held a certain ratio to silver by weight; on the other hand we find those of the east coast of Italy placed in a definite proportional relation to the silver coins which were current from an early period in southern Italy, and the standard of which was adopted by the Italian immigrants, such as the Bruttians, Lucanians, and Nolans, by the Latin colonies in that quarter, such as Cales and Suessa, and even by the Romans themselves for their possessions in Lower Italy. ”

“ The accidental loss of pieces of money will not, alone, account for the large quantity which has been found. In times of danger the possessors of treasure seem to have been in the habit of concealing it in the earth; the secret of their having done so must often have perished with them. In excavating that portion of the station of Cilurnum which was opened in 1843, not fewer than seventy Roman coins were found. In 1833, near the west gateway of Vindolana, three hundred small brass 433coins, mostly of Constantius and Mangentius, were found, not in a heap or vessel, but dispersed among the soil. ”

“ At the date of this magnificent legacy, our national collection of coins was of no importance; but since then, by purchase and bequest, it has so greatly increased its stores, that it undoubtedly stands on an equality with the French national collection, long above rivalry. Donations during the lifetime of the owner, too, are not unknown. In 1861, Mr De Salis made the nation a present of his extensive cabinet of Roman coins. In 1864, Mr E. Wigan called one morning on Mr Vaux, the keeper of the coins and medals, and producing a case, told him that was his cabinet of Roman gold medals. ”

“ Among the Cuerdale coins contemporary with Alfred, are one or two with a very close resemblance on the reverse to Roman coins struck centuries before, and here in Mr. Lefroy's collection occur imitations of coins of Licinius found with coins struck 350 years later. Almost all these pieces are of workmanship inferior to the coins of which they appear to be imitations, and I believe them to be all the work of one person, and not improbably of the same hand. ”

“ The enormous quantities of Roman coins may be accounted for by consideration of the wellknowm practice of the Romans to make these imperishable monuments subservient towards perpetuating the memory, not only of their conquests, but also of those public works which were the natural result of their successes in remote parts of the world. ”

“ As works of art, the design and execution of many of them are truly admirable. The copper coins of Hadrian are especially worthy of study. The custom which prevailed during the best periods of the empire, of rendering the circulating medium of the market-place the means of commemorating the leading events of the day, gives them increased value. Were all the other records of Roman story destroyed, its most stirring incidents might be recovered by a careful examination of the coins which the cabinets of the antiquary contain. ”

“ We can however state, with confidence, that the earliest Romans had no regular coinage, but were in the habit of answering with brass, in the rudest shape, the demands of their creditors. Servius Tullius is reputed to have been the first who converted the brass into coin, and marked it with the figure of a horse or some other animal, [12] as an emblem, perhaps, of the fact, that money runs away very rapidly. ”

“ The coins that are found in different parts of the world, have contributed not a little to give certainty to portions of ancient history, particularly that of Rome. In Europe there are antiquarians who have devoted whole lives and ample fortunes to the collecting of coins. For a scarce coin, even of copper, and of itself not worth as much as one cent, hundreds of dollars have often been paid, merely because it was very rare. In some of the European collections, there are complete, or nearly complete, sets of coins of all the emperors of Rome ”

“ The government seems to have made efforts to bring the coinage of silver also more and more into its hands, particularly in the west. In Africa and Sardinia the Carthaginian gold and silver money may have remained in circulation even after the fall of the Carthaginian state; but no coinage of precious metals took place there after either the Carthaginian or the Roman standard, and certainly very soon after the Romans took possession, the -denarius- introduced from Italy acquired the predominance in the transactions of the two countries. ”