תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

Herod III. A. c. 40.-Third brass, R 4.

Agrippa, A. c. 50.-With his bust, and reverse of Vespasian, Titus, or Domitian; third brass, R 2.

GETE.

Comoricus, cotemporary with Tiberius; brass, R 8.

COMMAGENE.

Antiochus, cotemporary with Titus; brass, R 6; reverse of his queen, Iotape, R 6. Iotape.-Second brass, R. 6.

EDESSA.

Coins of the Kings of Edessa occur in second and third brass, with the portraits of several of the Roman emperors on the reverse, particularly Hadrian, Commodus, Severus, and Gordian.None of them are rare.

PALMYRA.

See Estimate of Roman Imperial Coins.

SECTION V.

ROMAN COINS.

FIRST COINAGE OF THE ROMANS-THE AS OR AS, COINED BY SERVIUS TULLUS-PARTS OF THE AS-SESTERTII AND DUPONDII-DENARII EREI-THE ASSARIA, OR THIRD BRASS-THE FOLLIS, STRUCK BY DIOCLETIAN-COINAGE OF SILVER-EARLY DENARII-THEIR DECLINE IN WEIGHT AND DEBASEMENT BY SEVERUS-COINAGE OF GOLDTHE AUREI AND QUINARII UNDER THE ROMAN EMPERORS -LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ON ROMAN COINS-ESTIMATE OF THE RARITY OF ROMAN COINS IN GOLD, SILVER, AND BRASS.

PLINY informs us that money was first coined by the Romans in the reign of Servius Tullus, nearly seven centuries before the Christian era. It consisted of copper only, and was of one size, to which the name of As or Æs was given. Some authors are of opinion that the huge pieces of the Etruscans furnished the Romans with models, and the opinion is supported by the fact, that the early Ases bear a great resemblance to those of the Etruscans, which were all cast in moulds. The As of the

Romans at first bore the rude impression of the head of Janus on one side and the prow of a vessel on the other, this symbol being sacred to the deity, who, it is said, arrived in Italy by sea; some, however, contend that the figures of animals were the first objects represented on the Ases cast during the reign of Tullus. The As was soon after divided into parts, which were thus named ;-the semis or half of the As, the triens or third, the quadrans or fourth, the quincunx or fifth, the sextans or sixth, and the uncia or smallest part of the As, originally of one ounce. Their proportions were, however, not very correctly adjusted. The size of the As soon diminished, but pieces of four times its size were cast, and some have been found of the weight of ten Ases. They are certainly clumsy and uninteresting pieces, and as works of ancient art possess no merit whatever. At a late period of the Roman Commonwealth, dupondii, or pieces of two Ases, were coined, together with sestertii of brass, which supplied the place of the quadrussis or piece of four Ases. These pieces, during the reigns of the Roman Emperors, from Augustus to Gallienus (the coins of J. Cæsar with his head being of very inferior workmanship) are commonly termed by collectors first and second brass, and form a very beautiful series, although a complete set of the first size will be scarcely attainable at any price.

From the reign of Alexander Severus, the sestertius gradually diminishes in size and weight, and, after Gallienus, entirely disappears. During the reign of the latter emperor a new coin was issued; namely, the denarius æreus, a copper coin of the size of the silver denarius, plated with silver. The assaria, which, though for the most part coined of copper, are termed third brass, now appear of a different style, and, save that they are not plated, bear a great resemblance to the denarii ærei. Under Diocletian, the follis, a coin as large in circumference as the dupondii of the Cæsars, but much thinner, was issued as a substitute for the sestertius, when the coinage of the Romans became confused; the follis, the denarius æreus, and the follis plated with silver, being in circulation at the same time; indeed copper coins of almost every size are found, and sufficiently attest the state of the arts at that period. To follow the progress of this coinage any farther would be unnecessary: Pinkerton, who, though not always infallible, has entered upon the task with spirit, has left much undetermined, and so the facts must remain until some one, blessed with more patience and industry than belongs to most mortals, may take up the subject.

The coinage of SILVER by the Romans commenced about two centuries after the coinage of copper. Some authors have stated it to have been

at a much earlier period, but the silver in circu lation before that time must have been the money of Greek states. The oldest Roman denarii are, it is supposed, those with the head of Janus on the obverse; reverse, Jupiter in a chariot, with Victory holding the reins. These pieces have the word ROMA upon them; the letters not being in relief, as upon other coins, but indented. From the pieces still existing, it would appear that they were originally of a hundred grains, but afterwards declined in weight, till at length they had only sixty grains. During the reign of Septimus Severus, who first debased the silver money, denarii of two sizes were coined; the heaviest being worth six sestertii, others only four, but the latter were discontinued after the reign of Gordian. It should have been mentioned, that quinarii, or pieces of half the denarius, appeared, and continued in circulation as long as the denarius, which gradually declined in weight, and in the reign of Julian the second, was of thirty grains in the reign of Heraclius, with whom they ended, they are of ten grains only, the quinarius then weighing but five grains.

the

A few words will suffice for a notice of the gold coinage of the Romans, which, as we are informed by Pliny, occurred sixty-two years after the coinage of silver. Like the As and the early denarius, the gold coins of the Romans gradually

« הקודםהמשך »