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Coin (obverse), Denarius

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minted in Rome

Coin (obverse), Denarius
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This silver denarius was minted in Rome in 115 or 114 BC. Unusually for denarii, coins of this issue do not list the name of the moneyer responsible them, but a date can be ascertained based on the designs. This picture shows the obverse of the coin.

The obverse portrays Roma, the goddess and personification of Rome, wearing a winged Corinthian helmet. Below her is the word 'ROMA', and behind her is the letter X, a mark of value.

In the Republic, coins were minted in bronze, silver and gold, though gold issues were rare. The silver denarius became the most common coin after the mid-2nd century BC. Classical historians regularly say that in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire the daily wage for a laborer was one denarius. The denarius was first struck in 211 BC during the Roman Republic, valued at 10 asses, giving the denarius its name which translates to "containing ten". In 118 BC it was re-tariffed at 16 asses, to reflect the decrease in size of the As. The As was a bronze or copper coin. The denarius continued to be the main coin of the empire until it was replaced by the antoninianus in the middle of the 3rd century AD.

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