Coin (obverse), Denarius, of Vitellius

This silver coin was minted in Rome by the emperor Vitellius in 69 AD. It is a type called a denarius, the most common Roman silver coin. This picture shows the obverse of the coin.

The obverse has the head of the emperor Vitellius wearing a laurel wreath and looking to the right. The legend '[A VITEL]LIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P' identifies the emperor and abbreviates some of his titles.

The designs on coins of the Roman Republic were chosen by individual moneyers, who often commemorated their own families. Coins of the Empire, however, focussed on the emperor and his family. Almost all gold and silver coins feature the head of the emperor or his family on the obverse.

The Romans needed coins for one main purpose - to pay the salaries of her huge military force - but also to pay the salaries of her officials and to fund public works and special payments to the poor. Domitian raised the yearly pay of soldiers during his reign from 9 to 12 aurei (equivalent to 300 denarii).

The Roman currency system included the denarius (plural: denarii), a small silver coin, as the most common coin in circulation. 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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