Silver was first coined at Rome about 281 B.C., the standard being founded on the Greek drachma, then equivalent in value to ten asses; the new coin was therefore called a denarius, or piece of ten asses. The earliest silver coined at Rome has on the obverse the head of Roma (differing from Minerva by having wings attached to the helmet); the reverse is a quadriga or biga, or the Dioseuri. Among various other types which occur in the silver of the Italian towns subject to Rome are the horse's head, and gal-. loping horse, both very beautiful. During the social war, the revolted states coined money independently of Rome, and used various devices to clikstinguish it as Italian and' not Roman money.
The earliest gold coins seem to have been issued about 90 n.c., and consisted of the scrupulurn, equivalent to 20 sestertii, and the double and treble Scimpulum. These pieces bear the head of mars on the obverse, and on the reverse an eagle standing on a thunderbolt, with the inscription "Roma" on the exergue. The large early republican coins were cast, not struck.
The family coins begin about 170 B. c., and about 80 B.c. they entirely supersede the coins first described.. Those families who successively held offices connected with the public mint acquired the right first to inscribe their names on the money, afterwards to introduce symbols of events in their own family history. These types gradually super seded the natural (nips', the portrait.of an ancestor folloved; and then the portrait of a jiving citizen, Julius Ccesar.
Under the empire, the' copper sestertius, which had displaced the as, continued tIna nonetary standard. A magnificent series exists of the first bronzes of the emperors from Augustus to Gallienus. While it was the privilege of the emperors to coin gold and silver, copper could only be coined ar senates consult°, which from the time of Augustus was expressed on the coins by the letters S.C., or EX S.C. The obverse of the imperial coins bears the portraits of the successive emperors, sometimes of the empress or other members of the imperial family; and the reverse rep'resents some event, military or social, of the emperor's reign, sometimes allegorized. The emperor's name and title arc inscribed, on the obverse. and sometimes partly continued on the reverse; the inscription on the reverse generally relates to the subject delineated; and towards the close of the 3d. the exergue of the reverse is occupied by the name of the town where the coin is struck. The coins of Augustus and those of Livia, Antonia, and Agrippina the Elder
have much artistic merit. The workmanship of Nero's sestertii is very beautiful. The coins of Vespasian and Titus commemorate the conquest of Judea. The colosseum appeurs on a sestertius of Vespasian. The coins of Trajan are noted.for their architect tural types. Hadrian's coins commemorate his journeys. The coins and medals of Antonine, Marcus Aurelius, and the two Faustium are well executed; as are also those of Commodus, of whom a remarkable medallion relates to the conquest of Britain. There is a rapid falling off in design after the time of Commodus, and base silver comes extensively into use in the reign of Caraealla. Gallienus introduced the practice of coining money of copper washed with silver.
The colonial and provincial money of this period was very inferior to that coined in Rome In the coins of the provinces which had been formed out of the Greek empire, the obverse bears the emperors head and the reverse generally the chief ,temple of the gods in the city of coinage: the inscriptions are in Greek. In the imperial coins of Alexandria appear such characteristic devices as the heads of Jupiter Ammon, Isis, and • Canopus, the sphinx, the serpent, the lotus, and the wheat-ear. Colonial coins were at first distinguished by a team of oxen, afterwards by banners, the number of which indicated the number of legions from which the colony bad been drawn.
After the time' of Gallienus, the colonial money and the Greek imperial money, except that of Alexandria, ceased, and much of the Roman coinage was executed in the provinces, the name of the town of issue appearing on the exergue. Diocletian intro duced a new piece of money, called the follis, which became the chief coin of the lower empire. The first bronze has disappeared after Gallienus, and the second disappears after Diocletian, the third bronze diminishing to A of an ounce. With the establish ment of Christianity under Constantine, a few Christian types are introduced. The third bronze of that emperor has the Labarum.(q. v.), with the monogram BIS. Large medallions, called contorniati. encircled with a deep groove, belong to this period, and seem to have been prizes for distribution at the public games. Pagan types recur on the coins of Julian; and after his time the third bronze disappears.