With regard to the weight, value, &c. of the ancient coins, we shall speak first of the Roman, and afterwards of the Greek coinage.
According to the testimony of Pliny, the Romans first began to coin money in the leign of Servius Tullius. 'ibis coinage was entirely of copper or brass, and was estimated by weight. The regulating weight was the pound, (as, libra,) which was divided into twelve ounces. The half pound was called semis. The mark of a pound on a piece of money was a straight line, like the letter I. ; that of a half pound S, being the initial letter of the word semis. The mark of an ounce was a small ball. If the piece contained 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 ounces, this was designated by as many balls. For a considerable time, the as, whether considered as a pound, or as a piece of money, was of equal weight ; but afterwards its weight, as money, gradually became much depreciated. The impression on the as was, en the one side, the double head of Janus, and on the other a ship. Plate CCCCXX. Vigs. 3, 4, 5.
'rhe Romans began to coin silver money a few years before the first Punic war. It consisted of the Dena rius, Quinarius, and Sestertius. The Denarius was so called, because it contained denos asses, or ten pounds of brass; in like manner: the Quinarizts, or half of the Dezzarius, contained the value of five pounds; and the Srstertius, or half of the Quinarius, two pounds and a half of brass. The mark of the Dcnarius was X. that of the Quinarius V. and that of the Sestertius IIS. Plate CCCCXX. Fig. 6,7, 8. In the older times, all the three coins had the same impressions, viz. on the obverse, the winged head of Pallas, and, on the reverse, the mounted Dioscuri, or Castor and Pollux. But at a later period the subjects were chosen in an arbitrary man ner, as we shall have occasion to show, when we come to treat of the coins of the Roman families. On the Quinarii there was generally impressed a goddess of victory, on which account they were frequently called Victorian.
The Romans reckoned all their sums of money by sesterces ; but the manner in which they expressed themselves was so confused, that for the better under standing of the ancient authors, it may be proper to lay down the three following rules. 1. When the word ses.
tertiu8 is used in the masculine gender, e. g. trecenti ses trrtil, the word numi is understood, and as many sester ces are meant as are expressed by thc number : as in the present instance, 300. 2. When the word sestertius is used in the neuter gentler and plural number, e. g. trccenta scstertia, in order to discover the sum meant to be expressed, we must multiply the number given by 1000 ; conseqently treccnta scstertia make 300,000 sesterces. When the word is used in the neuter gen der and singular number, and the word denoting the number is formed by a termination in les, e. g. &Ties sesternum, then the number must be multiplied by 100,000. Decies sestertium, therefore, means a million. In writing, these numbers are expressed thus : IIS. trecenti, IIS. trecenta, or //S. decies. But it is some times difficult to discover the number when it is ex pressed by means of letters. Thus, //S.CCC'. may be read in three ways: sestertii trecenti, sestcrtia trecenta, sestertium treTenties ; and upon this ambiguity was founded the fraud, by which the emperor Tiberius de prived Galba of a rich legacy. Livia, the wifc of Au gustus, had written in hcr testament : Galba shall re ceive IIS.D.: by which she undoubtedly meant II.S, quingenties ; but Tiberius, her son and heir, chose to read it, sestertia quingena. In general, however, the true reading can be easily determined by the circumstances. On a beautiful coin of the emperor Hadrian, there is re presented a lictor, with the fasces in his left hand, and in his right a torch, with which he is setting fire to a heap of vouchers. Around is the following inscription: Reliqua vetera, IIS. NOVIES AIILLIES ABOL1TA j which means, that Hadrian had extinguished the remaining debt of the nation, to the amount of HS. navies 77zillies. Plate CCCCXX. Fig. 9.