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Silver denarius was centerpiece of Rome’s currency

Silver denarius was centerpiece of Rome’s currency for centuries

Most famous ancient coin is silver ‘Eid Mar’ denarius

The silver denarius was the centerpiece of Rome’s currency system, and for much of its time was worth 16 asses (the as was a large bronze coin).

Images courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group and Heritage Auctions. Denarii Value In Dollars

“Beware the Ides of March” is a much-remembered warning, thanks to the political intrigue and drama it represents in the story of Julius Caesar’s assassination. The event is commemorated on the famous silver denarius issued by Marcus Junius Brutus, one of the assassins.

Editor's note: this is the second part of a story exploring some ofthe various coins that have "something" special aboutthem. The original feature appears in the September monthly issue of Denarii Value In Dollars

Justas the Greeks had a signature silver coin, the Roman denarius (plural:denarii) was the centerpiece of the Roman currency system.

Thesmall silver coin was first minted about 211 B.C. during the SecondPunic War, and became the most common coin produced for circulation,remaining useful long after memories of the war had faded. 

Overcenturies, the coin’s weight and silver content diminished until beingreplaced by the double denarius, called the antoninianus, early in thethird century A.D.

Originallyworth 10 bronze asses, the denarius coins were redenominated to 16asses in 145 B.C., a value that was fixed until the final denarii werestruck in the 240s A.D. 

known individually asCastor and Pollux Denarii Value In Dollars , patroness of the city, on theobverse. The reverse features the Dioscuri, known individually asCastor and Pollux, the twin sons of Zeus and Leda. These young godsbecame widely popular as protectors in a moment of crisis, and atemple was built in their honor. 

Asthe decades passed, designs for the denomination made way for thepolitical realities of a world where the moneyers (those who struckthe coins) and later the rulers themselves, highlighted their ownachievements, relationships, or both.

Thepinnacle of self-promotion via numismatic means in ancient Romantimes, however, was the Eid Mar silver denarius.

Thecirca late autumn 42 B.C. silver denarius is known as the Eid Mar or“Ides of March” coin for the Latin legend EID MAR on the reverse. Thereference is to the assassination of the megalomaniacal dictatorJulius Caesar two years earlier, on March 15, 44 B.C. 

Thedime-sized coin is famous for the image of its issuer, one of theassassins, Marcus Junius Brutus, on the obverse.

Thecoin is ranked No. 1 in a survey of experts for the book

Brutuswas one of two chief co-conspirators leading a cabal of Roman senatorsthat surrounded and stabbed Caesar during a Senate proceeding. Theconspirators, fearful of a tyranny ushered in by Caesar, expected tobe hailed as liberators, but the Roman populace was horrified byCaesar’s murder and wanted the assassins punished. Brutus fled andsoon waged war against Caesar’s successors. 

is Brutus’ finalcoinage type. The design is notable for the irony of its use of aportrait of Brutus.  Denarii Value In Dollars , Brutus began issuing coins to pay hisarmy. The Eid Mar coins of mid-42 B.C., with the pileus or cap ofliberty between the daggers that executed Caesar, is Brutus’ finalcoinage type. The design is notable for the irony of its use of aportrait of Brutus. 

“Caesar,a mere two years earlier, had been the first Roman to place his ownportrait on Roman coins, and that was just the sort of monarchialinnovation for which he had been assassinated,” Berk wrote. 

EidMar denarii were deliberately recalled and melted down by the victorsof the second battle of Philippi on Oct. 23, 42 B.C., Mark Antony and Octavian. 

Todaythese coins regularly trade for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Anestimated population of some 80 examples was known in 2008 when Berk’sbook was published, “but many more than 80 people want one of thesecoins and can afford the $100,000-plus price tag.”

Thesize, weight and silver purity of the denarius declined from the reignof Nero (54 to 68 A.D.) until its content was about 50 percent circa193 to 211 during the reign of Septimius Severus.

Theantoninianus was introduced in 215 to spark more interest in thesilver coinage of Rome, but it didn’t work, and the last true denariiwere struck in the 240s, “and attempts to reestablish the coin laterin the third century met with no success,” according to Richard Dotyin

The MacMillan Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatics

Thename, however, survived, inspiring the medieval coinage known as thedenier, denar, denaro and so on, including the medieval silver pennyof Britain. 

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