Some people have all the luck in the world, especially when it comes to discoveries on an archaeological dig! My trench-mates, unlike me, just so happen to be those kinds of people. In the earlier phases of our excavation, we had the great fortune to find a few Roman coins in our trench. As I went about my day over the following weeks, I found my mind returning to the coins we found. I wondered how much purchasing power those coins had as I bought gelato at a nearby shop. What were the various denominations of Roman coins? What could you get for an sestertius? How would that compare to modern forms of currency? 

Roman coins come in a variety of sizes, materials, and designs. The first known form of “currency” in Central Italy were bronze lumps known as aes rude (Sydenham, 1925). The predecessor to coinage in the ancient Roman world was the aes signatum (Louis Comparette, 1918). These decorated bronze bars were used as bullion, meaning their value was tied to their weight. The first proper Roman coins, aes grave, were bronze and emerged in the 4th century Republic. The aes grave was essentially an evolution of the aes rude and aes signatum, with value being determined primarily through weight. As Rome expanded and developed so too did their currencies. Several variations and denominations of coins emerged, each with different weights and values. The Roman monetary system was based upon the  The denarius became the primary silver coin of Rome, replacing previous iterations (Mattingly, 1952). The sestertius, originally a small silver coin during the Republic, later evolved into a larger bronze coin equal to 1/4th a denarius. The as was another denomination that equaled to 1/16th of a denarius (AncientCoins.biz, 2002). These divisions are just a few of the dozens of variations of coinage throughput the entire history of the Romans, however they serve as a strong basis for understanding the purchasing power of Roman coins.

The purchasing power of Roman currency is a fascinating subject, especially when compared to our modern economy. This was done by comparing the incomes of unskilled laborers in Rome to those of modern minimum wage workers, and deducing how much of a particular item they could purchase. Bread is the ideal point of comparison, as it made up a large portion of the Roman diet and remains a significant part of modern diets. The average Roman family had the monetary equivalent of 140g in gold, which was enough to purchase roughly 9 loaves of bread per day (American Numismatic Society, 2016). In comparison to modern times, the average American household has five times as much equivalent income, and likewise can purchase five times as much bread per day. While modern industrialized society has given us easier access to money and goods, the relative purchasing power of gold has remained rather the same. 

An interesting aspect of Roman coinage is the rather rampant counterfeiting. It is believed that many of the plated coins in museums and collections today are actually ancient forgeries (Crawford, 1968). These coins, often identifiable by errors like the two sides of the coins bearing iconography from different eras or flaws uncommon in legitimate minting, were almost always discovered and discarded by ancient peoples(Crawford, 1968). So numerous were these fakes that the nummularii were created as a position within Roman banks. These bankers specialized in identifying forgeries, using a number of techniques including punching small holes inside coins to identify their internal composition (Crawford, 1968). 

This brings us full circle to the coins found within our trench. Three coins were found within the some of the upper U.S. of B7-B6. Two were identified as sestertii, while a third was a small coin that couldn’t be identified at the time. One of the sestertii was able to be identified, dating to the reign of Antoninus Pius. This paired with the vernice nera found in lower strata, this gives us a general time-frame of habitation lasting from the 2nd century BCE Roman Republic to mid Imperial Rome. Knowing the purchasing power of these currencies helps us understand the status, wealth, and what kind of lives people of our villa lived. This is just a single piece of the puzzle, and there are many more pieces waiting to be found.

Works Cited: 

Sydenham, E. A. “THE AES GRAVE.” The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, vol. 5, 1925, pp. 53–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42664051.

COMPARETTE, T. LOUIS. “AES SIGNATUM.” American Journal of Numismatics (1897-1924), vol. 52, 1918, pp. 1–61. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43594117.

Mattingly, Harold. “THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF THE ROMAN REPUBLICAN COINAGE.” The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, vol. 12, no. 42, 1952, pp. 67–71. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42663000.

“Roman Economy – Prices in Ancient Rome.” Roman Economy – Prices & Cost in Ancient Rome, 2002, web.archive.org/web/20070113183811/http://www.ancientcoins.biz/pages/economy/.

“Rome: A Thousand Years of Monetary History.” American Numismatic Society, American Numismatic Society, 2016, numismatics.org/rome-a-thousand-years-of-monetary-history/.

CRAWFORD, M. H. “PLATED COINS—FALSE COINS.” The Numismatic Chronicle (1966-), vol. 8, 1968, pp. 55–59. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42666542.

Images:

Aes grave, Proraserie libral, obverse: Bearded Head of Janus. Accessed June 30, 2019. https://www-jstor-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/action/doBasicSearch?Query=aes+grave

Coin Showing Consul Marcellus Reverse: Consul Marcellus consecrating trophy. Accessed June 30, 2019. https://www-jstor-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Roman+Republican+Coinage&filter=#

Antoninus Pius Sestertius “Pietas With Four Children”. Accessed June 30, 2019. https://images.vcoins.com/product_image/136/2/6/2bnRpS6wCrN37Hqxtz4ZY9WzCe83rD.jpg