coins based on the roman republic era

coin history

• coins do not appear till 300 bc

  • at this point coins in Mediterranean have already had them for 300 years prior

  • roman refused to adopt them

  • adoption was due to cultural influence of the greeks and they wanted to be like them, no other reason

    • Andrew Burnett, 1987

    • they had been using in southern italy

  • The system is unique unlike anything in the ancient Mediterranean

denarius

• silver coins

• main coin

• circulated for 400 years till roman empire demise

  • many civilizations after them adopted this or a variation of it

• 211 bce

• iconography is usually the same for the first couple hundred of years

  • obverse

    • goddess roma

  • reverse

    • Dioscuri

      • twins castor and Pollux on horseback with divine status (stars)

• equal to 10 asses which is why it has an X (10)

• other iconographies

  • shows the moneyer's ancestry ( only dead family members)

    • the person who runs the workshops where coins are made

    • a stepping stone to becoming involved in politics

  • caesar after the victory over the gauls

• portraiture of living people

  • 1st was caesar

    • put himself to show his kingship and appointment by God

    • this led to his death

  • follows verism

• none were issued in egypt

caesar coin

• Obverse

  • Elephant trampling a war trumpet or a snake

• Reverse

  • Different emblems

    • Cullulus

      • A ladle used for libations

    • Aspergillum

      • A stick used for sprinkling holy water

      • Horse haired brush stick

    • Securis

      • An axe with a wolf head

    • Apex

      • The camp of a priest

coins minted by brutus and cassius

• Distributed among soldiers and officers before battles against Caesars followers

• Once These two were defeated, coins removed from circulation

• Only two coins have survived

octavian coin

• After the assassination of Julius Caesar, it was unclear who would inherit the legacy so octavian made coins that linked him to Caesar

• His sister had her own coin as well

marc anthony

• Also wanted to be linked to Caesar

• So he would show himself with symbols of the offices that he held while under Caesars employ

cleopetra

• Marc Anthony's portrait was made too be similar to her in all of their coins

pre-denarius coinage

• Aes Rude

  • bronze ingots

  • irregular or flat copper/bronze blocks

    • terms used interchangeably

  • don’t exist anymore cuz generally melted down

• Aes Signatum

  • " Struck or signed bronze"

  • cast large bronze bars

  • Highly leaded tin bronze

  • Design is either on one side or on both

  • heavy and impractical

  • used for only a short period of time

  • sometimes have symbols

• Aes Grave

  • cast large bronze coins

  • began in 280 bce

    • for about 80 years

  • a very large coin

  • Distinctly Roman

  • made by a cast or it is struck (using hand-held tools)

  • Cast

    • A method of making coins by pouring melted metal into a mold

  • as

    • The most standard unit

    • 1