Roman Republican currency is the coinage struck by the various magistrates of the Roman Republic, to be used as legal tender. In modern times, the abbreviation RRC, "Roman Republican Coinage" originally the name of a reference work on the topic by Michael H. Crawford, has come to be used as an identifying tag for coins assigned a number in that work, such as RRC 367.
Coins came late to the Republic compared with the rest of the Mediterranean, especially Greece and Asia Minor where coins were invented in the 7th century BC. The currency of central Italy was influenced by its natural resources, with bronze being abundant (the Etruscans were famous metal workers in bronze and iron) and silver ore being scarce. The coinage of the Roman Republic started with a few silver coins apparently devised for trade with the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, and heavy cast bronze pieces for use in Central Italy.
During the Second Punic War a flexible system of coins in bronze, silver and (occasionally) gold was created. This system was dominated by the silver denarius, a denomination which remained in circulation for 450 years. The coins of the republic (especially the denarii) are of particular interest because they were produced by "mint magistrates", junior officials who chose the designs and legends. This resulted in the production of coins advertising the officials' families for political purposes; most of the messages on these coins can still be understood today.
Before coinage Before the introduction of coinage in Italy the two important forms of value in the economy were sheep (pecus), from which the Latin word for money (pecunia) is believed by some to have been derived, and irregularly shaped pieces of bronze known as aes rude (rough bronze) which needed to be weighed for each transaction. It is unclear when money became commonly used, but Roman tradition recorded that pay of the army began during the siege of Veii in 406 BC and it appears that Aes rude was the currency well before this. Toward the end of the 4th century BC bronze began to be cast in flat bars which are known today, without any historical authority, as aes signatum (signed bronze). These bars were heavily leaded, of varying weights although generally on the order of five Roman pounds, and usually had a design on one and later both sides. The actual function of aes signatum has been variously interpreted; although a form of currency they were not coins since they did not adhere to a weight standard. Rome produced its own aes signatum around 300 BC which are distinguished by the inscription "ROMANOM" (of the Romans) and production continued to about the end of the first Punic war in 240 BC,Thurlow-Vecchi 1979:17,18, Plates 11–23 overlapping some of the developments described below.
Cast bronze coinage
According to Pomponius, a lawyer who lived during the 2nd century AD, the group of three mint magistrates tresviri monetales was established in 289 BC, but this date seems to be far too early. If they did not come into existence during the Second Punic War, the formation of a formal college may not have occurred until some time after 200 BC. The three members of this committee were officially known as the "tres viri aere argento auro flando feriundo" ("the three men responsible for casting and striking bronze, silver and gold"), a lengthy title that was almost always abbreviated to "III.V.A.A.A.F.F.". Julius Caesar briefly raised their number to four.
According to Suidas, the mint was located in (or at least near) the temple of Juno Moneta on the Capitoline Hill. By this time Rome was familiar with coinage, as it had been introduced to Italy in the Greek colonies of Metapontum, Croton, and Sybaris before 500 BC and Neapolis BC.Rutter 2001:10,68 Rome had conquered a large portion of central Italy, giving it large quantities of bronze, but little silver.
A system of heavy cast leaded bronze coinage was introduced; these issues are known as aes grave (heavy bronze) by numismatists. Stylistically the coins were distinctly Roman and, due to both their size and their being cast rather than struck, crude compared to the coinage elsewhere around the Mediterranean at the time. The standard coin was the as; the word as referred to a coin and also to a unit of weightin fact, as could also mean any "unit", from measures of length and weight to just the number one.Willis 1972
The bronze coinage was initially a more or less full value currency rather than a token currency, based on the "libral standard" where the as weighed one Roman pound (libra) with fractions in units of Roman ounces (unciae), with 12 unciae in a libra. The "uncia" was thus also both a weight and a coin of the same weight. This changed when the weight of the aes grave was decreased to approximately 10 unciae BC (the "light libral standard", remaining at that level until 225 BC, then suddenly to 5 unciae (the "semi-libral standard") around the start of the second Punic war in 218 BC, finally falling to 1.5–1 unciae around 211 BC.Crawford 1974:131–236
In addition to the as and its fractions, multiples of the as were also produced. Fractions were much more common than asses and their multiples during the period of aes grave.Crawford 1985:23,60 By the time of the semi-libral standard, the smaller denominations such as the uncia and semuncia were struck rather than cast. A variety of less common denominations were minted over time; those found in Crawford (1974) are listed here. Bronze Denominations in Crawford (1974)ObverseReverse Name Mark Earliest Example Date Value (Asses) Value (Unciae) Decussis X RRC 41/1 215–212 BC 10 120 Quincussis V RRC 41/2 215–212 BC 5 60 Tressis III RRC 41/3 215–212 BC 3 36 Dupondius II RRC 41/4 215–212 BC 2 24 As I RRC 14/1 280–276 BC 1 12 Dextans S𐆐𐆐 RRC 97/23 211–208 BC 5/6 10 Dodrans S𐆐𐆑 RRC 266/2 126 BC 3/4 9 Bes S𐆐 RRC 266/3 126 BC 2/3 8 Semis S RRC 14/2 280–276 BC 1/2 6 Quincunx 𐆐𐆐𐆑 RRC 97/11 211–208 BC 5/12 5 Triens 𐆐𐆐 RRC 14/3 280–276 BC 1/3 4 Quadrans 𐆐𐆑 RRC 14/4 280–276 BC 1/4 3 Sextans 𐆐 RRC 14/5 280–276 BC 1/6 2 Uncia 𐆑 RRC 14/6 280–276 BC 1/12 1 Semuncia 𐆒 RRC 14/7 280–276 BC 1/24 1/2 Quartuncia 𐅀 RRC 38/8 217–215 BC 1/48 1/4
Introduction of Greek-style silver coinage Greek-style struck bronze coins were produced in small quantity with the inscription ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ around 300 BC; only a handful of examples exist today. They are believed to have been produced on behalf of Rome by Neapolis, based on the similar style and weight with Neapolis' own coinage, and used to facilitate trade in the wake of the construction of the Appian Way, started in 312 BC.
Rome entered into a war against Tarentum in 281 BC; the Tarentines enlisted the support of Pyrrhus of Epirus. It was in this context that Rome produced its first Greek-style silver didrachm (RRC 13/1) with the head of Mars wearing a Corinthian helmet on one side and the head of a horse with the inscription ROMANO (worn off on the example shown) and a grain ear behind. This coinage may have predated the aes grave discussed above, but was minted and used largely in Magna Graecia and Campania. It was clearly part of a broader trend; payment of Roman and allied troops fighting in the Pyrrhic war appears to have been crucial in spreading the use of Greek-style coinage throughout the southern Apennine areas of Italy.Crawford 1985:36 This issue is today thought to have been minted in Neapolis because it was minted on that weight standard (7.3 g), not that of Metapontum, Tarentum, and other South Italian cities (which was 7.9 g at the start of the war but fell to 6.6 g during its course).Rutter 2001:8,44 This issue was thought earlier to have been minted in Metapontum because the grain-ear is the most common type on Metapontine coins and the Mars head is very similar to the head of Leucippus (a local hero, the Messenian king who re-founded Metapontum, not the philosopher) on an earlier coin produced there.Rutter 1997:93
A number of different coins were minted in increasing volumes over the next few years, but the first silver coin now thought to have been minted in Rome itself is the Hercules/She-wolf didrachm (Crawford 20/1). The date of this issue is likely 269 BC, as the devices on this coin refer to that year's consuls Q. Ogulnius L.f A.n. Gallus and C. Fabius C.f. M.n. Pictor. Hercules, shown on the obverse his club (shown undersized above his shoulder) and a lion skin tied around his neck, was the divine patron of the Fabii.Thomsen 1974:III:119 Quintus and his brother Cnaeus Ogulnius had, as curule aediles, prosecuted moneylenders; part of the proceeds were used to set up near the Ficus Ruminalis a statue of Romulus and Remus being suckled by the she-wolf as shown on the reverse.Thomsen 1974:III:117,153 Some historians believe that these coins were valued at 10 asses making them denarii, this assertion is based on the account of Pliny in the 1st century AD, where he states that the denarius was introduced in 269 BC. Most historians today, however, do not see this as a denarius, but another didrachm.
This last and most other Roman coins were produced in small numbers until the introduction of the didrachm we refer to as the quadrigatus. The quadrigatus, produced in large quantity starting around 235 BC, was named after the reverse image of Victory driving a quadriga and was produced for about 2 decades, becoming more and more debased (to as little as 30% silver) during the Second Punic War.
The denarius system
As introduced
The denarius, which became the main silver coin of Rome for over four centuries, was introduced in 211 BC or a few years earlier, and produced in enormous quantity from the silver captured in the sack of Syracuse. The denarius (RRC 44/5), valued at 10 asses as indicated by the mark X and weighing about 4.5 grams (72 to a Roman pound), was introduced as part of a complex multi-metallic coinage. Also in silver was the half denarius, the quinarius (RRC 44/6, marked V), and the quarter denarius, the sestertius (RRC 44/7, marked IIS and shown on the left), all bearing a head of Roma on the obverse and a reverse of the dioscuri riding with their capes behind (a reference to their supposed assistance to Rome at the battle of Lake Regillus).
Bronze asses and their fractions (all now struck rather than cast) continued to be produced to a standard of about 55 grams; this was very quickly reduced to a sextantal standard and finally an uncial standard of roughly 32 gms. By this time, asses outnumbered their fractions, perhaps because legionary pay was increased to the point where the as could become the principal component.Crawford 1985:60
In gold, there were three pieces worth 60 asses (RRC 44/2, marked ↆX), 40 asses (RRC 44/3, marked XXXX) and 20 asses (RRC 44/4, marked XX). All featured a head of Mars on the obverse and an eagle with outspread wings standing on a thunderbolt on the reverse.Crawford 1974:154 The eagle is somewhat reminiscent of the eagle that had consistently been a symbol on Ptolemaic coinage since the very beginning of the century, and it has been suggested that Ptolemy IV Philopator may have provided gold for this issue to act as a counterweight to the involvement of Philip V of Macedon on the side of Carthage.Meadows 1998