The Denarius - A Personal Love Letter to Rome’s Common Silver Coin By: Brendan Luck

When I was 13 years old, my father took me to a coin shop that was nestled between a row of clothing stores and bubble tea shops within my local shopping mall in Mississauga, Ontario. At the time, my coin collecting experience was limited to interesting dimes and quarters I would find scattered among the common Canadian pocket change my parents would accrue from shopping in the early 2000s. 

Upon stepping inside this coin store, my eyes were entranced by the sheer variety of different coins the store had; special editions from the Canadian Mint, proof sets from my birth year, gold coins from foreign mints, and so forth. The thing that caught my eye the most, however, was a small silver coin that looked like none of the others the shop carried. 

It was in a humble cardboard holder, not a fancy leather-bound clasp container like some of the coins from the national mints. It had the name “Domitian” on it, the words “Roman coin” - and the (incorrect) year it was minted, 89 A.D. 

My mind was blown. And I had plenty of questions.

How was a coin that was nearly 2000 years old available in my local shop? Who was Domitian? What was this coin called? And (probably most importantly for my father), how much did it cost for me to own it?

My first denarius. Domitian. AD 81-96. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.18g, 6h).  Romemint. Struck AD 92-93. Laureate head right / Minerva standing right on top of rostral column, holding spear and shield; owl right. RIC II 740. 

As an ancient coin collector today, I now have all of the answers I was looking for. But as a child standing there in The House of Stamps in Square One Shopping Mall, that sense of wonder and the feeling it gave me is something I’ll never forget. After convincing my dad to purchase the coin for me, a hobby was born. Fast forward to today, as a 29 year old man, that hobby has endured, and the interest in Rome’s common little silver coin that could, the denarius, has too.

What is a Denarius? 

At this point, if you aren’t an ancient coin collector - you might have the same questions I did as a 13 year old child all those years ago. That little silver Roman coin I saw sitting in that shop is called a denarius, and it acted as the backbone of the Roman economy for a little under 500 years during the Republic and Empire’s illustrious history.

A handful of denarii minted throughout the history of the Roman Empire.

A denarius is a small silver coin. Its weight and silver purity fluctuated wildly during the prosperous and torrid times of the Roman Empire. But, for the time it was minted, it was always among the most common coins in circulation. For example, a Roman soldier was paid 225 denarii per year, and items like a new tunic would cost a Roman 4 denarii to purchase. Staples like loaves of bread would cost 0.2 denarii, and a kilo of butter was 0.8 denarii. In summary, the denarius was a reasonably valuable coin, worth about 10 bronze asses. In the bible, a denarius is described as “a day's wage”. 

Like many Empires of its day, the Roman Empire based its monetary system on precious metals - the denarius was the more common silver coin, and the aureus was a more valuable and uncommon gold coin. 

The Beginning of the Denarius 

The denarius was first minted during the course of the Second Punic War in 211 B.C. At the time, The Republic of Rome was waging a long-standing war against the Carthaginian Empire and its charismatic leader, Hannibal. Roman armies in Spain and Greece had managed to capture mines previously controlled by Carthage, and used the plunder from these mines to create a new monetary system based around the silver denarius. 

The Denarius During the Roman Republic and Imperatorial Era

While the denarius initially weighed 4.55 grams (or 1/72 of a Roman pound), in 206 B.C. this was changed to 3.9 grams (or 1/84 of a Roman pound), a standard which would remain for approximately 200 years. The first design of the denarius was chosen to exemplify the values of the Roman Republic at the time. On the obverse of the coin was the goddess Roma (who acted as a personification of the city of Rome) in a winged helmet, and on the reverse, the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) on horseback with the inscription ROMA beneath them.

Julius Caesar. August 43 BC. AR Denarius (3.96 g, 12h). Rome mint. L Flaminius Chilo, quattuorvir aere argento auro flando feriundo. Laureate head right within within pelleted border / L • FLAMINIVS down right field, IIII VIR up left, Venus Genetrix as Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus in outstretched right hand and long scepter in left; all within pelleted border. Crawford 485/1; CNR I 102/1 (same obv. die); CRI 113; Sydenham 1089; RSC 26. Superb EF, attractively toned. Well-struck with obverse die of fine style on large flan. Very rare. This example sold at CNG’s Triton XIII for $160,000 USD. 

The decision to include deities on Roman coinage as opposed to politicians remained the cultural standard in Rome for centuries, until eventually the leaders of the imperatorial (that is, the era where the Republic began to fall) era began placing their portraits on coinage. Gaius Julius Caesar was the first Roman to have his likeness stamped on Roman denarii while he was still alive - an act which scandalized his contemporaries and signified the ushering in of the Imperial era. While Julius Caesar would be assassinated in 44 B.C. before the Empire truly began, his successors made it a cultural norm to place their portraits on the obverse of the humble denarius during their reigns.

The Denarius from Augustus to Nero 

In 27 B.C. Augustus took the throne, officially ushering in the Imperial Era of Rome. By this point, it became culturally acceptable to include the portrait of the living ruler on coinage, and Augustus took the opportunity to spread his image using the medium of currency with aplomb. In fact, Augustus wisely used the humble denarius as a tool for propaganda, placing his youthful image alongside the images of various deities to assert himself as a divine ruler, a concept that was previously abhorred by Rome. 

Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). Silver Denarius (3.85 g), 27 BC-AD 14 Lugdunum, 2 BC-AD 12. CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE, laureate head of Augustus right. Reverse: AVGVSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT around, CL CAESARES in exergue, Gaius and Lucius Caesars standing facing, each togate and resting a hand on one of two shields set on ground between them; behind shields, two crossed spears; above, on left, simpulum right, and on right, lituus left. RIC 207; Lyon 82; BMC 519-33; RSC 43. A nice sharp strike and delicately toned. NGC grade Ch XF; Strike: 4/5, Surface: 4/5. This example remain unsold at M&M Auction 63.

The denarius would remain largely unchanged in both weight and purity until the reign of Nero in 54 A.D. Nero’s rule saw conflicts across the empire - namely the Roman-Parthian war, the first of the Great Jewish Revolts, and multiple civil wars. If this wasn’t enough, Rome also experienced a disastrous fire in 64 A.D., which caused Nero to reduce the purity of the denarius to 93.5% silver, and reduced its weight to 3.4g. 

The Death of the Denarius

Subsequent Emperors would continue to debase the denarius by weight and silver purity as the empire continued to expand and costs to keep it afloat continued to rise. The Roman currency became so inflated that in the year 215 A.D., the Emperor Caracalla decided that instead of further debasing the denarius (which at this point had fallen to 83.5% silver), he would mint a new coin, the antoninianus, which was meant to be worth 2 denarii, but in reality only contained the silver content of 1.5 denarii. This led to rapid inflation, with more and more Roman hoarding the more intrinsically valuable denarii. 

Caracalla. AD 198-217. AR Antoninianus (21.5mm, 4.92 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 215-217. Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Venus Victrix standing left, holding helmet and scepter, and leaning on shield; seated captive on either side. RIC IV 312c; RSC 612b. Good VF, lightly toned, a couple of minor deposits. This example sold at CNG Auction 435 for $140USD.

By the middle of the third century, the denarius had lost all of its value and was eventually completely replaced by the more “valuable” antoninianus. Roman gold and silver mines were being depleted, and the Empire had fallen into economic disrepair. This marks the end of the denarius as a circulated coin, as the remaining denarii that were minted were mainly used for ceremonial purposes. 

Why I Personally Love the Roman Denarius

After our abridged history lesson on the Roman denarius, only one question remains to be answered - why do I personally love this common silver coin?  To me, the denarius represents Rome at it’s peak - both in terms of cultural impact and economic strength. The bulk of these coins were minted when the Republic and Empire was in full swing, and when some of the most prominent names in Rome (think figures like Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, and Trajan) were making their impact on human history. 

Additionally, because of how common the coins were, Roman denarii remain a (relatively) affordable way to collect Roman Imperial coinage. Big bronze sestertii and valuable gold aurei remain darlings of the collector community, making their price points often out of reach for the average collector. Conversely, beautiful denarii of some of the most popular Roman emperors remain plentiful and accessible. 

Above all else, perhaps subliminally, the denarius still brings me back to that moment in time when I was 13 years old, staring in complete wonder at a common coin of Domitian in my local coin shop’s display case. 

A feeling shared by nearly every collector in the ever-growing ancient coin collecting community.