![]() ![]() READ MORE: Money-saving reno tips: 'No one will know it's from Italy' The auctioneer at Spink & Son sold the coins in lots - one coin, from 1720, sold for $108,000. "I will never see an auction like this again." An aureus with the face of Allectus was auctioned off in the United Kingdom for £552,000 in June 2019."At the time, you think it must just be a bit of electrical cable, but you find it's a gold round disc and beneath it there are hundreds more. 222–235), has a picture of the Colosseum on the reverse, and had a price realized of $920,000 in 2008. ![]() (There is an example of this coin on permanent display at the British Museum in London.) An aureus, issued by the emperor Alexander Severus (r. The most expensive aureus ever sold was one issued in 42 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Gaius Julius Caesar, which had a price realized of $3.5 million in November 2020. 98–117) sold for $15,000, and a silver coin of the same emperor sold for $100. For instance, in one auction, an aureus of Trajan (r. An aureus is usually much more expensive than a denarius issued by the same emperor. Today, the aureus is highly sought after by collectors because of its purity and value, as well its historical interest. In 337, after Constantine converted to the solidus, one solidus was worth 275,000 denarii and finally, by 356, one solidus was worth 4,600,000 denarii. In 301, one gold aureus was worth 833⅓ denarii by 324, the same aureus was worth 4,350 denarii. Inflation was also affected by the systematic debasement of the silver denarius, which by the mid-3rd century had practically no silver left in it. Analysis of the Roman aureus shows the purity level usually to have been near to 24 karat gold, so in excess of 99% pure.ĭue to runaway inflation caused by the Roman government's issuing base-metal coinage but refusing to accept anything other than silver or gold for tax payments, the value of the gold aureus in relation to the denarius grew drastically. However, regardless of the size or weight of the aureus, the coin's purity was little affected. By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 of the increasingly debased denarii. ![]() 306–337) in 312 AD, permanently replacing the aureus as the gold coin of the Roman Empire, it was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of pure gold, each coin weighing twenty-four Greco-Roman carats, or about 4.5 grams of gold per coin. When the solidus was reintroduced by Constantine I (r. Since only one document of Diocletian's time uses this word to describe the coin, numismatists usually reserve the name "solidus" for the coin that was introduced later by Constantine the Great. However, Diocletian's solidus was struck only in small quantities, and thus had only minimal economic effect, although its stable weight brought an end to the instability that had existed for a while. 284–305) around 301 AD, struck at 60 to the Roman pound of pure gold (and thus weighing about 5.5 g each) and with an initial value equal to 1,000 denarii. The solidus was first introduced by Diocletian (r. This was reset back to 99% by the next emperor. ĭuring Gallienus's reign, the purity was briefly reduced to 94%, and a small amount of coins were minted with as low as 80% purity. During the 3rd century, gold pieces were introduced in a variety of fractions and multiples, making it hard to determine the intended denomination of a gold coin. Caesar struck the coin more often, and standardized the weight at 1 40 of a Roman pound (6.5 g) by the time of Caracalla (r. The aureus was about the same size as the denarius, but heavier due to the higher density of gold (as opposed to that of silver).īefore the time of Julius Caesar the aureus was struck infrequently. The aureus was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the solidus. aurei, 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver denarii (sin. Aureus minted in 193 by Septimius Severus to celebrate Legio XIV Gemina, the legion that proclaimed him emperor
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