Aureus

Aureus

The aureus (pl. aurei) was a gold coin of ancient Rome valued at 25 silver denarii. 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. The aureus is approximately the same size as the denarius, but is heavier due to the higher density of gold.

Before the time of Julius Caesar the aureus was struck very infrequently, usually to make large payments from captured booty. Caesar struck the coin more frequently and standardized the weight at 1/40 of a Roman pound (about 8 grams). The mass of the aureus was decreased to 1/45 of a pound (7.3 g) during the reign of Nero.

After the reign of Marcus Aurelius the production of aurei decreased, and the weight was further decreased to 1/50th of a pound (6.5 g) by the time of Caracalla. During the third century, gold pieces were introduced in a variety of fractions and multiples, making it hard to determine the intended denomination of a gold coin.

However, regardless of the "size" or "weight" of the aureus, the coin's purity was little affected. Analysis of the Roman aureus shows the purity level usually to have been in excess of 99%, compared to 91.7%(22k) for the British sovereign and the 90% for the US gold dollar.

Due to runaway inflation caused by the Roman government 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 denarii grew drastically. Inflation was also affected by the systematic debasement of the silver denarius which by the mid-third century had practically no silver left in it.

In 301 AD one gold aureus was worth 8331/3 denarii; by 324 AD the same aureus was worth 4,350 denarii. In 337 AD, after Constantine converted to the solidus, one solidus was worth 275,000 denarii and finally, by 356 AD, one solidus was worth 4,600,000 denarii.

Constantine introduced the solidus in 309, replacing the aureus as the standard gold coin of the Roman empire. The solidus was a larger diameter and flatter coin, while the aureus was smaller and chunkyvague|date=March 2008 and similar to the denarius in fabric.

ee also

*Roman currency

External links

* [http://monetaoro.unicatt.it/ Online numismatic exhibit: "This round gold is but the image of the rounder globe" (H.Melville). The charm of gold in ancient coinage]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Auréus — Aureus Aureus frappé en 193 par Septime Sévère pour célébrer la Légion VIII Augusta L aureus (aurei au pluriel) ou denier d or[1 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Aureus — frappé en 193 par Septime Sévère pour célébrer la Légion VIII Augusta L aureus (aurei au pluriel) ou denier d or[1] est une …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Aureus — aus dem Jahr 19 v. Chr. mit dem Bildnis von Augustus Aureus (Mehrzahl Aurei) ist gewöhnlich eine 8,19 g schwere römische Goldmünze mit hohem Feingehalt, die zu Ausgabezeiten einen sehr hohen Wert hatte und über die gesamte römisch beeinflusste… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • AUREUS — monetae Romanae nomen. Postquam einm argentô iam quoque sordescebant digiti, deciduâ, ut Plin. l. 33. c. 3. ait, materiâ et in nummis mundities auri placuit, percusus est nummus Aureus, annô, ut idem adnotat 12. post argentem, et simpliciter… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • aureus — ● aureus nom masculin (latin aureus, en or) Monnaie d or de la Rome antique, émise à la fin de la République et tout au long de l Empire. (Son poids a varié de 10,85 à 4,13 g.) aureus [ɔʀeys; oʀeys] n. m. ÉTYM. 1845, Bescherelle; mot lat. adj. «… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • aureus — AURÉUS s.m. Monedă romană de aur. [pron. a u . / < lat. aureus]. Trimis de LauraGellner, 16.11.2004. Sursa: DN  AURÉUS s. m. monedă romană de aur. (< lat. aureus) Trimis de raduborza, 15.09.2007. Sursa: MDN …   Dicționar Român

  • aureus — (izg. ȁureus) m DEFINICIJA pov. starorimski zlatni novac; zlatni solid ETIMOLOGIJA lat.: zlatan, zlatnik …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • Aurĕus — (lat., später Solidus), 1) römische Goldmünze, zuerst 207 v. Chr. von der karthagischen Beute geprägt, etwa 31/3 Thlr. (die allerältesten 5 Thlr.) werth, Anfangs selten, unter den Kaisern häufiger, jedoch viel geringhaltiger, unter Aurelian 40,… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Aurĕus — Aurĕus, altröm. Goldmünze, von Cäsar eingeführt, im Gewicht von 1/46 Pfd. Gold (8 Gramm), = 25 Denare = 100 Sesterzien = 22,83 Mk. In der Folge sank das Gewicht immer tiefer, so daß es bereits unter Mark Aurel 1/42 Pfd. (= 21,75 Mk.), unter… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Aureus — Aureus, altröm. Goldmünze von verschiedenem Werthe …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”