Roman Coins
The Coinage of Roman Coins
Rome didn't just strike coins u2014 it used them as a public record, decades before newspapers or press releases existed. Long before the familiar silver denarius, early Rome traded in cast bronze: heavy, unwieldy aes signatum and aes grave. The denarius itself only appeared around 211 BC, during the darkest years of the war with Hannibal, and from there Roman coinage became something no earlier currency had been u2014 a running commentary on the state itself.
Republican moneyers stamped their family's mythology onto the coinage they issued, turning coins into campaign literature centuries before campaigns existed. Then came the collapse of the Republic itself: Caesar was the first living Roman to put his own face on a coin, breaking a taboo that had held for centuries, and the civil wars that followed u2014 Brutus, Antony, Octavian u2014 were fought as much in propaganda as in battle. What came after was three hundred years of Imperial portraiture, then a currency crisis severe enough that Diocletian and Constantine had to rebuild the entire system from the ground up.
Every coin below is organized by period, from the Republic's earliest issues to the gold solidus that would outlive the Western Empire itself. Browse by era, or search for a specific emperor, mint, or reference number.
Explore Roman Coins
Roman Empire
Three centuries of imperial portraiture, from Augustus to Diocletian. Every reverse was a message u2014 a military victory, a building project, a deified relative u2014 making Imperial Roman coins one of the most thoroughly cataloged series in all of numismatics (the standard reference, RIC, runs to multiple volumes).
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Roman Imperatorial
The coinage of Rome tearing itself apart. Caesar, Brutus, Antony, and Octavian all struck coins during the civil wars that ended the Republic u2014 including the first Roman coins ever to show a living personu2019s face, a taboo that had held for centuries until it suddenly didnu2019t.
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Roman Provincial
Struck locally across the empireu2019s Greek-speaking provinces, often in bronze and often in Greek rather than Latin u2014 provincial coinage followed regional traditions even under Roman rule, making it a distinct (and often more affordable) entry point into the era.
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Roman Republic
Rome before emperors. Early cast bronze gave way to the silver denarius around 211 BC, and for the next two centuries, mint officials stamped their own family history and mythology onto the coinage u2014 making Republican coins some of the most genealogically documented objects from the ancient world.
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Tetrarchy & Late Empire
Diocletianu2019s currency reform and Constantineu2019s gold solidus rebuilt Roman money from a crisis u2014 the solidus in particular proved so stable it remained in use for centuries after the Western Empire itself had fallen, carried forward by Byzantium.
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Did You Know?
One of the most sought-after ancient coins in existence commemorates an assassination: the u201cEID MARu201d denarius, issued by Brutus in 42 BC, shows two daggers flanking a cap of liberty with the legend u201cthe Ides of Marchu201d u2014 Caesar's killers minted coins advertising the act as a liberation, not a crime.
Coins in Roman Coins
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