Written by the Maison Or & Bijoux Mougins team · updated
| Country | Roman Empire |
|---|---|
| Metals | Gold, silver, billon (silver alloyed with copper), orichalcum (brass), copper, bronze |
| Period | 3rd century BC to 5th century AD |
| System of Augustus | 1 aureus = 25 denarii = 100 sestertii = 400 asses |
| Mints | Rome, then many provincial mints (Lyon, Trier, Arles…) |
| Mint marks | In the exergue in the late Empire: TR (Trier), LVG or PLG (Lyon), ARL (Arles)… |
| References | RIC for the Empire, Crawford (RRC) for the Republic, Cohen, Sear |
A small dark coin, a crowned profile, clipped Latin letters: more often than not, it is a Roman coin. Rome issued coins from the Republican denarius, around 211 BC, to the gold solidus of the late Empire, and spread them through all its provinces, Gallia Narbonensis included. They are the ancient coins most often found at the bottom of a family box.
In the imperial period, the head or bust of an emperor, an empress or a Caesar, wearing a laurel wreath, a radiate crown or a diadem. The circular legend lines up abbreviated titles: “IMP” for imperator, “CAES” for Caesar, “AVG” for Augustus, “P M” for pontifex maximus, “TR P” for tribunician power, “COS” for the consulship, “P P” for pater patriae.
An allegorical or divine figure (Victory, Peace, Concord, Fortune…), a temple, a trophy, a battle or address scene, named by the legend. Bronzes of the 1st to 3rd centuries often carry “S C” in the field. From the late 3rd century, the abbreviation of the mint appears in the segment below the scene (the exergue).
No Roman coin carries a date. To place one in time, start from the emperor named, then from the numerals following “COS” or “TR P” in the legend: they count consulships and renewals of tribunician power, which often narrows the date to a year or two. The table first helps you put a name to the coin from its metal and size.
| Coin | Metal | Period | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denarius | Silver | c. 211 BC – 3rd century | About 4.5 g when introduced, about 3.8 g under Augustus; lighter and less silver from Nero onwards. |
| Quinarius | Silver (also gold) | Republic and Empire | Half a denarius, around 1.9 g in silver under Augustus; uncommon. |
| Aureus | Gold | Late Republic – early 4th century | About 7.8 g under Augustus, 7.26 g after Nero's reform (64). |
| Sestertius | Orichalcum (brass) | Empire, 1st – 3rd century | Large module of about 25 g under Augustus; “S C” on the reverse. |
| Dupondius | Orichalcum | Empire, 1st – 3rd century | About 12.5 g; equal to two asses in the system of Augustus. |
| As | Copper | Empire, 1st – 3rd century | About 11 g under Augustus; redder metal than the dupondius. |
| Antoninianus | Billon | 215 – late 3rd century | Introduced under Caracalla; portrait with a radiate crown; silver reduced to a few per cent. |
| Follis (nummus) | Silvered bronze | Diocletian's reform (294) – 4th century | About 9.7 g at first, then reduced several times. |
| Solidus | Gold | c. 309/310 – 5th century and later | Introduced by Constantine at Trier, 1/72 of a pound (about 4.5 g); continued in Byzantium. |
| Siliqua | Silver | 4th – 5th century | 1/24 of a solidus; thin, light flan. |
Weights, periods and equivalences from Wikipédia (FR), “Monnaie romaine” and “Solidus”, and Wikipedia (EN), “Roman currency”. These are reference weights: surviving examples vary, sometimes widely in the 3rd century.
Faced with a box of old coins inherited from a house in the hinterland, start by sorting them by metal and size. A large, thick brass coin, often more than 3 cm across, is frequently a sestertius. A silver coin the size of a fingernail is usually a denarius. A small, thin brown coin with a radiate portrait very often belongs to the 3rd century (antoninianus); smaller still and in bronze, to the 4th century (the follis and its successors).
Second question: who is depicted? The name is read on the obverse, between the titles. It often comes after “IMP CAES” or before “AVG”. A radiate crown generally signals a double denomination (antoninianus, dupondius), a laurel wreath a single one.
Third question: where and when? On late bronzes, the letters in the exergue identify the mint, often preceded or followed by a workshop letter: “ARL” or “CONST” for Arles, “LVG” for Lyon, “TR” for Trier. With these three elements, a search in RIC or on Numista becomes possible. Coins of the same period struck in the Greek East, with Greek legends, are classified separately (see Greek coins).
A Roman coin can be false in three ways. First, as a contemporary copy. Plated denarii, made of a copper core under a thin silver skin, already circulated in antiquity: a flake or a crack reveals the red metal. When official coinage ran short in the western provinces, local workshops also produced imitation bronzes and antoniniani, smaller, clumsily drawn and with faulty legends. They have their own interest, but must not be confused with official issues.
Second, as an early creation for collectors. In the 16th century, Giovanni da Cavino, in Padua, engraved sestertii in the antique manner; some reproduce types that were never struck, such as a sestertius of Otho. In the 19th century, Carl Wilhelm Becker in turn made dies imitating ancient coins. These pieces, and the casts taken from them, regularly turn up in old collections.
Third, as a modern fake or a souvenir. Under the loupe, a cast copy shows a grainy surface, pitting, blurred letters and a seam on the edge. Recent struck copies are more careful, but their patina looks too even or powdery. Medals with an emperor's profile sold in site shops have a perfectly round flan and a metal that is too yellow. The guide to spotting a fake coin (in French) details these checks.
The grading vocabulary (F, VF, EF) applies to ancient coins, but you do not judge the same things as on a 20th-century franc. On the obverse, follow the portrait: the eye, the ear, the curls of the hair and the leaves of the wreath fade first. On the reverse, the head and torso of the figure, then the folds of the drapery.
Two criteria count as much as wear. Centring, first: the flan was often smaller than the die or badly placed, so that part of the legend, sometimes the emperor's name, falls outside the field. Patina, next, on bronzes: green, brown or black, it formed over centuries in the ground. Smooth and stable, it protects the coin; flaking, or dotted with powdery light-green spots, it signals ongoing corrosion that should be shown to a numismatist.
The most useful rule fits in one sentence: do not rub anything. A stripped bronze loses its patina for ever, and a denarius treated with silver polish takes on a shine that makes it suspect. The guides to coin grades and to cleaning a coin (in French) explain why.
That leaves the question of origin. A Roman coin is lawfully passed on through inheritance, an old collection or a purchase from a professional. In France, searching for archaeological objects with a metal detector requires a prefectoral authorisation (article L542-1 of the Heritage Code), and a chance find must be declared at the town hall (article L531-14). Keep any paper that tells where a group of coins comes from.
In Roman times, Mougins lay in the hinterland of Antipolis, present-day Antibes, part of the province of Gallia Narbonensis. Ancient rural settlements have been identified within the commune, such as La Borde, occupied from the 1st to the 3rd century, and the small farming village of Le Guillet. The Via Julia Augusta, laid out in 13-12 BC, ran lower down, near the coast, towards Forum Julii (Fréjus); a milestone was found in the 19th century at Vallauris, in the Pertuades district. Antipolis even issued small bronzes in the name of Lepidus, marked “ANT”.
Do not clean them, and declare the find at the town hall: French heritage law requires it for a chance find of archaeological objects. Note the exact spot, as it matters to archaeologists.
By size and metal. The sestertius is the largest bronze of the early Empire, in yellowish brass of about 25 g under Augustus; the as is clearly smaller and in red copper, around 11 g.
From the late 3rd century, this segment, the exergue, carries the abbreviation of the mint, for example ARL for Arles or LVG for Lyon, often with a workshop letter. It is a key element for finding the coin in RIC.
No, but it should be examined closely: a very bright shine often comes from cleaning, sometimes from a modern copy. Weight, style and the look of the edge help settle the question.