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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;rrdenarius, post: 2637448, member: 75525&quot;]Nice coin and history Bing!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A lot has been written on the subject. My take is:</p><p>Romans started issuing denarii in about 211 BC at about 4.5 grams per coin. At the time one denarius was worth 10 asses and had a mark of value = X vs the As mark of value = I. Inflation dropped the weight of Roman asses and denarii, but the bronze coin weight dropped faster. In about 140 BC denarii were retarrifed to 16 asses = XVI.</p><p>[ATTACH]581312[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]581313[/ATTACH] </p><p>After a couple of years XVI changed to * (splat). A few years later the middle line was dropped and an X returned to denarii. </p><p>The As started at a weight of about 300 grams in 250 BC, it dropped to about 80 grams in 214 BC and finally to about 20 grams in the late republic. The denarius started at about 4.5 grams in 211 BC and dropped only slightly to 4 grams in the late republic. These weights may be off a bit, but the direction is right.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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