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12-459: The semis ( lit.   ' half of an as ' ) was a small Roman bronze coin that was valued at half an as . During the Roman Republic , the semis was distinguished by an 'S' (indicating semis ) or 6 dots (indicating a theoretical weight of 6 unciae ). Some of the coins featured a bust of Saturn on the obverse, and the prow of a ship on the reverse. Initially a cast coin, like

24-402: A common weight unit), and semuncia ( 1 ⁄ 24 ), as well as multiples of the as , the dupondius (2), sestertius (2 1 ⁄ 2 ), and tressis (3). After the as had been issued as a cast coin for about seventy years, and its weight had been reduced in several stages, a sextantal as was introduced (meaning that it weighed one-sixth of a pound). At about

36-464: A troy ounce. Augustus more comprehensively reformed denominations below the denarius. New ratios were fixed among the currencies: the sestertius was now minted from about an ounce of orichalcum , an alloy of copper and zinc , rather than silver, and fixed at a quarter of a denarius . The dupondius , formerly a two- pound bronze coin, was now orichalcum , valued at half a sestertius and weighing half as much. The half-ounce as , worth half

48-548: Is said to have been a result of financing the Punic Wars . During the Republic, the as featured the bust of Janus on the obverse, and the prow of a galley on the reverse. The as was originally produced on the libral and then the reduced libral weight standard. As the weight decreased, the bronze coinage of the Republic switched from being cast to being struck. During certain periods, no as ses were produced at all. Following

60-465: The follaro . Coinage reform of Augustus Augustus brought the minting of gold and silver coins, the aureus and denarius , under his personal control while it is thought he left the minting of bronze coinage under senatorial control. Throughout these reforms, Augustus did not alter the coins' weight or fineness . The gold aureus , weighing about one-quarter ounce , was worth twenty-five silver denarii, weighing about one-eighth of

72-402: The coinage reform of Augustus in 23 BC, the as was struck in reddish pure copper (instead of bronze), and the sestertius or 'two-and-a-halfer' (originally 2.5 as ses, but now four as ses) and the dupondius (2 as ses) were produced in a golden-colored alloy of bronze known by numismatists as orichalcum . The as continued to be produced until the 3rd century AD. It was

84-420: The first half of the 14th century. It was a low-quality flat copper coin, weighing ca. 3–4 grams and forming the lowest denomination of contemporary Byzantine coinage , being exchanged at 1:768 to the gold hyperpyron . It appears that the designs on the assarion changed annually, hence they display great variations. The assarion was replaced in 1367 by two other copper denominations, the tournesion and

96-605: The lowest valued coin regularly issued during the Roman Empire, with semis and quadrans being produced infrequently, and then not at all sometime after the reign of Marcus Aurelius . The last as seems to have been produced by Aurelian between 270 and 275 and at the beginning of the reign of Diocletian. The as , under its Greek name assarion , was re-established by the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328) and minted in great quantities in

108-517: The rest of Roman Republican bronzes, it began to be struck from dies shortly before the Second Punic War (218–201 BC). Following the Augustan Coinage reforms of 23 BC the semis became the smallest orichalcum (brass) denomination, having twice the value of a copper quadrans and half the value of the copper as . Its size and diameter corresponded directly to the quadrans , so its value

120-499: The same time a silver coin, the denarius , was also introduced. Earlier Roman silver coins had been struck on the Greek weight standards that facilitated their use in southern Italy and across the Adriatic, but all Roman coins were now on a Roman weight standard. The denarius , or 'tenner', was at first tariffed at ten assēs , but in about 140 BC it was retariffed at sixteen assēs . This

132-686: Was a bronze , and later copper , coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire . The Romans replaced the usage of Greek coins, first by bronze ingots, then by disks known as the aes rude . The system thus named as was introduced in ca. 280 BC as a large cast bronze coin during the Roman Republic. The following fractions of the as were also produced: the bes ( 2 ⁄ 3 ), semis ( 1 ⁄ 2 ), quincunx ( 5 ⁄ 12 ), triens ( 1 ⁄ 3 ), quadrans ( 1 ⁄ 4 ), sextans ( 1 ⁄ 6 ), uncia ( 1 ⁄ 12 , also

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144-595: Was attained from brass having double the value of copper. The coin was issued infrequently and it ceased to be issued by the time of Hadrian (117–138 AD). In the early Imperial period, a semis could buy a cerae (wax writing tablet). This coin-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Ancient Rome –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . As (Roman coin) The as ( pl. : assēs ), occasionally assarius ( pl. : assarii , rendered into Greek as ἀσσάριον , assárion ),

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