First Roman Coinage???

[spittle]

Quote fron another thread (Legionary wages).

"The Denarii was 4.5g of almost pure silver WHEN INTRODUCED but was lowered to just over 4g during the Julio-Claudian period, decreasing, again, to 3.8g under Nero...."

 

When was it introduced?

 

If anyone could provide or direct me to a brief explanation of the origins and history of Roman coinage I would be very appreciative.

[Pantagathus]

It is my understanding that the first silver coinage (Didrachms of Greek style bearing the name Rome) are roughly dated to ~300 BC; issued during the Samnite & Pyrrhic Wars

[spittle]

...first SILVER coinage...

 

Was this the First coinage or the first coinage made from silver?

 

It seems probable that early Roman coinage was either Greek or imitation Greek. Where did the first Greek coins take influence from? What civilisation was the first to use coinage?

[Gaius Octavius]

This might be helpful:

 

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roma...*/Denarius.html

 

I believe that all Roman coinage was debased under Diocletian.

[Pantagathus]

...first SILVER coinage... Was this the First coinage or the first coinage made from silver?

Do you not take my statement at face value Spittle? Look at my answer again... The Romans used Bronze before that.

 

I'd like to clarify that for a long time the 269 BC date was maintained to be the start of silver coinage but (somewhat) recent hordes found near Tarentum have pushed it back closer to the beginning of the 3rd BC / end of the 4th BC

It seems probable that early Roman coinage was either Greek or imitation Greek.

They imitated the coins of Magna Graecia (+ Sicily)

Where did the first Greek coins take influence from? What civilisation was the first to use coinage?

The Lydians. Check my gallery (the coin one) for an example

[Primus Pilus]

My own overview... Roman Coins.

 

The Denarius was introduced around 211 BC. Romans used Greek style silver coinage (didrachm) for some time and began to mint their own just before the start of the first Punic War (rough 269 BC). These were in circulation until the Romans formalized their own system. Most historians (and numismaticians) believe that Pliny was incorrect when he says it was the denarius, rather than the didrachm, that was introduced in 269 (as referenced in the William Smith Dictionary). There are no surviving samples of the Denarius prior to the later date, where there are samples of the didrachm.