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Roman coins

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Jay (U2975371) on Tuesday, 4th November 2008

  I'm a school teacher in the US. I have some Roman coins that I would like to incorporate into my lessons on the ancient world. For that, I need some backgound information on the coins, if possible.
  
  The first coin is a denarius minted during the reign of Vespasian. I read that the denarius was the usual daily pay for unskilled labor. Other than that what was its worth? What commodities and necessities could I buy with a denarius? For example, what was the rent for an apartment? How much food and wine could I buy? What about sandals, cloaks, and the like?
  
  The second coin is a nummus AE4 minted during the reign of Theodosius I. I understand that I could buy a loaf of bread with that. What about other commodities?
  
  Thanks.

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• Message 2

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  Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Wednesday, 5th November 2008

  These things changed all the time but generally speaking the currency and bread were linked together with a fast value, a loaf costing an ass and a denarius being ten of them. Politicians made sure that economic booms and slumps didn't affect this price, even sometimes at the risk of bankrupting themselves or even the state in maintaining it.
  
  Since the entire empire therefore operated on what might be called "the bread standard" relative values for other commodities fluctuated wildly. Vespasian's short reign was a period of stabilisation after some extremely turbulent times and he managed to get the state back into the black for the first time in decades. Your denarius therefore represents a currency that was retaining its traditional value and we know from Cicero in the previous century that he reckoned 3 denari a rent above which a landlord could be considered a crook for charging (he was having a go at Crassus). Wine was cheap in Rome compared to its modern relative value. The equivalent of a litre would have cost the same as a loaf (1 ass). Clothes were hand-made at home by the huge bulk of the population and the material used was a kind of sack cloth. This must have been cheap. Likewise sandals were made and repaired by individuals themselves. When one was in a position to buy woolen tunics and cobbler-made shoes or sandals one didn't care too much about denari in any case.
  
  I did not think that an AE4 nummus (the smallest denomination) bought a loaf of bread but I'm not sure. I had an idea it was worth much less. Does it have a letter on the reverse? M, K, I and E were used to denote values even if the coins otherwise were identical, but I still haven't a clue what you could buy with them in Theodosius's time.
  
  There's a guy called DL who's taken to dropping into the bar on this site again and whose hobby is Roman coins. Maybe if you leave a message there he'll see it and come here with better info.

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• Message 3

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  Posted by Jay (U2975371) on Wednesday, 5th November 2008

  Nordmann thanks for the reply.
  
  It's much clearer.
  
  The nummus was in uncleaned condition when I bought it and there is extensive wear and corrosion. I was able to clean it up with a lot of elbow gease. There is no letter such as you describe on the reverse that I can make out. It only has the inscription, "VOT X MVLT XX".

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• Message 4

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  Posted by fascinating (U1944795) on Friday, 7th November 2008

  Jay, the denarius is mentioned in the gospels, where the labourers in the vinyard all get one denarius apiece, no matter how long they worked there.
  
  1 denarius = 4 sesterces = 16 asses.
  
  But a number of documents indicate that workers were paid considerably less than that, a bit more than half a denarius a day. Even ordinary soldiers under Vespasian were only paid 12 asses a day (3 sesterces, or 12 asses = 3/4 of a denarius).
  
  Grain was about 3 denarii a bushel. That is 20lbs per denarius. Entry to the baths in Rome was less than 1 as. A very small book cost 5 denarii. It has been reckoned that, in the 1st century BC, a day's rations could be had for one-twelth of a denarius. Clothing seems to have been expensive, with a good-quality tunic costing 6 denarii.

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• Message 5

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  Posted by Jay (U2975371) on Friday, 7th November 2008

  Thanks for the additional information, "fascinating".
  
  So, unskilled labor could get .5 denarius/day, and a soldier could get .75 denarius/day (See the world, join the army!). My guess is that the centurions would be paid more, especially the most senior legionary.
  
  What of a skilled tradesman such as a plumber or mason?
  
  Rent was 3 denarii. Small books were 5 (because of the labor that went into making them, I suppose) A tunic was 6 denarii.
  
  A loaf of bread was 1 as, a jug of wine was 1 as. Twenty pounds of grain was 1 denarius. The prices for the basics were subsidized by the state, I assume. Meat would probably have been out of reach for the average Roman.
  
  What about admission to the games? I think the price would also have been subsidized.
  
  
  
  
  "fascinating", do you have any thoughts on the AE4 nummus?
  
  
  

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• Message 6

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  Posted by fascinating (U1944795) on Saturday, 8th November 2008

  The unskilled labour rates are tenative, based on only 2 documents, one showing rates of pay for workers in Egypt on a water fountain (where they were paid in drachma/obols, which have to be translated to denarii/asses), the other a contract for a worker in Dacia (Romania).
  
  Note that the Roman soldiers would soon be paid 300 denarii a year (roughly 1 denarius per day of duty), when Domitian increased the pay in about 80AD. Besides, you have to remember that many soldiers were awarded pay-and-a-half and double pay, and anyway 'gifts' of money were paid out to soldiers and other government staff every now on then, on the Emperor's birthday etc.
  
  A centurion was paid 5000 denarii a year.
  
  As far as I know, basic foodstuffs were not subsidised by the state. The only exception, I think, was the grain dole provided to inhabitants of the city of Rome, but of course that grain had to be supplied by provincials; it mainly came from Egypt.
  
  I disagree that the average Roman could not afford meat. I see no evidence of that.
  
  The games, I think, were regarded as public events provided by the largesse of the Emperor, or the local bigwigs in provincial towns, so perhaps the citizens never paid entry fees.
  
  Regrettably i do not know anything about the mummus.
  

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• Message 7

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  Posted by Jay (U2975371) on Saturday, 8th November 2008

  Thank you again.
  
  I think that I can put together a lesson from all the information I received here.

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• Message 8

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  Posted by DL (U1683040) on Monday, 10th November 2008

  Hi Jay,
  
  Just picked up on this thread (being as I'm way too lazy to regularly check in!). This is a bit outside my main area of interest I'm afraid - I collect Roman Republican coins (roughly 200 BC to 14 AD), but hopefully this will be of interest. The denarius has basically been covered by everyone else, but just to summarise it - it was one of the standard Roman units of coinage, though it is very difficult to price objects and services in terms of denarii, since inflation isn't a modern invention, and the Romans suffered from it too.
  In fact it was inflation which brought about the demise of the denarius. From roughly 250 AD, Roman coinage became more and more de-valued, with the silver content of the denarius becoming heavily de-based. The coin itself became replaced with the antoninianus (double denarius) from this time onwards, which later was replaced by the siliqua (4th century-ish).
  
  As for the AE4, Theodosius was the last ever "joint" emperor, meaning he ruled both the eastern and western Roman empires. This is much the late Imperial period, by which time the majority of coinage was bronze, with silver and gold making up a much smaller percentage of circulated coins. I'm guessing your coin would be a small, 10mm or less diameter bronze coin, which was basically the small change of its day. The value of a loaf of bread, or maybe a cheap meal or drink is my guess.
  
  If you feel like doing some more digging, google "wildwinds" and this site gives lots of info and photo examples of Roman coins from all periods.
  Cheers
  DL

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• Message 9

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  Posted by Jay (U2975371) on Monday, 10th November 2008

  DL Thanks!
  
  I have seen the Wildwinds site before, it was a long time ago, and I forgot all about it.
  
  Yep, my Theodosius coin is less than 10mm in diameter.
  
  I wanted to give my students more information than merely showing them the coins and explaining the inscriptions, which are almost illegible.
  
  Jay

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• Message 10

  , in reply to message 9.

  Posted by Anglo-Norman (U1965016) on Thursday, 13th November 2008

  Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:39 GMT, in reply to Jay* in message 9
  
  Back in 2002 (I think) I came across a chart which showed various prices of Roman goods in the middle of the 1st century AD. Sadly the chart is a couple of hundred miles away from me at the moment (and my eyesight isn't that good!) but I do recall that, based on purchasing power equivalents, a sestertius could be valued as roughly 50p.
  
  I haven't read it myself, but 'Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day' (Philip Matyszak) is supposed to be very good, and might be the sort of thing you're looking for.

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• Message 11

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  Posted by Jay (U2975371) on Saturday, 15th November 2008

  That would be an interesting chart to see. (Of course, that 50p is worth less now than it was 2 years ago )
  
  I found the book at ABE Books.

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