Roman sestertius

E819500

The Roman sestertius was a large bronze coin of the Roman Empire, widely used in everyday transactions and notable for its detailed imperial portraits and propaganda imagery.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Roman sestertius canonical 5

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient Roman coin
bronze coin
category Roman bronze coinage
collectingStatus highly valued by numismatists
countryOfOrigin Ancient Rome
linked to: Roman Antiquity
currencySystem Roman currency
declineInSizeAndQuality 3rd century AD
denominationMarking HS
IIS
economicRole tax payments
unit of account in price listings
wage payments
inscriptionsOftenInclude SC mark
emperor’s name
honorifics
imperial titles
introducedApproximateDate 3rd century BC
introducedInPeriod Roman Republic
languageOnCoin Latin
majorBronzeReformDate late 1st century BC
material bronze
orichalcum
mintedAt Rome mint
linked to: Roman mint

provincial mints
notableFeature detailed imperial portraits
imperial propaganda imagery
large flan suitable for detailed portraits
obverseUsuallyDepicts portrait of a member of the imperial family
portrait of the Roman emperor
peakCirculationPeriod 1st century AD
2nd century AD
primaryUse everyday transactions
medium-value purchases
reformedUnder Augustus
relatedDenomination as
denarius
dupondius
reverseUsuallyDepicts allegorical figures
military victories
propaganda imagery
public buildings
SCstandsFor Senatus Consulto
shape round coin
typicalDiameter about 25–35 millimetres
typicalWeight about 20–28 grams
usedIn Roman Empire
Roman Republic
valueRelativeTo 1 quarter denarius
2 dupondii
4 asses
writingSystem Latin alphabet

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Italia (Roman province) usedCurrency Roman sestertius
Germania Inferior currencyUsed Roman sestertius
Roman mint currency Roman sestertius
Roman province of Macedonia currency Roman sestertius
Britannia Superior usesCurrency Roman sestertius