DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51762#0030
HISTORICAL ROMAN COINS
This pound or libra of 273 grammes,1 containing
12 ounces or unciae, was the pound on which the
system of the earliest Roman bronze was based, the
coin corresponding to the libra being called the as.
It will be noticed that the as No. 1 weighs a good
deal more than the normal libra. Indeed, it used to
be assumed that the basis of the earliest Roman
coinage was the heavier (“new Roman”) pound of
327'45 grammes,1 but that for some reason the coins
were almost always cast under weight.2 But the aver-
age weight, as ascertained from more than 1100 speci-
mens of the as, is 267'66 grammes, which, allowing for
the loss of weight by the circulation to which extant
specimens must have been subject, may well represent
an effective weight of 273 grammes. The excessive
weight of some specimens, such as No. 1, and the low
weight of others, must be accounted for by the rough-
ness of the primitive methods of regulating the
capacity of the moulds in which the coins were cast.
The original Roman bronze coinage was of six
denominations, all bearing the prow on the reverse,
while on the obverse were the heads of different
divinities ; marks of value were placed on both sides.
The system was as follows :
1 On the origin of this pound and of the new Roman pound of
327'45 grammes, seeITaeberlin, op. cit.pp. 44 f., and Lehmann-Haupt,
Zeit. f. Num. xxvii., pp. 131 f.
2 The heaviest specimens seldom exceed 11 ounces of this heavier
pound.
6
This pound or libra of 273 grammes,1 containing
12 ounces or unciae, was the pound on which the
system of the earliest Roman bronze was based, the
coin corresponding to the libra being called the as.
It will be noticed that the as No. 1 weighs a good
deal more than the normal libra. Indeed, it used to
be assumed that the basis of the earliest Roman
coinage was the heavier (“new Roman”) pound of
327'45 grammes,1 but that for some reason the coins
were almost always cast under weight.2 But the aver-
age weight, as ascertained from more than 1100 speci-
mens of the as, is 267'66 grammes, which, allowing for
the loss of weight by the circulation to which extant
specimens must have been subject, may well represent
an effective weight of 273 grammes. The excessive
weight of some specimens, such as No. 1, and the low
weight of others, must be accounted for by the rough-
ness of the primitive methods of regulating the
capacity of the moulds in which the coins were cast.
The original Roman bronze coinage was of six
denominations, all bearing the prow on the reverse,
while on the obverse were the heads of different
divinities ; marks of value were placed on both sides.
The system was as follows :
1 On the origin of this pound and of the new Roman pound of
327'45 grammes, seeITaeberlin, op. cit.pp. 44 f., and Lehmann-Haupt,
Zeit. f. Num. xxvii., pp. 131 f.
2 The heaviest specimens seldom exceed 11 ounces of this heavier
pound.
6