Topic: [SOLD!] 200-202 AD Roman Silver Denarius - One Day Soldier's Pay (Read 1486 times)

You might like wildwinds.com for help in identifying ancient coins. Here's yours for instance http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s7200.html#RIC_0020a

Great historical incite greyhawk!

I two was under this misconception that a Denarii was the average days wage in the Roman Empire.

Still a nice coin and testament to how silver was and will always be money. Something not true of ANY fiat currency. 

In that case, item not for sale. Just kidding, its SOLD.
You are obviously knowledgeable on these. Any online references you know of? I never got too much into ancient coins because it seemed like there was so [too] much to learn.

Kinda, yeah.

Fun fact: the person shown seated on the reverse of the coin above is Securitas, goddess of stability and security (more in the sense of "feeling secure" not as much in the sense of "homeland security gonna bash a stick on your head"). Now that should be an incentive for a silver bug.

Mind blown!

@Andrew: a bit, imagine it almost 1800 years ago!
Anyways, how can some one not appreciate this thing? Think of all the hands that exchanged it, etc. over 1800 years ago.

Oooh, shiney!

Kinda like the silver dimes and the current dimes. 

Fair enough. I only have 1 other ancient coin and definitely don't consider myself to be an expert on them. Literally any reference to silver content came from a video on Chris Duane's channel.
I'm not going to argue with you about their value during Roman times, but typically coins that weren't worth much don't become popular collector's pieces.
And, as far as their value goes today (which is all that really matters), I will refer you to eBay or any other site selling this Denarius or any Denarius from ANY time period.
If you only wanted to buy this coin for its silver content, I'll throw in a pre-'65 dime for you.

That is quite impossible as by 200 AD the silver amount in Denarii sank way below 50 % total material. At a raw weight of 3,4 g for a 200 AD denarius we are talking less than 1,7 g silver. The pre-65 dime weighs 2,5 g with a 90 % silver content, so 2,25 g of silver.

Also while it is correct that in 211 BC when the first Denarii were made, a Denarius was equivalent to a days pay for a laborer or common soldier, this value was dropping rapidly, especially after the numerous modifications to raw weight and silver content after 64 AD.  By 200 AD, Denarii were completely and utterly worthless.

Hey everybody,

I'm putting some of my coins up for sale. I have another thread where I've posted more contemporary, US Silver pieces-which people said they would be most interested in as far as rare/collectible coins go.

I think anyone can appreciate this one, though. If you watch Chris Duane's (insert remark here) videos, he mentions in one of them that silver has had a prominent place in history since the height of the Roman Empire. He refers to the Denarius specifically. The "Denarius" is a type of coin - like a dime is. Throughout Rome's reign, hundreds of Denarius coins were minted, with the ruler of the time, their wife, one dressed in battle garb, etc. There are a lot of different Denarius coins. Also like a dime, this coin (as well as all Denarius coins) contains a specific amount of silver, which is a hair greater than that of a pre-'65 dime. In the video, Duane remarks how it is truly incredible that Rome was able to pay their soldiers one Denarius a day when, in today's world, a huge part of the world lives, per day, on less money than the value of the silver in a Denarius coin. Rome truly was an incredible [Republic] Empire.

Anyways, this Denarius specifically is known as "Geta". There are several variations of the Geta Denarius. This Denarius is the same exact one that I'm offering here:

The back of the coin is different, but the reverse of Denarius coins varied so much that it can be hard to find a single match.  The obverse of a Denarius was stamped higher-up the ladder of the Empire. The reverse was deemed less important, so striking it was left to people like Generals, even lower military personnel, etc. So, reverse on a Denarius is not deemed particularly important-value depends essentially solely on the obverse (front) of the coin. There are entire text books dedicated to trying to catalogue all Deniarus obverse/reverse strikes.

Anyways, the coin at the link provided is in slightly better condition than mine. The border is near-complete, while parts of mine are missing. I probably don't have to say this, but do your own research. It is important to note specific characteristics of the strike. For example, the fact that the word "Geta" is on the left side of the coin...there are variations of it on the opposite side. Also, consider strike detail...I wish I had a camera to take better pictures, but the strike detail of my coin is better than it appears in the picture-it is very near the level of the coin in the link provided (notice the clarity of the hair curls, the facial features, etc). You'll see that the price I'm asking for this is more than reasonable. I'm asking . If you're interested, PM me-I'm a bit flexible.

If you have any questions, please ask!