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The aureus (Template:Abbr aurei, 'golden') was the main gold coin of ancient Rome from the 1st century BC to the early 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the solidus. This type of coin was sporadically issued during the Republic and standardized during the Empire, originally valued at 25 silver denarii and 100 sestertii. It was about the same size as the denarius, but heavier than the denarius since gold is denser than silver.
During the RepublicEdit
The production of proper Roman coins began in the 3rd century BC and was limited to the minting of bronze asses; the gold brought back from spoils and war indemnities was stored in the public treasury (Aerarium). According to the needs of the state finances, the gold in the reserve was sold for minted silver, at a ratio of 1 to 12.<ref>Le Glay, Marcel (1990). Rome, Grandeur et Déclin de la République, Éd. Perrin, p. 116. Template:ISBN</ref> The Second Punic War (218–201), due to its considerable financing needs, made it necessary to draw on the reserves of precious metal. Rome therefore issued silver denarii and several series of aurei, but the production of gold coins ceased after the war.<ref>Depeyrot, Georges (2006). La monnaie romaine. Paris, Éditions Errance. pp. 14-15. Template:ISBN</ref>
- 2 scrupulum coin.JPG
Issue worth 40 (XXXX) asses, 211 BC. The obverse depicts the god Mars.
In the years following 87 BC, and in exceptional circumstances, the general Sulla resumed issuing gold coins during his campaign in Greece. Disowned by the Senate and deprived of its financial support, he seized the treasures of the Greek and used them to issue gold or silver coins bearing his name.<ref>Plutarch, Lucullus 2.</ref> These issues also served a propaganda purpose during the ensuing civil war.
In 49 BC, Julius Caesar, claiming that the Republic was in danger, seized the gold reserve of the public treasury and using it alongside his personal wealth during his civil war. The minting of the aureus resumed in itinerant workshops following the movements of Caesar's legions, then in Rome, at the standard weight equivalent to<math>\tfrac{1}{40}</math> of a Roman pound (about 8 grams). This coin, made of pure gold, was called aureus nummus or denarius aureus, "gold denarius". Shortly before his death, Caesar's began issuing silver coins with his own portrait, a departure from traditional coinage.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The period following the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC saw competition between various factions, each mobilizing its own army and paying its soldiers in gold coins. Mints competing with that of Rome multiplied in Italy, Gaul, Roman Africa , Sicily , or itinerant ones depending on the movements of the armies. Each faction leader had his effigy and emblems struck: the triumvirs (Mark Antony, Lepidus and Caesar's nephew Octavian), the "liberators" Brutus and Cassius Longinus, and Sextus Pompey (the son of Pompey the Great). Octavian became sole master of the Roman world in 31 BC, after defeating his last opposition at Actium. Four years later, in 27 BC, he assumed the name and title of Augustus, marking his accession as the first Roman emperor.
- Marcus Iunius Brutus 10100420.jpg
Issue by Brutus, 42 BC.
- Aureus Sextus Pompeius 42BC Goldberg.JPG
Issue by Sextus Pompey, 42 BC.
Early EmpireEdit
Julius Caesar struck the coin more often, and standardized the weight at <math>\tfrac{1}{40}</math> of a Roman pound (about 8 grams). Octavian Augustus tariffed the value of the sestertius as <math>\tfrac{1}{100}</math> of an aureus.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The aureus, which mint was placed at Lugdunum, weighed 1/42 a pound (7.79 grams) and was worth 25 denarii and 100 sestertii. A sub-multiple existed, the gold quinarius or half-aureus. The Augustan system of the 1st century was as follows:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
| Aureus | Quinarius | Denarius | Quinarius | Sestertius | Dupondius | As | Semis | Quadrans | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aureus | 1 | 2 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600 |
| Quinarius Aureus | Template:Frac | 1 | Template:Frac | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 |
| Denarius | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 |
| Quinarius Argenteus | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 |
| Sestertius | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Dupondius | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| As | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Semis | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 | 2 |
| Quadrans | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | Template:Frac | 1 |
The mass of the aureus was decreased to <math>\tfrac{1}{45}</math> of a Roman pound (7.3 g) during the reign of Nero (r. 54–68).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to Cassius Dio, writing at the start of the 3rd century, notes that the aureus was still worth 100 sesterii, and comments that it was equivalent to 20 Greek drachmas.<ref>Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 55, § 12.</ref> At about the same time the purity of the silver coinage was also slightly decreased.
After the reign of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) the production of aurei decreased, and the weight fell to <math>\tfrac{1}{50}</math> of a Roman pound (6.5 g) by the time of Caracalla (r. 211–217).
During the 3rd century, the Roman Empire experienced a 50-year period of instability that also saw an increasingly severe economic and monetary crisis. The number and weight of aurei produced decreased more and more rapidly, dropping from about 7.20 grams under Septimius Severus (r. 193–211) to less than 3.50 grams under Valerian (r. 253–260), about half of its original value. The simultaneous devaluation of gold and silver coins caused their mutual devaluation. While the correspondence of 25 denarii for 1 aureus was maintained during the 1st and 2nd centuries, the value of the aureus became unstable: a Greek inscriptions under the reign of Philip (r. 244–249) gives 1 aureus for 21 antoninianii, or 42 denarii.<ref>Depeyrot 2006, pp. 118–138.</ref>
In addition, gold pieces were introduced in a variety of fractions and multiples, making it hard to determine the intended denomination of a gold coin.<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref> During Gallienus's reign, the purity was briefly reduced to 94%, and a small amount of coins were minted with as low as 80% purity. This was reset back to 99% by the next emperor.<ref name="Scheidel" />
The devalued aureus would be replaced by the solidus, during the 4th century. An early form of this coin was first introduced by Diocletian (r. 284–305) around 301 AD, when he struck at 60 to the Roman pound of pure gold (and thus weighing about 5.5 grams each) and with an initial value equal to 1,000 denarii.<ref name="Scheidel">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In that same year, Diocletian issued the Edict on Maximum Prices fixing a price for minted gold of 72,000 denarii per pound, or more than a thousand denarii for one aureus, the denarius being no more than a unit of account. This authoritarian measure did nothing but stop the fluctuation of the aureus.<ref>Depeyrot 2006, p. 100.</ref> Diocletian's solidus was struck only in small quantities, and thus had only minimal economic effect, although its stable weight brought an end to the instability that had existed for a while.
When the solidus was reintroduced by Constantine I (r. 306–337) in 312 AD, permanently replacing the aureus as the gold coin of the Roman Empire, it was struck at a rate of 72 to a Roman pound of pure gold, each coin weighing twenty-four Greco-Roman carats, or about 4.5 grams of gold per coin.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> By this time, the solidus was worth 275,000 of the increasingly debased denarii. However, regardless of the size or weight of the aureus, the coin's purity was little affected.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Due to runaway inflation caused by the Roman government's issuing base-metal coinage but refusing to accept anything other than silver or gold for tax payments, the value of the gold aureus in relation to the denarius grew drastically. Inflation was also affected by the systematic debasement of the silver denarius, which by the mid-3rd century had practically no silver left in it.
| Ruler | Year | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Caesar | 44 BC | 8.18 grams |
| Augustus | 14 AD | 7.80 grams |
| Tiberius | 37 AD | ~ 7.75 grams<ref>Authors vary slightly on the exact amount, so an average is given</ref> |
| Caligula | 41 AD | ~ 7.72 grams |
| Claudius | 54 AD | ~ 7.66 grams |
| Nero | 68 AD | 7.28 grams |
| Galba | 69 AD | 7.26 grams |
| Otho | 69 AD | 7.24 grams |
| Titus | 81 AD | ~ 7.21 grams |
| Domitian | 96 AD | ~ 7.40 grams |
| Nerva | 98 AD | ~ 7.54 grams |
| Trajan | 117 | 7.22 grams |
| Hadrian | 138 | 7.19 grams |
| Antoninus | 161 | 7.19 grams |
| Marcus | 180 | 7.19 grams |
| Commodus | 192 | 7.26 grams |
| Pertinax | 193 | 7.19 grams |
| Severus | 211 | 7.19 grams |
| Caracalla | 217 | 6.48 grams |
| Alexander | 235 | 6.30 grams |
| Maximinus | 238 | 5.80 grams |
| Pupienus | 238 | 5.54 grams |
| Balbinus | ||
| Gordian III | 244 | 4.86 grams |
| Philip | 249 | 4.40 grams |
| Decius | 251 | 4.30 grams |
| Gallus | 253 | 3.65 grams |
| Valerian | 260 | 3.40 grams |
| Diocletian | 290 | 5.46 grams<ref>Pannekeet, C. G. J. (2013). The Roman coinage in the 4th and 5th century AD. Also Feature Auction CNG 111. Diocletian. AD 284-305: "During the reigns immediately prior to Diocletian, the weight of the gold aureus fluctuated wildly, from as heavy as 6.90 grams to as light as 4 grams, and seemed to vary almost arbitrarily from mint to mint. This irregularity continued into the first years of the new regime (see previous lot), but between AD 286 and 290, Diocletian stabilized the aureus at 60 to the pound, or about 5.46 grams of gold, throughout the Roman Empire."</ref> |
Today, the aureus is highly sought after by collectors because of its purity and value, as well its historical interest. An aureus is usually much more expensive than a denarius issued by the same emperor. For instance, in one auction, an aureus of Trajan (r. 98–117) sold for $15,000, and a silver coin of the same emperor sold for $100. The most expensive aureus ever sold was one issued in 42 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Gaius Julius Caesar, which had a price realized of $3.5 million in November 2020;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> there is an example of this coin on permanent display at the British Museum in London. An aureus, issued by the emperor Alexander Severus (r. 222–235), has a picture of the Colosseum on the reverse, and had a price realized of $920,000 in 2008.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An aureus with the face of Allectus was auctioned off in the United Kingdom for £552,000 in June 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Imperial aurei from Augustus to Alexander
- Gold Aureus of Augustus (obverse).png
1. Augustus
- Gold aureus of Tiberius.jpg
2. Tiberius
- Caligula&Germanicus Aureus (obverse).jpg
3. Caligula
- Aureus of Claudius (obverse).jpeg
4. Claudius
- Gold Aureus of Nero.png
5. Nero
- Galba, aureus (obverse).jpg
6. Galba
- Gold Aureus of Otho.jpg
7. Otho
- Vitellius, aureus, 69, RIC I 85 (obverse).jpg
8. Vitellius
- INC-2056-a Ауреус. Веспасиан. Ок. 75—79 гг. (аверс).png
9. Vespasian
- Rare aureus of Titus (obverse).jpg
10. Titus
- INC-1882-a Ауреус. Домициан. Ок. 87 г. (аверс).png
11. Domitian
- Nerva aureus (obverse).png
12. Nerva
- TRAJAN RIC II 257 (obverse).png
13. Trajan
- Hadrian RIC II 308 (obverse).jpg
14. Hadrian
- INC-1833-a Ауреус Антонин Пий ок. 153-154 гг. (аверс).png
15. Antoninus
- INC-1817-a Ауреус Марк Аврелий ок. 166-167 гг. (аверс).png
16. Marcus
- INC-2957-a Ауреус. Луций Вер. Ок. 163—164 гг. (аверс).png
17. Lucius
- INC-1818-a Ауреус Коммод ок. 186-187 гг. (аверс).png
18. Commodus
- Aureus of Pertinax (obverse).jpg
19. Pertinax
- Aureus Didius Iulianus (obverse).jpg
20. Julianus
- Septimius Severus. AD 193-211 (obverse).jpg
21. Severus
- Caracalla RIC 4A-211b (obverse).jpg
22. Caracalla
- Rare aureus of Geta (obverse).jpg
23. Geta
- Aureus Macrinus-RIC 0079 (cropped).jpg
24. Macrinus
- INC-1854-a Ауреус Элагабал ок. 218-219 гг. (аверс).png
25. Elagabalus
- INC-1855-a Ауреус Север Александр ок. 228 г. (аверс).png
26. Alexander