(Apr 7, 2017)
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By decree of Caesar Augustus in 15 B.C.E., it was nearly pure silver, 95%-98%, and had a fixed weight and value in relationship to the rest of the Roman monetary system
By 269 B.C.E. [1], it was based primarily on silver and copper coins, although gold coins also were occasionally minted
The original copper coinage was weight based, and was related to the Roman pound, the libra, which was about 325 g. The basic copper coin, the as, was to weigh 1 Roman pound
Thus, the smaller denominations were all wrought coins, as the as itself became, in time, as its size and weight decreased over the next 200 years
The as had shrunk to one Roman ounce @2 libra), and Caesar Augustus (Octavian) in 15 B.C.E. established monetary decrees that stabilized the system [2]
In size, it was a little larger than a dime, about 20mm diam
The emphasis is on microstructure and what it can tell us about the manufacture, composition, and changes in these coins in their historical context
These primarily rest on the complexity of coin processing and corrosion, which rendered the final local composition of the coin quite different from its original one
They are intended to correspond to reported change in composition and also to confirm the periods of relative constancy in fineness
Thus, the nearly pure Ag Tullia denarius should be a solid solution alloy, but coins with more than 9 wt
For the Cu-Ag alloy samples, ferric chloride etchant was effective, as was 2% nital with the high Cu samples
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