Roman Coin - Silver Denarius

History of the Artifact The Roman Silver Denarius is among the most Iconic and sought coins in the eyes of ancient coin collectors. The denarius is a small coin, about the size of an American dime, and had the value of 10 asses, indicated by the roman root word dēnī, or “containing ten”. The coin was considered by scholars to be Rome’s main coin, until it was replaced by the Antoninianus coin in the early 3rd century AD, a coin of reduced silver content.   While the value of the denarius changed with economic ups and downs of Rome’s history, scholars estimate that one denarius coin was sufficient to buy enough wheat for one legionnaire to bake a month’s worth of bread.  The Denarius coin maintained strong silver purity from the coin’s beginning in 211 BC, up to 193, when the coin's purity was debased as a result of political instability in Rome. In these years of debasement, the denarius had its silver content greatly reduced, until it had a mere 5% silver purity.  What you will get in