Sestertius Sestertius The sestertius (plural sestertii), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The name "sestertius" means "two and one half", referring to its nominal value of two and a half "asses" (a bronze Roman coin, singular "as"), a value that was useful for commerce because it was one quarter of a denarius, a coin worth ten "asses". The name is derived from "semis", "half" and "tertius", "third", in which "third" refers to the
As (Roman coin) 14th century. It was a low-quality flat copper coin, weighing ca. 3–4 grams and forming the lowest denomination of contemporary Byzantine coinage, being exchanged at 1:768 to the gold "hyperpyron". It appears that the designs on the "assarion" changed annually, hence they display great variations. The "assarion" was replaced in 1367 by two other copper denominations, the "tournesion" and the "follaro". As (Roman coin) The (plural ), occasionally assarius (plural assarii, rendered into Greek as , assarion) was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. The Romans replaced the usage of Greek coins,