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
Silver coin inter-regional trade. For instance, the silver sceattas were a popular type of coin in England, the Netherlands and the Frisian region. The penny was a popular interregional silver coin, thus being known in several different languages as 'penny' (English), 'pfennig' (German) and 'penning' (Scandinavian languages). Medieval coin types frequently suffered from gradual debasement, and the coins were generally small. This changed when the great amounts of silver began to flow into Europe from the New World. While the Byzantine Empire in the Balkans was crumbling, a new power was growing strong in Asia Minor: the Ottoman state. The Ottomans eventually