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
Roman command structure during First Mithridatic War except for minor spelling variations. An example is given below: The coin is an Aureus ("gold coin"), a then new type, designed (with the silver Denarius) for across-the-table payment of their wages to Sulla's men. A Denarius represented a day's wages; an Aureus, a month's. The obverse ("heads" in the American vernacular) represents the goddess, Roma. ECB originally had supposed it is meant to be Pallas Athena, without considering that such an interpretation would place the patron goddess of Rome's enemy, Athens, on its coin. Themes on coins are never sardonic. On the reverse ("tails") is a representation of a