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
Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin) in a shop, "3/-" (the dash usually being written instead of 0 for pence). Values of less than a shilling were simply written in pence, e.g. eightpence would be 8d (the "d" standing for the Latin word "denarii" (sing. "denarius", a common coin in Roman Britain) . The original reverse of the bronze version of the coin, designed by Leonard Charles Wyon, is a seated Britannia, holding a trident, with the words to either side. Issues before 1895 also feature a lighthouse to Britannia's left and a ship to her right. Various minor adjustments to the level of the sea