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
Three halfpence (English coin) Tower Mint. The three-halfpence coin closely resembles the English Three Farthing coin and the Threepence coin, which differed only in the diameter. This is 16 millimetres in an unclipped coin, compared to 14 mm for the three-farthings, and 19 mm for the three pence (except 1561, which was 21 mm). No three-halfpences were produced after 1582, probably because under both James I and Charles I large quantities of halfpennies and farthings were produced. Three halfpence (English coin) The English three halfpence, a silver coin worth d, was introduced in Elizabeth I of England's third and fourth coinages (1561–1582) as part