INTRODUCTION
What would have happened if Romans in the time of
the emperors, had paper money? What if they did,
and nothing is left to prove it? And wouldn't be
neat if they had it? And if they didn't have it
then, that is not the reason for it not existing
now!
CURRENCY NAME:
Sestertius (also Sesterce) -- plural: sestertii
or sesterces. Originally silver, its use died out
until Augustus revived it and struck it in an
alloy called orichalcum, which is very similar to
brass, so the sesterce had a pleasing bright,
golden appearance. The sesterce is also large and
fairly thick, so artists had plenty of room to
show their skills.
The sestertius was also used as a standard unit
of account, represented on inscriptions with the
monogram HS.
It's difficult to make any comparisons with
modern coinage or prices, but for most of the
first century AD the ordinary legionary was paid
900 sestertii per year, less than 3 sestertii per
day. Half of this was deducted for living costs,
leaving the soldier (if he was lucky enough
actually to get paid) with about 1.5 sestertii
per day.
RELEASING AUTHORITY:
AERARIUM IMPERIUM ROMANUM – THE ROMAN EMPIRE
TREASURY.
Aerarium comes from Latin word "aes",
in its derived sense of "money", which
was the name given in Ancient Rome to the public
treasury, and in a secondary sense to the public
finances.
COAT OF ARMS:
Coat of arms is presented by soldiers holding a
shield with the abbreviation SPQR, which stood
for 'senatus populusque romanus' and that
means 'the senate and the people of Rome'. The
famous SPQR adorns many public buildings and
statues of Rome and, most famously, it was
engraved on the battle standards of the Roman
legion.
ABOUT THE 2007 A.D. SET:
The set includes 7 notes with 7 important
emperors on the front, and on the back side the
motives depicted are showing roman architectural
achievements or power of their armies, which
where essential in order to rule to such an vast
empire successfully.
The timeline covered is from the first emperor of
Roman Empire, Augustus to the last emperor (of
East and Western Empire) Constantine. The idea of
the set is put in his time actually, that is why
there is no definite year of his death shown on
the front of the note, like it is done on every
other novelty note.
THIS SET OF SESTERTIUS NOTES is unique in many
ways. Because it is supposed to represent the
blend of old and new. To represent the ancient
romans to modern generations.
In spirit of better understanding the Roman
culture and the whole idea of the set, the names
and values are given in latin and english, such
as roman emperors names and other detail. Some
things, such as latin proverbs on the back, are
left intentionaly untranslated.
Romans used many different coins in their lives,
but main coins were the aureus (gold), the
denarius (silver), the sestertius (bronze), the
dupondius (bronze), and the as (copper). These
were used from the middle of the third century BC
until the middle of the third century AD, a
remarkably long time.
From the coins showed on the list, only
Dupondius, As and Quadrans which are smaller
denominations, are not included in this set of
notes (not yet, but maybe in the future).
COINS SHOWN ON THE 2007 A.D. BANKNOTES:
Paper note for 1 sesterce shows coin for 1
sesterce
Paper note for 2 sesterce shows coin for 1
quinarius argentus
Paper note for 4 sesterce shows coin 1denarius
Paper note for 8 sesterce shows coin for 1
antoninianus
Paper note for 20 sestertius is worth 5 denarii,
coin shown denarius
Paper note for 50 sestertius shows coin for 1
golden quinarii
Paper note for 100 sestertius shows golden coin
aureus
Symbol Value
I = 1 (one) (UNUS)
II = 2 (two) (DUO)
IV = IIII = 4 (four) (QUATTUOR)
VIII = IIX = 8 (eight) (OCTO)
XX = 20 (twenty) (VIGINTI)
L = 50 (fifty) (QUINQUAGINTA)
C = 100 (hundred) (CENTUM).
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