Roman Coins and the Everyday Economy

A single Roman Denarius paid one day of wages for a soldier or laborer, and the silver coin served the empire for 450 years after its debut in 211 BC. The gold Aureus, worth 25 denarii, packed about 7.8 grams of gold, and Augustus struck 40 from each pound of metal.

Before Rome, the Athenian Owl Tetradrachm of 500 BC ruled Mediterranean trade with the owl of Athena on its reverse. Together these coins show how standardized money, first minted in Lydia as the Lydian Stater, built entire economies..