Roman provincial currency was
coin
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
age minted within the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
by local civic rather than imperial authorities. These coins were often continuations of the original currencies that existed prior to the arrival of the
Romans. Because so many of them were minted in the Greek areas of the empire, they were usually referred to until fairly recently as Greek imperial coinage, and catalogued at the end of lists of coins minted by the Greek cities.
When a new region was assimilated into the Roman Empire, the continuance of preexisting local currencies was often allowed as a matter of expediency. Also, new
colonies
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...
were frequently given authority to mint bronze coins. These provincial currencies were mostly used by the local inhabitants only for local trade, as their intrinsic values were usually much lower than
Roman imperial coinage
''Roman Imperial Coinage'', abbreviated ''RIC'', is a British catalogue of Roman Imperial currency, from the time of the Battle of Actium (31 BC) to Late Antiquity in 491 AD. It is the result of many decades of work, from 1923 to 1994, ...
.
Characteristics
Provincial coins were issued in
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
,
billon and
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
denominations, though never gold.
The majority were bronze. Silver and billon coins were more common in the Eastern regions of the Empire, particularly
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
. In general, the issuance of silver coinage was controlled by Rome. That gave the imperial government a measure of control and influence throughout the empire. Some coins that circulated in the eastern parts of the empire may have been minted at the mint of Rome.
Issuance
By 210 BC Rome was controlling all of the Greek cities in the region of
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...
. At the beginning of the next century a clear Roman influence on the Greek coinage can be noticed. Both iconography and style of the coins had changed. Greek coinage from this period can be classified as the first instances of Roman provincial currency.
There were over 600 provincial
mints
A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach, given their association with natural byproducts ...
in the imperial era.
[
] The mints were located throughout the empire, with a particular concentration in the eastern portions of the empire.
Major provincial cities such as
Corinth
Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...
or
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
possessed their own minting capabilities. Some mints issued only for their cities (
Viminacium
Viminacium (also ''Viminatium)'' was a major city, military camp, and the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman province of Moesia (modern-day Serbia). Following the division of Moesia in 87, following Domitian's Domitian's Dacian War, Dacian War, i ...
) while others issued coins for entire province (e.g.
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...
). There are several cities known by their coins, as there is no historical mention of them.
Gallery
See also
*
List of historical currencies
*
Roman currency
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum#Numismatics, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction during the Roman Republic, Republic, in the third century BC, through Roman Empire, Imperial ...
*
Roman Republican currency
References
External links
Roman Provincial Coinage project (book series and online database)Roman provincial coins featuring city gates
{{Ancient Rome topics, state=autocollapse
Local currencies
Coins of ancient Rome
Coins of ancient Greece