Changes

Throughout both the Roman Republic and Empire, the minting of coins was regulated by the state. Monetary denominations, as well as the purity levels of the coins, were tightly controlled just as the production of currency is today in most countries. The standard Roman coin was the silver <i>denarius</i>. The denarius was used for larger transactions, but in most day to day affairs people used the <i>sestertius</i>, four of which equaled one denarius. During the Republic, sesterces were made from silver, but bronze during the Empire. The <i>as</i> was the smallest form of currency used in the Roman Empire – four ases equaled one sestertius. <ref> Temin, Peter. “The Economy of the Early Roman Empire.” <i>Journal of Economic Perspectives.</i> 20 (2006) p.138</ref>  The primary difference between Roman currency and that of today, is that Roman coins were literally worth their weight in silver, bronze, or copper. The coins were not “backed” by gold reserves as has been the case in modern systems, nor did consumer confidence decide their value as it is today. In a fiscally responsible government, as was the case throughout most of Roman history, the system worked well, but once corruption set in, the system was easy to exploit.