Sesterce
The sestertius was a Roman coin used during the ancient. It was also a unit of account in our time as the U.S. dollar or the euro. In literature Latin , large amounts (assets, income tax, treasury) are expressed in sesterces. It replaces the ace in this role in the middle of the second century BC. BC (in the early books of Livy , property of citizens or the fines are still evaluated in equivalent pounds of bronze or have libral ).
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History
The sestertius under the Republic
Under the Roman Republic , this is a very small change of money (the smallest of the Roman system, weighing just over a gram, issued in quantity rather rare).
Its name comes from its original value: initially it was worth 2 ace and a half. Sesterce just tertius-planting, which means "third half" (understood as the third half).
Its abbreviation HS has the same origin: IIS is initially for two II (see Roman numerals ) and S seedlings is to say half as = 2 1 / 2 aces, the two I have been struck out to lead to HS.
| Equivalencies between Roman coins (I st half of the second century BC.) | |||||
| Denier | Quinary | Sesterce | As | Metal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pence (symbol X) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 |  Silver |
| Quinary (symbol V) | 1 / 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | Silver |
| Sestertius (symbol IIS) | 1 / 4 | 1 / 2 | 1 | 2,5 | Silver |
| As (symbol I) | 1 / 10 | 1 / 5 | 2 / 5 | 1 |  Bronze |
The 2 1 / 2 ace, sestertius have to climb to 4 145 BC. AD The sestertius the Empire Starting with Augustus (late first century BC.) reorganizing the entire monetary system, the sestertius becomes a big piece brass weighing 1 / 12 of Roman pound or about 27 grams. This metal, more popular than the copper was called Orichalcum by the elders, after which they gave willingly, by folk etymology, the meaning of "copper gold." The letters SC frequently present on the underside of sesterces mean CONSULTO Senatus, a reminder that the issue of bronze coins was made under the control of the Roman senate. The sestertius was issued in its traditional form until the reign of Gallienus (253-268). Under this emperor, the difficulties of his reign led to the virtual disappearance of large and medium definitive species bronze despite a timid attempt to restore under Aurelian (270-275). Today sesterces are sought by collectors for large module, sometimes spectacular scenes they represent, and the patina of various colors irisent the surface of metal. 
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