Roman coins » Values
What was your Roman coin worth?
The table laid out below, compares the relative values of the early denominations. Beneath that is a list of prices that are documented in the historical sources.
Values
| aureus | denarius | sestertius | dupondius | as | semis | quadrans | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| aureus | 1 | 25 | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600 |
| denarius | 1 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 | |
| sestertius | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | ||
| dupondius | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |||
| as | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| semis | 1 | 2 | |||||
| quadrans | 1 |
What could you get for your money?
- Value of the historian Pliny's estate:5,000,000 denarii
- Membership of the Senatorial class: 250,000 denarii
- Membership of the Equestrian class: 100,000 denarii
- Cost of staging 3 - 4 days public games: 25 50,000 denarii
- Cost of a slave boy: 600 denarii
- Annual pay of Roman legionary: 300 denarii
- Overcoat: 13 denarii
- Cloak: 5 denarii and 2 asses
- Daily pay of labourer: up to 1 denarius
- Loaf of bread: 2 asses
- Half litre of wine: 1 as
- Wax and stylus for writing: 1 semis
