A study of the various mints striking Roman coins presents us with some unique, and at times, confusing challenges. A basic knowledge about Roman mints and how the Roman monetary system came into being is important to helping us to understand more about the coinage.

The beginning of coinage

For many years, goods were exchanged through the barter system: One person who had a surplus of cows might exchange their milk and meat for eggs with someone else that kept chickens, or for olive oil from someone that had groves of olive trees. Farmers that grew crops could supply fruits and grains in exchange for the metals they needed to make their tools, and to pay the smiths that made the tools to work their land, and so on.

This system worked well enough in a fairly simple society that dealt mainly at the local level, with villages in a relatively small area trading back and forth with each other, but as society grew more complex, and trading over a larger area became more common, a standardized system for trading became more desirable.

Metals were a less common, and yet very important commodity to any advancing civilization, and they soon came to be recognized as a standard of trade. Exchanged by weight, they became the standard medium for trade.

The first "coins"

Local authorities were fairly quick to realize that they could more easily regulate trade if there were a recognized and standardized system of placing specific value on metals. Around 700 BC, in Lydia, Asia Minor, the first "coins" came into being. They were simple pieces of metal, of a specified weight that were marked with a punch. Soon, however, they began to be engraved with more complex designs. During early times, animals were a common theme on these early coins. This system quickly spread from its origins in Lydia to the rest of the Greek world, and from there to other developing civilizations, including Rome.

Coins in the Roman Republican Period

The earliest true coins of the Roman Republic were cast from bronze, a mixture of copper and tin. These relatively crude bronze coins, known as Aes Graves, were issued starting around 270 BC. It soon became apparent that in order to facilitate trade with with states both inside and outside of Italy, a more standard form of coinage with set values would be required, as well as coins made from precious metal. Silver didrachms were minted until around the time of the second Punic War, at which time the didrachm was replaced by a coin known as the quadrigati. The bronze coins also began to carry marks that would indicate their relative values:

The silver quadrigati remained a standard of trade through the end of the second Punic War, although during the War, they were joined by a new denomination, also struck in silver, known as the victoriatus. This issue continued in use until it was replace by the the denarius, ca 187 BC. The denarius would remain the primary silver coin of the Roman empire until well into the 2nd century AD.

During the Republican period, the minting of coins was controlled by the Senate. Although the main mint was located at Rome, various other mints throughout the Roman provinces were permitted to strike coins, with the permission of the Senate. Toward the middle of the 1st century BC, coins were also struck by the military imperators, or generals, to pay their troops.

Roman mints during the Imperial Period

Following the assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC), the mint at Rome was closed, and all production of coins was moved to the various provincial mints. Around 23 BC, the mint at Rome was reopened, although for a time it struck only bronze and copper coins. It did not strike any precious metals until a few years later, and then only until Augustus opened the mint at Lugdunum, Gaul, around 15 BC. Soon, only this mint was allowed to strike coins in gold and silver.

Under the reign of Caligula, the mint at Rome was again made the primary center for all coins, around 38 AD.

Under Nero, the mint at Lugdunum was again reopened, and struck coins in bronze and copper, while the mint at Rome struck all denominations, including silver and gold.

A copper As of Nero, struck at the Lugdunum mint

The period of the Roman Civil Wars, 68-69 AD, saw a number of mints being opened by the various factions fighting for control of Rome, as the contestants for the throne had to strike coins to pay their troops. Rome, Tarraco, Narbo, Vienna, Lugdunum, Poetovio, Byzantium, Philipi, Antioch, Tyre, Alexandria and Carthage are all believed to have struck coins during this time.

Following the Civil Wars, during the Flavian period, many of the provincial mints were shut down, and Rome once again became the primary mint, although Lugdunum continued to strike bronze and copper coins until around the reign of Domitian, the last of the Flavian emperors, at which time it was again closed.

While the mint at Rome continued to be the primary mint through the reign of Caracalla (198 AD - 217 AD), some coins were still being produced at Antioch, until its authority was transfered to Laodiceia ad Mare, where coins were produced until the mint was finally closed, around 203 AD.

A silver denarius of Caracalla from the Laodiceia mint

It is believed that the mints at Emesa and Alexandria also continued to strike coins under Septimus Severus.

As you will no doubt have determined by now, the minting of Roman coinage was far from a simple matter of saying "We're going to make our coins here." Political considerations, proximity to metal supplies, and the needs of Roman armies in the field no doubt all played their part in determining where coins would be minted to supply the increasing demands placed on the Roman government to provide a money supply for the growing population of the Roman Empire.

On the following page, we will skip ahead to the time of the emperor Diocletian.