Semis

For other uses, see Semi.
For the French wine grape, see Semis rouge.
Cast semissis

The semis literally meaning half was a small Roman bronze coin that was valued at half an as. During the Roman Republic, the semis was distinguished by an 'S' (indicating semis) or 6 dots (indicating a theoretical weight of 6 uncia). Some of the coins featured a bust of Saturn on the obverse, and the prow of a ship on the reverse.

Initially a cast coin, like the rest of Roman Republican bronzes, it began to be struck from dies shortly before the Second Punic War 218-204 BC. The coin was issued infrequently during the Roman Empire, and was ceased to be issued by the time of Hadrian 117-138 AD.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Semis.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, November 19, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.