Roman silver denarius (Dinar) pendants sterling silver 925 with 14k gold plated

In the Roman currency system, the dēnārius(pronunciation: /deː.ˈnaː.rɪ.ʊs/; pl. dēnāriī(pronunciation: /deː.ˈnaː.rɪ.iː/) was a small silver coinfirst minted about 211 BC during the Second Punic War.^[1] It became the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased in weight and silver content until its replacement by the double denarius, called the antoninianus, early in the 3rd century AD. The word dēnārius is derived from the Latin dēnī "containing ten", as its value was 10 assēs, although in the middle of the 2nd century BC it was recalibrated so that it was now worth sixteen assēs or four sēstertiī. It is the origin of several modern words such as the currency name dinar; it is also the origin for the common noun for money in Italian denaro, in Slovene denar, in Portuguese dinheiro, and in Spanish dinero. Its symbol is X̶; a letter x with stroke.

A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 267 BC, five years before the first Punic War^[2] with an average weight of 6.81 grams, or ​¹⁄₄₈ of a Roman pound. Contact with the Greeks prompted a need for silver coinage in addition to the bronze currency that the Romans were using during that time. The predecessor of the denarius was a Greek-styled silver coin called the didrachm which was struck in Neapolis and other Greek cities in southern Italy.^[3]These coins were inscribed for Rome but closely resemble their Greek counterparts. They were most likely used for trade purposes and were seldom used in Rome.

The first distinctively Roman silver coin appeared around 226 BC.^[4] Classic historians sometimes called these coins dēnāriī in the past, but they are classified by modern numismatists as quadrīgātī, which is derived from the quadrīgæ, or four-horse chariot, on the reverse, and which with a two-horse chariot or biga was the prototype for the most common designs used on Roman silver coins for the next 150 years.^[5][6][7]

Rome overhauled its coinage around 211 BC and introduced the denarius alongside a short-lived denomination called the victoriatus. This denarius contained an average 4.5 grams, or ​¹⁄₇₂ of a Roman pound of silver. It formed the backbone of Roman currency throughout the Roman republic.^[8]

The denarius began to undergo slow debasement toward the end of the republican period. Under the rule of Augustus, (63 BC-AD 14) its silver content fell to 3.9 grams (a theoretical weight of ​¹⁄₈₄ of a Roman pound). It remained at nearly this weight until the time of Nero (AD 37-68), when it was reduced to ​¹⁄₉₆of a pound, or 3.4 grams. Debasement of the coin's silver content continued after Nero. Later Roman emperors reduced its content to 3 grams around the late third century.^[9]

The value at its introduction was 10 asses, giving the denarius its name, which translates as "containing ten". In about 141 BC, it was re-tariffed at 16 asses, to reflect the decrease in weight of the as. The denarius continued to be the main coin of the Roman Empire until it was replaced by the antoninianus in the middle of the third century. The last issuance of this coin occurred in bronze form by Aurelian, between AD 270 and 275, and in the first years of the reign of Diocletian. For more details, see 'Denarius',

Size: 5 cm