A dictionary of Greek and Roman . writers derived the word formoney,pecunia, from pecus, an etymology on whichno opinion need be pronounced; but whether thisimpress was intended to represent property by thatform of it which was then most common, or hadsome mythological meaning, is doubtful. Niebuhrdenies the antiquity of this type, but his sole ob-jection is satisfactorily answered by Bockh. Thetype seems however to have been much less usedin the Roman than in some other old Italian coin-ages ; and most of the pieces which bear it are ofa rude oblong shape. The next form, and the
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . writers derived the word formoney,pecunia, from pecus, an etymology on whichno opinion need be pronounced; but whether thisimpress was intended to represent property by thatform of it which was then most common, or hadsome mythological meaning, is doubtful. Niebuhrdenies the antiquity of this type, but his sole ob-jection is satisfactorily answered by Bockh. Thetype seems however to have been much less usedin the Roman than in some other old Italian coin-ages ; and most of the pieces which bear it are ofa rude oblong shape. The next form, and thecommon one in the oldest Roman ases, is round,and is that described by Pliny (H. N. xxxiii. 13), as having the two-faced head of Janus onone side, and the prow of a ship on the other(whence the expression used by Roman boys intossing up, capita aut navim, Macrob. Sat. i. 7).The annexed specimen, from the British Museum, AS. weighs 4000 grains: the length of the diameter inthis and the two following cuts is half that of theoriginal The as was divided into parts, which werenamed according to the number of ounces theycontained. They were the deunx, dextans, dodrans,bes, septunx, semis, quincunx, triens, quadrans orteruncius, sextans, sescunx or sescuncia, and uvcia,consisting respectively of 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,3, 2, li, and 1 ounces. Of these divisions thefollowing were represented by coins ; namely, thesemis, quincunx, triens, quadrans, sextans, and is a solitary instance of the existence of thedodrans, in a coin of the Cassian family, bearingan S and three balls. We have no precise inform-ation as to the time when these divisions werefirst introduced, but it was probably nearly asearly as the first coinage of copper money. The semis, semissis, or semi-as, half the as, or sixounces, is always marked with an S to representits value, and very commonly with heads of Jupi-ter, Juno, and Pallas, accompanied by quincunx, or piece of five ounc
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithwilliam18131893, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840
