View source for Argenteus

{{Short description|Roman coin}}
[[Image:Argenteus-Constantius I-antioch RIC 033a.jpg|thumb|300px|Argenteus struck under [[Constantius Chlorus]], weighing 3.36 g.]]
The '''''argenteus'''''  (<small>{{abbr|pl.|plural}}</small> '''''argentei''''', 'of silver') was a [[silver]] [[coin]] produced by the [[Roman Empire]] from the time of [[Diocletian]]'s coinage reform in AD 294 to ca. AD 310.<ref>{{Citation |last=Elton |first=Hugh |title=The Transformation of Government Under Diocletian and Constantine |date=1 January 2006 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470996942.ch11 |work=A Companion to the Roman Empire |pages=193–205 |editor-last=Potter |editor-first=David S. |access-date=2023-11-02 |edition=1 |publisher=Wiley |language=en |doi=10.1002/9780470996942.ch11 |isbn=978-0-631-22644-4|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was of similar weight and fineness to the [[denarius]] of the time of [[Nero]]. The coin was produced at a theoretical weight of 1/96th of a [[ancient Roman units of measurement|Roman pound]] (about 3 grams), as indicated by the [[Roman numeral]] XCVI on the coin's reverse.

One [[aureus]] equaled 25 argentei and one argenteus equaled 8 [[Follis|folles]].

The term ''argenteus'', meaning "of silver" in [[Latin]], was first used in [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' in the phrase ''argenteus nummus'' (silver coin). The 4th-century historian [[Ammianus]] uses the same phrase, though there is no indication that this is the official name for a denomination. The ''[[Historia Augusta]]'' uses the phrase to refer to several fictitious coins.

== See also ==
* [[Edict on Maximum Prices]]
* [[Roman currency]]
* [[Solidus (coin)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
{{Roman coinage}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Coins of ancient Rome]]


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