2017-10-11 Wed

The denomination “Semi” was minted around the era of Roman Republic. It was the time when the Senate ruled over Rome. The early Roman coinage consisted of cast coins, their denomination unit being ‘As’. Later on, coins struck using die-struck minting technique came into circulation. The Semi was issued in both, cast and die-struck form of minting technique.

‘Semis’, as the name suggests, mean to be half of the Roman bronze coin and were valued at half of ‘As’. This denomination was distinguished by the symbol ‘S’- indicating semis or by 6 pellets - which indicate the abstract or conceptual weight of six ‘Unica’, a lesser denomination. Semis depict various features like Saturn, Pegasus, bull, wheel, Janus and dog on the obverse side. The reverse side of this denomination depicted Etruscan legend, Lyre, ship-prow, club, Minerva, barley seed, etc.

The initial stages of semis coins were minted as cast coins; it began to be die-struck shortly before the second Punic War 218-204 BCE.

The above-shown coin is the best example of semis denomination. It’s an early cast coin, the obverse side of this coin depicts a bull rearing toward left with ‘S’ denominational mark inscribed below it. The reverse of this coin depicts a wheel with six pokes with ‘S’ denominational mark inscribed below it.

These coins were issued rarely in the time of Roman Empire. During the time of Hadrian (117-138 CE), the minting of semis stopped completely.

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