Imperatorial Coins of the late Republic
While the official coins were
minted under the
control
of the so called moneyers, a junior official position usually early in
the career path of the Roman senatorial career ladder, it became more
and
more common practice for imperators to coin their own money to pay
their
troops and for propaganda purposes.
Augustus initially kept - when designing
the principate
- the moneyer's control over silver as well as the newly defined AE
(aurichalcum
(brass) and bronze) coins.
Later in his reign however he made the up
to then only
occasional imperatorial gold and silver coinage the standard, initially
only coming from peripheral mints in Spain, Gallia (Lugdunum), and the
East. Thus from territories under his imperial command.
In the Roman mint the moneyers kept their
control over
the AEs and it is generally agreed that the SC (Senatus Consult.) on AE
coins of the Roman empire still reflects this tradition in the later
centuries.
Many of the below coins are still
minted under the
moneyer's
control, but there seems to have been an increasing imperatorial
control
of the images shown (e.g Caesar's portrait). While the period shows
thus
a mixture of the old moneyer tradition and the new imperatorial rule,
it
is generally refered to as the Roman Imperatorial Coinage.