Denarius

The Denarius was the standard unit of Roman Currency. The Denarius was a small silver coin first minted during the 2nd Punic War. The Denarius derives it's name from the latin word dēnīl, which means containing ten. This refers to the fact that the Denarius was valued as 10 asses. By the 2nd Century the coin's value became that of sixteen asses. The Denarius was half the value of a Antoninianus. The plural for Denarius is Denarii.