Ever wondered how many shiny brass Sestertii you’d need to fetch a single, ultra-fancy gold Aureus? Or maybe you just want to know how many copper Quadrantes are burning a hole in your toga? Want to see if you got ripped off in the Forum?
Welcome to the ultimate Roman Imperial Money Machine! Managing an empire's economy can be tricky, but converting its currency doesn't have to be. Just pop your coin value into our handy-dandy converter below, and watch the magic happen. We'll instantly map out your wealth across the entire Augustan monetary system—from the premier gold reserves of the border legions down to the exact pocket change needed for a loaf of bread and a cup of local wine.
Go ahead, give it a spin, and find out if you're living like a wealthy Emperor or just scraping by on a few everyday Asses!
Welcome. I started this website in early 2002. I had discovered I could purchase “uncleaned” Roman coins a year or two prior to that. This was in the period after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and the supply of coins was huge and the quality was surprisingly good. I would often receive groups of coins that need nothing more than light brushing. I found a denarius in one of my first lots. That was the final “hook” that addicted me to this hobby. I still clean coins on occasion. Instead of uncleaned coins, I buy coins that look like they would improve from a cleaning. They cost more, but they are more fun to clean and generally the results are good everytime.
This hobby is amazing in so many ways. As my knowledge grows, I realize how little I know, and that fact requires more learning. I wanted a way to share my coins online, so I am learning what I need to learn to do that. I need decent pictures of my coins, so I’m learning that. To attribute coins, I need to learn how to read Latin, and Greek. To enjoy my coins in their historical context, I need to learn some history. This hobby hooked me in so many interesting ways.
These coins are the constant. My sons were learning to walk and talk when I started this website, now they are grown men building their futures. I uploaded the first pages of this website on dialup internet. Since then, I have experience 24 years of life, with all the changes, gains, losses, comings and goings that entails.
These coins have been around for all of that. Since they were made, kingdoms and countries have come and gone. My time with these coin is tiny in comparison. They will be here when I have gone. Maybe that’s the thing I enjoy the most about them, the perspective. As I typed this, I have a Ptolemy Coin on my desk. How did a coin from around 222 B.C. Egypt make it here? That journey is amazing to me. I have come to learn that the coins here are not Kevin’s Coins, they just stopped off here with me for a bit on their journey. I’m all the better for it.
About My Collection. The majority of the Roman coins are from uncleaned lots. As a result, some of the coins are not pretty, at least not in the conventional sense. I can find something to admire in every coin. The detail of an eye, the folds of a robe, lettering that is at once both familiar and strange. Every coin, even the unattributable ones have something to offer me. It’s still fascinates me to hold a coin, no matter the condition, that is 1500+ years old. Who made it, who earned it and how? What did they spend it on? Its brief trip back in time all in the palm of my hand. In this virtual collection I will post any coin I can attribute to an Emperor.
I’m not a very disciplined collector. Once it was time to expand from the late Roman coins found in uncleaned lots, I (like most new collectors I would wager) tried to get one coin of every Roman Emperor that minted one. Along the way I found I was fascinated by the Flavians, became interested in Roman Egypt coins, and recently Ptolemaic coinage has caught my interest. I also acquired coins just because I liked the way they looked. I know conventional wisdom is to focus, but I find I’m happier visiting the various niches in time, staying for a while and moving on to the next one.
You will find errors. I’m correcting the mistakes as I find them. I’m sure experts with a keener eye, and more experience will find some attribution errors, or can help complete an attribution. If you can help, please e-mail me. There are also e-mail links on every page of the collection to make reporting errors easier. I am a work in progress who can benefit from the knowledge of others. I have tried to organize these pages as logically as possible. Some areas are "lumped" together, simply because they are out of my focus, and there aren't many coins to show. Coins in the Roman Imperial section are grouped by emperor, and then each emperors page is organized by RIC number. Please enjoy your visit! (Updated May 2026)
Carinus (as Caesar) Billon Tetradrachm (19mm, 7.02g)
Alexandria, Egypt AD 283
Obv: A K M A KAPINOC K Laureate head right
Rev: LA (year 1) Eagle standing left, head right wings open between vexilla. Wreath in beak
Emmett 4005
Half Centenionalis (14mm .71g) Struck AD 379-383 Cyzicus
Obv: D N THEODOSIVS P F AVG Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: VOT X MVLT XX Vows in a wreath,SMKΔ in exergue
RIC IX 21c Sear 20587
Silver Denarius (18mm, 3.07g) Struck A.D. 134-138 Rome
Obv: HADRIANVS AVG COS II P P Laureate bust right
Rev: FELICITATI AVGVSTI Galley sailing left
RIC II 240, Sear 2491 C. 712
Billon Centenionalis (18mm 2.34g) Struck AD 326 Heraclea
Obv: CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: PROVIDENTIAE CAESS Campgate two turrets no door star above six layers of stone SMHA· in exergue
RIC VII 83
Bronze half centenionalis (16mm 1.8g) Struck A.D. 379-383 Constantinople
Obv: D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: VOT/V/MVLT/X Vows in wreath CONSB in ex.
RIC ix 59a, Sear 20367
Billon Centenionalis (22mm, 5.37g) Struck A.D. 351-355 Alexandria
Obv: CONSTANTIVS P F AVG Pearl diademed draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: FEL TEMP REPARATIO Helmeted soldier to l, sheild on left arm, spearing fallen horseman: sheild on ground at r. Horseman wears pointed cap, turns to face...
Copper As (24mm 11.94g) Struck AD 161-175 Rome
Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA Bus. wearing circlet, right
Rev: SALVTI AVGVSTAE Salus seated left, feeding snake twined around altar
RIC III 1671 Sear 5303
Silver Denarius (18mm 3.39g) Struck AD 103-111
Obv: IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC PM TR P Laureate bust right
Rev: COS V P P S P Q R OPTIMO PRINC Pax standing left, leaning on column, holding olve branch
RIC II 126
Bronze Maiorina (23mm, 4.60gm) Struck AD 379-383 Arelate
Obv: D N GRATIANVS P F AVG Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: REPARATIO REIPVB Emperor standing, facing, right hand raising kneeling turreted woman and in left hand, victory on globe SCON in exergue
RIC IX 20a Sear 20003
Bronze Maiorina (25mm, 4.18gm) Struck AD 379-383 Arelate
Obv: D N GRATIANVS P F AVG Diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: REPARATIO REIPVB Emperor standing, facing, right hand raising kneeling turreted woman and in left hand, victory on globe SCON in exergue
RIC IX 20a Sear 20003
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