Identifying Roman coins by Guy de la Bedoyere, Historian and Archaeologist

This is a very simplified over-view of the Roman coinage system, really just with a historical outline and the denominations. It starts with the introduction of the silver denarius in 212-211 BC during Rome’s Second Punic War with Carthage. The new coin was designed to provide a stable currency to finance the war and allow the Roman state to process and use its bullion. Under Augustus (21 BC-AD 14) a regularized system developed this with more routinely used denominations. Everything changed under Diocletian (284-305).
Gold aureus (= 25 silver denarii)
Silver denarius (= 4 brass sestertii)
Brass sestertius (=2 brass dupondii)
Brass dupondii (= 2 copper/bronze asses)
Copper/bronze as
Antoninianus double-denarius introduced 215
Diocletian’s coinage reform, introduced c. 294 changed all the denominations except the gold aureus which was replaced by Constantine I (303-337) with the gold solidus. Constantine also brought in the silver miliarense and the silver siliqua.
No room in this short film for more topics like propaganda on Roman coins which I’ll try to feature in later videos

[@Numischannel]

Amazingly complete and well explained, a first class scholar that can reach the layman is even more unusual than finding 2 bronze coins of Domitian from the same pair of dies.

[@cricketcoach2108]

Oh my days what a video. I could watch this all day with my lovely grandkids. Due to the fact that a squared plus b squared equals c squared the coin in the video would bounce off the wall using the equation speed = distance/time and that is why Gian is the goat and why this video should have a billion views

[@pieternoordenbos]

It is such a joy listening to Guy when he talks about the Romans. I could listen all day to him.

[@arthurgrant2711]

WOW! Well can I just say I stumbled across this marvelous video while surfing and browsing the interweb! I remember watching time team with my grandchildren and seeing you here talking about something I am oh so passionate about is fantastic. My uncle watches these too and we both adore them!

[@Hbeats08]

Thank you for such a riveting and gripping comment, you have changed my perspective on life and my decision

[@papagunse9852]

inspirational stuff arthur

[@aarushshinde7613]

well said. a true inspiration

[@cricketcoach2108]

Oh my days what a video. I could watch this all day with my lovely grandkids. Due to the fact that a squared plus b squared equals c squared the coin in the video would bounce off the wall using the equation speed = distance/time and that is why Gian is the goat and why this video should have a billion views

[@fernalicious]

I could watch this channel all day.

[@terrybyrne4324]

What a wonderfully illuminating 18mins on coinage. Astonishing how much information a coin can hold! Also, equally interesting what a lack of information on a coin can reveal - I am thinking specifically of the first Augustus coin following the battle of Acttium. Guy, as always, is such an engaging, compelling speaker.

[@duwad4300]

great video, i would watch this all day. it changed my life

[@cricketcoachfan4213]

same

[@Hbeats08]

Thank you very much for this riveting comment

[@duwad4300]

@@deliriousgenius9786 i agree

[@junebyrne4491]

I always enjoy Guy. He seems to know so much. And he can explain. When he started on time team, I always looked forward to what he said.

[@madaug5101]

Thank you very much for this upload. This was very interesting.

[@thomaskeil89]

Fascinating video as always Guy, your knowledge on the Roman world is second to none and I could listen to you talk all day about it

[@dougsmit1]

Excellent overview. Thank you. At 14:18 you say silver when referring to the solidus. I know you know they were gold. Edit possible.

[@edwardsp1916]

Thank you for taking the time to create your videos. Fascinating.

[@nimrod6603]

Thank you Guy! Great information from the expert😉👍🏻

[@darbysdownhomedetecting]

Amazing. Thanks for sharing. Im just getting in to collecting Romen coins. That was a great, informative video.

[@terryely9837]

Thanks Guy, very interesting and informative. This helps with identifying some coins that I have found when detecting

[@duwad4300]

same

[@denisejackman1165]

Very interesting video about the history of Roman coins. Len

[@abQUINTON1]

Very interesting, thanks so much for posting these videos!

[@clivethorneycroft9357]

Thank you Guy for sharing your amazing knowledge with us.

[@mojavegold-]

Very interesting and educational overview! Well worth watching multiple times. Thanks for posting!

[@cricketcoachfan4213]

wheres a gian or pt coin

[@satan1c]

Amazing collection and historical lecture. Thank you very much!

[@j.b.4340]

Very helpful video. I love collecting Romano-British coins, but don’t really know much about them. Most are of Constantine.

[@bobthebuilder4345]

This video is an absolutle masterpiece because The Hog Rider card is unlocked from the Spell Valley (Arena 5). He is a very fast building-targeting, melee troop with moderately high hitpoints and damage. He appears just like his Clash of Clans counterpart; a man with brown eyebrows, a beard, a mohawk, and a golden body piercing in his left ear who is riding a hog. A Hog Rider card costs 4 Elixir to deploy. Strategy His fast move speed can boost forward mini tanks like an Ice Golem in a push. At the same time, he can also function as a tank for lower hitpoint troops such as Goblins as he still has a fair amount of health. Most cheap swarms complement the Hog Rider well, as they are nearly as fast as him and usually force more than one card out of the opponent's hand. The Hog Rider struggles with swarms, as they can damage him down and defeat him quickly while obstructing his path. Barbarians in particular can fully counter him without very strict timing on the defender's part, though be wary of spells. A Hunter can kill the Hog Rider in 2 hits if placed right on top of it. However, if you place something in front of the Hog Rider, the Hunter's splash will damage the Hog Rider and hit the card in front of it more. The Hog Rider in conjunction with the Freeze can surprise the opponent and allow the Hog Rider to deal much more damage than anticipated, especially if the opponent's go-to counter is a swarm, or swarms are their only effective counter to him. Skeletons and Bats will immediately be defeated by the spell, while Spear Goblins, Goblins, and Minions will be at low enough health to be defeated by a follow up Zap or Giant Snowball. However, this strategy isn't very effective against buildings as the Hog Rider will take a while to destroy the building, giving the opponent ample time to articulate another counter. Against non-swarm troops, it can deal a lot of damage during the freeze time, but this can allow the opponent to set up a massive counterpush. For this reason, players should either only go for a Hog Rider + Freeze when they have other units backing it up from a counterattack, or if the match is about to end and they need to deal as much damage as possible. It is not a good idea to send in a Hog Rider simply to destroy a building, especially if it is the only building targeting unit available, as defeating Crown Towers becomes substantially more difficult. Spells or simply waiting out the lifetime of the building are more effective. The exception to this is an Elixir Collector placed in front of the King's Tower. If a Hog Rider placed at the bridge, he can destroy the Collector for a positive Elixir trade, though the damage from both Princess Towers will usually mean he does not survive to deal any damage to them. However, if the opponent sends in defending troops, it can be an opportunity to gain spell damage value. In a deck with several low-cost cards, it might be worth it to simply send the Hog Rider against one building. These decks shuffle their card rotation quick enough, that they will arrive to their next Hog Rider before the next building arrives in the opponent's card rotation. Long-ranged troops like Musketeer and Flying Machine can snipe those buildings, preserving some of the Hog Rider's health, possibly allowing it to get some Tower damage. When there are buildings placed in the middle to counter the Hog Rider, understanding the placement of the Hog Rider and the type of building placed can help the Hog Rider to bypass certain buildings. Passive buildings such as spawners and Elixir Collector have a larger hitbox than defensive buildings; which means that if a passive building was placed 3 tiles away from the river in the middle of the opponent's side, then it is impossible for the Hog Rider to bypass that placement as the Hog Rider will get pulled to that building. Defensive buildings have a smaller hitbox than a passive building, which means if that if a defensive building was placed three tiles away from the river in the middle of the opponent's side, a Hog Rider placed at the very left or right side of the Arena may be able to bypass it due to its smaller hitbox. If the player has a building already placed down in the center of the arena, and the opponent tries to bypass it with a Hog Rider at the edge of the arena, they can use certain air troops to push the Hog Rider towards the building as it jumps over the river, effectively denying the bypass attempt. They must be already hovering over the correct placement, as very quick reflexes are required to correctly perform this technique. For Bats, Skeleton Dragons, and Minion Horde, they should be placed right in front of the Hog Rider as soon as it is deployed. For Minions, Skeleton Barrel, Mega Minion, Flying Machine, Electro Dragon, Baby Dragon, Inferno Dragon, Balloon, and Lava Hound, stagger the above placement one tile to the right if the Hog Rider is placed on the left side of the arena, and vice versa. They can also use ground troops to achieve the same result. Something like an Ice Golem deployed at the Hog Rider’s landing spot will obstruct his path and force him to go around the unit, which causes him to be closer to the building instead of the Crown Tower. The Hog Rider can kite Very Fast non-building targeting troops due to his own Very Fast speed and building only targeting if he is placed on the fourth tile from the bridge, slightly into the opposite lane. He can also stall grounded units when placed right at the bridge. He will pull them towards him while deploying, and then be untargetable by them when he jumps over the bridge. After landing, he will pull them back. This can be useful when the player needs to deal damage in the same lane they are defending. It will also help separate troops behind a tank in a large push. A Tornado placed on the second tile front of the player's King's Tower and staggered two tiles towards the Princess Tower will activate it without any damage dealt to the Princess Tower, helping them in defending future pushes. This can also be a method of mitigating all damage dealt to a Princess Tower, but doing this more than three times may result in the King's Tower's health being low enough to be targeted directly, opening up the possible threat of a back door three crown. A better alternative is to pull the Hog away from the Princess Tower into the attacking range of all three Crown Towers, which will negate all damage as long as none of them are already distracted A very powerful combo is the Hog Rider, the Musketeer, and the Valkyrie, typically referred to as the Trifecta. The Musketeer will defend against most troops, while the Valkyrie can protect her and the Hog Rider from swarms or high damage units. The Hog Rider is used to deal damage to the tower. This can be effectively countered by Lightning, one-shotting the Musketeer and severely damaging both the Valkyrie and Hog Rider. The Minion Horde is also effective, but the enemy can Zap them and the Musketeer will one-shot them all. Even if the Musketeer is defeated, the Hog Rider and Valkyrie will have enough time to severely damage the Tower. The Hog Rider should be placed behind the Valkyrie to give it a boost so that it stays in front of the Hog Rider, protecting it. A Hog Rider combined with a Goblin Barrel can be awkward for the opponent to defend against. Timing it so that the Hog Rider is tanking the tower shots for the Goblins is the most effective way to deal damage. However, a Barbarian Barrel can shut this down with minimal Tower damage for a positive Elixir trade, as long as the Goblin Barrel was placed directly on the Tower. Pairing the Hog Rider with the Balloon can deal devastating damage. If executed properly, the Hog Rider will act as a tank while the Balloon threatens to deal massive damage. The Hog Rider can also destroy any buildings attempting to slow down the combo. However, this combo is very vulnerable to swarms and anti-air cards as neither of the troops target anything but buildings. Additionally, they are easy to separate, due to the disparity in move speeds. Alternatively, the Hog Rider and the Balloon can be played in different lanes to spread the opponent's defenses thin. However, a building or Tornado can bring them back together for an easier defense. The Hog Rider can be paired with the Lumberjack as both a swarm bait and damage combo. It is a very fast combo with an extremely high damage output potential, so the enemy will likely try to counter it with a swarm. If this happens, use a spell like Arrows to render the opponent defenseless. If they manage to defeat the Lumberjack, the dropped Rage will make the Hog Rider even more dangerous than it normally is. A fast and deadly combination is the Hog Rider and Mini P.E.K.K.A. combo. Both units are fast but the Mini P.E.K.K.A. does much more damage and does not attack only buildings so the Mini P.E.K.K.A. can deal with troops like the Executioner and Musketeer. However, this combo can be defeated with swarms like Skeleton Army, which will defeat both of them since neither of them can deal area damage. They are also unable to target air troops, so the Minion Horde can stop this easily. A risky play is to deploy the Hog Rider at the bridge as soon as the match starts. If the opponent does not react fast enough, the Hog Rider will deal a significant amount of damage to the Princess Tower. This can also allow the player to quickly scout the opponent's deck if they happen to react to him fast enough.

[@accidentalheadclunkers8517]

Wow. Cool. Just finished watching the full series, probably like a lot of Americans. You were great. Excited for your channel.

[@geckowoman]

Wonderful, informative video. Thank you!

[@carolinecrawford4067]

Fascinating information!

[@OMA_MetalDetecting]

This is excellent! Thank you Guy. I have watched it five times already. Christmas come early 👍😊

[@AngieTapp-yt5dk]

I have a Roman coin with Cesar on one side and two horses back to back on the other

[@cscarlton24]

Thank you

[@hasashoepugower1691]

How much did that sesterius weigh it looks much heavier than most I’ve seen

[@gaineyjohnson6628]

Thank you Guy!

[@niels.brouwer]

Fascinating subject, thanks for taking us on that quick but very interesting numismatic journey through Roman history. It's basically the story you would get if you made a montage of all your contributions on Time Team over the years, minus the reversed camera lens as a magnifying glass. Are you planning to upload some additional videos in which you go into more detail?

[@YonderFanj]

Very interesting thank you

[@yubifunyubifun6611]

Thanks for another interesting video. A video about the Aureus would be very interesting! Who were the (lucky) people who used them, and what did they use them for? I assume nobody bought their daily bread with one. Have any been found in the UK?

[@zooblestyx]

If the sestertius was worth 4 asses, then how did it get its name? Doesn't the name mean something like "halfway to three", which was to say 2½?

[@richardwinstanley7381]

I have one of those brass coins.

[@kc3718]

with so many extant are there a lot of ( non contemporary) fake coins in circulation ?

[@DMEB]

A very interesting video indeed. As an amateur numismatist I find it very interesting that these can be used to determine an economy accross the empire using their metal contents as a guide. I havent any roman coins (I live in Ireland) but I find this trend through my collection anyway. Mainly in the coins from the british empire towards the end of its days. Using tin etc in the colonies as the resources are stretched. Would you assume that these coins were ever melted back into ingots for trade even during the roman occupation of Britain? Is there any evidence for that? And was it a criminal offence to deface roman coinage?

[@miriamkellner3524]

Wish he had written the names ...the information is coming fast and furious, I can’t keep the names straight!

[@chicktait5544]

It's a coinfest boys...go..

[@zaheraderah4286]

عندى عملة رومانية للبيع

[@BelgianDoomer]

Would it be fair to say fiddling with the money supply was the beginning of the end of the roman empire?

[@lifeschool]

I didnt know much about Roman money outside of the Life of Brian. I though money was all scheckles, denarri and talents. What is a talent? Some kind of five pound note? Love your videos, I am slowly watching them all.

[@tedlawrence4189]

Looked a lot like Mussolini!

[@rhynovanniekerk9047]

Good day, May i have an email address of you. I have a roman coin that i dont find anything about it.

[@pasarinpreskebunsayurbppn1974]

Coin best america

[@mehrdadsaghafi7727]

Thanks for the informative video. I own a collection of Roman and Greek coins. I was wondeing if you could do me a favor a take a look at them and let me know what you think as well as giving me a tip on how to sell. If so I could send you the link to images on Instagram. Best,

[@fernalicious]

So happy I found your channel!! Can't get enough. 👍🪙👍