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Aureus minted in 193 by Septimius Severus to celebrate XIIII Gemina Martia Victrix, the legion that proclaimed him emperor.
The aureus (pl. aurei) was a gold coin of ancient Rome valued at 25 silver denarii. The aureus was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD, when it was replaced by the solidus. The aureus is approximately the same size as the denarius, but is heavier due to the higher density of gold.

Before the time of Julius Caesar the aureus was struck very infrequently, usually to make large payments from captured booty. Caesar struck the coin more frequently and standardized the weight at 1/40th of a Roman pound (about 8 grams). The mass of the aureus was decreased to 1/45th of a pound during the reign of Nero.

After the reign of Marcus Aurelius the production of aurei decreased, and the weight was further decreased to 1/50th of a pound by the time of Caracalla. During the third century gold pieces were introduced in a variety of fractions and multiples making it hard to determine the intended denomination of a gold coin.

However, regardless of the size or weight of the aureus, the coin's purity was little affected. Analysis of the Roman aureus shows the purity level usually to have been in excess of 99%, compared to 91.7%(22k) for the British sovereign and the 90% of US gold coins.

Due to runaway inflation caused by the government issuing base-metal coinage but refusing to accept anything other than silver or gold for tax payments, the value of the gold aureus in relation to denarii grew drastically. Inflation was also affected by the systematic debasement of the silver denarius which by the mid-third century had practically no silver left in it.

In 301 CE one gold aureus was worth 833 1/3 denarii, by 324 CE the same aureus was worth 4,350 denarii. In 337 CE, after Constantine converted to the solidus, one solidus was worth 275,000 denarii and finally by 356 CE one solidus was worth 4,600,000 denarii.

Constantine introduced the solidus in 309, replacing the aureus as the standard gold coin of the Roman empire. The solidus was a larger diameter and flatter coin, while the aureus was smaller and chunky and similar to the denarius in fabric.

See also

Gold coins are one of the oldest forms of money. The first gold coins in history were coined by the Lydian king Croesus in about 560 BC, not long after the first silver coins were minted by king Pheidon of Argos in about 700 BC.
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Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea.
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denarius (plural: denarii) after 211 BC, a small silver coin, and it was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus.
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solidus (the Latin word for solid) was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans. It was introduced by Constantine I in 309–10, and was used through the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century. The coin replaced the aureus as the main gold coin of the Roman Empire.
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GOLD refers to one of the following:
  • GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade).
  • GOLD (parser) is an open source BNF parser.

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Gaius Julius Caesar
Dictator of the Roman Republic

Reign October, 49 BC–March 15, 44 BC
Full name Gaius Julius Caesar
Born 12 July 100 BC - 102 BC
Rome, Roman Republic
Died 15 March 44 BC (aged 57)
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The ancient Roman units of measurement were built on the Ellenas system with Kemetian, Avram, and Kiengir influences. The Roman units were generally accurate and well documented.
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Gram
Unit sign g
Measure Mass
Base Unit Kilogram
Multiple of Base 10−3
System SI, CGS, other
Common usage Commonly used in cooking and food labeling
Examples
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Nero
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Nero at Glyptothek, Munich
Reign October 13, 54 – June 9, 68
(Proconsul from 51)
Full name Nero Claudius Caesar
Augustus Germanicus
Born November 15 37
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Marcus Aurelius (The Wise)
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Bust of Marcus Aurelius
Reign March 8, 161–169
(with Lucius Verus);
169–177 (alone);
177–17 March, 180
(with Commodus)
Full name (Caesar) Marcus
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Caracalla
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Reign 198 - 209 (with Severus);
209 - February 4 211
(with Severus & Geta);
February - December 211
(with Geta);
December 211 - 8 April 217 (alone)
Full name
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A Gold Sovereign is a gold coin first issued in 1489 for Henry VII of England and still in production as of 2007.[1] The coin typically has a value of one pound sterling or 20 shillings.
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denarius (plural: denarii) after 211 BC, a small silver coin, and it was the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased until its replacement by the antoninianus.
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solidus (the Latin word for solid) was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans. It was introduced by Constantine I in 309–10, and was used through the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century. The coin replaced the aureus as the main gold coin of the Roman Empire.
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Constantine I
Emperor of the Roman Empire

Head of Constantine's colossal statue at the Capitoline Museums
Reign 306 - 312 (hailed as Augustus in the West, officially made Caesar by Galerius with Severus as Augustus, by agreement with Maximian, refused
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solidus (the Latin word for solid) was originally a gold coin issued by the Romans. It was introduced by Constantine I in 309–10, and was used through the Byzantine Empire until the 10th century. The coin replaced the aureus as the main gold coin of the Roman Empire.
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The Roman Empire is the name given to both the imperial domain developed by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. This article however is about the latter.
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The main Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus (gold), the denarius (silver), the sestertius (bronze), the dupondius (bronze), and the as (copper).
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S. aureus

Binomial name
Staphylococcus aureus
Rosenbach 1884

Staphylococcus aureus /ˌstæf.ə.loˈko.
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