The normal practice for
Roman coinage is to use the
denomination name during the period when it is known - so up to the late 3rd / early 4th century. This is replaced in the late
Roman era with
AE1 to
AE4 based on
diameter ranges. Sometimes titles are used for late
Roman coinage, like maiorina and cententionalis. These were genuine
Roman terms known from literature. But unlike earlier terms like
sestertius, we don't know with certainty exactly what coins these late terms
applied to. So
AE1 to
AE4 is the convention for late
Roman bronze.
Roman provincial coinage is often described in a slightly different way - AE followed by the
diameter in mm. This is because far less is known about the local names of
provincial coinage.
Using AE followed by mm for a late
Roman coin is really just a mix of naming conventions (an ontological melange).
SC
