Since we are showing off our own AR
Sestertii, I thought I'd offer my own
humble example. ex Bank Leu, and apparently ex
Morgantina 1981
Hoard (according to the tag). This was also my first non-AE
sestertius.
In addition to the previous notes, the word '
sestertius' is derived from the
words
semis and
tertius, which were joined and contracted.
Semis, meaning a half, and tertius, meaning the third. Literally, this was a
half of the third (
part). The denominational mark,
IIS, indicates two whole
parts (in this case an
as), plus a half of the third
part, ergo a
semis-tertius (
back when there were ten asses to a denarius, rather than the later 16).
- Walter