Argenteus

With the coinage reforms of Diocletian in 294 AD., a new, high purity silver coin was introduced into the Roman economy for the first time in nearly 50 years, the argenteus (plural argentei). The argenteus was of a weight and purity, similar to that of the denarius of Nero, and was tarriffed at 25 argentei to 1 aureus. The argenteus didn’t last long with the last argentei being struck in 313 AD. Argentii were struck at different mints throughout the Roman empire with many mint marks and reverse types, making collecting argentii both fascinating and challenging.