MONETA. - A cultic epithet of Giunone, who under this name had a temple on the Campidoglio, dedicated by Camillo in 345 B.C. Her feast fell on 1 June. Within her sacred precinct lived the celebrated Capitoline geese, to whom the salvation of the Campidoglio from the Gauls was attributed.
The word “moneta” perhaps derives from the fact that coins were minted near the temple. Another sanctuary of the goddess was located on Monte Albano, while another of her feasts is attested for 10 October. Given the scarcity of the data, it is difficult to define the character of the cult, especially because of the uncertainty surrounding the meaning of the epithet (initially explained linguistically by means of the verb monere, more recently by means of a gentilicial name
or a Mediterranean root supposedly found again in the Cretan name of Zeus Monnitos).
MONETA. - A piece of metal of determined weight, generally round in shape and bearing on both faces—or, more rarely, on only one—a figuration and a legend, or only one of these. The obverse of the coin is the face that presents the principal or most interesting type from a historical, archaeological, or artistic point of view; the reverse is the face that displays elements of secondary importance relative to the principal type.
The invention of coinage cannot be precisely located in time or space but should rather be considered the result of the slow evolution of metallic means of exchange, an evolution caused by the expansion and increasing complexity of commercial relations. This process culminates in the innovation whereby the State monopolizes the issuance of coinage, simultaneously establishing and guaranteeing its type, metal alloy, and weight. In the West, this final and definitive phase of development occurs in the 7th century B.C. within the Hellenic world. By the mid-4th century, Rome also begins issuing its own coinage.
In antiquity, as in modern times, the metals used for coinage were—with few exceptions—gold, silver, and bronze. Gold was the base metal of the monetary system in the Eastern world (Lydia, Persia) initially, then in the great Hellenistic monarchies (Macedonia, Syria, Egypt), and finally in the Roman and Byzantine Empires. It was always minted in an almost pure state among both the Greeks and the Romans until the Byzantine Empire. Silver, on the other hand, was the foundation of coinage among the Greeks, for whom it constituted the sole minted metal for several centuries, and among the Romans of the Republic, who minted it in great abundance alongside bronze. The latter was the true coinage of the Italic populations and played a major role in Rome’s monetary system as well, where it constituted the only coinage before the minting of silver and always represented a predominant part of circulation, even in the imperial era.
Two systems of coin production were employed in antiquity: striking and casting. The first, more frequently used, involved hammering a smooth metal blank between two dies bearing the incuse type to be impressed on one or both faces. The second method involved pouring molten metal into a mold with the incuse design of the piece to be minted, so that both the blank and the imprint on both faces were produced simultaneously. Naturally, the process of die fabrication was far more complex than it is today, and the technical skill and artistic ability of the engraver held greater value. A phenomenon frequently encountered in antiquity—and not uncommon even in modern times—is the official debasement of a coin’s alloy. This occurred only with silver, as gold always retained its purity. Alongside alloy debasement, another form of monetary fraud emerged: that of suberate coins, i.e., coins composed of a base metal core, generally copper, covered with a thin silver plating. This system was adopted several times in antiquity, and surviving coins as well as literary sources attest to II.