The dupondius was introduced during the Roman Republic as a large bronze cast coin, although even at introduction it weighed less than 2 Roman pounds (librae). The initial coins featured the bust of Roma on the obverse and a six-spoked wheel on the reverse. A loaf of bread or a sextarius (Шаблон:Circa L) of wine cost roughly one dupondius at the height of the Roman Empire, though due to the debasement of the denarius over the following century, the dupondius was discarded.
With the coinage reform of Augustus in about 23 BC, the sestertius and dupondius were produced in a type of brass called orichalcum[1] by the Romans and numismatists, while lower denominations were produced out of reddish copper. However, some dupondii were made entirely from copper under Augustus, while under Nero some asses were made from both orichalcum and copper, instead of only copper for asses coined until then. Therefore, the latter can only be distinguished from dupondii by their smaller size instead of by also the appearance of the metal.[2][3]
The dupondius was normally further distinguished from the similarly sized as with the addition of a radiate crown to the bust of the emperor in 66 AD during the reign of Nero. Using a radiate crown to indicate double value was also markedly used on the antoninianus (double denarius) introduced by Caracalla and the double sestertius.[4] Since dupondii minted prior to and during the reign of Nero, and occasionally under later rulers, lack the radiate crown, it is often hard to distinguish between the as and the dupondius due to heavy patina which often obscures the coin's original colorШаблон:Citation needed.
Файл:Sestertius dupondius as.jpgSestertius of Hadrian, dupondius of Antoninus Pius, and as of Marcus AureliusФайл:VespasianDupondius.jpgDupondius of Vespasian (69–79), struck at Lyon in about 72–73. This coin seems to have escaped the serious corrosion typically observed in ancient coins and thus retains nearly its original appearance and colour, showing why the Romans sometimes also called this alloy aurichalcum, from aurum for gold in Latin+"-chalcum" as in the most widely used orichalcum. The coin measures about 29mm in diameter.
