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Roman Imperial Coins
For ancient coin collectors, collecting coins from the Roman Imperial era is without parallel. The Roman Imperial era begins after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E. and continues until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. Beginning with Augustus Caesar and ending with Romulus Augustulus, over 80 emperors held the throne, over 500 years.
When a new emperor was seated, new coinage was required with a portrait of the new absolute ruler. These coins were minted from various precious and semi-precious metals including gold, silver, bronze and copper. The largest percentages of coins produced were made of copper, bronze or billon (an alloy consisting of silver and copper).
Roman Imperial coin sizes ranged from less than 10 millimeters to over 50 millimeters. Weights ranged from a couple of grams up to and over 30 grams. Because of the tremendous number of coins produced over the period of half a millennium, availability of common issues is easy to acquire. Emperors who had a long reign had millions of coins minted with their portraits on the obverse. These issues are remarkably common and are easy to acquire. An example would be commonly issued coins from the reign of Constantine the Great. The prices for these begin at about $5.00 and can increase dramatically from there.
Coins of emperors who had unusually short reigns are scarce and highly sought after. Prices for these issues can start at $1,000 and rise to well over $100,000. No matter what budget one has there is always something available in one’s price range. | 
