Quadrans IIIVIR A A A F F

Augustus revived the bronze quadrans in 9 BC after decades of neglect, partly to address the chronic shortage of small change that had plagued Roman daily commerce since the civil wars. The tresviri monetales — the three mint magistrates whose abbreviated title fills these coins — were junior senatorial officials appointed annually, and their names appear on the quadrans as a deliberate Augustan gesture: bronze coinage, traditionally a senatorial prerogative, was being visibly administered by Rome's traditional governing class even as Augustus quietly controlled everything above it.

The 8 BC issue falls in the second year of this revived series. These struck in enormous numbers for petty transactions at markets, baths, and taverns.