AUREUS, the standard gold coin of Rome, first struck A.U.C. 546; current value = 25 denarii, or 100 sestertii, equivalent to 17s. 8d. Forty aurei were made from a pound of gold; but their value was gradually diminished till, under Nero, 45 were made from a pound, and under Constantine, 72.—Hussey, On Ancient Weights and Money.