Quincunx (coin)

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The quincunx was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic. The word quincunx comes from Latin "quinque" which means "five" and "uncia" which means "one twelfth", because the coin was valued at five-twelfths of an as (a libra or 5 unciae). This value was sometimes symbolized by a patterns of five dots arranged like the points of a die, so this pattern also came to be called quincunx. It was only produced during the Second Punic War (218 to 204 BC). It was not part of the standard Roman monetary system and was produced by mints at Luceria (mod. Lucera), Teate (mod. Chieti), Larinum (mod. Larino), and northern Apulia.

See also: Roman currency.