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Constans and his brother, Constantius II, reformed the bronze coinage in 348 AD by replacing the Follis with several new denominations. The “Maiorina” was struck to two weight standards (heavy and light), and half and quarter versions were also struck. None of these seemed to last long. The Half Maiorina lasted until 351 AD, the Light Maiorina to 352 AD and the Heavy Maiorina to 353 AD. The Quarter Maiorina (2.4-2.6g) became the “Reduced Maiorina” in by 357 AD where it had fallen in weight to 1.9g. By 363 AD it was gone, replaced by the Centenionalis and Half Centenionalis.
| Metal | Denomination | Value (Solidus) | Weight |
| Gold | Solidus | 1 | 4.5g |
| Semissis | ½ | 2.25g | |
| 1 ½ Scripulum | 3/8 | 1.68g | |
| Silver | Heavy Miliarense | 1/14 (or 1/15) | 5.4g |
| Light Miliarense | 1/18 | 4.5g | |
| Siliqua | 1/24 | 3.37g | |
| Billon | Heavy Maiorina | 5.2g with 3% silver | |
| Light Maiorina | 4.3g with 1.5 % silver | ||
| Half Maiorina | 2.3g with 0.4% silver | ||
| Bronze | Quarter Maiorina | 2.5g |
These names are modern inventions and we don’t know what the Romans called these coins. “Pecunia Maiorina” just means “large coins” and was mentioned in an edict of 354 AD where they were demonetised (they had been replaced with smaller coins and the mint wanted the larger silver rich coins back). In terms of weight, size and material, the Maiorina coins are similar to the AE1-4 coins that came before and after. They aren’t called Maiorina in “RIC 8”. Their distinguishing feature is that they were marked “FEL TEMP REPARATIO” which basically means “good times are back again”.
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