The uncia was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 unit of length (equivalent to an inch, one-twelfth of a pes or foot) and of weight (equivalent to an ounce, one-twelfth of a libra or pound).

Republican coin

By derivation, it was also the name of a bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

 valued at one-twelfth of an as

As (coin)

The , also assarius was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.- Republican era coinage :...

 produced during the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

. The uncia started as a Roman-Oscan weight of about 23 grams for a 273 gram pound, with Attic weight issues of about 27 gram

Gram

The gram is a metric system unit of mass....

s under the libral

Libral

The libral standard compares the weight of coins to the bronze as, which originally weighed one Roman pound, but decreased over time to 1/2 pound , and further. It is often used in discussions of ancient coinage in Italy, especially Etruscan coins and Roman Republican coinage...

 standard for a 327 gram pound and was produced occasionally towards the beginning of Roman cast bronze coinage. Obverse types of the uncia include a knuckle

Knuckle

The knuckles are the joints of the fingers and toes, which are brought into prominence when the hand is clenched and a fist is made. The word is cognate to similar words in other Germanic languages, such as the Dutch "Knokkel" or German "Knöchel" , i.e., Knöchlein, the diminutive of the German...

bone (ca. 289–245 BC), a barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

corn (ca. 280–245 BC), and the helmeted bust of Roma

Roma (mythology)

In traditional Roman religion, Roma was a female deity who personifed the city of Rome and more broadly, the Roman state. Her image appears on the base of the column of Antoninus Pius.-Problems in earliest attestation:...

 (from ca. 240 BC).

Empire coin

In imperial

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 times the uncia was briefly revived under Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

 (98–117) and Hadrian

Hadrian

Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...

 (117–138). This coin was about 11–14 mm in diameter and weighed about 0.8–1.2 grams. It featured the bust of the emperor on the obverse with no inscription and "SC" (for Senatu Consulto) in a wreath on the reverse. If this issue belonged to the imperial system, meaning it was not a provincial

Roman provincial coins

Roman Provincial coins are coins that were minted in the Roman Empire by civic authorities rather than by Imperial authorities. Often these coins were a continuation of the original currency system that existed prior to the arrival or conquest by the Romans....

piece, it would be an uncia. This issue may have been made only for circulation in the East.