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  • Currency and Confidence in Ancient Rome: How Manipulation Maintained Illusions

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    Javier Turco
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    This document summarizes key events in the debasement of Roman currency from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It discusses how the denarius silver coin was gradually debased over the first two centuries AD. A new coin, the antoninianus, was introduced in the 3rd century to replace the denarius, but it already showed signs of further debasement through a declining silver content. By the late 3rd century, coins were made of a poor quality silver-copper alloy, and chemicals were used to enhance the appearance of silver. Emperor Diocletian introduced the follis copper coin in the late 3rd century through a "confidence-building measure," but this reform

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    This document summarizes key events in the debasement of Roman currency from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It discusses how the denarius silver coin was gradually debased over the first two centuries AD. A new coin, the antoninianus, was introduced in the 3rd century to replace the denarius, but it already showed signs of further debasement through a declining silver content. By the late 3rd century, coins were made of a poor quality silver-copper alloy, and chemicals were used to enhance the appearance of silver. Emperor Diocletian introduced the follis copper coin in the late 3rd century through a "confidence-building measure," but this reform

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    28 views2 pages

    Currency and Confidence in Ancient Rome: How Manipulation Maintained Illusions

    Uploaded by

    Javier Turco
    This document summarizes key events in the debasement of Roman currency from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It discusses how the denarius silver coin was gradually debased over the first two centuries AD. A new coin, the antoninianus, was introduced in the 3rd century to replace the denarius, but it already showed signs of further debasement through a declining silver content. By the late 3rd century, coins were made of a poor quality silver-copper alloy, and chemicals were used to enhance the appearance of silver. Emperor Diocletian introduced the follis copper coin in the late 3rd century through a "confidence-building measure," but this reform

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    Money Museum

    Specialexhibit


    CurrencyandconfidenceinAncientRome

    Currencyimpliesconfidenceconfidenceintheactualvalueofthematerialusedor,
    takenpartlyorentirelyinisolationfromthat,confidenceintheassuranceofvaluegivenbythe
    authoritythatissuesthecurrency.Philosophersdevelopedtheirtheoryofmoneyfrom
    passagesinAristotlesPoliticsandEthics.ThomasAquinas(122474)viewedmoneyasa
    humaninstitutionundertheauthorityoftheprince.NicoleOresme(c13201382)agreedbut
    sawmoneyasbelongingtothecommunity;thus,thecommongoodwastobetheguiding
    principleofmonetarypolicy.Inhistract,DeMutationeMonetorum,Oresme,whowitnessed
    themanydebasementsofthecurrencyinmid14thcenturyFrance,wroteaboutthe
    importanceofcoinshavingastablevalueandarguedthatalterationsofthecurrencywere
    moreharmfulthanbeneficialexceptunderextremecircumstances.Twoexamplesbelowfrom
    AncientRomeshowhowstatemanipulationofthemonetarysystemwasintendedtomaintain
    theillusionofstablemoneyandperpetuatethesystemofpayments.
    ThemostcommonsilvercoinincirculationintheRomanEmpirewasthedenarius,
    whichwasfirstmintedin211BC.UnderEmperorAugustus(27BC14AD),thedenarius
    formedanintegralpartofafinelycalibratedsystemofgold,silverandcoppercoinsbut,owing
    topoliticalevents,graduallybecamedebasedinqualityduringthecourseofthefirst

    (Fromlefttoright)
    Romandenariifromthelate3rdcenturyBC,theendofthe1stcenturyBC,andtheendofthe2ndcenturyAD

    twocenturiesAD.Atthebeginningofthethirdcenturycamethesupposedsolutiontothe
    problem.Anewcoin,theantoninianus,wascreated,butthisalreadyharbouredtherootsofa
    furtherdebasementofthecoinage.Theantoninianushadanominalvalueof2denariibutits
    weightwasonlyaboutoneandahalftimesthatofthedenarius.Addedtothiswasitsrapidly
    decliningfinesilvercontent.Naturally,thefactthateachissueoftheantoninianuscontained
    lesssilverthanthelastwasnotintendedtobenoticeableatleastnotimmediately.Bythe
    latethirdcentury,thecoinswerebeingmadefromaverypoorqualitysilvercopperalloy.
    Chemicalswereusedtoenhancetheappearanceofthecoinsinorderbrieflytomaintainthe
    illusionofhandlingafinesilvercoin.Thesilverenrichedcompositeonthesurfaceofthecoins
    disappearedveryquicklyineverydayuse,however.

    Antoninianusmadeofsilver,onepiecewithstillrecognisableremnantsofthesilverenrichedcompositeonthesurface,anda
    coinmadesolelyofcopper

    Inpurelytechnicalterms,thesameupgradingprocesswasappliedtothecoinsinthe
    followingexample,albeitforadifferentpurpose.Attheendofthethirdcentury,Emperor
    Diocletian(284305)enactedacoinagereformwhichintroducedthefollisasanew
    denomination.

    Silverenrichedcompositecoininpristineconditionandabradedcoins

    Despiteitsappearanceinmintcondition(left),nooneinthisperiodofadebasedcoinage
    systemcouldseriouslysupposethatthefolliswasalargesilvercoinmadeofpreciousmetal.
    Rather,theideawastocreatetheimpressionasakindofconfidencebuildingmeasure
    thatthelargestexistingcopperdenominationhadacertainintrinsicvalueandthatthereform
    hadthereforerestoredstability,aboveall,tocoinsineverydayuseaschemethatwas
    doomedtofailure,aswastobecomeapparentlater.Thesepiecesmarkthegrandbeginningof
    aninexorabledownwardspiralwitheversmallercoins,growingconfusionaboutthevalueof
    individualdenominations,andsoaringinflation;bythelatethirdcentury,coinscontainedno
    silverwhatsoever.AsNicoleOresmewrote,suchchangesleadtoacompletelossoftrustand
    confidenceinthelawandtheentiremonetaryregime.
    Itwasnotuntilneartheendofthe5thcenturythatanewstabilitywasgainedwiththe
    introductionofacurrencyreformbasedoncopper.Thiswasnolongeracaseoftinkeringwith
    theexistingsystem.Insteaditrepresentedaradicalbreakwiththepastfromtheperspective
    ofnumismaticsandmonetaryhistory,Byzantiumwasborn.

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