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Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. [1] From its introduction during the Republic, in the third century BC, through Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomination, and composition. A feature was the inflationary debasement and replacement of coins over ...
Debasement lowers the intrinsic value of the coinage and so more coins can be made with the same quantity of precious metal. If done too frequently, debasement may lead to a new coin being adopted as a standard currency, as when the Ottoman akçe was replaced by the kuruş (1 kuruş = 120 akçe), with the para (1/40 kuruş) as a subunit.
The basic copper coin, the as, was to weigh 1 Roman pound. This was a large cast coin, and subdivisions of the as were used. The "pound" (libra, etc.) continued to be used as a currency unit, and survives e.g. in the British monetary system, which still uses the pound, abbreviated as £. 211 BC: Introduction: 4.55 g: 95–98%: 1 ⁄ 72 pound.
Roman bankers disappear from the historical record between 260 AD and the fourth century. [6] Likely because the continued debasement of the currency hurt the economy, creating difficulties for the banking profession. [1] [2] By the mid-fourth century AD, the argentarii and numularii are mentioned again in ancient sources. They had acquired ...
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. [9] From its introduction during the Republic, in the third century BC, through Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomination, and composition. A persistent feature was the inflationary debasement and replacement of ...
This led to the debasement of currency and a breakdown in both trade networks and economic productivity, with the Plague of Cyprian contributing to the disorder. Roman armies became more reliant over time on the growing influence of the barbarian mercenaries known as foederati. Roman commanders in the field, although nominally loyal to the ...
Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West, consisted of mainly two types of coins: gold solidi and hyperpyra and a variety of clearly valued bronze coins. By the 15th century, the currency was issued only in debased silver stavrata and minor copper coins with no gold issue. [ 1 ]
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. [74] From its introduction during the Republic, in the third century BC, through Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomination, and composition. A persistent feature was the inflationary debasement and replacement ...