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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4626090, member: 19463&quot;]The term follis and many other words we see regularly are applied inconsistently&nbsp; by people depending on which experts they have read and believe. in many cases we have no idea what the coin was called when it was an active part of the economy.&nbsp; Inflation caused the standard coin (=follis) to shrink requiring several currency reforms in the last 200 years of the Roman era.&nbsp; Between the larger reforms, newly made coins tended to shrink so today we have full &#039;folles&#039; that are the size/weight of a fraction a few years earlier.&nbsp; Experts do not always agree on what fraction one coin is compared to another (quarter or fifth, for example) and relatively few coins were marked with a denomination.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>When Diocletian&#039;s currency reform brought us the large follis supported by a smaller radiate and an even smaller laureate coin, some of us accept their values as 5, 2 and 1 (but have no solid basis for naming each according to original usage).&nbsp; Not long after that when the large follis was getting smaller the old fractions were discontinued and we start seeing some smaller coins that we often call quarter folles for a short while until they disappear as the standard coin size in use was lowered again and again.&nbsp; I am unclear on just how often older coins were called in and reminted to the new standards as opposed to just being driven out of circulation by people saving the larger coins and spending the light weight ones. </p><p><br /></p><p>The point is not all &#039;common AE3s&#039; are the same and the day to day value of the coins changed with relation to a then current gold or silver coin.&nbsp; I do believe that those who are not confused by this situation are probably not paying attention.&nbsp; Most collectors do not bother studying the questions of weight or metal content all that closely but leave that to specialists who approach coins from the economic perspective rather than as objects of art or history.&nbsp; There is one book I might recommend if you are seriously interested in the matter but I should warn that even it is based on research into the facts as best understood rather than absolute truth.&nbsp; Surviving records are scanty at best and the situation changed rapidly.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-Economy-Ancient-Society-History/dp/0801852919/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=harl+coins&amp;qid=1594641747&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-Economy-Ancient-Society-History/dp/0801852919/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=harl+coins&amp;qid=1594641747&amp;sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Coinage-Economy-Ancient-Society-History/dp/0801852919/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=harl+coins&amp;qid=1594641747&amp;sr=8-1</a></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41xXKCU7eSL._SX319_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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