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<p>[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3234579, member: 98035"]A few things I have noticed, pondered, and been largely unable to find a concrete answer for.</p><p><br /></p><p>1) Everyone knows that the bottom dropped out on the antoninianus in the 250s. But, broaden the scope and the slack doesn't seem to have been picked up anywhere:</p><p>- Silver essentially disappeared from Roman coins after 260; I believe it dipped to 2% for imperal coins and under 1% for Gallic coins between 268 and Aurelian's reforms in the early 270s. Sure, the Roman mints probably still consumed thousands of pounds of silver annually, but nowhere near what it had been even 15 years prior.</p><p>- Sassanid Persia of course minted silver coins, but the coinage of Shapur I is scarce today, and after his death in 272, there was a quick succession of very rare rulers; coin production couldn't have been significant during this period or we would have more survivors today.</p><p>- The Kushans hadn't been making silver coinage in decades</p><p>- The Western Kshatrapas minted silver in decent amounts</p><p>- The Satavahana empire was dead and gone; the early Guptas hadn't adopted silver yet.</p><p>- The Huns were not yet in the picture</p><p>- It is possible the Samarkand tiny silver coins were still being made, but probably not in significant numbers</p><p>- China did not mint silver coinage at this time.</p><p><br /></p><p>So where the heck did it go? What happened to the silver that was being mined at this time?</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Related to the above, Diocletian fixed the broken Roman monetary system and reintroduced silver coinage as the argenteus; these were apparently never made in significant numbers, and neither were the siliquae. The economy had been fished back out of the toilet, and Rome still controlled her silver mines, so why did bronze take over? Or were the siliquae minted in large numbers, but melted down after 476 because they were available when Europe switched to the denier/penny?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3234579, member: 98035"]A few things I have noticed, pondered, and been largely unable to find a concrete answer for. 1) Everyone knows that the bottom dropped out on the antoninianus in the 250s. But, broaden the scope and the slack doesn't seem to have been picked up anywhere: - Silver essentially disappeared from Roman coins after 260; I believe it dipped to 2% for imperal coins and under 1% for Gallic coins between 268 and Aurelian's reforms in the early 270s. Sure, the Roman mints probably still consumed thousands of pounds of silver annually, but nowhere near what it had been even 15 years prior. - Sassanid Persia of course minted silver coins, but the coinage of Shapur I is scarce today, and after his death in 272, there was a quick succession of very rare rulers; coin production couldn't have been significant during this period or we would have more survivors today. - The Kushans hadn't been making silver coinage in decades - The Western Kshatrapas minted silver in decent amounts - The Satavahana empire was dead and gone; the early Guptas hadn't adopted silver yet. - The Huns were not yet in the picture - It is possible the Samarkand tiny silver coins were still being made, but probably not in significant numbers - China did not mint silver coinage at this time. So where the heck did it go? What happened to the silver that was being mined at this time? 2) Related to the above, Diocletian fixed the broken Roman monetary system and reintroduced silver coinage as the argenteus; these were apparently never made in significant numbers, and neither were the siliquae. The economy had been fished back out of the toilet, and Rome still controlled her silver mines, so why did bronze take over? Or were the siliquae minted in large numbers, but melted down after 476 because they were available when Europe switched to the denier/penny?[/QUOTE]
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