Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;medoraman, post: 1299031, member: 26302&quot;]I never said couldn&#039;t, I simply didn&#039;t think melting down coins to recover 4% or less silver was really economical. To me, the costs would outweigh the benefit, yet this was a drain on the empire&#039;s silver supply. In the past, when Nero debased I recall reading that the mint would melt the older coins and restrike them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Maybe I am wrong, maybe my whole concern is wrong and I am just spouting nonsense, I always just wondered if these two &quot;events&#039; were somehow tied together, my view that the Romans by their low silver inclusion lost the ability to recycle silver coinage, and lack of silver coinage later in the empire. </p><p><br /></p><p>If I am wrong or they are crazy thoughts, I just would like to know either way. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Chris</p><p><br /></p><p>Edit: To clarify why I think it would be uneconomical, think about the seignorage angle. If they strike 94% pure, they have 6% profit to pay for striking, preparation, and seignorage. Nero increased this to 10%. It declined after that, with seignorage becoming ever higher. By the time you have 96% non-silver, most of the value is already &quot;spent&quot; in seignorage. Combine that with the costs of melting and restriking coins, (with no seignorage since the recalled coins would have to be &quot;purchased&quot; back), all for 4% silver and it seems to become uneconomical to restrike, and greater profit in simply coining fresh coins to capture the 96% seignorage again. </p><p><br /></p><p>If this logic is true, (just a supposition), then it simply appears that as an accident to their coinage policies the Romans would have experienced a permanent drain on their silver reserves. Their act of debasing the currency so far would have removed the ability to recapture this silver at a later date if needed, something back in Nero&#039;s time they could have relied on.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in