Besides being pretty, coins can just tell you a lot about history. Let's take 3rd century Roman coins, for example. They tell a lot about a very troubled time. They had the same monetary system as the Empire's founder, Augustus, but due to inflation, had added a (silver) double denarius, the Antoninianus. A base silver (billon), probably 35%, of Trebonianus Gallus (251-3). Ol' Treb came to a bad end, by the way. He possibly betrayed Trajan Decius as the disastrous Battle of Abrittus. While he wasn't a terrible emperor, he wasn't up to the job, and the army quickly killed him once another general marched on Rome (one who lasted only 3 months). So, under this system, a large brass coin (orichalchum), the Sestertius existed. 4 Sestertii to one silver denarius. So 8 of these Sestertii to one Antoninianus. By Trebonianus' time, the sestertius had shrunk to c. 30mm. and c. 15-20 grams, but still was a substantial coin. The Sestertius was largely phased out of existence after 260, due to inflation. There was a terrible plague during Gallus' reign, by the way. It's written that 10,000 a day died in Rome, probably an exaggeration, but it was bad. It's hard to equate modern equivalents to ancient coins, but during Augustus' time, a Sestertius might have been about equal to 5 dollars, roughly. Under Augustus, the denarius was about 98% silver, as it had always been. Starting around Nero, it was debased to 91, then slowly but surely the silver content dropped. By 200 AD, it was around 40%. Septimius Severus (193-211) gave the army a much-needed raise (there had been no raises for 100 years). His son doubled that amount a few years later, and 20 years later, Maximinus I doubled that amount. So, that's a lot of pay with only so much silver. About 10 years after Maximinus I (235-8), there began to be really bad plagues, invasions, civil wars, etc. Inflation was much worse than we have now (and inflation had been really low in the later Republic/early Empire). There's only so much silver and when provinces broke away, less mines and there were no new provinces. After Gallienus' father, Valerian I was captured by the Persians in 260 (and perhaps stuffed and made into a footstool by Shapur I), the poop really hit the fan. The Antoninianus was maybe 25% silver in 253. It hit rock bottom at 2%. Things were really bad. The Romans were master metallurgists and managed to make the debased coins look pretty good, by a process of silver enrichment. When things hit rock bottom, there was no hiding it. A thin silver wash on miserable, little flans. Inflation only got worse next century, and it wasn't until 498 that Anastasius I managed to make things much more stable, through some land tax cuts and frugal spending. His monetary reform lasted almost 600 years, at least for the copper coins. Poor Gallienus was a remarkable but hard luck emperor. He managed to keep the central ring of provinces together and won almost every major battle, but he was betrayed and killed a few years later. Reigning 15 years was a remarkable feat in a time of constant army revolts. Gallienus: Throughout the period, the gold held up better. Though somewhat debased and much lighter, it wasn't as bad as other metals. Things quickly returned to more of a pure gold coin. The mighty Aurelian managed to reunite the Empire, but by 300, emperors had become much more absolute rulers than in the early Empire, and the Empire shambled on as a North Korean-esque state. Professions became hereditary and almost everything was compulsory. Inflation raged and peasants fled to wealthy landowners, ushering in an early form of feudalism. This is a simplification of a complicated time, but it's an overview. Coins can be real learning tools. The same holds true of older Amerian and World coins. Coins are so much more than just hunks of metal. Take this copper 40 nummia, for instance, of Heraclius (610-41). Ugly, yes, but super-rich in history. Heraclius inherited a life-or-death war with Persia. Persia was really kicking butt and Heraclius faced conditions which would make Valley Forge look like greasy kids' stuff. Heraclius managed to win the war, but this devastating war directly led to the rise of Islam. Byzantium/the Roman Empire continued on as a rump state for 800+ years, but Persia was quickly conquered. This coin came from a scarce military mint, when Heraclius was training Rome's last army to combat the Persians.
Ancient coins were made to pay State expenses, make the State a profit, and for propaganda purposes. Fueling the economy was secondary, although the coins filtered down from the army to the general populace. Modern coins can also be learning tools. I'd be interested if some American collectors could add some relevant examples. I've been into watching abandoned mine exploration videos on youtube. Gly and some of the better explorers offer a really fascinating insight into how we got the ore in order to mint these coins. The older UK mines are more akin to the Roman mines.
Would there be any interest in the occasional coins as learning tools writeup? My interests are ancient and medieval, so it'd be something related to that. There's not much point in putting it in the ancients section, as most everyone there already knows about this stuff. It'd be geared to the non-ancients collector. This one was a brief glimpse into the bad times and inflation of the third century crisis. Coins are important historical documents, and in places like Parthia and Bactria, respectively, often the only surviving historical documents. It'd also be quite interesting if someone well-versed in American coins could do something similar, such as how they related to the American West, Civil War, stuff like that.
I have a few ideas: Did you know, that for many centuries, the city of Rome became a wrecked, depopulated, Walking Dead-esque city, and it wasn't because of the German tribes? There wasn't a fall of Rome, at least not in the way we think of it. The West did not end in 476 (and not in 486, when the last Roman-ruled holdouts fell). There's an excellent chance that there were one (or two) black emperors (no revisionist history involved). They weren't well-known, but they were there. Did you know that? History's not a dead, that was-so-long ago thing. Look at a modern map of Europe. Modern Italy is pretty much what Justinian I reconquered, and up to the 1850's, the different Italian states largely reflected the situation after Justinian's reconquests fell apart. With such figures with nicknames like, "The White Death" (his enemies went pale) and "The Sword of Destiny", these people just always fascinated me. This initial post was more of a general, coins can be a great teaching tool, type of post. I'd try to better present any idea, but do it in an easy-to-understand format. I barely glossed over Gallienus' life, but I'd say he did pretty well to last 15 years when Dad was (perhaps) made into a footstool (after his defeat by the Persians), the Empire had split into three parts, there were invasions on all fronts, and a horrible plague had killed one-third of the population. He even managed to spur an artistic renaissance in Rome. That's partly why I was (and still am) interested in old time radio programs. Aside from being great entertainment, they were a window into attitudes of the time, historical documents, actuality recordings, etc.
I know I would look forward to any write ups. My area of interest is Seated coins but the Liberty Seated Collector Club and the Newman Portal both offer hundreds of articles EGobrecth/Gorbrecht Journal on Seated coins and the era in general. I couldn't improve on them. James (But thanks again with the help you have given me in ancients. ) no matter what you decide.
