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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;nerosmyfavorite68, post: 24894592, member: 134416&quot;]Besides being pretty, coins can just tell you a lot about history.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let&#039;s take 3rd century Roman coins, for example.&nbsp; They tell a lot about a very troubled time. </p><p><br /></p><p>They had the same monetary system as the Empire&#039;s founder, Augustus, but due to inflation, had added a (silver) double denarius, the Antoninianus.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1599308[/ATTACH]</p><p>A base silver (billon), probably 35%, of Trebonianus Gallus (251-3).&nbsp; Ol&#039; Treb came to a bad end, by the way.&nbsp; He possibly betrayed Trajan Decius as the disastrous Battle of Abrittus. While he wasn&#039;t a terrible emperor, he wasn&#039;t up to the job, and the army quickly killed him once another general marched on Rome (one who lasted only 3 months).</p><p><br /></p><p>So, under this system, a large brass coin (orichalchum), the Sestertius existed.&nbsp; 4 Sestertii to one silver denarius. </p><p><br /></p><p>So 8 of these Sestertii to one Antoninianus.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1599312[/ATTACH]</p><p>By Trebonianus&#039; time, the sestertius had shrunk to c. 30mm. and c. 15-20 grams, but still was a substantial coin.&nbsp; The Sestertius was largely phased out of existence after 260, due to inflation.</p><p><br /></p><p>There was a terrible plague during Gallus&#039; reign, by the way.&nbsp; It&#039;s written that 10,000 a day died in Rome, probably an exaggeration, but it was bad.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s hard to equate modern equivalents to ancient coins, but during Augustus&#039; time, a Sestertius might have been about equal to 5 dollars, roughly.</p><p><br /></p><p>Under Augustus, the denarius was about 98% silver, as it had always been.&nbsp; Starting around Nero, it was debased to 91, then slowly but surely the silver content dropped. By 200 AD, it was around 40%.</p><p><br /></p><p>Septimius Severus (193-211) gave the army a much-needed raise (there had been no raises for 100 years).&nbsp; His son doubled that amount a few years later, and 20 years later, Maximinus I doubled that amount.&nbsp; So, that&#039;s a lot of pay with only so much silver.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>About 10 years after Maximinus I (235-8), there began to be really bad plagues, invasions, civil wars, etc.&nbsp; Inflation was much worse than we have now (and inflation had been really low in the later Republic/early Empire).&nbsp; There&#039;s only so much silver and when provinces broke away, less mines and there were no new provinces.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>After Gallienus&#039; 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%.&nbsp; Things were really bad.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Romans were master metallurgists and managed to make the debased coins look pretty good, by a process of silver enrichment.&nbsp; When things hit rock bottom, there was no hiding it.&nbsp; A thin silver wash on miserable, little flans.</p><p><br /></p><p>Inflation only got worse next century, and it wasn&#039;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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gallienus:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1599313[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Throughout the period, the gold held up better. Though somewhat debased and much lighter, it wasn&#039;t as bad as other metals. Things quickly returned to more of a pure gold coin.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is a simplification of a complicated time, but it&#039;s an overview.&nbsp; Coins can be real learning tools.&nbsp; The same holds true of older Amerian and World coins. Coins are so much more than just hunks of metal.</p><p><br /></p><p>Take this copper 40 nummia, for instance, of Heraclius (610-41).</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1599314[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Ugly, yes, but super-rich in history.&nbsp; Heraclius inherited a life-or-death war with Persia.&nbsp; Persia was really kicking butt and Heraclius faced conditions which would make Valley Forge look like greasy kids&#039; stuff.&nbsp; Heraclius managed to win the war, but this devastating war directly led to the rise of Islam.&nbsp; Byzantium/the Roman Empire continued on as a rump state for 800+ years, but Persia was quickly conquered.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin came from a scarce military mint, when Heraclius was training Rome&#039;s last army to combat the Persians.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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