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<p>[QUOTE="EWC3, post: 4113311, member: 93416"]Hello Kevin</p><p><br /></p><p>Many thanks for this. I have spent a good deal of my life looking at the economic forces behind the coinages of early India, Islam, China and medieval Europe. There is a lot of expertise on Roman affairs on this group, and I have been hoping to learn more regarding Roman events – this looks like a good opportunity. Here are a bunch of comments which immediately spring to mind. Criticism welcome</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In very general terms, I think the apparently massive hyper-inflation of the fourth century is the really bewildering thing. Problem is - its hard to get a grip on it via coins.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I feel writers are a bit unfair on Nero concerning his weight standard reform. Striking the denarius at 8 to the ounce was a rational move. The weird thing was really why the Republic generally struck at 7 to the ounce. A question I have found it hard to answer is how mixed the denarii hoards were in the period Nero to Trajan. If as I suspect all the coins were nominally valued at 6 to the ounce, then there would be no call for anyone (but the mint and counterfeiters) to prefer the old over the new. But that’s theory, I am curious to know what actually happened.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>True as far as Roman purity goes I think – but this is a special aspect of Roman politics. Most people who went onto a gold standard did end up debasing (Kushans, Medieval North India post 1000 AD, Byzantium......). So the question is – what was special about Rome?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Interesting – can you expand?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I never heard about this before – are such hoards common? My rule of thumb is 100:1 Copper to Silver as metal – but that is a very rough guide. Due to a change of policy in late 11th century China, billions of base metal cash were pushed into “bullion” status and exported. It became normal internally for coppersmiths to buy coin just for the metal</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Again, I would be more concerned about the 4th century. Levels of inflation in the 3rd century were comparable with what has happened over my own lifetime. Shocking to my grandparents maybe, but not really so today. My impression was there was a change of mind set – from accidental inflation driven by chaos in the 3rd century to deliberate inflation as state policy in the 4th. This catches my attention because it seems highly relevant to what we see going on in our own times…..</p><p><br /></p><p>Rob T[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="EWC3, post: 4113311, member: 93416"]Hello Kevin Many thanks for this. I have spent a good deal of my life looking at the economic forces behind the coinages of early India, Islam, China and medieval Europe. There is a lot of expertise on Roman affairs on this group, and I have been hoping to learn more regarding Roman events – this looks like a good opportunity. Here are a bunch of comments which immediately spring to mind. Criticism welcome In very general terms, I think the apparently massive hyper-inflation of the fourth century is the really bewildering thing. Problem is - its hard to get a grip on it via coins. I feel writers are a bit unfair on Nero concerning his weight standard reform. Striking the denarius at 8 to the ounce was a rational move. The weird thing was really why the Republic generally struck at 7 to the ounce. A question I have found it hard to answer is how mixed the denarii hoards were in the period Nero to Trajan. If as I suspect all the coins were nominally valued at 6 to the ounce, then there would be no call for anyone (but the mint and counterfeiters) to prefer the old over the new. But that’s theory, I am curious to know what actually happened. True as far as Roman purity goes I think – but this is a special aspect of Roman politics. Most people who went onto a gold standard did end up debasing (Kushans, Medieval North India post 1000 AD, Byzantium......). So the question is – what was special about Rome? Interesting – can you expand? I never heard about this before – are such hoards common? My rule of thumb is 100:1 Copper to Silver as metal – but that is a very rough guide. Due to a change of policy in late 11th century China, billions of base metal cash were pushed into “bullion” status and exported. It became normal internally for coppersmiths to buy coin just for the metal Again, I would be more concerned about the 4th century. Levels of inflation in the 3rd century were comparable with what has happened over my own lifetime. Shocking to my grandparents maybe, but not really so today. My impression was there was a change of mind set – from accidental inflation driven by chaos in the 3rd century to deliberate inflation as state policy in the 4th. This catches my attention because it seems highly relevant to what we see going on in our own times….. Rob T[/QUOTE]
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