Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 986819, member: 19463&quot;]No truer words!</p><p><br /></p><p>Whatever we do in ancient numismatics we need to be careful not to look for answers &#039;how the ancients did it&#039;.&nbsp; Defining &#039;ancients&#039; as whatever ended in 1453 or the time when struck coins started to be replaced by machine made a little later covers at least 2000 years of history. During that time there were thousands of issuing authorities doing things &#039;their way&#039;.&nbsp; What we prove conclusively for one time and place means nothing when studying another.&nbsp; Rome insured a turnover of types by crediting each coin to the issuing emperor and progressively debasing the silver so many people pulled old good money out of circulation before it wore so much as to lose its extra value over the new coins.&nbsp;&nbsp; The Shahi kings in Afganistan/Pakistan region issued very close to the same design, weight and fineness coins for several centuries resulting in some coins circulating a long time.&nbsp; Later issues kept the weight but reduced the fineness continuing to circulate for another few centuries.&nbsp; The authorities saw this and made two changes to the coins I find interesting.&nbsp; They replaced coins of normal relief design with coins with line drawings boldly cut which would wear a lot longer before losing the major details of the coin design.&nbsp; Later, they reduced the diameter and increased the thickness of the coins making something that would wear less over the reduced surface area.&nbsp; The idea appears to have been to make a coin that could stay in circulation for a long time.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Studying hoards requires care to separate a hoard deposited all at once (a cross section of what was circulating at once like the offering plate at a big church) or over a long time (the grandkids added to a pot started by great grandpa).&nbsp; Every one is different.&nbsp; That said, I see nothing to make me believe it has changed since that day.&nbsp; When I was a kid and silver coins were silver, we spent Mercury and Roosevelt dimes equally but saved back the Barbers (I took a couple seated liberties out of circulation in the late 1950&#039;s).&nbsp; Last week my change included a 1938 Jefferson nickel.&nbsp; We regularly see 1965 quarters.&nbsp; Coins circulate until they are lost or become special because the new stuff is substantially different in some way.&nbsp; The Romans changed types so often that there were few breaks in the series that would make people discriminate for or against a coin when picking one to spend.&nbsp; Nero&#039;s debasement made a break in the series caused a run on earlier emperors gust like we pulled out the 1964 quarters in massive numbers inn 1965 (show me a worn 1964 quarter).&nbsp; Antony&#039;s ships were easy to spot and avoid saving so they lasted forever in commerce and show up in Severan hoards.&nbsp; Denarii of Severus Alexander and Gordian III tend to be higher grade than Flavians because they were hoarded early in favor of the new antoniniani.&nbsp; Starting with the mid third century, things changed faster so we see fewer really worn out coins.&nbsp; Later, coins would be called in and replaced with new series with enough regularity that the details get harder to pin down.&nbsp; Rules also might change in, for example regions ruled by Licinius and those by Constantine.&nbsp; This is an interesting question but &#039;Average&#039; is not a meaningful number.[/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