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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 2883464, member: 76194&quot;]Quality control was bad during the Crisis of the 3rd Century. I wouldn&#039;t doubt many of those coins probably have less silver than what they are supposed to have on paper. In fact, during the 270s many mint officials were executed by Aurelian for stealing silver and pumping out coins with less silver than they were supposed to have, a practice historians said had been going on for a while. So if a coin is supposed to have 40% silver, dont be surprised if metallurgical analysis comes at 35% or less due to the thieving mint workers. Those decades were a mess and order and imperial control over things was spotty.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, quality of Postumus billon falls off the cliff during the last three years of his reign. The stuff he was minting by 268 CE was around 4 to 5% silver at best. And the stuff minted in Rome by that period may as well be 100% base due to the corruption of mint officials.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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