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Tetarteron - Byzantine Gold Exchange Rate to US Dollar - The "True Dollar" of the Middle Ages
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<p>[QUOTE="The Trachy Enjoyer, post: 7617684, member: 118358"]<b>"True Dollar" of the Middle Ages</b></p><p>Many coins have been dubbed the "dollar" of the middle ages, almost always byzantine and gold. What is meant by this is that the coinage was widely available, widely accepted, and widely used. The usual suspects pointed to are the solidus and hyperpyron, both common today but infact were not used much by the lower rungs of society (aka the majority of people). Such coinage was typically used by the wealthy to pay taxes and the Byzantine government went out of its way to limit people's access to gold. It was discouraged to use in private transactions and outright banned from leaving the empires border. The Byzantine government would often require that those individual with higher tax rates (upper middle and wealthy) to pay their taxes in gold and all change paid back would be in bronze.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Byzantine to USD Exchange Rate</b></p><p>The US dollar, although sharing similarities with byzantine gold, is also quite different. Both were/are the means to pay taxes and the general means through which to measure a person's wealth. However, the US dollar is quite accessible to the average person, unlike Byzantine gold. Branko Milanovic calculates the average unskilled Byzantine worker (aka the average person) to have earned between 9-12 nomismata per year (gold pieces). Taking this number at the higher end, that would be one gold piece per month's labor. The average US monthly income is about $3,000 to put this figure into perspective. The ratio of 1 byzantine gold piece to $3,000 isn't necessarily correct as a number of factors fluctuate in each era and a true exchange rate is impossible to determine. What the 1 gold piece to $3,000 ratio does do is help put the value of a byzantine gold piece into a modern perspective. These were highly valuable coins not often used by poor (or middle classes for that fact). People in antiquity didn't have banks like people today and although they stored wealth, they wouldn't be going to banks to exchange hundreds of bronze coins for one gold piece. Once you consider that most Byzantines were paid daily rather than bi weekly as is the case in the US (so many small payments instead of smaller, larger payments), the picture of the average Byzantine using gold on anything resembling a regular basis becomes quite blurry...so if Byzantine gold wasn't used on a regular basis for transactions, what was?</p><p><br /></p><p>The answer to this question depends on the region and time you visit. Each would be worthy of a write up on its own but I will be focusing on Byzantine Greece and the Balkans between the years 1080-1350 (as will be seen later, these coins did circulate far more widely). This era saw a huge recovery, fall, and second rise for the people situated within these lands. Alexios I and the Komnenos dynasty oversaw the second to last great Byzantine flourishment, retaking old lands and invigorating the economy. Unlike anyone since Anastasius I, Alexios completely overhauled the byzantine monetary system and put an end to decades of debasement and inflation. Among Alexios' innovations was the tetarteron, the focus of todays write up and the "true dollar" of the middle ages.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The Tetarteron</b></p><p><i>(A note on sources: the rest of the write up relies heavily on the work "Coinage and Money is Medieval Greece 1200-1430" by Julian Baker and will quote heavily from there)</i></p><p><br /></p><p>The tetarteron, introduced alongside the trachy, was a small, flat copper coin initially issued at 4 grams and later reduced. Its name has been theorized to represent its 1/4th value of the anonymous bronzes issued almost a century prior. Julian Baker writes "After the rather unwieldy follis of the previous system, the tetarteron and its low weight made many more menial and everyday exchanges possible." The official exchange rate was 864 tetarteron to 1 hyperpyron (the standard gold coin of the era).</p><p><br /></p><p>Tetarteron coinage was not just limited to the Byzantine empire. Baker says, "The appearances of Byzantine copper coinages all along the Adriatic – folles and tetartera – are very strong indicators for the usage by Italians of the full canon of Byzantine denominations." It found great success around the Mediterranean and is one of the most common coins from the era found in hoards in Greece and the most common coin to be found deposited alone. This indicates high usage of the tetarteron as a relatively low value coin. People lost them while out and about, much in the same way we might lose loose change or accidentally misplace a $10 bill.</p><p><br /></p><p>Further proof for the wide usage of tetarteron coins comes from Baker. "The only coinages which were manipulated in different ways by the population at large were tetartera and trachea: it clipped and cut tetartera, turned them into trachea, or pared down older copper coins to resemble tetartera." This shows that the tetarteron was both widely used and widely available. When the currency on hand couldn't meet the needs of the population, they turned to the tetarteron to fulfil their needs. Baker continues, "One may suggest that in imperial times the Byzantine tetarteron had been purposefully introduced to our area, either by the state or by privates, specifically for usage in market contexts (though naturally with the final result of paying taxes). These markets would often have had an urban focus. Byzantine and sub-Byzantine trachea were added to this picture around 1200."</p><p><br /></p><p>Further evidence for the predominately urban based usage of tetartera comes thanks to excavations in Athens. Although many regions in Grecce and the Balkans from this era have sadly not been excavated yet, the large historical work done at Athens has led to many discoveries, accidental or not. "Athens was highly monetised in the twelfth century: hyperpyra are in good evidence, and the area traditionally used the copper tetarteron, of which there are thousands of finds", writes Baker. This urbanization does not extend eastwards beyond the Aegean, however, where "In the twelfth century the imperial areas of Greece and Anatolia were differently monetised: tetartera prevailed in the former and were absent in the latter, while Asia Minor was one of the key regions in which the electrum trachy was deployed".</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Conclusion: The True Dollar of the Middle Ages</b></p><p>All this to say: the tetarteron was the "true dollar" of the middle ages. To quote my definition of the "true dollar", "What is meant by this is that the coinage was widely <i>available</i>, widely <i>accepted</i>, and widely <i>used</i>." The tetarteron was widely <i>available</i> in the middle ages, heavily used from the Aegean islands to the shores of Italy and beyond. The Tetarteron was widely <i>accepted </i>as seen as a "burdenless" currency (low value). The Tetarteron was widely <i>used </i>as is seen in hoard evidence across Greece, the Balkans, Italy, and more. Although no currency ever has or (most likely) will be universal, the tetarteron is the currency in the middle ages which most represents what the dollar is today: easily accessible, widely recognized, similarly low valued, easy and convenient to use. Unlike precious gold, this is a currency the average person could (and did) truly use.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sources:</p><p>AN ESTIMATE OF AVERAGE INCOME AND INEQUALITY IN BYZANTIUM AROUND YEAR 1000 by Branko Milanovic</p><p>Coinage and Money is Medieval Greece 1200-1430 by Julian Baker</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>My Tetartera: (Pre 1204)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Manuel I Comnenus Æ Tetarteron. Thessalonica, AD 1152-circa 1160(?)</b>. Facing bust of St. George, nimbate and beardless, holding spear and shield / Facing bust of Manuel, wearing crown with pendilia, holding labarum and globus cruciger. DOC 18; Sear 1975. 4.50g, 21mm, 6h.</p><p><b>[ATTACH=full]1311083[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311084[/ATTACH] </b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>(Post 1204)</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>EMPIRE OF NICAEA. Anonymous (1227-1261). Ae Tetarteron. Magnesia.</b></p><p>Obv: Pelleted cross, with crescent ends; all over pelleted saltire cross.</p><p>Rev: MP - ΘV.</p><p>The Virgin Mary standing facing, orans.</p><p>Sear 2154; LBC 314-5.</p><p>Condition: Near very fine.</p><p>Weight: 3.07 g.</p><p>Diameter: 18 mm.</p><p><b>[ATTACH=full]1311077[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311078[/ATTACH]</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>The Empire of Nicaea. Anonymous, 1227-1261. Tetarteron, Magnesia (?). </b></p><p>Obverse: I-C / X-C Jeweled cross with three pellets at the end of each arm</p><p>Reverse: Two jeweled B's facing each other, one retrograde; with a pellet in each loop. DOC 7. SB 2155.</p><p><b> [ATTACH=full]1311079[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311080[/ATTACH]</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>John III Ducas (Vatatzes), emperor of Nicaea, 1222-1254. Tetarteron, uncertain mint. </b></p><p>Obverse: Patriarchial cross on three steps; to left and right, IC - XC.</p><p>Reverse: Half-length figure of emperor waering loros, holding labarum in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left.</p><p>DOC IV, pl. XXXIV, 62b. Sear 2120.</p><p><b> [ATTACH=full]1311081[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311082[/ATTACH] </b></p><p>Share your thoughts! (and tetartera of course<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie77" alt=":pompous:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="The Trachy Enjoyer, post: 7617684, member: 118358"][B]"True Dollar" of the Middle Ages[/B] Many coins have been dubbed the "dollar" of the middle ages, almost always byzantine and gold. What is meant by this is that the coinage was widely available, widely accepted, and widely used. The usual suspects pointed to are the solidus and hyperpyron, both common today but infact were not used much by the lower rungs of society (aka the majority of people). Such coinage was typically used by the wealthy to pay taxes and the Byzantine government went out of its way to limit people's access to gold. It was discouraged to use in private transactions and outright banned from leaving the empires border. The Byzantine government would often require that those individual with higher tax rates (upper middle and wealthy) to pay their taxes in gold and all change paid back would be in bronze. [B]Byzantine to USD Exchange Rate[/B] The US dollar, although sharing similarities with byzantine gold, is also quite different. Both were/are the means to pay taxes and the general means through which to measure a person's wealth. However, the US dollar is quite accessible to the average person, unlike Byzantine gold. Branko Milanovic calculates the average unskilled Byzantine worker (aka the average person) to have earned between 9-12 nomismata per year (gold pieces). Taking this number at the higher end, that would be one gold piece per month's labor. The average US monthly income is about $3,000 to put this figure into perspective. The ratio of 1 byzantine gold piece to $3,000 isn't necessarily correct as a number of factors fluctuate in each era and a true exchange rate is impossible to determine. What the 1 gold piece to $3,000 ratio does do is help put the value of a byzantine gold piece into a modern perspective. These were highly valuable coins not often used by poor (or middle classes for that fact). People in antiquity didn't have banks like people today and although they stored wealth, they wouldn't be going to banks to exchange hundreds of bronze coins for one gold piece. Once you consider that most Byzantines were paid daily rather than bi weekly as is the case in the US (so many small payments instead of smaller, larger payments), the picture of the average Byzantine using gold on anything resembling a regular basis becomes quite blurry...so if Byzantine gold wasn't used on a regular basis for transactions, what was? The answer to this question depends on the region and time you visit. Each would be worthy of a write up on its own but I will be focusing on Byzantine Greece and the Balkans between the years 1080-1350 (as will be seen later, these coins did circulate far more widely). This era saw a huge recovery, fall, and second rise for the people situated within these lands. Alexios I and the Komnenos dynasty oversaw the second to last great Byzantine flourishment, retaking old lands and invigorating the economy. Unlike anyone since Anastasius I, Alexios completely overhauled the byzantine monetary system and put an end to decades of debasement and inflation. Among Alexios' innovations was the tetarteron, the focus of todays write up and the "true dollar" of the middle ages. [B]The Tetarteron[/B] [I](A note on sources: the rest of the write up relies heavily on the work "Coinage and Money is Medieval Greece 1200-1430" by Julian Baker and will quote heavily from there)[/I] The tetarteron, introduced alongside the trachy, was a small, flat copper coin initially issued at 4 grams and later reduced. Its name has been theorized to represent its 1/4th value of the anonymous bronzes issued almost a century prior. Julian Baker writes "After the rather unwieldy follis of the previous system, the tetarteron and its low weight made many more menial and everyday exchanges possible." The official exchange rate was 864 tetarteron to 1 hyperpyron (the standard gold coin of the era). Tetarteron coinage was not just limited to the Byzantine empire. Baker says, "The appearances of Byzantine copper coinages all along the Adriatic – folles and tetartera – are very strong indicators for the usage by Italians of the full canon of Byzantine denominations." It found great success around the Mediterranean and is one of the most common coins from the era found in hoards in Greece and the most common coin to be found deposited alone. This indicates high usage of the tetarteron as a relatively low value coin. People lost them while out and about, much in the same way we might lose loose change or accidentally misplace a $10 bill. Further proof for the wide usage of tetarteron coins comes from Baker. "The only coinages which were manipulated in different ways by the population at large were tetartera and trachea: it clipped and cut tetartera, turned them into trachea, or pared down older copper coins to resemble tetartera." This shows that the tetarteron was both widely used and widely available. When the currency on hand couldn't meet the needs of the population, they turned to the tetarteron to fulfil their needs. Baker continues, "One may suggest that in imperial times the Byzantine tetarteron had been purposefully introduced to our area, either by the state or by privates, specifically for usage in market contexts (though naturally with the final result of paying taxes). These markets would often have had an urban focus. Byzantine and sub-Byzantine trachea were added to this picture around 1200." Further evidence for the predominately urban based usage of tetartera comes thanks to excavations in Athens. Although many regions in Grecce and the Balkans from this era have sadly not been excavated yet, the large historical work done at Athens has led to many discoveries, accidental or not. "Athens was highly monetised in the twelfth century: hyperpyra are in good evidence, and the area traditionally used the copper tetarteron, of which there are thousands of finds", writes Baker. This urbanization does not extend eastwards beyond the Aegean, however, where "In the twelfth century the imperial areas of Greece and Anatolia were differently monetised: tetartera prevailed in the former and were absent in the latter, while Asia Minor was one of the key regions in which the electrum trachy was deployed". [B]Conclusion: The True Dollar of the Middle Ages[/B] All this to say: the tetarteron was the "true dollar" of the middle ages. To quote my definition of the "true dollar", "What is meant by this is that the coinage was widely [I]available[/I], widely [I]accepted[/I], and widely [I]used[/I]." The tetarteron was widely [I]available[/I] in the middle ages, heavily used from the Aegean islands to the shores of Italy and beyond. The Tetarteron was widely [I]accepted [/I]as seen as a "burdenless" currency (low value). The Tetarteron was widely [I]used [/I]as is seen in hoard evidence across Greece, the Balkans, Italy, and more. Although no currency ever has or (most likely) will be universal, the tetarteron is the currency in the middle ages which most represents what the dollar is today: easily accessible, widely recognized, similarly low valued, easy and convenient to use. Unlike precious gold, this is a currency the average person could (and did) truly use. Sources: AN ESTIMATE OF AVERAGE INCOME AND INEQUALITY IN BYZANTIUM AROUND YEAR 1000 by Branko Milanovic Coinage and Money is Medieval Greece 1200-1430 by Julian Baker [B] My Tetartera: (Pre 1204) Manuel I Comnenus Æ Tetarteron. Thessalonica, AD 1152-circa 1160(?)[/B]. Facing bust of St. George, nimbate and beardless, holding spear and shield / Facing bust of Manuel, wearing crown with pendilia, holding labarum and globus cruciger. DOC 18; Sear 1975. 4.50g, 21mm, 6h. [B][ATTACH=full]1311083[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311084[/ATTACH] (Post 1204)[/B] [B]EMPIRE OF NICAEA. Anonymous (1227-1261). Ae Tetarteron. Magnesia.[/B] Obv: Pelleted cross, with crescent ends; all over pelleted saltire cross. Rev: MP - ΘV. The Virgin Mary standing facing, orans. Sear 2154; LBC 314-5. Condition: Near very fine. Weight: 3.07 g. Diameter: 18 mm. [B][ATTACH=full]1311077[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311078[/ATTACH] The Empire of Nicaea. Anonymous, 1227-1261. Tetarteron, Magnesia (?). [/B] Obverse: I-C / X-C Jeweled cross with three pellets at the end of each arm Reverse: Two jeweled B's facing each other, one retrograde; with a pellet in each loop. DOC 7. SB 2155. [B] [ATTACH=full]1311079[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311080[/ATTACH] John III Ducas (Vatatzes), emperor of Nicaea, 1222-1254. Tetarteron, uncertain mint. [/B] Obverse: Patriarchial cross on three steps; to left and right, IC - XC. Reverse: Half-length figure of emperor waering loros, holding labarum in his right hand and globus cruciger in his left. DOC IV, pl. XXXIV, 62b. Sear 2120. [B] [ATTACH=full]1311081[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1311082[/ATTACH] [/B] Share your thoughts! (and tetartera of course:pompous:)[/QUOTE]
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