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Why did most ancient civilizations debase their currency over the centuries?
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<p>[QUOTE="John Conduitt, post: 7687991, member: 109923"]It's not inflationary straight away. In those days you minted coins to pay your army, and a denarius was a denarius. You were likely fighting a protracted war, having already depleted your coffers, so you didn't have much of an eye on the long term. Of course, eventually your coins are known to be debased and it damages confidence in the currency and the economy.</p><p><br /></p><p>Henry VIII debased the English coinage to fund his wars with France, having already spent the vast wealth he'd confiscated from the church. But his daughter Elizabeth I reformed it a decade later when foreign merchants refused to accept the debased coins, therefore affecting trade. She did this by recalling all debased coins, melting them down and reissuing coins with a higher silver content - and made a lot of money doing so. It was a win for the monarch at both ends of the process.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a gratuitous Elizabeth I sixpence issued after the reform by French moneyer Eloy Mestrelle. It was England's first attempt at introducing milled coins to replace the crude, easily-counterfeited hammered coins.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Elizabeth I Sixpence, 1562</b></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1320157[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Tower, moneyer Eloy Mestrelle. Silver, 2.98g. Mintmark star (S 2595).</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="John Conduitt, post: 7687991, member: 109923"]It's not inflationary straight away. In those days you minted coins to pay your army, and a denarius was a denarius. You were likely fighting a protracted war, having already depleted your coffers, so you didn't have much of an eye on the long term. Of course, eventually your coins are known to be debased and it damages confidence in the currency and the economy. Henry VIII debased the English coinage to fund his wars with France, having already spent the vast wealth he'd confiscated from the church. But his daughter Elizabeth I reformed it a decade later when foreign merchants refused to accept the debased coins, therefore affecting trade. She did this by recalling all debased coins, melting them down and reissuing coins with a higher silver content - and made a lot of money doing so. It was a win for the monarch at both ends of the process. Here is a gratuitous Elizabeth I sixpence issued after the reform by French moneyer Eloy Mestrelle. It was England's first attempt at introducing milled coins to replace the crude, easily-counterfeited hammered coins. [B]Elizabeth I Sixpence, 1562[/B] [ATTACH=full]1320157[/ATTACH] [B]Tower, moneyer Eloy Mestrelle. Silver, 2.98g. Mintmark star (S 2595).[/B][/QUOTE]
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