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Why didn't the Romans issue fractional gold like Indian Fanams?
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<p>[QUOTE="AussieCollector, post: 5465570, member: 81093"]Firstly, it depends on the period you're referring to.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Romans did issue a fractional, the Tremissis - 1/3 of a Solidus.</p><p><br /></p><p>As to why they didn't earlier, it's a good question. I suspect however that it was fairly unnecessary. If a decent day's pay was a Denarius, would you really need a fractional for everyday transactions? Sure, you might need more than one Denarius, but it would be pretty rare that a transaction would call for gold.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, we need to remember that currency back then didn't work the same way it does now. Many (probably most) transactions would have been done via the value of goods, accounts, etc, not via cold hard cash - which would have been largely reserved for transactions where you didn't know the person you were dealing with.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="AussieCollector, post: 5465570, member: 81093"]Firstly, it depends on the period you're referring to. The Romans did issue a fractional, the Tremissis - 1/3 of a Solidus. As to why they didn't earlier, it's a good question. I suspect however that it was fairly unnecessary. If a decent day's pay was a Denarius, would you really need a fractional for everyday transactions? Sure, you might need more than one Denarius, but it would be pretty rare that a transaction would call for gold. Also, we need to remember that currency back then didn't work the same way it does now. Many (probably most) transactions would have been done via the value of goods, accounts, etc, not via cold hard cash - which would have been largely reserved for transactions where you didn't know the person you were dealing with.[/QUOTE]
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