Denarius[32] - the Support of Roman Economy
In 211 BC the Roman economy saw the launch of denarius[32]. It was a silver coin meant to become the support of the whole Roman economy. Denarius was originally equal to 10 asses. In 118 BC the silver coin valued at 16 asses. This was due to the shrinking size of Roman coins made from bronze and copper.
Evolution of Gold Coinage
Golden Roman coins were considered to be of high value in the Rome. Their minting was performed in times of terrible need. The name of the Roman golden coin was aureus. It was introduced when the late Rome was under control of its imperators.
The fixed value of aureus[31] was 25 denarii[32]. The larger value of the Roman coin would ease the difficulty of money transfers when Rome was at war.
The value of silver Roman coins constantly decreased, as denarius, for about five centuries, stayed as the main support of the Roman economy. The degradation of metal purity in Roman coins changed from time to time as the power of the Roman Republic grew. It was the indicator of precious metal lack, as well as state reduced treasury and inflation.
When the Roman government launched denarius, the coin had about 4.5 grams of pure silver. During the whole period of the Republic the coin remained unchanged. When the Roman Imperial system was established, in the period of Julio Claudians, the Roman coin denarius remained quite constant, having four grams of silver.
With the establishment of the Imperial system the denarius remained fairly constant under the Julio Claudians at 4 grams of silver. However, when Nero became the imperator of Rome the content of silver in denarius was lowered to 3.8 grams. This was probably due to the high cost of reconstructing the city and palace after damages brought by fires.
Antoninianus[36] - the Radiate Roman Coin
During the early 3rd century AD, the period when Caracalla controlled Rome, the purity of denarius[32] had fallen to less than 50 percent. In 215 AD Caracalla launched the Antoninianus. This Roman coin was usually referred to as the "radiate"[37], because of the emperors’ obverse images, which had a radiate crown.
Antoninianus[36] had 60% of pure silver. The Roman coin was valued at 2 denarii. The Roman Empire treasury really saved on antoninianii, because it was able to issue a double value coin, which had less than double the silver content. Thus as antoninianii became more and more commonly used, the amount of denarii lowered. By the middle of the 3rd century AD denarii was no longer minted.
Anarchy stroke the Empire in the middle of the 3rd century. After Gordian III saw the end of its reign, Persians and Germanics started their invasion on the Roman Empire. Large armies were brought to take part in the fifty-year war. Roman treasury required more silver.
Silver coined were minted close to the armies. Thus soldiers were able to easier receive their payment. However, due to the demand for silver, the Roman silver coins depreciated. Throughout the reign of Valerian (253-260 AD), there was only 20-40 percent silver in antoninianus.
After the Sassanians captured Valerian, Gallienus, who was Valerian’s son, introduced bronze antoninianii, which also had a silver coating. Gallienus desperately needed coinage, which is why he was minting about 1 million coins per day.
