Roman Money

The Roman Republic first used money when it minted metal coins in c.300 CE, influenced by the coins already produced in the nearby cities of Magna Graecia.
Coins continued to be minted in Rome until 401 CE. The biggest problem for Roman Money was when the Government debased the coinage, it lead to inflation.

The coins were made from Gold, Silver, Bronze alloys, silver, Brass, known as Orichalcum, copper and Billon. The Mint of Rome produced coins until 491 CE.
The value of each type of coin was based on the weight of the metal.
The coins were inscribed with the date of minting and a depiction of a God, or under the Empire, a portrait of the Emperor.
The Motifs of early coins were based on Greek Coinage, later coins carried images of the Emperors.

Diocletian's Price List (310 CE) was an Edict issued in 301 CE by the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284-305 CE), which proclaimed the Maximum Prices, ‘Edictum de Pretiis Rerum Venalium’.
It was designed to stop runaway inflation.
The List is a useful tool for historians to assess the cost of Roman Goods and Services.

Roman Inflation became a problem during the Crisis of the Third Century, which was a 50 year period of civil wars.
It was caused by the gradual Debasement of the Gold Coin, the Aureus and the Silver Coin, the Denarius.

The Roman Government insisted all Taxes be paid in Gold or Silver. However, new Gold and Silver coins were continually being debased, as this was a way of increasing the value of money without raising taxes.
However, as a consequence, prices were increased to cover the lower value of the coinage and Inflation became a continuous and chronic problem.
The Gold Aureus and the Silver Denarius
- The Aureus was a gold Roman Coin worth 25 Silver Denarii
- It was issued by the Mint of Ancient Rome between c.100 BCE and 312 CE.
Repeated Debasement of the Aureus Gold Content:
- 8.18 grams: Julius Caesar
- 7.27 grams: Nero
- 6.55 grams: Caracalla
- 5.45 grams: Diocletian
- 4.55 grams: Constantine I replaced it with the Solidus
Finally, the Aureus was replaced by the Solidus
- After 301 CE, Diocletian started to replace the Aureus with the gold Solidus worth 1,000 Silver Denarii.
- After 312 CE, Constantine I decided to permanently replace the Aureus with the Solidus, which was now worth 275,000 Silver Denarii.

The Temples in the Ancient World were the Banks, where valuables could be safely stored and where the bankers conducted their business.
The Roman Temple was a safe Depository built as a stone fortress with defensive doors. The Temple of Diana in Rome was the Aerarium or State Treasury, which received all revenues from the Senatorial Provinces.
The Romans had no State Bank, unlike certain Greek cities and Ancient Egypt.
Instead, Finance was raised through a system of Banking Houses located around the Forum along the Via Sacra in Rome, with other Banking Houses operating in the Provinces. These made Loans and took Deposits.

The Argentarii were the Bankers of Rome during the Republic and the Empire.. Although they were free agents and not employees of the State, they did belong to a Guild of Bankers who restricted their numbers.
They conducted financial transactions such as Currency Exchange, known as ‘Permutatio’.
They were legally required to buy new coinage from the Mint and to circulate it. They could assess the value of new and old coins and tell whether one was a forgery.
They used Bills of Exchange where an associated banker in a Province would pay out the sum that had been paid in to him.
They took in deposits and made payments on behalf of their clients.
They appear to have operated a system of payment by cheque known as ‘Praesciptio’, although little is known about this practice.
All transactions were recorded in books called ‘Codices’.

Top three Mints:
- Rome
  - The Mint in Rome was located next to the Temple of Juno Moneta,
  - The word Moneta became Mint in Latin, and is the origin of the word monetary or money in English.
  - Only Rome could issue Gold coins.
- Lyon (Lugdunum)
- Alexandria
Provincial Mints
- There were 600 Mints during the Roman Empire, mostly concentrated in the east. Some mints only issued for the city they were in, others for the whole province.
- These mints were controlled by Rome and could issue coins in silver, billon and bronze.
The Nummularii
- The Nummularii were the Officers of the Mint, who operated a bank which placed new coins into circulation and removed the old coins.
- They also eventually undertook the same financial transactions as the Argentarii, taking deposits, making loans and attending auctions.

Transfers between the Provinces and Rome were made with Gold and silver coins. Local mints only produced the base coinage which stayed in each Province.

Between 30 BCE and 296 CE, Egypt had a separate sealed currency based on the Alexandrian Tetradrachm.
The Tetradrachm was not allowed to leave Egypt and had to be exchanged on the frontiers.

Augustus abandoned the use of the Publicani, and instituted a comparatively advanced Tax System using Flat Rate levies.
He ordered a Census to be held every 14 years throughout the Roman Empire. Each individual City was then assessed and instructed to pay a certain amount of Taxes.
The individual taxpayer paid the City. Provincial Magistrates were responsible for the collecting the taxes in that City and its surroundings.
Taxes were paid either in Coins, Goods or by Services.

Coins with unique titles and quotes were issued by Carausius from London and Rouen:
- Expectate veni:
  - meaning ‘Come, expected one’, a quote from the Aeneid by Virgil.
- RSR: ‘Redeunt Saturnia Regna’
  - meaning ‘The Golden Age is back’ from Virgil.
- INPCDA:
  - ‘Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto’
  - meaning ‘Now a new generation is descended from heaven’. These are the 6th and 7th lines from Virgil’s Eclogue.
The educated Romans knew this to be Virgil, as famous lines from poetry were frequently reduced to sets of initials.

This is a list of some of the larger Roman Hoards found in Britain.
- Roman Hoards