Roman Gold: The Aureus; Debasement Alongside Silver
The Aureus, translated from Latin roughly as “gold pieces”, was a gold coin issued by the Roman Empire from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD. The aureus was around the same size as the denarius, covered yesterday by Bullion TP, but was heavier due to gold’s higher density compared to silver. Prior to Julius Caesar’s reign, the coin was struck but randomly. It is hypothesized that the reason for this is that Roman culture at this time was not a fan of anything that was associated with luxury and gold was associated with this.
During Caesar’s reign the aureus was struck more frequently and he standardized the coin at 1/40th of a Roman pound, which was approximately 8 grams of gold, and equal to 25 denarius. As the reader is likely already anticipating, these gold content weights did not last very long as the Roman Empire grew and its military and social spending “needs” grew with it. The aureus was eventually replaced with the solidus whose production began around 301 AD under Diocletian.
Much like with the denarius, the aureus was heavily debased throughout the time period of its usage. There were three other strikes during the time period of the aureus, the Nero Aureus, the Caracalla Aureus, and the Diocletian Aureus, all names corresponding to the emperor who made the change in the coin’s weight and design. The Nero Aureus that went into production during the reign of the infamous Nero (54–68 AD) saw its gold content reduced to 1/45th of a roman pound or approximately 7.3 grams. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the famous Stoic philosopher-emperor, the production of aureus’ declined and by the time Caracalla Aureus was struck in the reign of Caracalla (211–217 AD) the gold content has been reduced in the aureus to 1/50th of a roman pound or approximately or approximately 6.55 grams.
The last and final debasement of the aureus occurred during the reign of the infamously ruthless Diocletian, who reduced the aureus to 1/60th of a roman pound or 5.45 grams, who also began the striking of the solidus in small amounts. The debasement of the Roman currency continued with the solidus’ ascendency as it was reduced to 1/72nd of a roman pound or approximately 4.55 grams.
Analysis: Interestingly, the Roman economy survived fine and even thrived with bimetallism, despite the modern theory by some that such a system is not sustainable . The debasement of gold in the currency of the Roman Empire followed the same path as that of the silver denarius, as the Roman Empire’s military and social costs expanded, the debasement of their gold aureus escalated.
The salient point in the story of the aureus in relation to the story of the denarius is that no matter what precious metal the People demand in their currency for a store of value, corrupt and unconscionable elites will debase it over time to achieve their own selfish goals. We in the West and throughout the world have seen similar debasements of our currencies in modern times as fiat drove out the good money that actually is valued as a store of wealth. As these changes take place slowly over time, we have become accustomed to this theft. We accepted it and we moved on. The end result is always economic pain for the People and a decline in a country’s wealth, although it often does take time. We are seeing it now as many become poorer as purchasing power is eroded.
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