Example of early Roman coin debasement

[guy]

The 'heads' of a contemporary coin, with a head of the god Bacchus, that was sampled as part of the project. Credit: University of Warwick
 

This is an interesting article that gives evidence of an any early coin debasement In 86 BCE. This debasement probably resulted from the pressures that threatened the Republic at this time:

88 BCE: The bloody Social War ends, but Mithradates VI of Pontus massacres tens of thousands of Italians in the East.

The struggles of Marius and Sulla soon escalated.

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Researchers at the University of Warwick and the University of Liverpool have analyzed coins of the period and revealed a debasement of the currency far greater than historians had thought, with coins that had been pure silver before 90BC cut with up to 10 percent copper five years later.
 

Dr. Ponting said: "Our minimally invasive sampling technique used to take samples from these important coins has revealed a significant decline in the value of the denarius—from being a pure silver coin, the denarius first dropped to under 95% fine, and then it fell again to 90%, with some coins as low as 86%, suggesting a severe currency crisis."

This is just one early example of the many coin debasements that occurred throughout ancient Roman history.

I think that the article goes too far in tying a quote by Cicero, however, to this debasement. The quote is from “De Officiis” that was written in 44 BCE, forty years after the debasement:

 

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Professor Butcher at the University of Warwick said "The discovery of this significant decrease in the value of the denarius has shed new light on Cicero's hints of a currency crisis in 86BC. Historians have long debated what the statesman and scholar meant when he wrote 'the coinage was being tossed around, so that no one was able to know what he had.' (De Officiis, 3:80) and we believe we have now solved this puzzle."

The reference is part of an anecdote describing self-serving behavior by Marius Gratidianus, who took credit for a proposal for currency reform worked out jointly by the tribunes and the college of praetors and became hugely popular with the public as a result.

But what was the cause of the coinage being "tossed about," and what were the solutions for which Gratidianus took credit?

 

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-analysis-roman-coins-uncovers-evidence.html

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by guy