Decline of Roman coinage

The decline of Roman coinage was driven by currency debasement, where emperors progressively reduced the precious metal content in coins in order to raise funds. This brought severe inflation and the erosion of trust. People recognized the lower intrinsic value of the coin, and this weakened the entire Roman economic order. The debasement of coinage was a significant contributor to Rome's decline and fall.

A pre-reform denarius of Nero, about 98% pure silver.

For the first 90 years of the Roman Empire the purity of Rome’s silver coinage was 98% or higher. That standard was kept by emperors Augustus, Tiberius (14-37), Caligula (37-41) and Claudius (41-54), and the first decade of Nero's reign (54-68). The Great Fire of Rome in 64 marked the start of a debasement that would eventually bring Rome’s silver coinage to unfathomable depths.

Post-reform denarius of Nero, about 93% pure silver

Nero took the easy path to raising cash – re-coining old money. Nero reduced the weight of the silver denarius from 1/84th of a Roman pound to 1/96th, lowering its silver content from 98% to 93%. At the same time the reduced weight of the denarius, 12.5%, further reduced silver content. Nero also reduced the weight of his gold aurei from 7.8 grams to 7.3 grams.

Nero's reformed coinage was created by recycling older, purer silver, with Republican denarii targeted for reminting.

Nero was overthrown in 68 giving rise to the Year of Four Emperors in 69. Vespasian (69-79), reduced the purity of the denarius to about 90%.

In 107 Trajan (98-117) reduced the purity of the denarius to 88%. From there the purity slid until 148, when Antoninus Pius (138-161) removed 5%. The denarius was now about 84% or 83% pure. The denarius reached about 71% purity near the end of the reign of Commodus (177-192)

Under Septimius Severus (193-211) the purity of the denarius dropped to about 57%. Over the next four decades, the purity of imperial silver coinage continued to slide, dropping steadily until it had reached about 41% purity under Trajan Decius (249-251). Under Trebonianus Gallus (251-253) and Aemilian (253), it sank to about 35% pure. By 268, the double-denarius had slid to a silver content of 5% or less – in some cases dropping to about 2.5%. The "silver" coin was effectively copper with a thin, easily worn-off plating.

The Amphipolis Tomb

The Amphipolis Tomb lies within the Kasta Hill burial mound, 100 km east of Thessaloniki in Greece. See - Here. 

It's in what was once the ancient city of Amphipolis, conquered by Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, in 357 BC. The tomb was found to contain sculptures of caryatids, an ornate mosaic, and coins featuring Alexander the Great. The tomb appears a memorial dedicated to the friend of Alexander the Great, Hephaestion.

Hephaestion was a Macedonian noble that grew up with Alexander, studying with him under the tutelage of Aristotle. They became close friends, as well as comrades. Hephaestion became a member of Alexander’s personal bodyguard and went on to command the Companion cavalry. Hephaestion died suddenly in Ecbatana, Iran, in 324 BC. Alexander ordered a series of monuments to be built for Hephaestion.

The remains of five were found in the burial chamber of the elaborate tomb. A woman over 60 years old, two men between the ages of 35 and 45, a newborn infant, and a set of cremated remains. Speculation is that the woman is Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias, who was executed when she was about 60 years old.

According to legend Hephaestion was cremated.

Aureus of Hadrian - 67k in 2019

Hadrian’s 'Travel Series' is a celebrated collection of gold, silver, and bronze Roman coins minted between AD 130 and AD 138. They commemorate the travels of Emperor Hadrian in 3 trips across the Roman Empire. The coins were meant to spread propaganda of the emperor's travels.

An aureus of Hadrian (A.D. 117 to 138). The reverse shows the river god Nilus reclining, half draped, with one arm supporting his weight on a sphinx and the other holding a cornucopia. Highly desired coins include depictions of Egypt (Aegyptos), Africa, and Germania. Some 28 regions are mentioned by name.

Between 128–132 Hadrian's second voyage included Africa.

Roman usurper Emperor Allectus - $700k

Formerly the finance minister (rationalis) to the usurper Carausius, Allectus seized the throne by assassinating Carausius before being defeated and killed by the Roman Caesar Constantius Chlorus in 296 AD. Constantius was bestowed the title Britannicus Maximus. The Allectus aureus was estimated to sell for between $90k and $127k in 2019. Warring bidders pushed that to $700k.

A metal detectorist found a gold coin in Kent with the image of the Roman Emperor Allectus with two kneeling captives at the feet of the god Apollo on the obverse. In power from 293 to 296 AD, Allectus was one of two Roman emperors who ruled Britannia and northern Gaul as an independent nation between 286 and 296 AD. The British Museum owns the only other known example of this Allectus aureus, and nobody has found any coin bearing his visage in over 50 years.

Constantius Chlorus rose from obscurity to become the Emperor of the western Roman empire. A soldier who worked his way up through the ranks, his star rose in 289 after he married Theodora, the stepdaughter of the emperor Maximian. By this time Constantius had already fathered a soon to be famous son named Constantine by another woman, Helena. The Arras Medallion (AD 296) celebrating his victory weighs 26.79 gms.

A bronze antoninianus coin of Allectus is notable for the history it reflects. The coin realized a hammer price of €550 ($618 U.S.) against a pre-sale estimate of €200 ($225 U.S.). Slender and shallow ships were used in Roman rivers until late antiquity and played a significant military role. The ship was easy to navigate and thus sailors could be trained quickly. Each carried 50 men, with 30 of them rowing.

The Boscoreale Treasure

The Boscoreale Treasure is a large collection of exquisite silver and gold Roman objects discovered in the ruins of the Villa della Pisanella at Boscoreale, near Pompeii. It consists of 109 pieces of silverware, as well as gold jewellery (necklaces, bracelets and earrings) and over 1000 gold coins. Items from the hoard date from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Many of the silver items from the treasure are considered masterpieces of Roman art that could only have belonged to the elite.

Boscoreale was buried by volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Skeleton cups of the Boscoreale Treasure

Among those who escaped Mt. Vesuvius was the owner of Villa Pisanella, a popular wine producing villa. It's believed that the owner was Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, a wealthy merchant and banker who was the son of a freed slave.

The priceless hoard was found in 1895.

The coins were stored in an empty cistern in the wine cellar. With a general exchange rate of one aureus as pay for one month of work, it is a significant sum.

The coins are known as “Boscoreale” aurei because of the distinctive toning found on many of them. Gold itself is inert, but when made into coins, it is alloyed with small amounts of silver and copper which are susceptible to toning.

Over the 1,800 years that the coins spent buried beneath the ash and pumice from Vesuvius, some examples developed significant toning.

Nero's bathtub - Imperial Porphyry

Nero's bathtub, a porphyry basin, was commissioned by Nero between 54-68 AD for his Domus Aurea (Golden House).

It was carved from a single, rare slab of Imperial porphyry from Egypt. Imperial Porphyry is a prized, deep purple, volcanic igneous rock with white feldspar crystals, quarried exclusively by the Romans in ancient Egypt at Mons Porphyrites (now Jabal Dokhan).

Red porphyry Sarcophagus of Helena, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City, Vatican.

Discovered around 18 AD by the Roman legionary Caius Cominius Leugas, in the remote desert, it became the most prestigious stone for the Roman and Byzantine elite. The name stems from the Greek word for purple. (porphyra) The stone was restricted solely to the Imperial family. Its rarity and exclusive ownership meant the stone was more valuable than gold.

At the center of the Pantheon in Rome is a large circle of Imperial porphyry on the floor where, for 300 years, new emperors stood to be crowned. Its immense value comes from the rarity of the purple porphyry and its historical connection to Roman imperial power. The quarry is now depleted, making the artifact irreplaceable. It is now located in the Pio Clementino Museum at the Vatican Museums in Rome.

The dense stone is hard, 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale. It was notoriously difficult to cut and shape, requiring months of labor by ancient artisans. Roman activity at Mons Porphyrites lasted almost without interruption until the 5th century.

Claudius aureus brings £4,000

A rare Roman gold coin unearthed by a beekeeper in the UK in 2023 made £4,000 at auction. Rob Turrell was metal detecting on a field near Diss in Norfolk when he hit the find of a lifetime. The aureus weighs 7.70 grams of pure gold, and was struck by the emperor Claudius in AD 41-2 with the portrait and name of his father Nero Claudius Drusus, a highly respected general and consul.

The inscription records Claudius Drusus's celebrated campaigns subjugating the Germanic tribes in 12-9 BC. Claudius Drusus was renowned in the Roman army for defeating many Celtic chiefs in combat before his untimely death in 9 BC after a riding accident. Needing to establish military legitimacy, Claudius launched the invasion of Britain in AD 43. He sent a force of 4 legions plus auxillaries, some 40,000 to 50,000 men. Claudius died on October 13, AD 54, at the age of 63. Historians widely agree he was assassinated. The consensus implicates his wife, Agrippina the Younger, who allegedly had him fed a dish of poisoned mushrooms. The aureus, a month’s pay for a Roman soldier, was likely lost shortly after Claudius invaded in AD 43.

Nepotian

In AD 350, Magnentius revolted, murdered Constans and claimed the Western Empire. Nepotian (Flavius Julius Popilius Nepotianus Constantinus, nephew of Constantine I) did the same in Rome. On June 3, 350 CE Nepotian attempted to take control over Rome and proclaimed himself emperor. He challenged the usurper Magnentius and seized Rome with a small band of gladiators. After ruling for 28 days, he was defeated by Magnentius' general Marcellinus and killed on June 30, 350. Coin shown is extremely rare. VF, even hard brown surfaces. $6,400.

Nepotian managed to strike both gold solidi and bronze centenionalis coins at the Rome mint during his brief reign. Many of his coins, and certainly his gold, are museum pieces.