Roman Currency

Counterfeiting in Ancient Rome

Counterfeiting, defined as the production of false money, often corresponds with high inflation. Several times in Roman history such inflation resulted in a marked increase in counterfeiting throughout the Empire, especially in the outer provinces. In the third century AD the inflation that resulted in emperor Diocletian's Edict of Maximum Prices also resulted in a rise of counterfeiting. During this period the content of the various coins changed dramatically. For example, the denarius had been typically a silver coin, but it came to be minted with less than 1% silver. This happened with all the coinage. People began to hoard older coins with their higher content of precious metal, because their intrinsic value exceeded that of more recent mintings of the same denomination. As the amount of coins in circulation declined, more coins had to be minted, especially the smaller denomination bronze coins, so that everyday exchange could take place.

Since the counterfeiters actually used the appropriate metal in the coins, and the coinage of the day did not have a rigorous standard like modern monetary systems, authorities did not outlaw the practice of counterfeiting. Counterfeit coins that looked real and circulated widely actually became incorporated into official minting. Thus the process, although done for avaricious motives, aided the social order. It kept the agricultural centers and the smaller towns in the faraway provinces trading and carrying on life.

-- J. Walsh, 2001

Source:

"Counterfeiting in Roman Britain" Scientific American, George C. Boon. Special Edition Origins of Technology, 1997.