4 – He Tried & Failed To Solve the Roman Coinage Crisis
One of Aurelian’s failures was unquestionably his attempt to reform the silver coinage. The Roman silver coin had been massively debased in the previous 40 or so years. When Septimius Severus was emperor, the coin contained 50% silver compared to the 98% silver coins during Octavian’s reign. Successive emperors further debased the coinage, and when Aurelian came to power, the coin contained just 1.5% silver.
The most predictable outcome of this debasement was high inflation and a complete loss of confidence in the entire Roman monetary system. Another consequence of this debasement was the utter collapse of copper-based coinage in Rome. The issue of lower denomination coinage in copper, bronze, and orichalc practically came to a halt. The workers in the mint in Rome were also engaged in fraud, and this was probably a major reason for the riots of 271.
After the riots, Aurelian immediately introduced a minor reform of the coinage to put a stop to the worst excesses of debasement, but the numerous threats on the Roman frontier meant he didn’t have time to implement a longer-term plan. However, he tried again in 274 once he had defeated most of his enemies. The improved situation of the Empire meant there was an increase in revenues. Aurelian also raised taxes on the wealthy which naturally drew their ire. In reality, he had little choice because the Empire’s treasury was empty because of mismanagement and war along with the temporary loss of control of certain parts of the Empire until Aurelian recovered them.
In late 273 or early 274, Aurelian began the biggest overhaul of Rome’s monetary system since the reign of Octavian. He had tried to adhere to the three metal system of gold, silver, and bronze at the start of his reign but no bronze coins were issued until the great reform of 273/74. The precious metal content of gold and silver coins was increased; the latter was probably up to 5% silver. While he managed to remove the ‘bad’ coinage from Rome and the whole of Italy, he was less successful in the provinces, and practically no low-quality coins were removed from Gaul or Britain.
It is important to note that by issuing new coins and removing the old ones from circulation, Aurelian wanted to remove the images of old emperors across the Empire and substitute them with his own. Ultimately, his attempts at coinage reform were unsuccessful because, by the beginning of the Fourth Century AD, the price of goods in Rome had escalated to an incredible level. Diocletian issued an edict on maximum prices, but that too was a failure as prices continued to rise.