Editing Denarius (section)

==Debasement and evolution==
{| class="wikitable"
! width=50|Year !! Event !! Weight !! width=65|Purity !! Notes<ref name=Harl>{{cite book|author=Kenneth W. Harl|title=Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yPDL0EykeAC&pg=PA94|date=12 July 1996|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5291-6|pages=94–5|access-date=9 June 2019|archive-date=4 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230904145057/https://books.google.com/books?id=5yPDL0EykeAC&pg=PA94|url-status=live}}.</ref>
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| 267 BC || Predecessor || 6.81&nbsp;g || ? || {{frac|1|48}} pound. Equals 10 ''assēs'', giving the ''denarius'' its name, which translates as "containing ten". The original copper coinage was weight-based, and was related to the Roman pound, the ''libra'', which was about 325 g. The basic copper coin, the ''as'', was to weigh 1 Roman pound. This was a large cast coin, and subdivisions of the ''as'' were used. The "pound" (''libra'', etc.) continued to be used as a currency unit, and survives e.g. in the British monetary system, which still uses the pound, abbreviated as £.
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| 211 BC || Introduction || 4.55&nbsp;g || 95–98% || {{frac|1|72}} pound. ''Denarius'' first struck. According to Pliny, it was established that the ''denarius'' should be given in exchange for ten pounds of bronze, the ''quinarius'' for five pounds, and the ''sestertius'' for two-and-a-half. But when the ''as'' was reduced in weight to one ounce, the ''denarius'' became equivalent to 16 ''assēs'', the ''quinarius'' to eight, and the ''sestertius'' to four; although they retained their original names. It also appears, from Pliny and other writers, that the ancient ''libra'' was equivalent to 84 ''denarii''.

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| 200 BC || Debasement || 3.9&nbsp;g || 95–98% || {{frac|1|84}} pound.

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| 141 BC || Debasement || 3.9&nbsp;g || 95–98% || {{Frac|1|84}} pound. Retariffed to equal 16 ''assēs'' due to the decrease in weight of the ''as''.

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| 44 BC || Debasement || 3.9&nbsp;g || 95–98% || Death of Julius Caesar, who set the ''denarius'' at 3.9&nbsp;g. Legionary (professional soldier) pay was doubled to 225 ''denarii'' per year.
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|14–37 AD || || 3.9&nbsp;g || 97.5–98% || Tiberius slightly improved the fineness as he gathered his infamous hoard of 675 million ''denarii''.

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| 64–68 || Debasement || 3.41&nbsp;g || 93.5% || {{frac|1|96}} pound. This more closely matched the Greek ''drachma''. In 64 AD, Nero reduced the standard of the ''aureus'' to 45 to the Roman pound (7.2 g) and of the ''denarius'' to 96 to the Roman pound (3.30 g). He also lowered the ''denarius'' to 94.5% fine. Successive emperors lowered the fineness of the ''denarius''; in 180 Commodus reduced its weight by one-eighth to 108 to the pound.

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| 85–107 || Debasement || 3.41&nbsp;g || 93.5% || Reduction in silver content under Domitian

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| 148–161 ||  Debasement  || 3.41&nbsp;g || 83.5% ||

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| 193–235 || Debasement   || 3.41&nbsp;g || 83.5% || Several emperors (193–235) steadily debased the ''denarius'' from a standard of 78.5% to 50% fine. In 212 Caracalla reduced the weight of the ''aureus'' from 45 to 50 to the Roman pound. They also coined the ''aes'' from a bronze alloy with a heavy lead admixture, and discontinued fractional denominations below the ''as''. In 215 Caracalla introduced the ''antoninianus'' (5.1 g; 52% fine), a double ''denarius'', containing 80% of the silver of two ''denarii''. The coin invariably carried the radiate imperial portrait. Elagabalus demonetized the coin in 219, but the senatorial emperors Pupienus and Balbinus in 238 revived the ''antoninianus'' as the principal silver denomination which successive emperors reduced to a less intrinsically valuable [[billon (alloy)|billon]] coin (2.60 g; 2% fine).
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| 241 ||  Debasement  || 3.41&nbsp;g || 48% ||

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| 274 ||  Double ''Denarius'' || 3.41&nbsp;g || 5% || In 274, the emperor Aurelian reformed the currency and his denominations remained in use until the great recoinage of Diocletian in 293. Aurelian struck a radiate ''aurelianianus'' of increased weight (84 to the Roman pound) and fineness (5% fine) that was tariffed at five notational{{clarify|date=July 2018}} ''denarii'' (sometimes called "common ''denarii''" or "''denarii communes''" by modern writers, although this phrase does not appear in any ancient text). The coin carried on the reverse the numerals XXI, or in Greek κα (both meaning 21 or 20:1). Some scholars believe that this shows that the coin was equal to 20 ''sestertii''{{clarify|date=July 2018}} (or 5 ''denarii''), but it is more likely that it was intended to guarantee that it contained {{frac|1|20}} or 5% of silver, and was thus slightly better than many of the coins in circulation. The ''aureus'' (minted at 50 or 60 to the Roman pound) was exchanged at rates of 600 to 1,000 ''denarii'', equivalent to 120 to 200 ''aurelianiani''. Rare fractions of billion{{clarify|date=July 2018}} ''denarii'', and of bronze ''sestertii'' and ''assēs'', were also coined. At the same time, Aurelian reorganized the provincial mint at Alexandria, and he minted an improved Alexandrine ''tetradrachmon'' that might{{clarify|date=July 2018}} have been tariffed at par with the ''aurelianianus''.

The emperor Tacitus in 276 briefly doubled the silver content of the ''aurelianianus'' and halved its tariffing{{clarify|date=July 2018}} to 2.5 d.c. (hence{{clarify|date=July 2018}} coins of Antioch and Tripolis (in Phoenicia) carry the value marks X.I), but Probus (276–282) immediately returned the ''aurelianianus'' to the standard and tariffing{{clarify|date=July 2018}} of Aurelian, and was the official tariffing until the reform of Diocletian in 293.

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| 755 ||  ''Novus denarius'' (new penny) ||   ||    || [[Pepin the Short]] ({{reign|751|768}}), the first king of the Carolingian dynasty and father of [[Charlemagne]], minted the ''novus denarius'' ("new penny"): 240 pennies minted from one [[Carolingian pound]]. So a single coin contained 21 grains of silver. Around 755, Pepin's [[Carolingian Reform]] established the European monetary system, which can be expressed as: 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pennies. Originally the pound was a weight of silver rather than a coin, and from a pound of pure silver 240 pennies were struck. The Carolingian Reform restored the silver content of the penny that was already in circulation and was the direct descendant of the Roman ''denarius''.  The shilling was equivalent to the ''solidus'', the money of account that prevailed in Europe before the Carolingian Reform; it originated from the Byzantine gold coin that was the foundation of the international monetary system for more than 500 years. Debts contracted before the Carolingian Reform were defined in ''solidi''. For three centuries following the Carolingian Reform, the only coin minted in Europe was the silver penny. Shillings and pounds were units of account used for convenience to express large numbers of pence, not actual coins. The Carolingian Reform also reduced the number of mints, strengthened royal authority over the mints, and provided for uniform design of coins. All coins bore the ruler's name, initial, or title, signifying royal sanction of the quality of the coins. Charlemagne spread the [[Carolingian system]] throughout Western Europe. The Italian ''lira'' and the French ''livre'' were derived from the Latin word for pound. Until the French Revolution, the unit of account in France was the ''livre'', which equalled 20 ''sols'' or ''sous'', each of which in turn equalled 12 ''deniers''. During the Revolution the ''franc'' replaced the ''livre'', and Napoleon's conquest spread the ''franc'' to Switzerland and Belgium. The Italian unit of account remained the ''lira'', and in Britain the pound-shilling-penny relationship survived until 1971. Even in England the pennies were eventually debased, leaving 240 pennies representing substantially less than a pound of silver, and the pound as a monetary unit became divorced from a pound weight of silver. After the breakup of the [[Carolingian Empire]] pennies debased much faster, particularly in Mediterranean Europe, and in 1172 Genoa began minting a silver coin equal to four pennies. Rome, Florence, and Venice followed with coins of denominations greater than a penny, and late in the 12th century Venice minted a silver coin equal to 24 pennies. By the mid-13th century Florence and Genoa were minting gold coins, effectively ending the reign of the silver penny (''denier'', ''denarius'') as the only circulating coin in Europe.

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| 785 ||  Penny ||   ||    || [[Offa]], king of Mercia, minted and introduced to England a penny of 22.5 grains of silver. The coin's designated value, however, was that of 24 troy grains of silver (one [[pennyweight]], or {{frac|1|240}} of a troy pound, or about 1.56 grams), with the difference being a premium attached by virtue of the minting into coins ([[seigniorage]]). The penny led to the term "penny weight". 240 actual pennies (22.5 grains; minus the 1.5 grain for the seigniorage) weighed only 5,400 troy grains, known as a [[Saxon pound]] and later known as the tower pound, a unit used only by mints. The tower pound was abolished in the 16th century. However, 240 pennyweights (24 grains) made one [[troy pound]] of silver in weight, and the monetary value of 240 pennies also became known as a "pound". The silver penny remained the primary unit of coinage for about 500 years.

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| 790 ||  Penny || 1.76 g  || 95–96%  || Charlemagne new penny with smaller diameter but greater weight. Average weight of 1.7 g, but ideal theoretical{{clarify|date=July 2018}} mass of 1.76 g. Purity is from 95% to 96%.

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| {{circa|1527}} ||  Penny||1.58 g||  99%  || Tower pound of 5400 grains abolished and replaced by the Troy pound of 5760 grains.

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| 1158 ||  Penny ||    ||  92.5%  || The purity of 92.5% silver (i.e. sterling silver) was instituted by Henry II in 1158 with the "Tealby Penny" — a hammered coin.

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| 1500s ||  Penny ||    ||    || By the 16th century it contained about a third the silver content of a Troy pennyweight of 24 grains.

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| 1915 ||  Penny ||    ||    || The penny, now struck in bronze, was worth around one-sixth of its value during the Middle Ages. British government sources suggest that there has been an 8700% price inflation since 1914, or an average of 4.2% annually.

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