The copper coinage, represented by the follis, of which there were 288 to the gold solidus (or nomisma, the standard gold coin, of which there were 72 to the Roman pound), suffered a number of fluctuations during the seventh century, reflecting the financial problems the empire faced, and was, for example, reduced to less than half its weight under Heraclius. A reform under Constantine IV had only short-term effects, and the reduction in weight and value soon set in once more. There was also a drastic curtailment in production of the follis from the end of the reign of Constans II. Under Leo III a reformed silver coin, the miliaresion, was introduced, valued at 1/12 of a gold nomisma, smaller than its predecessor of the fourth century, and initially struck at a rate of 144 to the pound. But this appears to have had as much a ceremonial as a functional role as a medium of exchange, and it has been argued that its introduction was connected with the introduction shortly before of the new Muslim silver coin, the dirhem. The reformed silver coinage affected the gold, however, because the minting of fractional issues (halves - semisses - and thirds - tremisses) of the nomisma declined during the eighth century and after. But apart from relatively minor fluctuations in the weight of the gold coinage, and more significant ones in the relationship of copper to gold, the system as a whole remained unchanged in its essentials until the later tenth century.
During the first half of the ninth century the copper coinage underwent a major transformation., with an increase of issues beginning during the reign of Michael II (821-829), and the establishment of at least one, probably two new mints for copper (Thessalonica and Kherson in the Crimea). There was also an increase in weight of the standard copper coin, the follis. An initial limited increase in copper coin production, associated with a slightly larger coin under Michael II in the 820s, was followed by a dramatic sixfold increase in the issue of a fully reformed and still larger coin type. This may suggest a recognition by the government of a market-led demand for copper coin, and the connection between that and the state’s fiscal requirements, although most excavated sites demonstrate such an upturn in finds of such coins only from the later years of the ninth century. This numismatic evidence, together with other evidence, seems to imply an economic recovery and the beginnings of growth in the economy, or at least in the nonstate sector, especially in the southern Balkans. The increased production of coinage may also reflect an increased demand by the state for taxable resources in cash, which in turn may imply an expansion of the monetised sector of the economy as a whole. Under Nikephoros II (963-969) a new reduced-weight nomisma appeared, known as the tetarteron, and weighing some 2 carats less than the full-weight coin. Although discussion continues, this was probably intended as a means of rendering the system as a whole more flexible, although it seems also to have acted as a destabilising element in the price structure of the empire for a while.
The gold coinage was not unaffected by the changes of the seventh and eighth centuries, and a gradual reduction in the purity of the gold nomisma took place from the time of Justinian II, under whom the fineness of the nomisma was reduced from 98% to 96% gold. With very minor incidental fluctuations this then remained constant until the time of Constantine VII (913-959), when a further slight reduction in gold content was made, to 94.4%. Again, another reduction was made under Michael IV (1034-1041), where 90% became standard for a time. Thereafter, as a result of increasing demand and limited revenue and bullion, devaluations occurred more frequently and led to the collapse of the system after 1070.
Calculations of the state budget are difficult and fraught with methodological problems. But recent estimates, based on the numbers of dies employed at different points, changes in the weight of the gold nomisma, the standard gold coin, the distribution of finds and a range of other factors, suggest that whereas during the reign of the Emperor Constantine V (742775) the annual budget amounted to a value of some 1.7 million nomismata (based on an estimated minting of approximately 250,000-300,000 nomismata annually), by the reign of Basil II (976-1025) it had expanded to a value of over 4 million nomismata, reflecting both greatly increased revenues and a much more active economy.
The number of mints actually contracted in the period from the middle of the eighth century (the mint at Carthage had ceased production in 695 when the city fell): that at Ravenna ceased production in 751, when the city finally fell to the Lombards; those at Rome and Naples in 776 and 842; the mint in Sicily, at Syracuse, ceased production when the city fell to the Arabs, and was for a while removed to Reggio in Calabria (until 912). The result was that the main mint for the production of coin for the empire as a whole was now Constantinople, from where coin was delivered to centres for distribution according to demand as assessed by the relevant government officials.
Sources of bullion remained very limited - Armenia and other sources in the Caucasus had been exploited from Roman times on, and the conflicts between Rome and Persia and between Byzantium and the Caliphate in this region are partially explained through competition for this resource. Other sources included the Black Sea coast and river mouths, where panning for gold and other minerals occurred, and the Balkans, although political conditions determined access, as in the Armenian highlands. The Taurus and Anti-Taurus ranges also included sources of various ores, including gold and iron. But the supply of metal was basically very inelastic, and the state developed a remarkably efficient system - through its fiscal apparatus - of retaining as much precious metal as it could through the process of taxation. Even so, regular crises in supply occurred, and given the lack of developed banking facilities (at least until near the end of the empire’s history), recourse was had to measures such as seizing or borrowing gold and silver plate from private individuals, the palace itself, or the church - there are several instances of this from the early seventh century onwards. An alternative was to devalue the gold in order to maintain levels of supply or meet demand, but this inevitably led to an inflationary cycle and, in the eleventh century, to a fatal reduction in precious metal content which brought about the collapse of the established late Roman system.
72 nomismata = 1 Roman pound = 324.72g (although this also evolves: in the later period the Byzantine pound is valued at only 318g) 1 kentenarion = 100 Roman pounds or 7,200 nomismata
Map 6.14 Imperial mints c. 640-1050 with dates of closure or period of operation.
World History
