Denarius
Debasement and evolution

Denarius

Section Title: Debasement and evolution
Table Section Text: None

Year	Event	Weight	Purity	Note

BC

267	Predecessor	6.81g	?	1/48 pound. Equals 10 asses, giving the denarius its name, which translates as "containing ten".

211	Introduction	4.55g	95–98%	1/72 pound. Denarius first struck.

200	Debasement	3.9g	95–98%	1/84 pound.

141	Debasement	3.9g	95–98%	1/84 pound. Retariffed to equal 16 asses due to the decrease in weight of the as.

44BC	Debasement	3.9g	95–98%	Death of Julius Caesar, who set the denarius at 3.9g. Legionary (professional soldier) pay was doubled to 225 denarii per year.

AD

14–37	3.9g	97.5–98%	Tiberius slightly improved the fineness as he gathered his infamous hoard of 675 million denarii.

64–68	Debasement	3.41g	93.5%	1/96 pound. This more closely matched the Greek drachm.

85–107	Debasement	3.41g	93.5%	Reduction in silver content under Domitian

148–161	Debasement	3.41g	83.5%

193–235	Debasement	3.41g	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.

241	Debasement	3.41g	48%

274	Double Denarius	3.41g	5%	In 274, the emperor Aurelian reformed the currency and his denominations remained in use until the great recoinage of Diocletian in 293.

735	Novus denarius (new penny)	Pepin the Short (r. 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.

757–796	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 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).

790	Penny	1.76g	95–96%	Charlemagne new penny with smaller diameter but greater weight. Average weight of 1.7 g, but ideal theoretical[clarification needed] mass of 1.76 g.

1527 ?	Penny	1.58g	99%	Tower pound of 5400 grains abolished and replaced by the Troy pound of 5760 grains.

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.

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

1915	Penny	A penny was worth around one-sixth of its value during the Middle Ages. British government sources suggest that prices have risen over 61-fold since 1914.

Sentence(s)

A predecessor of the denarius in 267 BC with a weight of 6.81 grams or ​¹⁄₄₈ of a pound.
A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 267 BC with an weight of 6.81 grams, or ​¹⁄₄₈ pound.
In 267 BC, the predecessor of the denarius with a weight of 6.81 grams, or ​¹⁄₄₈ of a pound.

final_sentence: A predecessor of the denarius in 267 BC with a weight of 6.81 grams or ​¹⁄₄₈ of a pound.
final_sentence: A predecessor of the denarius was first struck in 267 BC with an weight of 6.81 grams, or ​¹⁄₄₈ pound.
final_sentence: In 267 BC, the predecessor of the denarius with a weight of 6.81 grams, or ​¹⁄₄₈ of a pound.