economic

Coinage Reform Introduces Argenteus and Nummus

Date

294

Part of

economic

From the later 290s to 301, Diocletian overhauled coinage, striking the silver argenteus and sturdy nummus to restore confidence. At Aphrodisias, an inscription fixed ratios; in Trier and Nicomedia, dies rang like anvils. New money would anchor new taxes—and a coming ceiling on prices.

What Happened

An empire of paper orders still ran on metal. Years of debasement had turned coins into rumors of value. Diocletian’s answer was technical and noisy: reset denominations, restore silver content, and standardize across the mints. The argenteus, a bright silver piece recalling Nero’s old denarius standard, and the large bronze‑silvered nummus entered daily life between 294 and 301 [13][16].

We know the logic because stone tells us. An inscription from Aphrodisias preserves details of the currency reform, spelling out values and relationships—an administrative grammar that could be taught to merchants and tax collectors alike [13]. In mints at Trier, Nicomedia, and Alexandria, dies struck faces and reverses to a rhythm that echoed in courtyards: ring, ring, pause; ring again. Fresh coins gleamed like quicksilver under torchlight, their legends a chorus of four imperial names [16].

This was not numismatic vanity. The Tetrarchy needed reliable units to implement its census‑based capitatio‑iugatio assessment and to pay comitatenses field forces without haggling at every fort [16][12]. Coins became promises the state could keep. In Mediolanum, grain sellers counted in nummi; in Antioch, pay chests filled with argentei made recruits trust the eagle again.

But coin reform touched prices, and prices touched tempers. The new issues fed into a broader attempt to tame inflation and profiteering, culminating in 301 with an empire‑wide ceiling on wages and goods—the Edict on Maximum Prices. In Stratonikeia, Aezani, and Cyrenaica, that law would be chiselled into marble slabs high enough for a market crowd to read [7][12]. The currency reform was the prelude; the edict would be the crash of cymbals.

Why This Matters

Resetting the currency shored up the fiscal base of the Tetrarchy. Soldiers, contractors, and tax farmers operated with intelligible units again, allowing the state’s new assessments to flow in coins people accepted [13][16][12]. The reform linked the ledger to the mint.

Within the theme of price controls and money, this is the enabling act. Without new denominations, a maximum‑price schedule would have floated over a sea of unstable value. With them, the state believed it could nail prices to the wall—and tried [7][12].

Wider story: the coinage reform worked better than the price ceilings that followed. Its technical gains endured into Constantine’s reign, even as the political college that designed it unraveled after 306 [16].