It Didn’t Begin with FDR: Currency Devaluation in the 3rd Century Roman Empire

Mises Institute: Since the reordering of Augustus, during the first two centuries of the empire, the Roman state manipulated the intrinsic value of the denarius argenteus, the main axis of the imperial monetary system, from the theoretical 3.892 grams and between 97.0 and 98.0 percent silver to 3.22 grams and 56.5 percent silver at the end of the second century AD. The increase in military expenditure, social aid, payments to specific pressure groups, new public works,