Debasement
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A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins, while continuing to circulate t
A 16th or 17th century hoard of coin clippings discovered in Derbyshire and recorded in the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Shears used for coin clipping in the 17th century
An unclipped siliqua
A clipped siliqua
Argenteus
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The argenteus was a silver coin produced by the Roman Empire from the time of Diocletian's coinage reform in AD 294 to ca. AD 310. It was of similar weight and fineness to the denarius of the time of
Debasement
…denarius continued to shrink in size and purity, until by the second half of the third century, it was only about 2% silver, and was replaced by the Argenteus. Weight of akçe in grams of silver and index…
Argenteus struck under Constantius Chlorus, weighing 3.36 g.