Buying Power of Ancient Coins What were my Roman coins worth 'back then'?
I get mail. Most of the time I enjoy the mail that results from these pages but I must admit I dread the regular appearance of questions that I can not answer. These include "How can I clean my junk box coins and make them look like new?" and the subject of this page "How much were my coins worth back then?" At least most folks have read my index page where I posted my refusal to address the collector value of your coins (I don't do appraisals!!!) but questions on buying power are a fair, but difficult, subject. What most folks want is a number like an exchange rate to the effect that a denarius was worth exactly $20US. Sorry, it just is not that simple.
This gold aureus of Marcus Aurelius was worth 25 silver denarii and would represent a month's pay to a legionary soldier. Gold was probably used mostly for large purchases by the wealthy with the common man rarely having this much money at one time. |
This denarius of Septimius Severus shows a modius filled with fruit as the reverse type. |
This Republican denarius c. 137 BC would have paid a legionary soldier for about three days and bought enough wheat to bake his daily bread for nearly a month. | This 1st century AD dupondius of Nero would have purchased a loaf of pre-baked bread in Pompeii or Rome and two loaves in smaller cities in Italy where prices reflected the simpler lifestyle and lower prices. |
This denarius of Julia Maesa (c.218 AD) was approximately a days pay for a soldier. Military pay was, however, supplemented by donatives of good size paid by emperors to the soldiers responsible for keeping them in power. In many years, these bonuses could exceed the salary. | This antoninianus of Philip I (c.247 AD) illustrates inflation racing through the third century. While the denomination claims to be worth two denarii, the purchasing power was similar to the denarius of a generation earlier. While heavier by 50%, debasement of the alloy left this coin with about the same weight of silver contained in the denarius of the earlier part of the century. |
The introduction of the antoninianus in 214 AD recognized the fact that a denarius didn't go as far as it had previously. In fact, the buying power of the new coin would just about cover the same purchases that required a denarius a century before. The horrid inflation of the following half century saw the coins debased to a fraction of their earlier values . In 294 AD, an attempt to stabilize the situation was made by Diocletian. He recalled the old coinage and issued a new denomination now referred to as the Nummus (also referred to as 'follis' on my earlier pages). This coin was intended to have the same buying power as had a denarius in the early Empire. A farm laborer might make 2 nummi a day while a craftsman (computer programmer??) as much as 12. Military pay was more complex including regular donatives and free grain allowances as well as the salary. Considering the importance of the army in deciding the life and death of the Emperors of the day, it is not hard to understand their wages of over 1000 nummi a year (partly in the form of free grain). By 305 AD a modius of wheat sold for between 2 and 10 nummi depending on location (Egypt still being the cheapest and Rome the top).
Around 320 AD we have a record of bread selling at Antioch for 2 nummi (a nummus then being the reduced AE3 version). The same record places meat at 4 to 8 nummi a pound and wine at 6 to 14 nummi a sextarius (about a pint) depending on quality. Oddly we could see a parallel here to modern prices if we call a nummus about a dollar. We have relatively few surviving prices for meat and wine from other periods but mention is made that the total cost of food for a family of four in the Flavian period (late 1st century AD) was 200 denarii a year or a bit over a dupondius a day per person. This rate would not support eating much beyond home baked bread, olive oil and cheap wine.
By 320 AD a loaf of bread might sell for two silvered nummi like this one of Crispus. This sample is midway in size and purchasing power for this denomination issued first by Diocletian as a large silvered coin and ending in the Byzantine period as a tiny scrap of copper. Prices followed a similar path with a modius of wheat worth 2 nummi in 305 selling for 40 nummi in 327 AD. | The gold solidus was not fixed in value in terns of the copper coins. By the time of this solidus of Theodosius the value could be as much as 7,200 nummi and could buy 30-40 modii of wheat. The daily wage for a cavalryman was then 180 nummi so a solidus represented the pay for a month and a half. |
Clothing was relatively expensive. In 240 AD a pair of army boots sold for 22 denarii and a heavy cloak (suitable for cold weather wear) of the highest quality could be as much as 60 denarii. Prices for plain but high quality wool and silk in 305 AD could be as much as 16 nummi and 10 aurei a pound respectively but the fanciest dyed silks woven with gold threads could be 125 aurei or three times the same weight of gold. It becomes clear why such garments were reserved for the Emperor and his peers.
This page is one that will be expanded and corrected as I feel the need. Certainly it is an interesting question but simply not one with a concrete answer. I would enjoy hearing from those who have specific ancient references giving prices/values that would be appropriate to mention. Certainly we must be careful to discriminate between actual price data and 'official' price lists like Diocletian's Edict of Maximum Prices. Further it is important to remember that differences between ancient cultures and the modern will make it hard to equate the currencies of such different economies. Those interested in more study on this subject should read Coinage and the Roman Economy 300 BC to AD 700 by Kenneth W. Harl.
(c) 2000 Doug Smith