Byzantine silver.

Byzantium is well known to have a powerful gold currency, and for using it for political ends; bribing adversaries/enemies, paying soldiery etc. But Byzantium didn't have a good source of silver and rarely issued silver currency.

WI Byzantium had sufficient silver to have regular silver currency? I assume that some productive silver mines will add to the general wealth of the Empire, but what about the effect on the economy? Gold is a bit big to be used every day in life, did this put a dampener on local trade? Would silver coinage stimulate the economy at lower levels, boosting the economy as a whole?
 
I think that the Byzantines used bronze coins at a lower level, but don't quote me on this. Perhaps silver could be a relatively rare currency used by both upper and lower classes?
 
Yes, I've read that they used bronze coins called follis, but that was for low level transactions. I'm wondering if not having a coin between the value of a gold solidus and a copper put a cramp on commerce at the intermediate level?

As for rarity, how much gold coinage was circulating? I've read that emperors inherited hundreds of thousands of pounds of gold, was this used for coinage?
 
Silver, as you point out, could have stimulated the economy. But I'm not sure how serious an issue it would actually be. First, as you noted they had copper/bronze coinage. And secondly, the Empire didn't have any silver, which was a large reason it wasn't used.
 

The Sandman

Banned
What about paper?

To what degree might the establishment of a Chinese-style paper currency have affected Byzantium?
 
The silver mines which paid for the Athenian triremes which won the battle of Salamis must have been played out. In western Europe the supply of metals including silver expanded due to improvements in smelting and processing in the early modern era. Is it too much to ask that these same advances occur in Byzantium much earlier, the same way the iron blast furnace was used in China for centuries before Europe?

As for the utility of silver coins, they were minted on occasion alongside the gold and bronze so they must have served a purpose.
 
Your POD would be the discovery of the Yugoslaovian Sliver Deposits Pre 1200.
This would Impact the Roman desire to Hold the Balkans.
 
Sweet. Is this practical?

Could be. If they're discovered in the decades immediately following the death of the last Macedonian Emperor, Constantine VIII, in 1028, then silver coinage would make a very real and practical difference to the Byzantine economy- between the death of this Emperor and Manzikert in 1071, the value of a Roman Solidus fell by two thirds, due to repeated debasement of the pure gold coinage- eventually leading to the introduction of the Hyperpyron coin by Alexius. If silver deposits are discovered let's say in 1030, then the Emperors can roll out a new silver currency without having to debase the gold, and thus leave the state in a significantly more healthy state than it was at the time of Manzikert.
 
Could be. If silver deposits are discovered let's say in 1030, then the Emperors can roll out a new silver currency without having to debase the gold, and thus leave the state in a significantly more healthy state than it was at the time of Manzikert.

Is this how it'll actually work out, though?

Think this through. The overall amount of goods and services is the same (it's a preindustrial economy, after all).

Hrmm. I really need to learn more about how preindustrial economies work.
 
'In kind', or barter was big in pre-industrial societies, not to mention that economies were largely rural and quite self sufficient within a small area. The amount of coinage was quite small, which why I think adding silver coinage would stimulate the economy at lower levels. It would mean medium value things could be traded for cash, rather than being broken down for coppers, stockpiled up for gold or bartered (assuming you can find something of equal value that you wanted/needed).
 
They could use a mix of gold and silver in their coinage instead of inserting a silver coin between solidus and follis... Perhaps in the long run it could help solidus to recover...
 
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