How Silver Debasement Led to the Collapse of the Roman Empire

The silver denarius was one of the first forms of money in the Roman empire. As government debts accumulated, the politicians at the time decided to start reducing the amount of real silver in the coins. This eventually led to the fall of Rome.

Silver is highly valued as a decorative status symbol that can double as a store of value, but silver’s greatest legacy may be it’s long history as money throughout the ages. No example stands out more prominently, or tragically, than Rome’s Silver Denarius.

The Denarius began to see use in the Roman Republic around 211 B.C and stood as its currency for 4 full centuries before collapsing due to debasement at the hands of a greedy and over-leveraged government.

This is an excerpt from my full-length documentary on Silver: https://youtu.be/JUA3CaWnoZo

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