The results of the metallurgical analysis suggest that the financial difficulties experienced by Rome in these years led to a relaxation of standards at the mint in 90 BC, with the result that the silver content of the coinage declined in two stages so that by 87 BC the coinage was deliberately alloyed with 5вЂ“10% copper. вЂњHis purpose in writing about it wasnвЂ™t to illuminate monetary history he was just using the incident as an illustration of a Roman magistrate behaving badly by taking credit for the work of others.вЂќ Silver content declined in two stages вЂњUnfortunately, CiceroвЂ™s choice of words is too obscure for historians to determine exactly what was going on,вЂќ the expert said. Another proposition states that he published a method for detecting fake denarii and so restored faith in the coinage. Cicero related how the Roman tribunes approached the college of praetors to resolve the crisis before Gratidianus claimed sole credit for the collective effort.вЂќД«utcher pointed out that one theory is that Gratidianus fixed the exchange rate between the silver denarius and the bronze, which had only recently been reduced in weight. вЂњBy 86 BC there appears to have been a crisis of confidence in the currency, too. The Romans were at war with their own allies in Italy, and by the conclusion of the war, in 89 BC, there was a debt crisis,вЂќ researcher Kevin Butcher said. вЂњIn the years after 91 BC, the Roman state was in danger of becoming bankrupt. The reference is part of an anecdote describing self-serving behaviour by Marius Gratidianus, who took credit for a proposal for currency reform worked out jointly by the tribunes and the college of praetors and became hugely popular with the public as a result. In the words of CiceroДЇor the group, the discovery of this significant decrease in the value of the denarius brings some clarity to CiceroвЂ™s 86 BC quote that read: вЂњThe coinage was being tossed around so that no one was able to know what he had.вЂќ This would suggest a severe currency crisis. Pointing explained that using a minimally invasive sampling technique to take samples from important coins, he and his colleagues were able to identify a significant decline in the value of the denarius-from being a pure silver coin, the denarius first dropped to under 95% fine, and then it fell again to 90%, with some coins as low as 86%. вЂњThe precise level of debasement might have been less important to contemporaries than the mere realization that the coin was adulterated and no longer made of true вЂsilver.вЂ™вЂќ вЂњThe Romans had been used to extremely fine silver coinage, so they may well have lost confidence in the denarius when it ceased to be pure,вЂќ Matthew Ponting, one of the archaeologists involved in the research, said in a media statement.

Denarius silver