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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
2209 Posts |
 Posted - 10/28/2006 : 20:42:26
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If you were to hear the name “Solidus” or “Bezant” your reply would probably be, “Who‘s he?”
The Solidus, sometimes referred to as the Bezant, was the name of the gold coin used as the medium of exchange in the Byzantine Empire for eight centuries.
Think about that for a minute.
For Eight Hundred Years the gold Solidus/Byzant was The symbol of stability for the Byzantine Empire.
What is more, the Solidus/Byzant was used basically as THE trade coin for most of Europe, parts of Africa, the middle east, India and parts of Asia.
It was the equivalent of the US Dollar in the 1950’s or the British Pound in the 1890’s.
This gold coin was so widely accepted, many countries in Europe during the minting of the Solidus/Bezants , didn’t even bother minting their own gold coins, they just used the gold coins minted by the Byzantine empire.
Funny thing was, even with so many gold coins minted and used by so many, there never was a shortage of these gold coins. With the trade conducted by the Byzantine Empire, they were able to exchange goods or gold coins for raw gold to make new coins.
What happened to the Solidus/Bezant? The same thing that befalls all currencies when governments or rulers don’t live within a budget. The last ruler under the good coin, Alexis Commenus (1081-1118) reduced the gold content of the coin in order to pay debts owed due to extravagant living and corruption.
By lowering the gold content of the Solidus/Bezant more could be made, but those who accepted the newly debased coin learned that it took more of them to buy the same products,
(ancient Rome did the same thing, cheapening their money quality in order to produce more coins, the earliest form of governmental monetary inflation.)
The loss of trust in the Solidus/Bezant was the beginning of the end not only for the Solidus/Bezant but for the Byzantine Empire as well.
What once had been a respected and honored, now was viewed with suspicion and contempt, as if deceit was the norm and trust and virtue were last years fashion. (This refers to both the gold coin and the Byzantine Empire)
For Eight centuries, good gold coins gauranteed trust in trade and in the government, once that trust was gone, it was gone forever.
It is a shame that what they say,
"those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it"
applies to governments and currencies as well as people.
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Edited by - pencilvanian on 10/28/2006 20:51:24 |
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Eight Hundred Years
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