The debasement of the Dollar of the Middle Ages

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: University of London; King's College London
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• 发表日期: 2003
• 页码: 768-801
• 关键词: currency depreciation; Seigniorage

摘要

The debasement of the Byzantine gold coin during the reign of Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055) marked the end of more than seven centuries of near stability and the beginning of a sharp fall in the coin's gold content. I reject a widely accepted view that the debasement was caused by the increase in the number of transactions in an expanding economy. I explain the debasement as being a measure undertaken to finance the protracted war against the Pechenegs in the latter half of Constantine's reign.