Tysiąc lat stabilności! SOLIDUS czyli pieniądz, na którym opierał się system finansowy Bizancjum!

SUBSCRIBE to our channel so you don't miss similar videos! We also invite you to follow us on social media:   / domaukcyjnynumimarket     / dom_aukcyjny_numimarket     / dom-aukcyjny-numimarket   ___ OTHER INTERESTING VIDEOS:    • Dukaty z Siedmiogrodu! Piękne, złote monet...      • ORYGINAŁ CZY BELGIJKA? Jak rozpoznać fałsz...      • Fałszywa moneta 2 złote Józef Piłsudski 19...   DESCRIPTION: Byzantine gold coins, especially the solidus and its later forms, formed one of the most extraordinary monetary systems in European history. For a thousand years, they retained their value, quality, and public trust. Today, this seems almost unbelievable. It all began at the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Roman Empire was then sinking into crisis, resulting in a collapse of confidence in money. In response, Emperor Constantine the Great took radical action. The reform introducing the solidus was a fundamental overhaul of the economic system, based on the concentration of gold in the hands of the state and its controlled redistribution. It had a fixed weight of approximately 4.48 grams and was made of gold of very high purity. Importantly, the reform also included a reorganization of taxes, some of which were collected directly in gold. Solidus was paid, among others, to soldiers of elite units, making this coin a fundamental tool for maintaining military loyalty. And interestingly, it was not just a regional currency. Finds in the territories of present-day Poland, Ukraine, and Scandinavia clearly indicate that Byzantine gold reached far beyond the empire's borders. Gold coins functioned primarily in the sphere of high-value transactions: taxes, salaries, diplomatic gifts, and long-distance trade. Their significance, therefore, was systemic. It determined the functioning of the entire state economy, enabling Byzantium to maintain its position as one of the most important economic centers of the world at the time. The heyday of this system occurred under Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It was then that gold financed great wars, monumental constructions, and the empire's diplomacy. But Byzantium's history is not just about stability. In the 7th century, the empire lost Syria and Egypt, two very important provinces, causing the gold supply to decline significantly. Despite this, the coinage maintained its high quality for a long time. Furthermore, the solidus became a model for the Islamic world – the dinar was created based on it. This is one of the most important examples of technology transfer and monetary standards in human history. The real changes came in the 10th and 11th centuries. The system began to become more complex, with new coins appearing, and old coins changing their form. The introduction of the tetarteron – a coin approximately 1/12 lighter than the standard solidus – led to the need to distinguish between the "old" and the new issue. Thus, the existing solidus came to be known as histamenon nomisma, meaning "standing coin" or "maintaining the standard." The histamenon nomisma, initially retaining the parameters of the solidus, began to undergo technological and formal changes in the second half of the 10th century. During the reign of Basil II, we see a transition from traditional, thick discs to thin, wide discs, resulting in a significant increase in the coin's diameter while maintaining its weight. In the 11th century, this process led to the development of concave coins—the so-called squifats—which constitute one of the most characteristic achievements of Byzantine coinage. The system began to collapse after Basil II's death. The gold standard gradually decreased. This process was directly related to rising military expenditures and the loss of revenue from Anatolia after the defeat at Manzikert. Within a few decades, the gold content of the coins dropped dramatically, effectively ceasing their function as a stable store of value. Sources indicate that merchants began to favor weighted gold, effectively signaling a return to a gold-based economy. After 1204 and the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders, the monetary system became further destabilized. After its reconstruction by Michael Palaiologos, the hyperpyron continued to be issued, but its quality steadily declined. Over the years, the gold content further decreased, and production became irregular. In the 14th century, Byzantium lost the ability to issue stable gold coinage, a direct result of economic and political collapse. The final cessation of gold issuance marked the symbolic end of a centuries-long tradition. Thus ends the history of one of the most enduring monetary systems in human history.