A dark age is defined in the dictionary as “a long period of stagnation or decline.” The popular usage of this term is generally applied to the era in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, from about 500 AD to 1000 AD. But there are other kinds of dark ages too. Coinage for example, much like civilizations, can fall into its own dark ages. And the very first of these coinage dark ages occurred, funnily enough, during the Roman Empire.
The 3rd century AD was a time of profound discontent in Rome. After the halcyon days of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD which were dominated by the prosperous, largely peaceful reigns of the adoptive emperors, the Empire underwent a crisis. Barbarian tribes like the Carpians, Goths, Vandals and Almanni assaulted the Romans along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Simultaneously, a revived Persia, in the form of the Sassanid Empire, harassed the eastern borders of the Roman Empire. Rampant plagues and bloody civil wars rounded out this century long disaster for the beleaguered Romans.
It is no surprise that Roman coinage underwent a parallel crisis during this troubled period. The primary currency unit of the Roman Empire was the denarius, which was traditionally a coin of almost pure silver weighing about 4 grams. Although introduced during the Roman Republic several centuries before, this Roman monetary workhorse had only undergone modest debasement in the time leading up to the 3rd century AD.
However, the acute economic stress of the 3rd century prompted relentless, irreversible debasement. First, the hitherto hallowed silver coinage dropped below 50% fineness, to the level of billon. Eventually, late in the 3rd century AD, the noble, ancient silver money of Rome was reduced to small, crude bronze coins coated with a thin layer of silver.
Now while this history lesson might be interesting by itself, it also has implications for coin collectors and investors. You see, almost no one wants to collect coins from a numismatic dark age. They are generally ugly, miserable base metal creations of necessity that hold little attraction for the connoisseur of fine coins.
Roman coinage from the 3rd century AD underscores this point. The few people who collect these issues do so either to showcase the extreme debasement that occurred over the period or to complete a “full set” of emperors, including the “bad” emperors. Most ancient coin collectors prefer, with good reason, to stick to the glory days of the Roman Republic or early Roman Empire.
After all, why bother with mean, crude and dumpy coins that signify a civilization in decline when you can instead collect sophisticated, artistic and tasteful examples that represent the pinnacle of imperial glory?
Coinage dark ages aren’t restricted to ancient times, though. A similar period commenced much more recently for the world in the 1960s. This was the decade when silver was removed from most countries’ regularly circulating coinage.
For the United States, 1965 was our numismatic annus horribilis, the year silver was removed from dimes and quarters (and greatly reduced in half dollars). This was a very traditional, if abrupt, debasement. In place of its time honored 90% silver alloy, the U.S. mint adopted a pure copper core sandwiched between two layers of cupro-nickel alloy. This new copper-nickel clad coinage was struck in huge quantities to replace its silver predecessors.
25 years ago, in the early 1990s, I frequently read opinion articles by numismatists who repeatedly asserted that these wretched copper-nickel clad coins would one day be valuable in uncirculated condition due to the fact that no one was saving them. This prediction turned out to be partially correct. The coins were not saved in any quantity and high quality specimens are, consequently, somewhat scarce today.
But all those predictions about the coins being valuable were dead wrong. This is because nobody wants them. Who would willingly collect nasty, copper-nickel clad Washington quarters or Roosevelt dimes from 1965 to the present, when fine silver examples from 1964 and before are available?
More recently, in the 1980s, our present coinage dark age took a turn for the worse when countries around the world discovered they could wring money from well intentioned, albeit ignorant, collectors and investors by over-issuing commemorative coins. And over-issue commemorative coins they did.
Massive numbers of commemoratives, often in the millions for a single issue, have been struck year after year by mints around the world for the past 30 years. These modern commemorative monstrosities are often issued to celebrate obscure or inconsequential events, while their designs are typically prosaic and unexciting. Today’s governments view their mints as profit centers and coin collectors as marks to be shaken down. It is a pity that the most advanced minting technology in the history of mankind is used this way.
Our current coinage dark age isn’t likely to end soon either. Recently, many countries have taken debasement to the next – and perhaps final – logical step. Circulating issues that used to be cupro-nickel or copper have been steadily replaced by nickel or copper-plated, steel-composite coins lately. These ultra-debased coins are the nasty of the nasty, with effectively no redeeming qualities.
Today’s coin connoisseurs should beware. A hundred years from now, future coin collectors and investors will undoubtedly look back on the current era as a coinage dark age. And rightfully so. Who would want to own these uninspired, base metal monstrosities issued by the million, if not billion?
The answer is obvious: no one. The savvy investor will take note. With the exception of perhaps a few bullion issues, there are scant opportunities in modern numismatics. This is predictable, given that we are currently living through a coinage dark age.
