Currency: Devaluation

n the late Byzantine period the currency kept steadily depreciating. At the beginning of the 13th century, the gold hyperpyron still retained almost 90% of its real value, but it later suffered a series of devaluations.

Already since the middle of the 13th century, it was the new gold coin of the Italian maritime republics rather than the Byzantine coin that dominated international trade. Even though the economy of the Empire of Nicaea showed considerable improvement, we know that John Vatatzes (1222-1254) was forced to devaluate the gold hyperpyron to 16-carats for various reasons, one of which was the lack of gold in Asia Minor.

The huge economic reserves amassed by the Empire of Nicaea were however not sufficient later to finance the ambitious plans of Michael VIII who, in order to increase his revenues, reduced the value of the hyperpyron by one carat. As a result, the hyperpyron now consisted of 15 parts of gold to nine parts of other metals. Later, in the first half of the 14th century, the great economic crisis forced Andronikos II, in 1304, to further devalue the hyperpyron to 14 carats. Later still, the gold coin fell to half its original value. Thus, the last coin minted during the joint reign of John V and John VI (1347-54) was of 11-carat gold and was finally and definitively replaced by the silver coin.

The steady fall in the value of the Byzantine coinage during the last three centuries of the Byzantine Empire was a direct consequence of the increasing economic crisis. At the same time, the population suffered severely, since the tremendous rise in food prices that followed the continuous devaluations led to widespread hunger among the lower classes.