198 CONSUMPTION OF CHAP. IX. 



ancient times to that of the former, we have no 

 means of judging; for their relative value va- 

 ried frequently in the space of time we are 

 contemplating ; gold being sometimes of not 

 more than nine times *the value of silver, and at 

 other times twelve or thirteen times that Value, 

 If the relative values of the two metals had re- 

 mained constantly the same, supposing that of 

 gold to have been ten times the value of silver, 

 it would by no means be a fair inference that there 

 was ten times the weight of silver in the form 

 of circulating coin that there was of gold. The 

 two metals may be demanded for other purposes 

 than that of coin, and the superior adaptability 

 of one for such 'purposes may have determined 

 the relative value of one to the other, in as great 

 or a greater degree than the demand of it for coin. 

 The gold and silver coins circulating under 

 the reigns of the successive Roman emperors 

 were thicker in proportion to their weight 

 than our modern coin, and, consequently, pre- 

 senting a less portion of surface to abrasion, 

 were liable to less loss in the wear ; but, on the 

 other hand, we know that, in the course of the 

 four or five centuries we are considering, the 

 smaller coins were constantly gaining in the 

 proportion which they bore to the larger ones in 

 the time of Augustus. This alteration may 

 have more than counterbalanced the less loss 

 occasioned by the greater thickness of the pieces. 



