 After the runaway inflation of the third century , associated with the production of fiat money to pay for public expenses , Diocletian had tried unsuccessfully to re establish trustworthy minting of silver and billon coins . The failure of the various Diocletianic attempts at the restoration of a functioning silver coin resided in the fact that the silver currency was overvalued in terms of its actual metal content , and therefore could only circulate at much discounted rates . Minting of the Diocletianic " pure " silver argenteus ceased , therefore , soon after 305 , while the billon currency continued to be used until the 360s . From the early 300s on , Constantine forsook any attempts at restoring the silver currency , preferring instead to concentrate on minting large quantities of good standard gold pieces — the solidus , 72 of which made a pound of gold . New ( and highly debased ) silver pieces would continue to be issued during Constantine 's later reign and after his death , in a continuous process of retariffing , until this bullion minting eventually ceased , de jure , in 367 , with the silver piece being de facto continued by various denominations of bronze coins , the most important being the centenionalis . These bronze pieces continued to be devalued , assuring the possibility of keeping fiduciary minting alongside a gold standard . The anonymous author of the possibly contemporary treatise on military affairs De Rebus Bellicis held that , as a consequence of this monetary policy , the rift between classes widened : the rich benefited from the stability in purchasing power of the gold piece , while the poor had to cope with ever @-@ degrading bronze pieces . Later emperors like Julian the Apostate tried to present themselves as advocates of the humiles by insisting on trustworthy mintings of the bronze currency . 
