Nummularii – государственные и частные банкиры в древнем Риме

Abstract

Nummularii, like the other groups of entrepreneurs in the ancient Rome, such as trapezitae, argentarii, mensarii, mensularii, coactores, coactores argentarii, stipulatores argentarii, collectarii, were engaged in the banking business. Among the wide range of services offered by the Roman bankers nummularii dealt initially only with the quality and exchange of coins. Therefore, by performing these operations they performed the role of official assay institutions. Their duties were initially primarily to examine coins and metal from which they were made, and setting the value of minted gold and silver coins. Nummularii have used empirical examining methods, based on the senses of sight, touch, hearing, and by comparing them to the patterns and samples. They also checked whether the coin was minted by the appropriate authority. There is no evidence that other bankers, in addition to nummularii, were involved in the control of the quality of the coin. Presumably, after some time they expanded their business in banking. In addition to examining the quality of coins nummularii also engaged in their exchange. They conducted also deposit operations and that’s why they became competitors to argentarii on the market of banking services.