> Given that the silver content of coins decreased by over 95% (gold content decreased slower, at an exchange-adjusted rate shown in Figure 1) from 160-274 AD b

> Given that the silver content of coins decreased by over 95% (gold content decreased slower, at an exchange-adjusted rate shown in Figure 1) from 160-274 AD but inflation over this period was only slightly over 100% (see Figure 2, which shows the prices of wine, wheat, and donkeys in Roman Egypt over that period as attested by papyri). If inflation had followed the commodity value of the coins, it would have been roughly 2,000%, as the coins in 274 had 1/20th of the commodity value of coins in 160 AD. This assumes that customers would have been able to accurately determine the percetange of gold in coins. Was it the case? Or could Emperors have silently defrauded the population without it knowing that the coins don't actually contain as much gold as they used to? Also, it implies that a person that hypothetically did that analysis could have and would have communicated it to others. But communication channels most likely were under heavy imperial control, and a person that would discover that would much more likely use this information to his advantage rather than telling it to everyeone around.