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 [email protected] w Białymstok
