Great, and brought by him to Greece, had the effect of decreasing the value of that metal so that instead of being exchangeable at the ratio of 1 to about 13½ of silver, as formerly, gold became depressed, 1 ounce of it exchanging for only 10 ounces of silver. Later, when Julius Cæsar extended his conquering arms into Gaul, and sent to Rome the accumulations of treasure amassed by him, the value of gold by reason of the increased supply was again depressed, so that an ounce of it was exchangeable for only 8.93 ounces of silver. With these exceptions it may be said that the relation of silver to gold for sixteen hundred years before the time of Christ had varied only from the ratio of 1 to 12 to that of 1 to 13.33. Silver at no time during all this period fell below 13.50 to 1 of gold.

Looking, now, at the relative values of gold and silver from the time of Christ to the discovery of America, we find the ratio between the two metals to be as follows:

Table showing the ratio of gold and silver in various countries of the world from the opening of the Christian era to the discovery of America: