Did Romans trust their money? Roman officials required legal exchange rates, but not everyone obeyed them--especially when mints adulterated or debased precious metal coinage. Only scant evidence of rebellion survives, but there are hints that show Romans inventing new conventions--some quite elegant. How overt was monetary defiance? Marcus Cornelius Fronto, famed rhetorician and tutor to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, once told the emperor in a letter: “Cleave to the old coinage”. Romans trusted coins when they were reliable, but were skeptical of newly debased coin .