Definition
An argenteus was a silver coin used in medieval France, described in historical legal sources as roughly equivalent in value to the English shilling. The term appears in old legal instruments, charter recitals, and feudal records where monetary obligations or fines were expressed in historical currency denominations. Its primary relevance in legal contexts is as a unit of account or payment referenced in ancient documents rather than as circulating currency at the time the documents were consulted by lawyers or courts.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A silver coin minted in the Roman Empire between approximately 294 and 310 CE, weighing roughly 3 scruples.
Historical common usage: The term does not appear as a common English word in Webster's 1913; it remained technical and scholarly.
Editorial note: The Wiktionary definition refers specifically to a Roman imperial coin of the Diocletianic period, while legal dictionary sources use the term to describe a medieval French coin approximating the English shilling. These are distinct monetary objects separated by several centuries. A researcher encountering argenteus in a legal instrument should not assume the Roman numismatic meaning applies; the legal usage tracks the medieval French coin, not the late Roman one.
Common Confusion
Argenteus is sometimes loosely grouped with argentum (silver, or silver money generally) and argentifodina (a silver mine). These are related Latin roots but distinct legal terms. Argentum in legal instruments often refers to silver bullion or silver currency in the aggregate sense, not a specific coin denomination. Argentifodina appears in civil law and old English law in the context of mining rights and property. None of the three is interchangeable with the others in historical documents.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in medieval English legal records, feudal conveyances, Norman-influenced charters, or early common law pleadings may encounter argenteus as a monetary denomination used to express the value of services, rents, fines, or penalties. Because English legal practice drew heavily on Norman French antecedents, French coin names appear with some regularity in pre-modern instruments even when those coins were not in English circulation.
The practical research trap is anachronism: applying the Roman numismatic definition (the Diocletianic argenteus) to a document drafted in medieval England or France will produce an incorrect valuation. The legal dictionary tradition uniformly treats the argenteus as a French coin near the value of a shilling, not as a Roman imperial denomination.
Burrill's entry is notable for immediately following argenteus with argentifodina, reflecting the organizing principle of those dictionaries — grouping Latin root terms together. A researcher scanning Burrill should not conflate the two entries; they address entirely different legal subjects (currency denomination versus mining property rights).
Because monetary values in historical instruments were not always adjusted for coin debasement or regional variation, any attempt to translate an argenteus obligation into modern equivalents requires consultation of numismatic and economic history sources beyond what legal dictionaries provide.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries — Black's (1st ed.), Black's (2nd ed.), and Burrill's — are in complete agreement: the argenteus is an old French coin answering nearly to the English shilling, and all three cite Spelman as authority. Henry Spelman's Glossarium Archaiologicum is the original source for this definition in the legal dictionary tradition, meaning subsequent entries are derivative rather than independent confirmations.
None of the source dictionaries addresses the Roman imperial argenteus, the distinction between the French coin and Roman predecessors, or questions of valuation over time. Burrill adds modest value by placing the term in context alongside argentifodina, but the substantive definition is identical across all sources. Researchers needing more than a gloss will need to consult Spelman directly or specialized works on medieval monetary history.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Medieval Monetary Units in Legal Instruments; Norman French Influence on English Common Law.