It also meant vastly increasing the amount of coins in circulation. There was a corresponding increase in prices. The emperors usually blamed the price increases on the greed of merchants.
Some things never change.
Also:
When prices rose Diocletian attributed the inflation to the greed of merchants. In 301 AD Diocletian issued an edict declaring fixed prices; i.e., price controls.
Nixon comes to mind, too.
One aspect I find most fascinating about the Roman "debullionization" of their coinage was how they gradually diluted the gold/silver bullion content of their coinage. And further, how at one point it was decided that previously 100% silver coins went to 40% Ag---irresistably reminiscent of 1965-1969 Kennedy Halves.
"Diocletian issued an edict declaring fixed prices."
Diocletian also bound the tenant farmers to the soil they cultivated. The vile system of serfdom which prevailed for more than 1,000 years. The middle (curial or decurion) class was also frozen in place and required to meet various public expenses out of their own pocket. The caste system imposed by Diocletian froze them in place. Economic decay and high taxes gradually ruined them.
Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. Currently more and more burdens are being placed on the middle class, while the very wealthy become more so. Those who fail to learn the lessons of Enron... In Mexico the extremes of great wealth, great poverty and a small middle class are one of the forces driving Mexicans north.