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 1300 - 1499 |
 1600 - 1699 |
© Roy Davies & Glyn Davies, 1996 & 1999.
Based on the book: A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, rev. ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996. 716p. ISBN 0 7083 1351 5. (Page numbers in the 3rd edition published in 2002 may be slightly different).
| 1452-1519 | Life of Leonardo da Vinci |
|---|---|
|
Among Leonardo's drawings are designs for a press to produce more uniform coins
quickly using a water driven mill. This innovation is widely adopted and the
new money is termed milled money.
p 178-179 |
|
| 1500-1540 | Huge supplies of New World gold reach Spain |
|
On average between 1,000 and 1,500 kg. of gold reach Spain each year during
this period. Initially these supplies are obtained by plunder, especially from
the Aztecs and Incas, and later by applying new mining methods to the New World
gold deposits.
p 176,186-187 |
|
| 1504-1507 | Large-scale exports of manillas from Portugal to West Africa |
|
During this short period alone a single trading station on the Guinea coast
imports 287,813 manillas. (A manilla is a metal anklet, bracelet or front
section of a necklace, usually made of copper or brass, used for money which
can be conveniently and ornamentally carried on the person).
p 45-46 |
|
| 1504 | Henry VII issues shilling coins |
|
Up to this time the English shilling has simply been a unit of account.
p 191 |
|
| 1511 | The Protestant Reformation begins |
|
Although Luther, Calvin and Zwingli condemned traditional forms of usury they
weakened the church's power and influence over economic affairs. Later on in
England, Henry VIII, after breaking with Rome, legalises the charging of
interest and seizes monastic property.
p 193-194,220-221 |
|
| 1519-1521 | Cortés conquers Mexico |
|
Before the arrival of the Spaniards the Aztecs and Mayas used gold dust (kept
in transparent quills) and cocoa beans (kept for large payments in sacks of
24,000) as money.
p 47 |
|
| 1519 | Minting of Thalers begins in Joachimsthal in Bohemia |
|
This coin made from locally-mined silver is known as the Joachimsthaler,
or thaler for short, from its place of origin, and is widely imitated.
The Anglicised form of the name, dollar, is later used for the Spanish
peso and the Portuguese eight-real piece which circulate widely in North
America both before and after the United States gains its independence.
p 459 |
|
| 1526 | Nicholas Copernicus writes his Treatise on Debasement |
|
With many provinces of his native Poland, and other parts of Europe, suffering
from debasement the great astronomer argues that it is the total number of
coins in circulation, rather than the weight of metal they contain, that
determines the level of prices and the buying power of the currency.
p 230 |
|
| 1532 | Pizarro lands in Peru and begins the conquest of the Incas |
|
The Incas were unique in
reaching a high degree of civilization without the use of money even though
they possessed huge amounts of gold and silver. The more rigid a state's
planning system the less the need for money.
p 47 |
|
| 1534-1540 | Dissolution of the Monasteries |
|
Henry VIII seizes control of the property of the monasteries, partly to promote
the Reformation in England but mainly because of his need to find money for the
defence of the realm.
p 193-194 |
|
| 1540-1640 | The Price Revolution in Europe |
|
Europe, including Britain, experiences a prolonged period of inflation, partly
because of the huge influx of gold and silver from the Spanish colonies in
America and partly because the increase in population is not matched by an
increase in the output of the economy. Compared with many earlier and later
inflations this hardly deserves being described as a revolution.
p 211-217 |
|
| 1542-1551 | The Great Debasement |
|
Henry VIII debases the coinage of England as a means of raising revenue. In
Ireland the debasement started earlier, in 1536, and does not finish until
1560.
p 197-202 |
|
| 1545 | Henry VIII legalises interest charges on loans |
|
An upper limit of 10% per annum is set.
p 221 |
|
| 1545 | Discovery of an enormous source of silver in Potosi |
|
This is a mountain of silver, 6 miles in circumference, in what later becomes
Bolivia.
p 187 |
|
| 1551-1574 | Thomas Gresham works in Holland |
|
During these years Gresham lives, on and off, in Antwerp learning the arts of
large-scale lending and borrowing as well as foreign exchange. The skills he
acquires equip him to become one of the leading advisers of Elizabeth I.
p 232 |
|
| 1553 | The first English joint stock company is founded |
|
This is the Russia Company which is the product of the search for the
North-East passage to Asia.
p 235 |
|
| 1560 | Elizabeth I begins the reform of England's debased coinage |
|
This is a first step towards the complete replacement of the debased coinage
she inherited from her predecessors. Thomas Gresham, after whom Gresham's
law ("bad money drives out good") is named, is an influential adviser. The
debased coins are recalled and melted down and the base and precious metals
separated. The recoinage programme is completed in 1561.
p 202-206 |
|
| 1563 | Discovery of mercury deposits at Huancavelica |
|
These deposits enable silver to be extracted from Potosi by the mercury amalgam
process already used in silver mines in Mexico. Thereafter huge supplies of
silver are sent to Europe and China.
p 188 |
|
| 1566 | The Royal Exchange is built |
|
This shows the new importance of banking, and particularly foreign exchange
dealing, in England.
p 232 |
|
| 1568 | First inland joint-stock companies in England founded |
|
These are the Mines Royal and the Mineral and Battery. German metalworkers are
prominent in the development of both.
p 235 |
|
| 1577-1580 | Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe |
|
The booty seized from the Spaniards (estimated at between £300,000 and
£1,500,000) has been described by Keynes as the fountain and origin of
British Foreign Investment.
p 213 |
|
| 1585 | Bank of Genoa founded |
|
p 233 |
|
| 1587 | Francis Walsingham attempts to delay the Spanish Armada by economic warfare |
|
Walsingham's agents reputedly corner large numbers of bills drawn on Genoan
banks in order to delay the build up of resources to equip the Spanish Armada
which sets sail against England the next year.
p 232 |
|
| 1587 | Banco di Rialto, Venice, founded |
|
p 233 |
|
| 1597 | Spanish exports of silver to China reach a peak |
|
In this year 345,000 kg. of Peruvian/Bolivian and Mexican silver are shipped
from Acapulco to China via Manilla.
p 189 |
|
| 1599 | The Dutch attempt to corner the pepper market |
|
Pepper has a high value-to-weight ratio especially at times of real or
artificial scarcity. On some rare occasions it is worth even more than its
weight in gold. The Dutch action prompts the formation of the London East India
Company the following year.
p 184-185 |
|
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1300 - 1499 |
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