| 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 202-306 |
|
| 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 |
|
|
| 1587 |
Thomas Gresham attempts to delay the Spanish Armada by economic warfare |
| Gresham and his associates 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 |
|
|
| 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 |
|
