A Grand History of Money

A History of Money mainly traces the changes in metal currencies and monetary standards in Europe and the Americas from 1252 to 1896. Drawing on a wealth of official records, diaries, letters, and classical texts, it explains the major effects these changes had on commerce and the development of nations, and uncovers the nature of metal currency and the deeper reasons why bimetallism gave way to the monometallic standard. The book details the evolution of monetary policies in Florence, Venice, France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, the United States, British India, and other countries and regions. Why did gold coins first appear in Florence, Italy? How did bimetallism emerge? Why did it create an arbitrage mechanism for precious metals? Why did it trigger crises in England, Germany, and other countries, while Spain remained entirely unaffected? Why is the theory of bimetallism mistaken? After the Low Countries became Europe's center for currency exchange, how did that affect trade and commerce? How did France's metal currency depreciate? What impact did the flow of precious metals from the Americas have on European countries? Why did bimetallism give way to the monometallic standard? With many small German states each maintaining its own currency system, what steps eventually led Germany to a unified monetary system? Why did the United States advocate adopting the silver standard? With revenues unchanged, why did the government of British India go from a budget surplus to a deficit? This book provides detailed answers.