HISP 226 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Arbitrage, Mutilation, Bartolomé De Las Casas
19 Mar 2016
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Lecture 6 - colonial society (1700-1810): the church, education and the economy. Gold: worth 8-12 times it"s weight in silver, very difficult to use outside of large-scale transactions, it was simply too valuable, gold mines were rare compared to silver. Silver: very easy to trade, accepted at all socio-economic levels, commonly used for salaries, to purchase necessities. Paper currency and letters of credit were less useful in international trade. National exchange rate fluctuations bring more risk for paper currency. Not very durable, easily destroyed/damaged by water and fire. Universally accepted in all markets, with an established level of purity for coins and bars. In reality, over the course of colonization, it was silver that was found in significant amounts. 98% of all precious metals mined was silver; 2% was everything else including gold. What were mining towns: short-term accommodation of a mining community. Once the silver/gold ran out, everyone moved on to the next hotspot.
