Illustrations

  2.1. Mint equivalent of small coinage in various countries, 1200–1800.

16

  2.2. Portrait of Sir William Camden, by Marcus Gheeraerts.

17

  2.3. Price levels in units of account, various countries, 1660–2000.

35

  4.1. A penny of Charlemagne.

46

  4.2. A late medieval mint, by Leonard Beck.

49

  4.3. An 18th c. screw press.

56

  4.4. Silver token depicting the medieval and the Renaissance technology.

57

  4.5. Cylinder used in the Segovia mint in 1620 to produce pattern coins.

59

  4.6. A late 19th c. steam press.

62

  4.7. Private redeemable token issued in Paris in 1792.

63

  4.8. French copper coin and imitations by neighboring countries, 17th c.

67

  6.1. Portrait of Girolamo Butigella.

109

  9.1. Mint equivalents and prices of Florentine coins, 1252–1531.

141

  9.2. Minting intervals, price level, and price of gold coin in Florence, 1325–81.

143

  9.3. Gold coins and gold-based units of account in Florence, 1390– 1535.

147

  9.4. Price indices for Florence, 1325–81.

159

10.1. Mint equivalents and prices of coins in Venice, 1172–1471.

161

10.2. Mint equivalent of silver coins and price of gold coins in Venice, 1275–1484.

162

10.3. Exogenous increase in Venice’s stock of m, by Valentin Lefebvre.

172

10.4. Real and nominal stock of Venetian torneselli, 1353–1475.

175

10.5. Market and intrinsic value of the tornesello, 1353–1475.

176

11.1. Intervals in the three-coin case.

190

11.2. Price of wheat in Toulouse, 1486–1650.

193

11.3. Commodity price index, Poitou, 1460–1640.

194

11.4. Gold/silver ratios in France and Europe, 1475–1650.

195

11.5. Minting volumes in France, 1493–1600.

196

11.6. Mint prices and equivalents for silver coins in France, 1514– 1650.

198

11.7. Mint equivalent and price for gold coins in France, 1475–1650.

199

11.8. Legal and market values of large coins in France, 1554–77.

201

11.9. Index of the French livre against other currencies, 1562–76.

207

12.1. Paper money of Leyden, 1574.

222

14.1. Spanish copper coins, early 17th c.

234

14.2. Spanish copper coins, 16th and 17th c.

235

14.3. A Roman coin stamped in Castile in 1636.

235

14.4. Nominal and real value of copper coins in Castile, 1595–1680.

242

14.5. Market and intrinsic value of a cuarto coin, 1600–1660.

243

14.6. Indices of x and e for a cuarto coin, 1600–1660.

244

14.7. Real balances of assignats in France, 1789–96.

247

15.1. Price of a gold coin in Perpignan, 1640–56.

256

15.2. Price of gold and large silver coins in Bavaria, 1610–25.

258

15.3. Price of large silver coins in Russia, 1655–63.

259

16.1. Portrait of Sir Henry Slingsby.

269

16.2. Minting volumes in England, 1660–1718.

274

16.3. Market price and legal limits on the guinea, 1692–96.

278

16.4. Market price of gold and silver bars in London, 1693–99.

279

16.5. Intervals with full-weight and underweight silver coins.

280

17.1. Market and legal gold/silver ratios in London and Hamburg, 1694–1797.

297

17.2. Gold minting and market price of gold in London, 1718–1800.

299

17.3. Market price of silver bars in London, 1713–1800.

301

21.1. Constraints on the price level imposed by the arbitrage conditions.

344

21.2. Rates of loss from wear and tear on coins, 19th c. estimates.

347

22.1. Stationary equilibrium, non-binding constraint.

352

22.2. Effect of a shift in endowments.

355

22.3. Effect of a shift in endowments (logarithmic case).

358