There is a new book available for preorder for those with an interest in monetary history. The book, Good Money: Private Enterprise and Popular Coinage: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage, 1775-1821 by George Selgin, tells the story of an almost unknown, at least by me, episode in the history of money — British manufacturers' challenge to the Crown's monopoly on coinage.
In the 1780s, when the Industrial Revolution was gathering momentum, the Royal Mint failed to produce enough small-denomination coinage for factory owners to pay their workers. As the currency shortage threatened to derail industrial progress, manufacturers began to mint custom-made coins, called "tradesman's tokens." Rapidly gaining wide acceptance, these tokens served as the nation's most popular currency for wages and retail sales until 1821, when the Crown outlawed all moneys except its own.
Good Money shows that private money - coinage - played a crucial role in fueling Great Britain's Industrial Revolution. In telling his story Selgin challenges many of the beliefs upon which all modern government-currency monopolies are based. He therefore sheds light on contemporary private-sector alternatives to government-issued money. Things such as digital monies, cash cards, electronic funds transfer, and (outside of the United States) spontaneous "dollarization."
No comments:
Post a Comment