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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;EWC3, post: 4575676, member: 93416&quot;]My interest in such matters also tracks back in large part to Braudel&#039;s book, <i>The Structures of Everyday Life. </i>Back in the early 1980’s I noticed that in that book he led readers to believe that when India returned to a pure silver coinage (ie when Sher Shah launched his rupee - around 1539) this was somehow linked to the finds of silver in South America. But Potosi was not even discovered until 1545. The idea was and is utterly preposterous.</p><p><br /></p><p>So I wrote to Immanuel Wallerstein, who ran the <i>Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems and Civilization </i>to ask him why Braudel had written this nonsense. He replied that Braudel had no knowledge of Indian economic history. But that begs the question – why would a man consistently claimed to be ‘the world’s greatest historian’ write nonsense about things he had (supposedly) never studied?</p><p><br /></p><p>Athens and Spain were dumping silver overseas in exchange for goods and services. It seems unlikely that either was meeting the need for silver coinage in domestic trade. To that extent, it seems misleading to call their issues “trade coins”, since they do not seem to be championing trade even in their home market. Personally I think it would be more accurate to call them “bullion export coins”.</p><p><br /></p><p>Concerning the link to a piece by Ellen Castelow on the South Sea Bubble – she suggests:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>We read about the South Sea Bubble today and wonder how so many people got involved in such a dubious undertaking. </i></p><p><br /></p><p>Well - count me out Ellen. When I read about it I think “Here we go again”.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rob T</p><p><br /></p><p>PS A pity Julian II is not around on CoinTalk..........[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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