ABSTRACT
The gradual depreciation of national currencies in pursuit of fiscal and monetary goals, a practice inherited from the late medieval period, was a key feature of monetary policies so ot en pursued by states in early-modern Europe. Recent studies have highlighted the decisive importance of monetary objectives for these decisions. In 1988, Glassman and Redish, citing the experiences of England and France, contended that the successive depreciations carried out in early-modern Europe – either through enhancements or physical debasements of the currency – were designed to avoid the dificulties and costs generated by progressive undervaluations of the coinage. 1 Meanwhile, the shortage of legal gold, silver and billon money itself created the conditions for this process, encouraging the parallel use of counterfeit and clipped coins. More recently, Sargent and Velde have argued that medieval and early-modern coinage debasements were essentially a rational defensive policy to remedy periodic shortages of ‘small change’, especially when circulating coins became worn over time. 2 Given the need for petty coins in everyday transactions, these debasements were absolutely necessary to avoid economically damaging price deflation.
