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    Copper

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    meadnan
    Sweden had abundant copper mines and used copper as currency in the 17th century, but overissued copper coins which led to inflation and the currency losing value. In the early 18th century, Baron von Görtz became the central banker and issued unlimited, low quality copper coins that also depreciated rapidly. Görtz was executed for his role in the currency failure.

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    Copper

    Uploaded by

    meadnan
    28 views2 pages
    Sweden had abundant copper mines and used copper as currency in the 17th century, but overissued copper coins which led to inflation and the currency losing value. In the early 18th century, Baron von Görtz became the central banker and issued unlimited, low quality copper coins that also depreciated rapidly. Görtz was executed for his role in the currency failure.

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    Sweden had abundant copper mines and used copper as currency in the 17th century, but overissued copper coins which led to inflation and the currency losing value. In the early 18th century, Baron von Görtz became the central banker and issued unlimited, low quality copper coins that also depreciated rapidly. Görtz was executed for his role in the currency failure.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    28 views2 pages

    Copper

    Uploaded by

    meadnan
    Sweden had abundant copper mines and used copper as currency in the 17th century, but overissued copper coins which led to inflation and the currency losing value. In the early 18th century, Baron von Görtz became the central banker and issued unlimited, low quality copper coins that also depreciated rapidly. Görtz was executed for his role in the currency failure.

    Copyright:

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    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    The Swedish Empire had the greatest and most numerous copper mines in Europe as it entered into its

    pre-eminence in the early 17th century as an emerging Great Power. Through poor fiscal policies and in
    part the Treaty of Älvsborg, Sweden lost control of its reserves of precious metals, primarily silver, of
    which most had fled to the burgeoning trade economy of Amsterdam. In 1607 the Swedish king Charles
    IX attempted to persuade the populace to exchange their silver-based currency for a copper-based coin
    of equal face value, though this offer was not generally taken up. Sweden's large army of the time were
    paid entirely in copper currency, further issued in large numbers by Gustavus IIto finance his war
    against Ferdinand II of Germany. The face value of the copper coins in circulation now greatly exceeded
    the reserves of the state and production of the national economy, and quickly the value of the currency
    fell to its commodity value, which in a country where copper was so abundant, was small indeed. The
    savings of the people of Sweden were wiped out.

    When Gustavus' daughter and heir Christina reached maturity at 18, after a brief fling with paper-based
    money backed by copper—which was well received initially but soon lost credibility—she began issuing
    copper in lumps as large as fifteen kilograms to serve as currency. Unwieldy as they were, the copper-
    based monetary system worked to a fashion until the world copper price slumped. Sweden's great
    copper no longer commanded the premium it once had on world markets, and foreign income dried up.
    Relative to the rest of Europe, Sweden's people once more had become poor.

    In an effort to shore up the economy, government minister Baron von Görtz stepped up to the challenge
    and became the country's central banker. He issued more copper-based currency without limit, with a
    face value of one daler (much greater than their intrinsic value) and which were technically inferior and
    easy to counterfeit. Soon these coins were so abundant that they too depreciated rapidly towards their
    raw metal value as belief spread that the copper coins would soon be unacceptable as a form of
    payment of taxes. Görtz was blamed for the failure, and was duly beheaded in March of 1719, a
    punishment which greatly pleased the Swedish people.

    A brief history of copper and its use as money.

    Copper is the first metal man is known to work with and its
    discovery dates
    back to between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago. The Sumerians and
    Chaldeans
    soon learned they could hammer it into sheets and work those
    sheets into
    shapes. The ancient Egyptians also used copper to fashion eating
    utensils,
    farm implements, dishes, trays and more. Many of these artifacts
    ended up
    buried in Egyptian tombs and have remained in good condition to
    this day.

    The Romans used copper as money, mainly for small purchases


    that
    couldn't be easily handled by silver and gold coin. The earliest
    Roman
    copper coins called "As" were cast in stone molds. Later, they
    were struck
    using a set of dies with the impressions placed into an anvil.

    Today pure copper and copper alloys are used in a wide variety of
    industrial
    processes and features of modern life (most notably electrical
    wires, pipes,
    and the Statue of Liberty).

    Up until 1982 the penny was made of 95 percent copper. Copper


    may very
    well come into use again as intrinsically valuable money for small
    purchases. Because of its low price it is easy to acquire and
    accumulate.
    Unlike gold and silver that are considered the money of kings and
    rich men,
    copper is viewed as the money of the working man, who needs to
    make
    small investments and transactions. It can also be the money of
    children.

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