Periodic recoinage as a monetary tax

Conditions for the Rise and Fall of the Bracteate Economy

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4354233
AutoresRoger Svensson (0000-0003-3377-8460, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen69
Número4
Páginas1108-1131
Fecha de publicación2016-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic History Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ehr.12283
OpenAlexW2296145734
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas10

Scholars in the fields of archaeology and numismatics have long been familiar with the phenomenon of periodic recoinage (renovatio monetae), which dominated monetary taxation in medieval Europe for almost 200 years. However, this form of monetary taxation is seldom, if ever, discussed in the literature of economics or economic history. No economic theory has ever been proposed to explain periodic recoinage. The present study aims to make up for this absence. It examines the qualities that typically differentiate regions with periodic recoinage from those with other monetary systems and analyses how periodic recoinage was monitored and enforced. The principal example of frequently renewed coins is uni-faced bracteates, which were often subject to annual or even biannual recoinages. Although bracteates were not the cause of periodic recoinage, their features facilitated frequent renewals. The study discusses the economic consequences of periodic recoinage and links the breakdown of this monetary system with the end of bracteates' role as the principal coin in the fourteenth century

Ancient history · Economics · Economy · Keynesian economics · Macroeconomics · Monetary economics · Monetary policy · Monetary system · Numismatics · Phenomenon · Principal (computer security) · Subject (documents) · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Economic and Legal Thought · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History