The early modern Atlantic trade marked a key stage in the globalisation process. Precious metals –gold and silver – played a vital role: trading as commodities in the form of bullion or fueling merchant networks as specie. Due to its relative abundance, silver was the most heavily exchanged metal across the early modern Atlantic, whereas copper was used in local markets.

This session features recent approaches that track the transformation and trajectory of silver from its origins in ores located on either sides of the Atlantic, up to when it reaches financial centres in continental Europe, where it was traded mainly as currency. As a point of comparison, copper mining and its monetary use in the early modern Atlantic world will also be considered. The contributions rely mainly on economic and economic history methodologies, complemented by geographical and cultural history approaches. The use of novel software applications as tools to explain economic historical episodes is also a feature of some papers.

Part 1 of this session depicts specific aspects of mining activity, particularly in early modern Mexico (New Spain) between the 16th and 19th centuries. It starts by taking a geographical approach through the use of spatio-temporal sequences in order to explain mining patterns in early modern Spanish America. The second presentation focuses on an archaeological study on the environmental effects of copper mining in early modern Mexico. The section concludes addressing the volatility and risks of the silver mining sector, which go hand in hand not only with the nature of silver mining, but with the volatility spillovers from the mercury mining sector as well. The latter establishes a link between Spanish American and Chinese mining industries.

Part 2 will focus on the transformation of precious metals from bullion to currency, starting with a depiction of the way in which minting machines were represented in early modern literature. Further, an analysis of the effects of market volatility on the exchange rates between bullion and coins in early modern Mexico will be featured. The last chapter of this section highlights the relevance of the relationship between monetary demand and the functions of money, in the particular case of copper coins in 18th – century Mexico.

Markets in early modernity were articulated around financial centres and fairs. Exchange and interest rates were determined by the relative abundance of money and credit on money markets. Part 3 traces the effect of changing silver quantities on prices, exchange and interest rates, in various settings on either sides of the early modern Atlantic. Special attention will be given to interest rates and prices in Seville during the 16th century and in Mexico during the 18th century. This section concludes with the fairs of Leipzig, as a gateway to Eastern Europe in early modern times.

Mining and its outcome were strongly linked to political, theoretical and cultural issues. Part 4 discusses the policy of the Spanish Crown to overcome the volatility of American silver mining and its repercussions on Spanish mining affairs. The change over time of theoretical approaches related to precious metals will be presented. Focus will also be placed upon images and cultural concepts of silver in early modern Europe. Conclusions drawn from economic historians specialists in numismatics and art history will complete the session.