History ETDs

Publication Date

7-6-1973

Abstract

This study investigated the informational and interpretive problems regarding the smelters in the Caribbean, the mint in Santo Domingo, and the money and coinage units both used and produced in the Caribbean. The smelters melted and cast gold, silver, and copper into ingots which were weighed, taxed, and stamped. These smelters became the first centers of economic activities in the Caribbean. Seaports replaced the inland smelter towns as commercial centers when mining production declined and agricultural exports became more important. The mint in Santo Domingo was authorized and established after the mint in Mexico. The types and values of coins struck in Santo Domingo were unique in all the Spanish Empire. The problems of operating the mint and obtaining silver for coins are part of this study. The coins used in the Caribbean were comparable in value to gold bullion which was weighed in units of castellanos that were commonly called pesos. Specially minted and marked reales were sent to the Caribbean from Seville to circulate locally at a higher value than the same coin in Spain. When the mint in Santo Domingo started operating, the coins struck were five and ten reales, which reflected a continuation of the special, higher coin value in the Caribbean. The copper-silver alloy, or vellón, coins struck in Santo Domingo provided small coins for the local economy. The exchange rate fell on these cheap Caribbean coins causing the economic isolation and depression of the Caribbean to become more intense. The sources of information for this monetary history were gleaned from letters and documents dealing with Spain and the Caribbean. Many incidental references compiled together revealed general patterns which correlated with the documents dealing especially with smelters, coins, mints, and money. The Santo Domingo Archivo General de la Nación documents dealing with the mint in Santo Domingo were helpful as a source of coinage information and exchange values. The conclusions of this study are that the monetary system established in the Caribbean was the first European money system in the Americas, and that this system was shaped by forces in the local Caribbean economy. Other Spanish areas borrowed the Caribbean-developed money system. The local Caribbean coinage exerted an independent influence on the regional economy which intensified the economic depression in the Caribbean during the 1570's.

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

Troy Smith Floyd

Second Committee Member

Donald Colgett Cutter

Third Committee Member

Donald G. Tailby

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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