Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T22:10:03.338Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Media of Exchange in 16th Century New Spain and the Spanish Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Martin L. Seeger
Martin L. Seeger*
Affiliation:
San Francisco, California
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

There were many kinds of money in use in New Spain from the time of the conquest to the opening of the mint in Mexico City in 1537. Some was Spanish; other was Indian and dated back centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards. After the conquest, Spanish coins were the official media of exchange, but there were very few in New Spain.

Once the mint was in operation, Spanish coins became the first legal tender in the New World—begun 256 years before the first authorized coin was struck at Philadelphia. Furthermore, these “Mexican” coins served as a medium of exchange the world over. The real circulated freely in the Orient; many specimens bear “chop-marks” indicating the official validation of each individual bank through which they passed.

In fact, the Spanish real became the standard of the currency of the United States and circulated with official sanction until 1857. One real was equal to twelve and one-half cents and was called a bit. A quarter of a dollar or twenty-five cents was equal to two bits, hence the present day expression.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , October 1978 , pp. 168 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Palacio, Vicente Riva (2nd ed), México a través de los siglos 5 vols. (Mexico, 1887–1889), 2, 242.Google Scholar

2 Yeoman, R. S., A Guide Book of United States Coins (Whitman Publishing Company: Racine, Wisconsin, 1970), p. 8.Google Scholar

3 Ibid., p. 5.

4 Aiton, Arthur Scott and Wheeler, Benjamin W., “The First American Mint,” Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 1, 199.Google Scholar

5 “Shells from the Caribbean have been traded from hand to hand as far as the central United States; pottery vases from Salvador were carried to distant Tepic in Mexico; gold ornaments from Panama appeared as votive offerings in the Sacred Well of Chichen Itza in Yucatán.” Vaillant, George C., Aztecs of Mexico: Origin, Rise, and Fall of the Aztec Nation (New York, 1944), p. 131.Google Scholar

6 de Sahagún, Bernardino, Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España, 5 vols. (Mexico, 1938), III, Libro X, cap. XVIII, 54.Google Scholar

7 del Castillo, Bernal Díaz, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. 2 vols. (Mexico, 1942), p. 167.Google Scholar

8 Muñoz, Manuel Luengo, “Sumaria noción del poder adquisitivo de la moneda en Indias durante el siglo XVI.” Anuario de estudios americanos, vol. 7 (Sevilla, 1951), 340.Google Scholar

9 “Certain anieles form a rough and ready currency in commerce … and copper axe blades were employed in certain localities, such as Oaxaca.” Joyce, , Archaeology, pp. 128–129.Google Scholar

10 Peterson, Frederick A., Ancient Mexico: An Introduction to the Pre-Hispanic cultures. (New York, 1956), p. 179.Google Scholar

11 de Torquemada, Juan, Monarchía Indiana 3 vols. (Madrid, 1723), 2, 560.Google Scholar

12 Pradeau, Alberto Francisco, Numismatic History of Mexico From the Pre-Columbina Epoch to 1823 (Los Angeles, 1938), p. 17.Google Scholar

13 Pradeau, Alberto Francisco, “Hoe Money,” Numismatic Vo. 47 (1934).Google Scholar “One important factor to consider is not a single historian, nor Cortés himself, has made reference to this so-called ‘hoe money’ being in circulation previous to 1548, and it was not until 28 years after the establishment of the mint in Mexico City, that the existence of this medium of exchange was made known.”

14 Lorenzana, Francisco Antonio y Butrón, , Historia de Nueva España. (Mexico, 1770), p. 581.Google Scholar

15 Prescott, William Hickling, History of the Conquest of Mexico. 3 vols. (Philadelphia, 1873), 1, 118 and 408.Google Scholar

16 de Las Casas, Bartolomé, Apologética historia de las Indias. Serrano, M. y Sanz, , ed. (Madrid, 1909), pp. 299 and 311.Google Scholar

17 Medina, José Toribio, Monedas coloniales hispano-americanas. (Santiago, Chile, 1919), p. 1.Google Scholar

18 Casas, Las, Historia, p. 110.Google Scholar

19 Valliant, , Aztecs, p. 226.Google Scholar

20 Lutz, H. F., “Money and Loans in Ancient Babylonia,” University of California Chronicle, Vol. 26 (1924), p. 9.Google Scholar Neolithic man traded in cattle, and shell money seems also to have been in evidence. Barnes, Harry Elmer, An Economic History of the Western World. (New York, 1937), p. 9.Google Scholar

21 Valliant, , Aztecs, p. 226.Google Scholar

22 de Humboldt, Alexander, Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain. 4 vols. (London, 1822), 2, 26.Google Scholar

23 de Anglería, Pedro Mártir, Décadas del Nuevo Mundo. Colección de fuentes para la historia de América. (Buenos Aires, 1944) 4 vols. III, lib. V, cap.xi.Google Scholar

24 Relación le las encomiendas de indios hechas en Nueva España a los conquistadores y pobladores de ella, año de 1564. Scholes, France V. and Adams, Eleanor B., eds. (Mexico, 1955), chapter XXIII.Google Scholar

25 Documentos para la historia económica de México. 21 vols, in 17. 4th series (Mexico, 1853–1857) II, 110.

26 MacNutt, Francis Augustus, Utters of Cortés. (New York, 1908) p. 79.Google Scholar

27 Otero, Gustavo Adolfo, La vida social del coloniaje. (New York, 1955), p. 35.Google Scholar

28 Documentos para la historia económica de Mexico. 21 vols, in 17. III, p. 429.

29 Colección de documentos inéditios, relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posessiones españolas de América y Oceanía, sacados de los archivos del reino y muy especialmente del de Indias. 42 vols. I, p. 361. (Herein cited as CDIAT)

30 Medina, , Las Monedas, p. 178.Google Scholar

31 de Valle-Arizpe, Artemio, Historia de la ciudad de México según los relatos de sus cronistas. (Mexico, 1946), p. 177.Google Scholar “Although corruptible and cumbersome, it had at least the advantage of being able to serve as food.”

32 Pedro Mártir de Anglería, Décadas del Nuevo Mundo. V, liv. IV, cap.i. See, also, Sahagún, , Historia General, II, pp. 216–217.Google Scholar

33 Valle-Arizpe, , Historia, p. 177.Google Scholar

34 Simpson, Lesley Byrd, The Encomienda in New Spain (Berkeley, 1913) p. 188.Google Scholar

35 Pedro Mártir de Anglería, Décadas del Nuevo Mundo. IV, Lib. VIII, cap. ix.

36 Ibid., II, Lib. IX, cap.iii.

37 Median, , Las Monedas, p. 3.Google Scholar

38 Tozzer, Alfred M., “Landa’s relación de las cosas de Yucatán.” Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology. Vol. XVIII (Harvard University, 1941), chapter XXIII.Google Scholar

39 de Acosta, Joseph, Historia natural y moral de las Indias. (Seville, 1590), p. 241.Google Scholar

40 Documentos para la historia de México. Nueva colección. Publicado por Joaquín García Icazbalceta. 2nd ed. 3 vols. (Mexico, 1954) 2, 63.Google Scholar

41 According to Riva Palacio, one xiquipilli had 24,000 grains. México, p. 248. However, according to Valle-Arizpe, “three xiquipilli is a load, equal to 24,000 grains.” Historia, p. 176.

42 Valle-Arizpe, , Historia, p. 176.Google Scholar

43 Antequera, José María, Historia de la legislación española, desde los tiempos más remotas hasta nuestras días. 2nd ed. (Madrid, 1884) p. 107.Google Scholar

44 Valle-Arizpe, , Historia, p. 176.Google Scholar

45 Pradeau, , Numismatic History, p. 12.Google Scholar

46 Ibid.

47 Simpson, , Encomienda, p. 99.Google Scholar

48 Clavigero, Francisco Javier, Historia de México. 4 vols. Colección de excritores mexicanos (Mexico, 1945) 4, p. 280.Google Scholar

49 Palacio, Riva, México, 2, p. 248.Google Scholar

50 Epistolario de Nueva España 1505–1818. del Paso, Francisco y Troncoso, , ed. 16 vols. (Mexico, 1939–1942) VIII, 102.Google Scholar

51 Gibson, Charles, The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule. (Stanford, California, 1964), p. 358.Google Scholar

52 de Fonseca, Fabián and de Urrutia, Carlos, Historia general del real hacienda. 6 vols. (Mexico, 1845–1853) I, p. 417.Google Scholar

53 Gibson, , The Aztecs, p. 161.Google Scholar

54 de Espinosa, Antonio Vásquez, Compendium and Description of the West Indies. Translated by Clark, Upson (Smithsonian Institution Publication, Washington, D.C., September 1, 1942), p. 164.Google Scholar It is surprising that in the course of Espinosa’s extensive travels in the New World, he was apparently unaware of the practice of counterfeiting cacao beans.

55 Vives, Jaime Vicens, Manual de historia económica de España (Barcelona, 1955), p. 281.Google Scholar

58 Hamilton, Earl J., American Treasure and the Price Revolution in Spain: 1501–1650. (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1934), p. 55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar After 1537, it was divorced from all actual coins.

57 Vives, , Manual, p. 282.Google Scholar

58 Chapman, Charles Edward, Colonial Hispanic America: A History. (New York, 1904), p. 331.Google Scholar “…the variety of uncertainty of coins and of weights and measures, the debasement of coins bv the kings, and the prevalence of counterfeiting (despite the penalty imposed—burning to death), tended to interfere with commerce.” p. 176.

59 Palacio, Riva, México, 3. 242.Google Scholar “The maravedí was of Moorish origin and remained as a monetary unit until modern times in Castile…” Enciclopedia, XXXVI, p. 101.

60 Kirkpatrick, F. A., The Spanish Conquistadores. (New York, 1962) p. 351. “Payments are often made by cutting off pieces from a gold chain.”Google Scholar

61 de Navarette, Martín Fernández, Colección de viajes y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los españoles desde del siglo XV, con various documentos inéditos concernientes á la historia castellana y los establecimientos españoles en Indias, coordinada é ilustrada por Don Martín Fernández de Navarette. (Madrid, 1825–1837) 7 vols. II, p. 184.Google Scholar

62 Muñoz, , Las Monedas, p, 334.Google Scholar José de Medina estimated that 12,301 and a half silver reales and 3,915 and a half marks of silver were sent. Monedas Coloniales, p. 34.

63 Colección de documentos inéditos, relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posessiones españolas de ultramar. 25 vols. V, 114. (Hereinafter cited as CDIU)

64 CDIU, V, 96.

65 Pradeau, , Numismatic History, p. 21.Google Scholar

66 Medina, , Monedas Coloniales, pp. 33.Google Scholar

67 de Anglería, Pedro Mártir, Décadas del Nuevo Mundo, 3, lib. IV, cap. iii.Google Scholar

68 Ibid.

69 Medina, , Monedas Coloniales, p. 14.Google Scholar

70 de Benítez, José, Historia gráfica de la Nueva España. (Mexico, 1929), p. 92.Google Scholar

71 Díaz, Bernal, Historia, pp. 159–161.Google Scholar Circulation continued well into the reign of Philip II. Pradeau, , Numismatic History, p. 21.Google Scholar

72 Epistolario de Nueva España, I,85.

73 de Puga, Vasco, Prouisiones, cédulas, instrucciones de su magestad, ordenancas de difuntes y audiencia para la buena expedición de los negocios y administración de justicia y gouernactón de esta Nueva España, y para el buen tratamiento y conseruación de los indios dende el año de 1525 hasta este presente de 63. 3 vols. 2nd ed. (Mexico, 1878), I, 74–75.Google Scholar

74 de Anglería, Pedro Mártir, Décadas del Nuevo Mundo, 4, Lib. IV, cap. x.Google Scholar

75 Epistolario de Nueva España, II, 41–42.

76 CDIAI, XIII, 193–194.

77 CDIAI, II, 431.

78 Aiton, Arthur Scott, Antonio de Mendoza, First Viceroy of New Spain. (Durham, North Carolina, 1927), pp. 21–22.Google Scholar

79 Palacio, Riva, México, 2, 242.Google Scholar

80 Epistolario de Nueva España, II, 41–42.

81 Ibid., 118.

82 CDIAI, XIII, 217–218.

83 Actas de cabildo de la ciudad de México. 77 vols. (Mexico, 1884-1905) I, p. 14. Tepuzque gold disks were received by the merchants at different prices. Viceroy Mendoza in response to the many complaints, ordered on July 15, 1536, that the Tomín de tepuzque (12 grains) would have the same value as a silver real. Diccionario universal, V, p. 907.

84 Ibid., I, 69.

85 Ibid., I, 69.

86 CDIAI, II, 431 and 450.

87 Palacio, Riva, México, 2, p. 242.Google Scholar

88 CDIAI, XII, p. 141.

89 In March, 1530, the peso de oro had a value of 150 maravedís.

90 Muñoz, , Las monedas, p. 346.Google Scholar Scholes claims that the peso de oro de minas was not an actual coin but a standard unit of monetary value… having a value of about five or six dollars. The Spanish Conqueror, p. 11.

91 Puga, , Provisiones, 1, 364–365.Google Scholar See, also CDIAI, X, 265.

92 Medina, , Monedas Coloniales, p. 135.Google Scholar

93 Pradeau, , Numismatic History, p. 23.Google Scholar According to Haring, , “Three reals went to the staff.” Spanish Empire, p. 308.Google Scholar Aiton, and Wheeler, wrote, “Instead of the 3 reals… authorized by the royal instructions, two were assigned to the workers as fees (derechos).” American Mint, p. 213.Google Scholar

94 Recopilación de leyesde losreynos de las Indias. 4 vols. (Madrid, 1681),2–23–8. Repeated again in 1565.

95 Ibid., 5–21–2.

96 Puga, , Provisiones, 1, 107.Google Scholar

97 Ibid., I, 366.

98 Ibid., I, 388–389.

99 Ibid.

100 CDIU, X, 401–402.

101 Documentos inéditos del siglo XVI para la historia de México. Cuevas, Mariano, ed. (Mexico, 1907), p. 98.Google Scholar

102 Recopilación, 4–23–9.

103 Epistolario de Nueva España, IV, 195–196.

104 Meek, William T., The Exchange Media of Colonial Mexico. (New York, 1948), p. 36.Google Scholar

105 Urrutia, Fonsecaand, Real Hacienda, 1, 111.Google Scholar

106 Pradeau, , Casa de Moneda, p. 20.Google Scholar The assignment was made for two years and then renewed.

107 The building had been confiscated by the Council of the Indies before 1531. Nesmith, , The Coinage, p. 9.Google Scholar See, also, Pradeau, , Casa de Moneda, p. 28.Google Scholar

108 CDIAI, III, 254.

109 Ibid.

110 Ibid., II, 191.

111 Fonseca, and Urrutia, , Real Hacienda, 1, 113.Google Scholar

112 CDIAI, II, 126–128.

113 Humboldt, , Essay, 2, 675–676.Google Scholar

114 Recopilación, 4–23–14.

115 Pradeau, , Numismatic History, p. 27.Google Scholar See, also, Recopilación, 4-23-15.

116 Arthur Scott Aiton Collection. Transcripts from Spanish and Mexican Archives. Clements Library (University of Michigan). King to Audiencia, Leg. 1089.

117 Recopilación, 4–23–15.

118 Aiton, and Wheeler, , American Mint, p. 205.Google Scholar

119 Pradeau cites a letter from Mendoza which states that the three real piece was never minted (Casa de Moneda), but it apparently was coined for a short period at least. During the investigation of Tello de Sandoval in 1545, to investigate Cortés’ charges against Mendoza, the treasurer of the mint testified that no three real piece had been struck in the four years of his tenure, but other witnesses testified that it had been minted for a few years. Medina, , Monedas Coloniales, pp. 59–63.Google Scholar See, also, Palacio, Riva, México, 2, 244.Google Scholar

120 CDIU, III, 385.

121 Puga, , Provisiones, 1, 405.Google Scholar

122 Muñoz, , Us monedas, p. 347.Google Scholar

123 Aiton, and Wheeler, , American Mint, p. 215.Google Scholar

124 Hamilton, , American Treasure, pp. 53–54.Google Scholar

125 Palacio, Riva, México, 2, 248.Google Scholar

126 Documentos para la bistorta de México. Nueva coleccón. García Icazbalceta, Publicado por Joaquín. 2nd ed. 3 vols. (Mexico, 1954) 1, 131.Google Scholar

127 CDIU, V, 114.

128 de Orozco, Francisco y Jiménez, , Colección de documentos históricos, inéditos ó muy raros, referentes al arzobispado de Guadalajara. 6 vols. (Guadalajara, 1922–1927), 5, 913.Google Scholar

129 Pradeau, , Numismatic History, p. 30.Google Scholar

130 Recopilación, 4-23-3.

131 Torquemada, , Monarchia indiana, 1, 614.Google Scholar

132 Cedulario indiana, III, 230. See, also, Diccionario universal ilustrada, V, 914.

133 Actas de Cabildo, VI, 181.

134 Berlin, Henrich, Fragmentos disconocidos de Códice de Yanhuitlán y otras investigaciones Mixtéeos. (Mexico, 1947), p. 41.Google Scholar

135 Medina, , Las monedas, p. 6.Google Scholar

136 Recopilación, 4–14–2.

137 Luis de León Romana to King, April 20, 1553. Arthur Scott Aiton Collection. See, also Archivo General de Indias, Audiencia de México, Leg. 168.

138 Haring, , Spanish Empire, p. 311.Google Scholar

139 Recopilación, 4–14–2.

140 According to Orozco, y Berra, , more than twenty-two million pesos of silver were coined under Mendoza. Apuntes para la historia de la moneda y acuñación en Mexico, desde antes de la conquista. (Mexico, 1880), 4 vols. 2, 122.Google Scholar

141 Puga, , Provisiones, 2, 281.Google Scholar

142 Audiencia to King, June 22, 1558. Arthur Scott Aiton Collection.

143 Medina, , Las monedas, p. 42.Google Scholar

144 Epistolario de Nueva España, XIV, 16–17.

145 Audiencia to King, March 22, 1560. Arthur Scott Aiton Collection.

146 Actas de Cabildo, VI, 492.

147 Epistolario de Nueva España, IX, 237.

148 edro de Ledesma to King, May 23, 1563. Arthur Scott Aiton Collection.

149 Francisco de Morales to King, October 1, 1563. Arthur Scott Aiton Collection.

150 In 1535, the king had ordered the Audiencia of New Spain to be alert to prevent counterfeiting of money. CDIAI, XII, 267.

151 “I wrote to Your Majesty how I feared the slyness and ingenuity of the natives in falsifying the money among themselves.” Riva Palacio, México, II, 244.

152 October 1, 1563. Arthur Scott Aiton Collection.

153 Recopilación, 4–23–7.

154 Medina, , Las monedas, p. 43.Google Scholar

155 Colección de documentos inéditos, para la historia de España. Navarrete, Martín Fernández et al., eds. 113 vols. Vol. 3, 216.Google Scholar