[C19fan]

The Cerro Rico mountain might have been the richest mine in human history. The silver mined there fueled the Spanish Empire and had global impact. About 25% of the silver was shipped to China to purchase silks and porcelain. The importation of silver into Europe lead to inflation throughout the 15th/16th centuries. That silver besides leading to the development of the mining town Potosi lead to the development of Lima, Acapulco and Manila. Potosi at its heights might have been the richest city in the world. There was a price to be paid. Natives were "drafted" to work in the mines leading to tens of thousands of deaths from work conditions and exposure to mercury used to extract the silver from the ore.

[aspasia]

It’s curious that history textbooks always mention the gold rush. in looking at the periodic table of elements, I noticed there is an associated rush for each one of the elements. Lithium being a recent one. Anyhow, back to silver.

[Paladin2]

[PeterPrinciple]

It took more than a decade to hunt down and punish the great Potosí mint fraud’s culprits and to restore the coinage to proper weight and purity. A new design debuted to signal the new coins, but winning back global trust in Potosí silver took decades. Into the 1670s, even as Don Elias took donations in exchange for sermons in Syriac, Sumatran pepper-growers balked at coins stamped with a ‘P’.

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They debased the coins. what goes around, comes around.

[DUMBGRUNT]

A nice find!
Thanks