Unification and Money

B08　—　Cross-cutting theme

One standard for all. Yet each face left as it was.

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama　／　Reading time (main text): About 8 min (3,929 characters of text at 500 chars/min; exercises and readings not included)　／　Beyond the text: 11 exercises · 5 coins · 11 readings

What this course teaches you to do

• You can treat unification of the standard and unification of the issuer as separate matters.
• You can explain the weakness of an alliance that has no common institution.
• You can distinguish unification driven "from above" from unification driven "by marriage."
• When reading an account of unification, you can check what was unified and what was left.
• Can explain German unification as a process where "unification on the books came first."
• Can chronologically state the practical steps of the Euro's launch (naming, convergence, fixing rates, cash introduction).

Lessons (8)

1. What to align, and what to leave aloneUnification comes in two kinds: of the standard, and of the issuer. Most unifications are only the first.
2. A league with no penalty breaks from withinA union with no body to enforce it always breaks from within. Having the clause is not the same as it working.
3. Unity from above, and unity by marriageUnity by law can be designed; unity by marriage cannot. How it proceeds shapes the result.
4. When unity breaks, what breaks firstCountries that speak much of unity have also known much division. The two go back and forth.
5. Before the Battle Standard, the Ledger — Germany's Quiet UnificationCustoms union, railways, and monetary conventions. Germany was unified at the counter before it was unified on the battlefield.
6. Two Commonalities of the Seventeen Provinces — The CarolusguldenThe face of a common monarch and a common name. "Trust in the name," independent of metal, was the substance of unification.
7. The Blueprint for the Euro — Name, Convergence, Fixing, CashThe euro was created in four steps. Only its final parity was a matter of calculation, not political will.
8. A Standard That Outlived the Union — The LMU's TestamentThe Union limped, could not enforce its rules, and disappeared. But its standard spread beyond the Union and outlived it.

Readings (11)

• The imperial coinage ordinance　Germany　from 1566　The mints of the empire's territories
  §1. The compromise — a common standard, each territory's own face — is written out plainly.
• The Latin Monetary Union　France　1866–1885　The teller's window of a Swiss bank
  §2. The scene where a league with no power to punish is pierced from within.
• 1871　Germany　1871 and 1873　The mint of the empire
  §3. A case of unifying by law. Note also where the name "mark" comes from.
• Feudalism and the coin of the Vikings　France　the 9th–10th centuries　The West Frankish Kingdom
  §4. The process by which a unified coinage disperses again.
• The customs union　Germany　1834–1838　The counting-table of a German merchant house
  Section 5. "On the Ledgers, Before the Battle Standards." Please read this as a scene from a nighttime counting-house.
• The Carolus guilder　Netherlands　1521–1543　The seventeen provinces, upon the ledger
  Section 6. The seeds of managed currency, 400 years ahead of its time, in the form of credit to a name.
• The strong franc　France　1995–1999　A room in the Banque de France
  Section 7. "Only the final parity was a matter of calculation, not of will."
• The Latin Monetary Union　France　1870–1878　The mints of the union's countries
  Section 8. The origin of the term "limping standard." A loss if melted, but it passes if spent.
• The Currency of an Empire　Greece　450s–420s BCE　The agorae of the allied cities
  This is an example of unification occurring not by compromise, but by decree. Read the contents of the edict that forced the allied cities to close their mints and ordered the collection and recoinage of their local silver coins.
• The ducat　Italy　the end of the 15th century　The mint of Istanbul
  Standardization of specifications arises not only from law but also from the market. Here is written the reason why a country had to strike its own gold coins to the same standard as those of a long-standing adversary.
• Before unification, there were coins　China　336–221 BC　Qin tax collection at work
  Unification meant creating a single standard. It is written here what a country—which had standardized its weights and measures, axle widths, and writing system—gained by also standardizing its currency and collecting taxes in coin rather than in grain.

Assessment

11 exercises in this course (7 check, 1 compare, 3 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.