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345
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346
Pamuk
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348
Pamuk
It is well knownthatEuropeexperiencedlargetradedeficitstowardsAsia
duringthe sixteenthandseventeenthcenturies.Oftenunableto find a sufficientvolumeof goodsto sell to the marketsin the East,Europeanmerchants
paid the differencewith bullion and coinage importedfromthe Americas.
There are many accountsof Europeanships leaving for the Near East and
Asia loaded with cargoesof silver and silver coinage and, less frequently,
with gold. As a result, large silver coins minted in America and Europe
known as grosso or groschen,the most popularof which was the Spanish
piece of eight, circulatedextensively in Ottomanmarketsand Asia after
1550. A largepartof these coins continuedto move towardsIranandports
on the IndianOcean, however, since the Ottomaneconomy experienced
tradedeficitstowardsthe eastwhile it enjoyedsurplusestowardsthe west."
The episodeto be examinedherealso beganwith the effortsof European
merchantstryingto securecoinagebeforeanothertripto the Levantin 1653.
Fromthatpoint on, however,it unfoldedin a new direction;the tradebalancesbetweenthe westernandeasternends of the Mediterranean
ceased to
be the driving force for the ensuing monetaryflows. Instead,fiscal and
monetaryconditionsin the OttomanEmpireemergedas the primaryexplanationfor what happened,as I shall show.
?0Spooner,
InternationalEconomy,pp. 33-53, 171-96.
11Chaudhuri
relates,for example,how the shipsof the EastIndiaCompanyoccasionallyexperienced
forAsia. Chaudhuri,TradingWorldofAsia,
difficultyin securingsilvercoinagebeforetheirdeparture
p. 135; see also Attman,"Flow";Barrett,"WorldBullion Flows";and Gaastra,"Exports."
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350
Pamuk
To understandthe willingness of the Ottomanpublic to accept the debasedcoins, it is essentialto examinethe fiscal andmonetaryconditionsin
the Ottomanempireduringthis period.Moregenerally,this episodeneeds
to be placedin the contextof deterioratingeconomic,fiscal, andmonetary
'7Kindleberger,
"EconomicCrisis,"p. 158.
'8Hasluck,"LevantineCoinage,"p. 59.
'9Ibid.,pp. 65-71, 86.
20Tavemier,
New Relation.
2'Hasluck,"LevantineCoinage,"p. 59.
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Pamuk
352
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354
Pamuk
TABLE1
A COMPILATION
OF THEAVAILABLEBUDGETSOF THEOTTOMANCENTRAL
GOVERNMENT,1523-1688
Revenues
Year
CurrentAkfes
(millions)
1523-1524
1524-1525
1527-1528
116.9
141.3
221.6
1546-1547
1547-1548
1565-1566
1567-1568
241.7
198.9
183.1
348.5
1582-1583
1592-1593
1608
313.7
293.4
503.7
1643-1644
1650
1652-1653
1654
1661-1662
1666-1667
1669-1670
1687-1688
514.5
532.9
517.3
537.4
581.3
553.4
612.5
700.4
Expenditures
Indexin
ConstantAk!es
CurrentAk!es
(millions)
100.0
118.8
126.6
150.2
}
}
}
}
128.4
}
}
}
70.4
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
92.8
171.9
112.0
189.7
221.5
277.6
363.4
599.2
513.8
687.2
528.9
658.4
593.6
631.9
637.2
901.0
Balance
Indexin
ConstantAkes
CurrentAk!es
(millions)
100.0
-1.9
+14.7
+71.4
}
}
}
}
111.3
}
}
}
95.4
}
}
}
}
}
}
127.4
}
}
+69.8
+86.9
-6.6
+127.0
+36.1
-70.0
-95.5
+0.7
-154.3
-11.6
-21.0
-12.3
-78.5
-24.7
-200.6
Debasements
These adversetrendsculminatedin the debasementof 1585 or 1586,
whichreducedthe silvercontentof the Ottomanunitby 44 percentafterone
centuryof stability.33
This operationdid not end the fiscal and monetary
33Whereasthe mintsused to strike450 ak~esfrom 100 dirhamsof "clean"silver,they were now
instructedto mint 850 akes fromthe same amount.See Table2 and also Kafadar,"Les Troubles
Monetaires,"pp. 381-89. The exactdateof the debasementremainsunclear.
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Years
1500
1550
1584
1586
1596
1600
1618
1620
1622
1623
1624
1624
1628
1634
1640
1641
1650
Ak9esminted
from 100
dirhamsof silver
Weightin
Grams
420
420
450
800
0.73
0.73
0.68
0.38
950
1,000
0.32
0.31
1,000
0.31
1,000
0.31
Venetian
Ducat
SpanishPiece
of Eight
54
60
65-70
120
220-230
125
150
160
180-210
210-280
330-420
130
190
230
270
168
175
40
40-42
80
78
100
100
120-150
120-170
170-320
100-110
110-120
125
80
90
difficulties, however. The period until the 1640s was one of exceptional
instabilityfor theak!e; the fluctuationsof the currencycanbe followedfrom
a combinationof sources.As shown in Table2, the availablemint records
provideinformationaboutthe weightandsilvercontentof the standardak~e
only for selected years of this period.For most years of this period,however,ak!es producedby the mintsfell below those standards.Althoughthe
silvercontentof the substandard
or defective(hurde)coins can not be determined precisely, court recordsprovide detailed informationabout their
marketexchangeratesagainstthe stableducatand otherleadingEuropean
coins on a monthlybasis. Fromthese exchangerates, it is possible to approximatethe sharpfluctuationsin the silver contentof the Ottomanunit.
For example,fromthe last columnof Table2 it appearsthatduring1623 to
1624 the silver contentof the ak!e droppedto aboutone-thirdand during
1638 to 1640 to abouthalf of its standardlevels. Eachtime the deterioration
of the ak!e reachedcrisis proportions,the governmentattemptedto return
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356
Pamuk
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39Peter
Spuffordpointsoutto similarstrugglesin manypartsof westernEuropeduringthe fourteenth
andfifteenthcenturiesbetweenthemonarchswho stoodto gain andthe landedaristocracywith fixed
rentincomeswho stood to lose fromdebasements.Spufford,Money,pp. 289-318.
40Schaendlinger,
OsmanischeNumismatik,pp. 100-12.
41Itappearsthatthe firstmintingof para in Istanbulwas undertakenduringthe reignof MuradIV
(1623-1640). Schaendlinger,OsmanischeNumismatik,p. 110.
42Therearea numberof documentedepisodesof currencysubstitutionin late medievalEurope.For
a discussion of the consequencesof the recurrentdebasement-reinforcements
cycles observed in
fourteenth-andfifteenth-century
FranceandBurgundy,see Bordo,"Money,"pp. 344-45. Cipollahas
examined anotherepisode in the "Affairof the Quattrini,"which occurredin fourteenth-century
Florence.Cipolla,MonetaryPolicy, pp. 63-85.
43Until 1642 when its silvercontentwas reducedby 20 percent,the Spanishrealwas mintedat 67
permarcof 230.05 grams.The piece of eightthus contained27.46 gramsof silver.Motomura,"Best
andWorstof Currencies,"
pp. 106-07; and Shaw,Historyof Currency,pp. 340-41. Consideringthat
the akce was mintedfromapproximately90 percentpuresilver,the exchangeratesgiven in Table2
for the yearsof correctionof coinageoperationsdo not pointto the existenceof such premiums.
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358
Pamuk
IntercontinentalMonetaryFlows
Another source of instabilityfor the ak!e was the decline of Ottoman
silvermines.Untilthe sixteenthcenturythe Ottomanmintshadreliedon the
state-operatedsilver mines of SerbiaandBosnia as the principalsourceof
specie.44The arrivalof largeamountsof silver fromthe New World,however, loweredthe relativeprice of thatmetal,leadingfirstto the decline of
theiroutputafterthe turnof the centuryandthento theirclosureduringthe
1640s.45Whenfiscalpressuresbeganto intensify,therefore,the statecould
not fall back on the earliersourcesto maintainsteadysuppliesof coinage.
It is also possible that intercontinentalmonetaryflows contributedto
Ottomanmonetarydifficultiesmoredirectly.Despitethe continuedflows of
silverfromthe Americas,Europebeganto experienceincreasingscarcities
of silver towardsthe end of the sixteenthcenturyand this tendencylasted
Recently,Dennis 0. Flynn and
throughmost of the seventeenthcentury.46
ArturoGiraldezand RichardVon Glahnhave put forwardthe thesis thata
large part of the output of the Americansilver mines was absorbedby
China,eitherby directshipmentsto Asia or via Europe.The increaseddemand in Chinawas due to the monetizationof silver in the 1570s.47The
Ottomanempirehappenedto be on the lattertraderoutes,and the growing
monetarydifficultiesexperiencedin the Ottomanlandsmay have been due
flows as well as the fiscal deficits.At the moment,
to these intercontinental
however, there is not sufficientevidence for or againstthis explanation.
Thereis a good dealof evidencethatthe Ottomangovernmentwelcomedthe
arrivalof silver and silver coinage from Europe,but it could not prevent
their outflow towardsIranand Indiaas the empirecontinuedto run trade
deficitstowardsthe east. This overlandtransittradeof goods fromAsia to
Europediminishedafterthe turnof the century,however.48Althoughit is
impossibleto establishempiricallythe overalltradebalancefor the Ottoman
Empireduringthe sixteenthandseventeenthcenturies,the continuedcirculationof Europeangroschen,especiallythe Spanishpieces of eight and the
Dutch thaler,throughoutthe empireconfirmsthatsilver did not disappear
from Ottomanmarkets.
44Sahillioglu,"Role."
BirAsirltk,p. 14; andMurphey,"SilverProduction."EventhoughRhoadsMurphey
45Sahillioglu,
arguesthat the outputof silvermines did not declineuntil afterthe 1630s, the considerabledropin
outputafterthe turnof the centuryis in fact clearfromthe tableshe provides.This is especiallytrue
of theminein Uskiip(Skopje),whichaccountedformorethanhalfof thetotaloutputof Ottomansilver
minesin Serbia.Ibid.,pp. 82-86. Fortheclosureof Europeanminesas a resultof the arrivalof American silver,see Spooner,InternationalEconomy,pp. 24-53.
46Ibid.,pp. 33-53.
47Flynnand Giraldez,"Bornwith a SilverSpoon";andVonGlahn,"Myth."
Asian TradeRevolution.
48Steensgaard,
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360
Pamuk
The popularityof debasedEuropeancoinage was, therefore,closely relatedto the inabilityof the Ottomanstateto supplysilvercoinageafter1640.
This raisesa secondpuzzle,namelythe cessationof the productionof copper coinagein additionto silver.Justas it was the case with silver and gold
coinage,the numismaticevidencepointsto an almostcompleteabsenceof
Ottomancoppercoinagefor almosthalf a century,fromthe 1630s until the
late 1680s.5 Thisis quiteintriguingsincemanystatesin Europe,fromSpain
andFranceto Germany,Sweden,Poland,andRussiareliedon coppercoinage duringthis periodboth as a mediumof exchangeandto raise seigniorage revenue.56
The absenceof coppercoinageis all the morepuzzlingbecausetowards
the end of the century,duringanotherfiscal crunchfrom 1689 to 1691, the
governmentdid exactly what it had failed to do earlier.It issued, within a
30-monthperiod,as manyas 600 millionpieces of coppermangirweighing
half dirhams(1.6 grams)each.57Initially,thesepieces were given the nominal value of one-halfake, but the govermnentquicklyraisedthat to one
ak(!e.Even thoughsome merchantsin the provincesrefusedto acceptthe
new coins, on the whole, this was a reasonablysuccessfuloperationfor the
shortperiodit was employed.It also providedthe statewith much needed
58
seignioragerevenue.
It appearsthatthe failureor inabilityof the centralgovernmentto issue
coppercoinageduringthe midcenturywas not due to one single reasonbut
to a combinationof factors. One possibility is that adequatesupplies of
540neof the moreprominentsilvercoins in circulationfromthe Balkansto Egyptwas the Dutch
thaler.Evenmoreimportant
was the Spanishpiece of eight(realesde a ocho). Therewere otherssuch
as the Austrianrix-thalerand the Polish isolette. Most of these Europeansilver coins were called
gurush, which was the local adaptationof groschen,a diminutivefor gross or grosso,termsused for
largesilvercoins in Europesincethethirteenthcentury.The Venetianducattogetherwith the Hungarianpiece in theBalkansremainedthemostimportant
goldcoins.Fractionsof thesecoins also circulated
but in a morelimitedfashion.Pamuk,"Money",pp. 950-66.
55Tavernier,
for example,is unequivocal:"In all the OttomanEmpire,there is not any money of
copper to be seen."Tavernier,New Relation,p. 15. For a summaryof the numismaticevidence on
coppercoinagein the seventeenthcentury,see SchaendlingerOsmanischeNumismatik,pp. 106-14.
56Spooner,
InternationalEconomy,pp. 10-86.
57Aboutone-thirdof this amountwas due to the remintingof the samecoins with the accessionof
a new sultan,AhmedII, in 1691.
58Thedetailedaccountbooksof the mintat Istanbulindicatethatafterall expenditures,includingthe
shareof the privateentrepreneurs
who managedthe mintaresubtracted,as muchas 70 percentof the
nominalvalue of the coins thus struckwas left as net revenuefor the state.Sahillioglu,"Bakir
Para,"
pp. 16-19. The seignioragerevenuesobtainedoverthistwo-and-a-half-year
periodexceeded10 percent
of thetotalrevenuesof the imperialtreasuryduringthe sameperiod.Thereis no doubtthatthis experimentprovideda significantboost to the hardpressedtreasury.
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362
Pamuk
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364
Pamuk
REFERENCES
CaliforniaPress, 1982.
(izaksa, Murat."PriceHistoryandthe BursaSilk Industry:A Studyin OttomanIndustrial
Decline, 1550-1650." this JOURNAL40, (1980): 533-49.
Eruireten,Metin. "OsmanliAkseleri Darp Yerleri".The TurkishNumismaticSociety
Biulten,17 (1985): 12-21.
Establet,Colette,and Jean-PaulPascal."DamasceneProbateInventoriesof the 17thand
18th Centuries: Some PreliminaryApproachesandResults."InternationalJournal
of MiddleEast Studies24 (1992): 373-93.
Flynn,DennisO., andGiraldezArturo."Bornwith a 'Silver Spoon': The Originof World
Tradein 1571."Journalof WorldHistory6 (1995): 201-21
Faroqhi,Suraiya."TheEarlyHistoryof BalkanFairs."Siidost-Forschungen37 (1978):
50o68.
. "Sixteenth Century Periodic Markets in Various Anatolian Sancaks." Journal of
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366
Pamuk
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