Steam, hot air, and small change: Matthew Boulton and the reform of Britain's coinage

George Selgin

Economic History Review, 2003, vol. 56, issue 3, 478-509

Abstract: This article challenges the claim that Great Britain solved its ‘big problem of small change’ (the problem of keeping decent low‐denomination coins in circulation) by embracing Matthew Boulton's steam‐based coining technology. Evidence from Great Britain's commercial token episode (1787–97) shows that a successful small change system depended, not on the motive power employed in coining, but on the quality and consistency of coin engravings and on having means for systematically withdrawing worn coins. The Tower Mint failed to solve Great Britain's small change problem, not because its equipment was old‐fashioned, but because its policies and constitution were flawed.

Date: 2003
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2003.00259.x

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:56:y:2003:i:3:p:478-509

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0013-0117

Access Statistics for this article

Economic History Review is currently edited by Stephen Broadberry

More articles in Economic History Review from Economic History Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().