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Copyright of Informacion Comercial Espanola Revista de Economia is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work demonstrates how two functions of currency, its measure of value and its role as a means of release from debt, have been weakened. Currency no longer has labor as a visible model, nor can it adhere to exchange, leading to debt and reciprocal obligations. The measure of money is thus lost and its representation of value is altered or no longer exists; it tends to depend on a status determined by its purchasing capacity. This change, which is also related to confidence in and the power of money, consists of disregarding the debt surrounding the currency and exclusively prioritizing the realization of benefits. This phenomenon dates back to the subordination of the major international currency to private interests, which now seem to be the general will. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second half of the eighteenth century was a period of major transformations in the colonial economies. The monetary system was not an exception. This paper contributes to the analysis of such variations, examining two aspects of the monetary policy of the Bourbons: the debasement and the recoinage. For this, the currency amounts that agents took to the Nueva Granada mints to be reminted were reconstructed and the incentives that the Crown provided for that operation were analyzed. The results show that both measures altered the composition but not the size of the money supply. Thus, although the new coinage reduced transaction costs, the debasement prevented the currency in circulation to get unified. It was also found that the circulation of silver coins was important despite of the fact that the viceroyalty was a gold-producing economy. Finally, it is argued that both measures affected in different ways the behavior of variables such as inflation, lowdenomination coins and the Gresham's law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects on the monetary and economic history during the independence of Peru taking place between 1820 and 1823. The imperial money system, the Auxiliary Bank of Paper Money in Peru and Peruvian president José de San Martín's influence on these systems are discussed by the author. The traditional Spanish monetary system, its policies and its influences on Peru's monetary system are addressed. The paradox of the money shortages in Peru during José de San Martin's protectorate are described by the author as machines without money.