The International Silver Trade

Thomas Mohide, one of the world's acknowledged silver authorities has produced a panoramic study of this remarkable commodity. It provides in-depth analysis of the outlook in all demand sectors, the future availability from mines and recovered from scrap, the changing structure of the industry and the anticipated supply and demand brackets. Coupled with a look at markets, price, consumption and applied technology the result is a book of global interest for anyone in the mining or financial professions.

Silver, Trade, and War is about men and markets, national rivalries, diplomacy and conflict, and the advancement or stagnation of states. Chosen by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title The 250 years covered by Silver, Trade, and War marked the era of commercial capitalism, that bridge between late medieval and modern times. Spain, peripheral to western Europe in 1500, produced American treasure in silver, which Spanish convoys bore from Portobelo and Veracruz on the Carribbean coast across the Atlantic to Spain in exchange for European goods shipped from Sevilla (later, Cadiz). Spanish colonialism, the authors suggest, was the cutting edge of the early global economy. America's silver permitted Spain to graft early capitalistic elements onto its late medieval structures, reinforcing its patrimonialism and dynasticism. However, the authors argue, silver gave Spain an illusion of wealth, security, and hegemony, while its system of "managed" transatlantic trade failed to monitor silver flows that were beyond the control of government officials. While Spain's intervention buttressed Hapsburg efforts at hegemony in Europe, it induced the formation of protonationalist state formations, notably in England and France. The treaty of Utrecht (1714) emphasized the lag between developing England and France, and stagnating Spain, and the persistence of Spain's late medieval structures. These were basic elements of what the authors term Spain's Hapsburg "legacy." Over the first half of the eighteenth century, Spain under the Bourbons tried to contain expansionist France and England in the Caribbean and to formulate and implement policies competitors seemed to apply successfully to their overseas possessions, namely, a colonial compact. Spain's policy planners (proyectistas) scanned abroad for models of modernization adaptable to Spain and its American colonies without risking institutional change. The second part of the book, "Toward a Spanish-Bourbon Paradigm," analyzes the projectors' works and their minimal impact in the context of the changing Atlantic scene until 1759. By then, despite its efforts, Spain could no longer compete successfully with England and France in the international economy. Throughout the book a colonial rather than metropolitan prism informs the authors' interpretation of the major themes examined.

Nickel is an internationally traded commodity and the smallest of the LME's six base metals contracts. Its unique characteristics allow a variety of commercial and industrial applications, the most important of which is undoubtedly in the production of stainless steels. Simon Clow has set out to paint an overall picture of the nickel trade; the result is a book which genuinely covers the entire industry. It describes the history and growth, defines areas of production and explains the mechanisms of demand and consumption. Above all the book is concerned with patterns of supply, with prices and with attitudes towards different pricing mechanisms.

Provides an overview of all aspects of the international spirits business.

A detailed examination is provided of the circumstances which led to the negotiation of each of the international commodity agreements with economic provision included since the end of World War II. How such agreements operated and the causes for difficulties in their implementation and the reasons for their failure is also discussed. It concentrates on four specific agreements; cocoa, coffee, sugar and tin; and as a contrast to these commodities a chapter is dedicated to OPEC. Written by an insider who was actually present at the 'creation', a first-hand view is given of how commodity agreements are actually arrived at during the course of negotiation and implementation.

Now in a fully updated edition, this accessible text provides a balanced history of modern China in a global context. The authors focus especially on China’s culture, warfare, and immediate neighbors and provide a unique comparative approach to bridge the cultural divide separating Chinese history from Western readers trying to understand it.

"For a very long time, silver was money, but in the late nineteenth century, much of the world adopted some variant of the gold standard. China, however, remained the most populous country still using silver, although the country had no unified national currency; there was not one standard, but many: silver coins circulated alongside chunks of silver and every transaction became an "encounter of wits." This book focuses on how officials, policymakers, bankers, merchants, academics, and journalists in China and around the world answered a simple question: how should China change its monetary system? As different governments in China attempted to create a unified monetary standard in the late 19th and early 20th century, imperial powers--the United States, England, and Japan--tried to shape the direction of Chinese monetary reform for their own benefit. This book argues that the Silver Era in World history ended due to the interaction of imperial competition in East Asia and the state-building projects of different governments in China. When the Nationalist government of China went off the silver standard in 1935, it marked not just a key moment in Chinese history, but in world history"--

The 2006 new and revised 2nd edition of the bestselling reference guide to identifying Mexican silver: Loaded with images and graphics of over 1500 marks of silver makers, designers, manufacturers and silver houses in Taxco and throughout Mexico. Eagle numbers from 1 through eagle 219. The book includes all the great ones, including William Spratling, Hector Aguilar, Los Castillo, Antonio Pineda, Sigi, Maricela, Salvador, Valentn Vidaurreta, Victoria, Fred Davis, Artemio Navarrete, Emma Melendez, Bernice Goodspeed, Maciel, Matl, Tane, Hubert Harmon, Chato, Margot and many, many others. The book is cross-referenced and indexed for quick and handy searches. The new edition reveals identities of many mystery marks and includes examples of marks not previously published. Special sections describing fake marks are included for prominent designers.