Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining

«Alternatives to money» have a long history in Western extractive industry, extending to the 20th century. Before cash wages became a requirement of law, miners received their earnings in varieties of commodity and fiat moneys, combinations of scrip, cash and kind. This paper examines the use of Pfe...

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Үндсэн зохиолч: Safley, Thomas Max
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Хэвлэсэн: Firenze University Press 2025
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Онлайн хандалт:ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_206
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author Safley, Thomas Max
author_browse Safley, Thomas Max
author_facet Safley, Thomas Max
author_sort Safley, Thomas Max
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description «Alternatives to money» have a long history in Western extractive industry, extending to the 20th century. Before cash wages became a requirement of law, miners received their earnings in varieties of commodity and fiat moneys, combinations of scrip, cash and kind. This paper examines the use of Pfennwert, pennyworths of various goods, as a form of remuneration at the mines of the Holy Roman Empire with particular attention to the mercury mines in Idrija, Slovenia from the 15th to the 17th century. It demonstrates that this practice was a rational response to the «ecology of work»—that it, the combination of physical environment, regulatory systems, market forces, social relations and economic institutions—specific to Idrija. This approach to alternatives exposes their role not only in remuneration but in all aspects of premodern production as well as their persistence in the modern, supposedly monetary, economy.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1511422025-07-21T15:44:21Z Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining Safley, Thomas Max Pfennwert Idrija ecology mining wages thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history «Alternatives to money» have a long history in Western extractive industry, extending to the 20th century. Before cash wages became a requirement of law, miners received their earnings in varieties of commodity and fiat moneys, combinations of scrip, cash and kind. This paper examines the use of Pfennwert, pennyworths of various goods, as a form of remuneration at the mines of the Holy Roman Empire with particular attention to the mercury mines in Idrija, Slovenia from the 15th to the 17th century. It demonstrates that this practice was a rational response to the «ecology of work»—that it, the combination of physical environment, regulatory systems, market forces, social relations and economic institutions—specific to Idrija. This approach to alternatives exposes their role not only in remuneration but in all aspects of premodern production as well as their persistence in the modern, supposedly monetary, economy. 2025-02-12T19:22:31Z 2025-02-12T19:22:31Z 2024-12-20T12:35:09Z 2024 chapter ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_206 2975-1195 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/96411 9791221503470 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/151142 eng Datini Studies in Economic History open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/96411/1/41418.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.05 10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.05 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221503470 19 Florence open access
spellingShingle Pfennwert
Idrija
ecology
mining
wages
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
Safley, Thomas Max
Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining
title Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining
title_full Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining
title_fullStr Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining
title_full_unstemmed Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining
title_short Chapter Money and its alternatives in Early Modern extractive industry: The many media of exchange in mercury mining
title_sort chapter money and its alternatives in early modern extractive industry the many media of exchange in mercury mining
topic Pfennwert
Idrija
ecology
mining
wages
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
topic_facet Pfennwert
Idrija
ecology
mining
wages
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCZ Economic history
url ONIX_20241220_9791221503470_206
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