The Spanish dollar, the first global currency

This book presents the translation into English of a collection of articles that, more or less related to numismatics and currency, I have been publishing in the last twenty years in Spanish. For this I have chosen those that refer to the capital importance that Spanish silver had in the nascent British Empire and its colonies, as well as in the United States. There is no doubt that the Crown of Castile, of course with its Kingdoms of the Indies, the true origin and source of its wealth in precious metals, was the biggest commercial, fiscal and monetary union in the history of Humanity. But it must be emphasized, and with this publication I try to influence it that the currency minted in the Spanish American territories was the true currency of practically the entire world at the time. Spanish silver was used by the great empires of the Modern Age to monetize their economies. The economic and monetary evolution of the Ottoman, Persian, Mughal, Indian or Chinese empires cannot be understood without the lead role of Spanish silver. Nor can we forget that the lack of this monetary flow that for centuries fed its economy was the cause or at least contributed to its decline and subsequent debacle. In this way, the Spanish silver currency, and very significantly the pieces of eight or Spanish dollars, circulated profusely throughout the world in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and its final destination normally was India and China. For this reason, we can understand that its study is not the exclusive patrimony of one country or culture, but could be considered as a World Heritage.