New France, like most European colonies in the New World, suffered from a persistent shortage of metal coins. As Quebec’s imports were limited by French mercantilist policies, their standards of living were constrained by their ability to export a few primary products (mostly fur, cod, timber...

New France, like most European colonies in the New World, suffered from a persistent shortage of metal coins. As Quebec could only legally import from France, their standards of living were constrained by their ability to export a few primary products (mostly fur, cod, timber and wheat)....

Covering the colonial Empire (including West Indies, India, Singapore, West Africa and East Africa), this book is a detailed revisionist history of the British imperial manipulations of colonial currency systems to facilitate the rise of sterling to world supremacy via the gold standard, and to...