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Elizabeth I and the Great Debasement

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Elizabeth I and the Great Debasement Think of 3 important qualities a good monarch should have People have lost confidence in England’s coins. Everyday business has ground to a halt. Complaints have even reached London, Queen Elizabeth I 1560 herself. Your task You are an adviser to Elizabeth I. The Queen knows there are problems with the country’s Your report should coins. She would give the Queen: like you to investigate further. A description of the problem and your analysis of what has caused it People value Money, coins because they are made of mints & the precious metal. A coin made of a monarch mix of silver and cheaper metals is Taxes are less valuable as it raised by contains less Parliament only precious silver. when they are needed for The monarch pays for the something expense of running the country. specific, such as a war. The monarch decides how pure the country’s coins should be. By September 1560, ElizabethMake I yourdecided faithcase in England’s to coins was entirely lost. the Queen It was time to act. Your task You are an adviser to Elizabeth I. The Queen wants to tackle the problem of England’s Your job: debased currency. Advise Elizabeth I on how to deal with each of the following problems… Problem 1 A debased currency People have lost faith in England’s currency. Which plan might best fix What Elizabeth I decided: Debased coins circulating the problem: in England have led to high prices and damaged A Get a loan from Antwerp to the monarchy’s reputation. make new coins of pure gold and silver and put them into Making new coins will be circulation. expensive and the queen is short of money. B Call in all old, debased In the past, people have coins and melt them down. hoarded newly minted Re-make them into new, coins and continued to purer coins. spend the ‘bad’ ones. C Make the spending of debased coins illegal. Problem 2 What percentage of the currency is debased? To plan for a recoinage, the queen must estimate TheWhat queen Elizabeth should: I did: the proportion of the country’s coins that need A Order clerks to go through melting down. the Mint’s records to estimate the total amount of debased The decision to call in all coins produced since Henry the old, debased coins is VIII. likely to cause widespread anxiety with the public. B Risk upsetting people with a quick and open People will worry a public inquiry. government proclamation may cause the money in C Quietly send someone to their possession to lose examine the range of value overnight. different coins encountered by a butcher, or a similar Action is required tradesmen, who deal with a urgently. wide range of people. Problem 3 Persuading people to turn in their old coins Estimates suggest a WhatThe queen Elizabeth should: I did: quarter of the nation’s coins are debased, worth A Ensure people don’t lose around £1.2 million. money. Give them a new pure coin in exchange for To replace them with new, the same coin in debased purer coins, all old coins condition. need to be called into the Mint to be melted down. B Expect people to take a People will be reluctant to loss on their coins, but offer trade in their debased to pay the costs of minting coins for new coins as the new coins. they are expecting to lose money. C Expect people to take a loss on their debased coins, and also cover the minting costs of their new coins. Problem 4 The price of bulk silver TheWhat queen Elizabeth should: I did: Instead of bringing their old coins to the Mint to A Make it a felony to melt exchange them, some coins down or carry them people are melting down out of the country. the debased coins or taking them abroad. B Offer rewards that lead to the arrest of people who are People can get a higher melting down coins for the price for the coins as bulk silver. silver than they can from Elizabeth I at the Mint. C Raise the price offered at the Mint for old coins so it is more than the rate for bulk silver. Problem 5 Minting new coins for an entire country The Queen’s decision and WhatThe queen Elizabeth should: I did: proclamation means a great deal of work for the A Hire extra workers, build Mint at the Tower. more workshops and expand the Mint within the Tower. The longer the work takes, the less willing people will B Visit the Mint personally be to accept the losses to monitor progress. that come with exchanging their debased currency. C As new coins are made at the Tower, send some to different areas of the country to be distributed. Problem 6 Protecting the future Elizabeth I and her Mint have successfully withdrawn England’s badly WhatThe queenElizabeth should: I did: debased coins and replaced them with newly A Open more mints around minted coins of precious the country to make it easier metal. for people to get coins. Faith has been restored in B Make penalties more England’s coins both at severe for anyone convicted home and abroad. of tampering with coins. Business is beginning to expand and the economy is improving thanks in C Require merchants to part to the Queen’s efforts. have special permission before they are allowed to Elizabeth I is considering take coins out of the taking further action to country. ensure her hard work isn’t reversed in future. Give Elizabeth I marks out of 10 on her handling of the currency crisis. Explain the grade you have given her..
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