Denzel, M.A. (2023). The Peso or the Marsilie—The Standard Currency Unit of the Armenian New Julfa Merchants?. In: Hyden-Hanscho, V., Stangl, W. (eds) Formative Modernities in the Early Modern Atlantic and Beyond. Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8417-4_12

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This article rests upon a merchant’s handbook authored by the ecclesiastical scholar Lukas of Vanand which he published in Amsterdam in 1669. The handbook contains a rich level of insight into “marsilie”—coins from Marseille—denoted as pesos de ocho reales in Armenian commercial parlance. Vanand’s handbook reveals the significance of Marseilles coins within Armenian trade, detailing the coin’s trading locations and exchange rates. Pesos were common currency not only within Europe but also within the Eastern Mediterranean as well as in India and Southeast Asia, at least in Manila. Concurrently serving as a pivotal coin of reference for most Armenian traders and markets, this worldwide trade coin functioned as the key currency for merchants from Amsterdam to Manila and Mexico to the Pacific. Taking the coin as the central object of investigation, this article answers how the peso became the “marsilie” and what role it played in long-distance Armenian commerce and monetary transactions.

Werner Scheltjens

Werner Scheltjens (1978) is professor of digital history at the University of Bamberg, Germany. His research interests are in preindustrial… Read more

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