How much gold and silver did the Spanish loot from the Mesoamerican and South American empires?

To date, based on our knowledge, the quantity of gold And silver that i conquistadors Spaniards took away from native populations of the Americas it just is estimable. The most reasonable estimates quantify in 100 tons of gold mined or raided between 1492 and 1560. As for silver, much more common of gold on the American continent, the tons extracted or stolen until the year 1600 they can be estimated at 25,000such a quantity as to cause notable changes in the European economy. If we were to associate the current value of the two resources with such a weight (let’s take the average prices on the market as of 12/17/2024), as a simple curiosity, we would obtain a value of over 8 billion euros for gold and 14 billion euros for silver, for a total of over 30 billion euros in total.

The sources of supply of precious metals in the Americas were different depending on the moment. In a first phase it was based on raid and on robbery. Over the course of military campaigns conducted by the Spaniards, also accompanied the conquest of the territory the seizure of numerous objects in gold but above all in silver. Native populations had these metal objects different functions. Usually it was about jewelsor of jewelry linked to religious cults. For the American people gold and silver were certainly perceived as precious and aesthetically appreciablebut their exchange system does not have a monetary economy it was not based on metal. For example, in theAztec Empire of Mexicosubdued by conquistadors Of Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) between 1519 and 1521, it was much more common to trade using cocoa beans. Instead, in theInca Empire of Peruconquered by Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541) starting from 1532, goods were exchanged directly with each other in a system of payments in kind. The precious metal objects stolen from the natives were recast by the Spaniards to then make them gods ingotseasier to transport, starting point for minting coins.

After having submissive the native populations, the Spanish began with the second phase of procurementthat is, themining. Although the Incas extracted gold from some deposits in the Andes, silver was the most present metal in the newly conquered territories, both in Mexico and Peru. In central Mexico, in the current state of Zacatecasimportant deposits of silver were discovered, which began to be exploited by the Spanish in the 1540s. Often the hard work in the mine was entrusted to the subjugated native populations, in a regime of semi-slavery.

In South America instead the most profitable field was that of Potosiin the current Bolivia. In fact, there is one here mountain inside which there are some gods largest silver deposits in the world. Mining of the mountain began in 1545, and in the following centuries the mines of Potosí provided approximately85% of the entire world’s silver mineda huge fortune that financed the Spanish Empire at the time of its maximum apogee. Because of his wealththe city of Potosí became one of the largest and most populous in the Spanish Americas in size, second only to Mexico City. The words “I am the rich man of Potosí, I am the treasure of the world, I am the king of the mountains and I am envious of the kings” (“I am the rich Potosí, I am the treasure of the world, I am the king of the mountains and envy are kings.”) Even today, in the Spanish language we say “worth a Potosí” when you want to say that something is worth a fortune.

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, annually, the ship convoys who transported the precious metals to Spain. The Atlantic routes the more jokes were the one that connected Veracruz in Mexico e Cadizand the one that united the latter with Buenos Aires in Argentina. Another route in the Pacific instead it connected Acapulcoagain in Mexico, with the Philippinesanother Spanish colony in East Asia.

The huge amount of silver placed on European markets starting from the mid-16th century important effects on the continent’s economy. In fact, it seems that between the 16th and 17th centuries, in the Old World inflation galloped up to 400%also causing a strong devaluation of silver, which from a rare metal became quite common. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the silver mined in Mexico and Bolivia allowed mint millions of coinsknown as “pieces of 8“, because they were worth it 8 realthe currency in use in Spain at the time. This coin has become quite well known in the collective imagination because it is linked to the world of piracy of the 17th century, precisely because i galleons who transported the treasures of the New World to Spain were the most desired prey of pirates. Spanish 8-pieces were produced in huge quantitiesand to speed up production they were often roughly cut by the coiners.

THE realis Spaniards were throughout the modern age the strong currency of the world economy. Pieces of 8 minted with Bolivian and Mexican silver were even widespread in US newborns at least until the mid-19th century. The influence that the Spanish currency had on the USA does not stop here: the current dollar sign ($) it is nothing but one stylization of what it was minted on the reverse of the real (one of coats of arms of the Iberian crown), because the new US currency anchored its value to that of the Spanish currency.