King Edward II, Goldsmiths and “Legal” Counterfeiting
For all of history through the 1800s, goldsmiths were the world’s primary bankers. It made sense in those hard money days to keep your gold with the fellow who molded it into coins and acted as the community’s central cash register. So here we have the goldsmiths…guardians of bullion and protectors of everyone’s wealth. I’ve personally always seen this as the primary function of a bank. But just guarding money and issuing certificates for it…I suppose it just didn’t pay as well as it could. T
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