There was also a very interesting scene at this auction - Marin received a lot of fake silver coins minted by himself......

These counterfeit silver coins came mainly from the vassal states of western Germany near France. They traded frequently with France, and naturally received a lot of French silver coins. Moreover, in comparison, those fake silver coins are more like real silver coins. The real silver coins are too rough and look like fakes.

This is still Marin asked the masters of the mint to make the money die rougher, and if a better mold is used, it is estimated that a regular French silver coin can be thrown a few streets away. Moreover, Marin could also see that those western princes did not realize that these were counterfeit coins.

It is no wonder that the silver coins of France itself contain more copper than silver, and the silver coins have become very hard. If you want to bite with your teeth, you will break your teeth. The fake silver coins made by Marin did not look much different from the real silver coins, and no one else in this era knew about the existence of zinc and nickel. If you mix tin and copper, you get bronze, not something like a silver coin that is whitish. Therefore, no one can distinguish the real from the fake.

Marin was a little bitter when he received these fake French silver coins. After all, this is a brick and a brick to shoot yourself in the foot. However, since no one found out that it was counterfeit, Marin decided to take the counterfeit silver coins he received to France as soon as possible and use them to buy cattle of fine breeds such as Charolais cattle and Belseuron horses......

But Marin didn't know that the fake silver coins he had made, because no one could recognize them as fake, there was no need to rush them to France to use.

In ancient times, to distinguish the authenticity of a coin, it was nothing more than to distinguish the authenticity of a coin by means of feel, comparing size, and weighing and calculating density. If it's a gold coin, you can also take a bite to see if it's soft. Silver coins will not work, because silver coins are mixed with too much copper, and they must not be able to bite. But these methods were completely ineffective against the nickel white copper silver coins made by Marin. Marin, a half-liberal arts student, actually made the density similar to a French real silver coin, how can you tell the difference? In terms of appearance, density, and corrosion resistance, the nickel and silver copper coins made by Marin are no less than the real French silver coins. As a result, the counterfeit silver coins, which were happily circulating in the French market, flowed into Germany. If it weren't for the fact that Kohler's men knew that the counterfeit coins looked more real than the real ones, they might not even have been able to detect them......

Strictly speaking, before the massive influx of gold and silver from the Americas into Europe, European countries lacked precious metals to mint money. The problem brought about by the lack of currency is the lack of market vitality. Even, it will lead to the primitive trade epidemic of barter. As a result, Marin minted a large number of unproblematic counterfeit silver coins in France, which not only did not reach France, but promoted the circulation of money in the French domestic market. Of course, he didn't get rid of people. For example, King Louis XII of France, whose seigniorage windfall profits were earned by Marin......

In fact, in Europe in this era, because of the lack of precious metals, prices are low. The consequence of low prices is that it is difficult to change coins.

In Germany, for example, a male laborer is paid 2 silver finneys a day. But the problem is that the finney is the smallest unit of German currency in this era, and there is no smaller unit of change.

As a result, if you want to buy goods, it will be difficult for the other party to change if you use Finney Silver Coins. For this reason, people in Germany have now invented the method of using rye and salt as change in order to solve this problem. Alternatively, use the accounting method and wait until the whole amount of 1 pfennig is reached, and then collect the currency. However, it is still very inconvenient.

In fact, Marin once thought about using copper coins. Moreover, in this era, Spain in southern Europe had begun to use a copper coin called Malawidi as the smallest unit of currency.

However, Marin also had his concerns. His main concern is that the current price of copper in Europe is too high, which leads to the inflated value of copper coins.

For example, the ratio of silver and copper in Europe is now 1 to 15. In other words, 1 pure silver coin can be exchanged for 15 copper coins of equal weight. The problem is that the silver content of European silver coins is generally very low. For example, the copper content of French and Spanish silver coins already accounts for more than half. For example, the Spanish copper coin Malawi was originally a small silver coin similar to a finney. However, with the decrease of silver content and the increase of copper content, later, the Spaniards simply minted Malawi into pure copper coins, no longer mixed with silver.

As a result, in Spain, one silver coin can only be exchanged for a few copper coins, and the value of copper coins is too high.

And Marlin's original intention to promote copper coins was to match silver coins with change. However, a silver coin can only be exchanged for a few copper coins, which is really not much change.

Only like in Huaxia, one tael of silver can be exchanged for 1,000 copper coins, and copper coins can play the role of change. As in Europe, where a silver coin can only be exchanged for a few or a dozen copper coins, it is difficult to use copper coins as change for silver coins.

For example, let's compare the salary of a German man to two silver finneys a day to 100 yuan in later generations. Then, one silver finney coin is equivalent to 50 yuan.

However, if it was converted into copper coins, given the high price of copper in Europe at the time, and the low silver content of silver coins, a silver finney coin could only be exchanged for a few copper coins. In this way, the value of a copper coin is almost equivalent to about 10 yuan......

In other words, even if a copper coin is used, its value is still as high as about 10 yuan. But Marin knew very well that even if the price of goods in China rose sharply in later generations, he used a dime as the smallest unit of change. Between a dime and 10 yuan, there are three currency units: 5 cents, 1 yuan and 5 yuan......

In this way, the current promotion of copper coins in Europe cannot achieve the effect of being the minimum change. Unless, the price of copper plummets......

If the price of copper falls to 1:100 of the silver-copper ratio, then the role of copper coins as change for silver coins can be fully exerted. One silver finney coin equivalent to 50 yuan can be exchanged for 100 small copper coins if it is exchanged at a ratio of 1 to 100 silver and copper. And a copper coin is reduced to a level that is almost equivalent to 5 cents. Although it is still a little insufficient, it is enough to use it as change......

But that's just a hypothesis, the reality is that the lack of copper mines in Europe has led to high copper prices, and Marin's idea is difficult to realize.

If the value of copper coins is too high, it is difficult to act as a medium for small transactions. In this way, it is difficult for business to be active.

In fact, Marin also considered the use of paper money. However, after thinking about it, he gave up. Because, now there is a lack of effective anti-counterfeiting technology. Then, the counterfeiting of banknotes will be very easy. If a large amount of paper money is counterfeited, then the economy is likely to collapse.

It's not that paper money is not good enough, but paper money is difficult to implement in ancient times. Not to mention that the public is not necessarily willing to accept it, and the fact that counterfeiting cannot be curbed alone makes it difficult for paper money to be promoted. Moreover, it is difficult for Marin to guarantee that his descendants will not issue paper money indiscriminately, leading to economic collapse. After all, his descendants are not time-travelers, but they don't have his cautious mind. Just like the Ming Dynasty in this era, the official printed treasure money indiscriminately, causing the value of treasure money to plummet. Even though the imperial court's treasure banknotes are legal currency, everyone still refuses to buy it. In the end, the Ming Empire still circulated copper coins and silver. As for the treasure money, no one will believe it...... It seems that during the Zhengde period, the treasure banknotes issued by the Ming Dynasty were abolished and became waste paper......

Therefore, to make coins, precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper are used. But the question is, where does the copper come from?

The Fayilun Copper Mine has begun to produce large quantities of copper, but it is estimated that it will take some years to reach the level of supplying the whole of Europe. Then, the introduction of cheap copper from India and China has become a shortcut. It's just that China seems to be short of copper, so there is only a copper mountain to develop Japan? It seems that the development of Copper Mountain in Japan is still very low. Even the stone and silver mountains have not yet been developed, let alone those copper mountains? Therefore, in the future, Marin will not only be responsible for the developer of Iwami Ginzan, but also need to provide the technology to the Japanese daimyos, and encourage them to develop Japan's copper mountain on a large scale, so as to provide enough cheap copper. Historically, it seems that the price of copper in Europe was suppressed by the cheap copper that the Dutch brought back to Europe from Japan......

And when the price of copper is suppressed, the role of copper coins as change in small transactions can really be brought into play. Unlike now, because of the high price of copper, copper coins simply cannot play the role of change, which greatly hinders the development of the European market economy......