Great Bullion Famine

The main cause for the bullion famine was outflow of silver to the East unequaled by European mining output.

[1][2] The historian John Day supports this theory, stating the loss of gold and silver was due to large-scale trading with the Levant, which provided Europe spices, silks, rare dyestuffs, pearls, and precious gems.

[2] However, the historian Diana Wood states that the silver shortage exacerbated economic problems already caused by war, famine, and plague.

[11] By 1405 French gold crowns were hardly issued at all,[10] and in 1409 Parisian money-changers declared they could not sell bullion to the mint at any price.

[9] The London mint's bullion famine was partially mitigated by the reminting of old heavy coins to the new lighter standards which took effect in 1412.

[22] Prior to Vasco de Gama's voyage in 1497, Venetian trade exported 300,000 ducats in bullion to Alexandria every year.

[25] The bullion famine caused a European economic recession that only the Portuguese and Low Countries were capable of surviving.

[8] In England, the lack of bullion brought about a barter system,[6] in response Edward IV of England passed an act in 1464, stating that carders, spinners, weavers, and fullers were to be paid lawful money for their wages; continued complaints by the cloth industry indicate this act was neglected.

[30] The Portuguese exploration of Africa and a trade route to India via the Cape of Good Hope was similarly fueled by the famine.

[32][33] Pieper supports this thesis, stating the Caribbean gold mines were exploited and thus ended the European bullion famine.