Global Silver Circulation System

Timeline

1. 1545–1571Potosí, Upper Peru · Upper PeruThe Potosí silver mines were discovered in 1545, and output surged after the introduction of mercury amalgamation in 1548; Manila was founded in 1571, formally opening Spanish galleon trade and shipping American silver directly to East Asia. Silver thus became the first truly global currency linking the three continents.
2. 1572–1620Atlantic–Pacific transcontinental routes · GlobalDuring the Wanli reign the Ming court implemented the Single Whip Reform, sharply raising silver demand and driving a surge in Pacific trade. Meanwhile, the Atlantic route shipped millions of pesos of silver annually to Spain itself, flowing into Ottoman and Persian trade routes. The three silver flows (Atlantic, Pacific, overland Silk Road) operated in parallel, forming the material basis of the global price revolution.
3. 1621–1630Atlantic and Caribbean routes · Caribbean SeaThe Thirty Years' War (from 1618) intensified European monetary demand; that same year the Dutch West India Company (WIC, founded 1621) began systematically intercepting Spanish silver fleets, and in 1628 Piet Hein successfully captured a fleet carrying some 12 million guilders in silver. Despite clear disruptions, Potosí output remained high and Manila trade continued; the global system did not collapse, showing considerable structural resilience.
4. c. 1640–1820Potosí and Mexican silver mining districts · Spanish AmericaIn the mid-17th century Potosí ore grades declined while Mexican mining districts such as Zacatecas grew in relative importance, gradually shifting the center of global silver flows. By the early 19th century Latin American independence movements ended the Spanish American colonial silver mining system as a whole, fundamentally changing the pattern of global silver circulation.