Handbook for translators of Spanish historical ... - University Library

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modern United States equivalent values for Spanish coins
from 1492 to 1850, we have used as a basis the tables for
1492 to 1928 prepared by Juan Alvarez in his work entitled
Temas de Historia Econ6mica Argentine ,
o_, Equivalencia actual
de las monedas usadas en el_ territorio argentine (1492-
transferring the values of Argentine money to
1928 ) . By
United States money for 1936, as given in the Handbook of
Foreign Currencies, prepared by the Department of Commerce
in 1936, and a pamphlet entitle Monetary Systems of the
Principal Countries of the World , compiled in the Office
of the Director of the Mint, 1916, we have obtained o\ir
equivalent values for coins used betv;een the years 1492
and 1850.
Juan Alvarez explains his method of arriving at modern
Argentine equivalent values of ancient Spanish coins in
the following lines:
It is impossible to determine exactly how much and
how the purchasing power of one metal oscillated from
1492 to our times. To attempt to study the problem of
the combined oscillations of both metals would be to
accumulate difficulties. Consequently, I decided to
adopt gold as the sole standard, even though in fact
Spain was not monometallic, and for a long time her
coins were struck without adhering to a basic and general
type.
In the face of the difficulty in determining exactly
the nature of the variations in the purchasing power
of gold, I have adopted as a hypothesis that it remained
invariable; and that from 1492 that metal had a
value of $0.6888 [Argentine money) per gram, which
price is still assigned to it in accordance with the
calculations made during the first years of the French
republic (l kilogram of gold— 3,444.44 francs— 688.88
gold Argentine pesos). I have reference to the gold
peso of our monetary law of November 5, 1881, with 9/l0
fineness, and 1.6129 grams. In the following computations
I have reduced it to paper money at the rate of
$1 paper money to 0.44 gold, in accordance with the law
of conversion of October 31, 1899, which is in force today,
or the same as that used as the basis for our statistical
tables. Consequently, I am attributing to each
gold coin a permanent value as long as its legal value
does not change; for example, I attribute to it the val-
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