Great Bullion Famine
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The Great Bullion Famine was a shortage of precious metals that struck Europe in the 15th century, with the worst years of the famine being 1457 to 1464. During the Middle Ages, gold and silver coins
Gold coin of Louis XI of France, minted at Perpignan in 1461 during the worst years of the Great Bullion Famine
Spanish colonial coin of Philip II, minted in Potosí (modern-day Bolivia), struck c. 1580
Kutná Hora
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Kutná Hora is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The history of Kutná Hora is linked to silver mining, which made it a rich and rapidly devel
Great Bullion Famine
…to produce silver groats, yet by 1392 the mint at Ghent had stopped coining and the Bruges mint fell idle in 1402. In the 1390s, the silver mints in Kutná Hora declined and the following Hussite Wars and the Sardinian–Aragonese war put a further strain on the European precious metal supply. By 1405 French gold…
Aerial view of Kutná Hora with the Church of Saint Barbara and Jesuit College in the front
Silver mining and processing in Kutná Hora, 1490s
The square Palackého náměstí
Italian Court, former royal residence and seat of the royal mint