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The Dutch East India company's trade in Japanese copper, 1645–1736

1953; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 1; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03585522.1953.10409899

1750-2837

Kristof Glamann,

Historical Economic and Social Studies

Abstract Towards the end of the 1930's, Japanese copper appeared, like some strange bird in the northern skies, as an object of study in Scandinavian economic history. The occasion was the publication of the second volume of Professor Eli F. Heckscher's comprehensive work on Sweden's economic history,1 in which the author amongst other things described the copper policy in the heyday of Swedish power. Making use of the abundant Swedish source material which, with few exceptions, contains the annual figures of Sweden's copper production since 1623, Professor Heckscher made a quantitative analysis of production and sale and discussed the question of currency policy, a subject which was, moreover, simultaneously discussed in a dissertation by his fellow-countryman, J. Wolontis.2 Other aspects were also emphasized in Professor Heckscher's account which formed part of his description of Sweden's general economic history. As regards the extent of copper production the quantitative analysis led to the result that in the seventeenth century Sweden actually held a monopoly of copper production. As early as the year 1692, the Swedish metallurgist Erik Odhelius had come to the same conclusion after a four years' study tour to Germany, France, England, the Netherlands and Belgium. This was taken as a point of departure in the determination of the Swedish currency policy and the author concentrated especially on Gustavus Adolphus's decree of 1624 instituting a Swedish monetary standard of copper, or rather a double monetary standard of silver and copper. This event which is so interesting a trait in the history of currency had also, according to Heckscher, reference to the European copper market, the idea being to create a development of prices favourable to the producer, Sweden, by restricting the export of Swedish copper without reducing the production. Gustavus Adolphus's policy failed. Heckscher attributed this to interior weaknesses in the scheme, but the late Professor Albert Olsen, of Copenhagen, maintained that the failure was rather to be ascribed to a Swedish underestimation of the competition in the European copper market, where Sweden's position as a monopolist could by no means be taken for granted.