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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Factual: History

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD): Pieces of eight

Pieces of eight

The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD), Pieces of eightSearch BBC

Neil MacGregor with the first truly global money - silver pieces of eight.

Neil MacGregor is this week focusing on European encounters around the world between 1450 and 1600. Today he is with the with the first truly global money - silver pieces of eight.

Neil MacGregor's world history as told through things that time has left behind. This week he is exploring the world between 1450 and 1600 - looking at what was happening in South America, Africa and Japan at the time of the great European age of discovery. He has looked at the new ocean going galleons that were being built in Europe at this time and today he describes the money that was being used to fuel the great new trade routes of the period. He is with pieces of eight, little silver coins that by 1600 could have been used in many countries around the world. Neil describes Spain's dominance in South America and their discovery of a silver mountain in Potosi in present day Bolivia. He describes the process by which pieces of eight turned into the first truly global money. The Bolivian former head of a UNESCO project in Potosi describes the conditions for workers there today and the financial historian William Bernstein looks at how these rough silver coins were to shift the entire balance of world commerce. 

Producer: Anthony Denselow


A History of the World in 100 Objects: The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Neil MacGregor traces the impact of travel, trade and conquest from 1450 to 1600.

Neil MacGregor uses objects from around the world to chart Europe's expanding maritime trade and empires that created the first global economy between 1450 and 1600.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

Pieces of eight

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