EH.R: 1550 - 1600 European coinage data

[Mauricio Drelichman]

I am looking for sources on the gold content of coins and their value in units of account across Europe for the period between 1550 and 1600. The usual suspects do not cover the period - McCusker's handbook starts too late, and Oliver Volckart's data ends too early.

John Munro's article "Money and Coinage: Western Europe" in Dewald's "Dictionary of Early Modern Europe" has very useful data for England, France, Flanders, Florence, and Spain. I would like to obtain similar information for Besancon (then part of the Habsburg territories), Augsburg, Naples, Milan and Genova (and whatever additional locations might be available). The specific units of account that I would like to convert into gold content are:

Gold ecu (Augsburg)
Gold ecu (Besançon)
Gold ecu (Genova)
Gold ecu (Milan)
Ducat of 11 "carlines" (Naples - also of 12 carlines)

Two more specific questions:

1) My primary sources, Spanish debt contracts, cite Napolitan ducats of 11 carlines in 1567 and 1570, and ducats of 12 carlines in 1568. Should someone know the source of the change in the number of carlines to the ducat, I would very much appreciate a clarification.

2) I have also encountered ducats of 40 "placas" without any indication of geographical origin. I would be very grateful if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide,

--
Mauricio Drelichman
Assistant Professor of Economics
The University of British Columbia
997-1873 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6T 1Z1
http://mauricio.econ.ubc.ca/