How did Great Britain sustain financial supremacy in the international economy that expanded so rapidly in the latter part of the nineteenth century, while also maintaining its commitment to keeping the pound sterling fully convertible to a fixed amount of gold? Various answers to this nagging question have been proposed by analysts over the years, most proposing some form of ongoing financial innovation, whether gold devices, central bank cooperation, or gold exchange standards.
Wadan Narsey proposes an alternative, based on his research into the recondite archives of the Public Records Office, Kew (London). He suggests that Britain husbanded its gold reserves by keeping its subordinate colonies on silver standards, circulating token coins containing less than market value of precious metal. This policy began with the Glorious Revolution of 1688/89 and the Great Recoinage that followed in 1696; it continued thereafter right up to the height of the British Empire with the African colonies in 1884.
The book begins by exploring the accepted history of British colonial currency systems, before analyzing the currency policies for Britain between 1698 and 1893. It discusses colonial currency policies between 1600 and 1893, and conflicts in imperial India from 1893 to 1912: conflicts and imperial resolution. It then discusses the transition from India to West Africa and the establishment of the West African Currency Board from 1893 to 1912. Other chapters study the conflicts over the administration of colonial reserves in London, academic criticisms and imperial responses and reassessment of the currency board debate. The author concludes by reviewing various theories of imperialism and colonial underdevelopment in the light of the topics discussed.
