Froidevaux Economic and Monetary History of Western Switzerland book cover

With this three-volume work, Charles Froidevaux presents a monetary history of Western Switzerland and a catalog of Neuchâtelcoins.

The first volume proposes a monetary history of Western Switzerland. This study is located at the crossroads of several fields: history, thehistory of economic thought, the history of currency crises and the counterfeiting of money-laundering issues that ensue in Berne, Basel,Neuchâtel and Geneva, numismatics, statistics, metrology and genealogy. In addition to presenting a global monetary history of WesternSwitzerland over several centuries, the book is also a kind of encyclopedia and gives tools to understand the monetary history, currency crises,devaluations, equivalences between different currencies - notably with the Kingdom of France - as well as the relations between the currencies of thestates of Western Switzerland. For the first time, an analysis of the Romagna currency (Romandie) is formulated. Currency of account, it allowed tosynchronize the currencies between the French-speaking regions and those of German language of the western part of the Swiss Corps. The second volumeis a key catalog of Neuchâtel coins, both for numismatic researchers and for collectors. For each Neuchâtel coin, it offers a presentationaccording to the current standards of numismatics.

The coins are inventoried according to the collection in which they are kept, with inventory number, provenance, size and weight if they areavailable. Private collections are separated from public collections to allow collectors to assess the rarity of variants and their potential formarket entry. A table of correspondences between the references of the work of Wavre, Demole and Montandon published in 1939 and those of thiscatalog allows museums and collectors to update their inventory.

The third volume is devoted to the sources, the documentary bases and the detailed analysis of the elements presented in the first two. Theessential documents mentioned in the first volume or in the catalog are transcribed or photographed. The author has compiled genealogical tables,several documents on counterfeiting (including correspondence involving members of the Neuchâtel Council of State) and on the consequences ofmonetary conferences, under the Ancien Regime, for the various states of France. the western part of the Helvetic Corps. The techniques of readingancient monetary documents are developed, as well as the transcription of abbreviations and the manner of deciphering the mandates displaying theprices of species in the western part of the Swiss Corps. The reader will also find an introduction to coin-making techniques and the role of mastercoiners and engravers, as well as the production accounts and production volumes of the Neuchâtel workshop. The last part of the volume analyzesthe relations between the counterfeiting industry and the families in power in Neuchâtel

Author: CHARLES FROIDEVAUX

Title: Histoire économique et monétaire en Suisse occidentale (1589-1818)
Pages: 956
ISBN: 978-2-88930-275-8
Price: 99.00 CHF, 89.00 €, 119.00 $

For more information (in French), or to order, see:
Histoire économique et monétaire en Suisse occidentale (1589-1818)(https://www.alphil.com/index.php/auteurs/froidevaux-charles/histoire-economique-et-monetaire-en-suisse-occidentale-1589-1818.html?___store=en_chf&___from_store=fr_chf)

To read the complete CoinsWeekly article (in English), see:
Everything There Is To Say About the Coins ofNeuchâtel (https://coinsweekly.com/everything-there-is-to-say-about-the-coins-of-neuchatel/)