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When the Pound Sterling Went West: British Investments and the American Mineral Frontier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Clark C. Spence
Clark C. Spence
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
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Extract

The period between 1860 and the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 saw the pound sterling moving into even the most isolated corners of the world, seeking, amoeba-like, to reproduce itself with a minimum of effort. Among other areas to feel its impact and to reap its benefits was the American West, particularly the mineral frontier. Records of the Board of Trade indicate that during these forty-one years at least 518 British joint-stock companies were incorporated, with a total nominal capitalization of not less than £77,705,751, to engage in mining and milling activities in the intermountain West, exclusive of the Pacific Coast.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 16 , Issue 4 , December 1956 , pp. 482 - 492
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1956

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References

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