West African Gold Rescued Medieval European Economies From Silver Shortages

Key facts

• Mansa Musa's 1324 Hajj to Mecca included at least 500 slaves, over 100 camels, soldiers, officials, and horses, carrying vast gold.
• In Cairo, the caravan's gold expenditure caused the dinar to crash by 20%, taking 12 years for the gold market to recover.
• The Ghana Empire became powerful by about 800 AD, conquering gold-producing areas and trading gold for salt via camel caravans.
• The Songhai Empire was the largest Gold Empire, peaking from the mid-15th to late 16th century.
• The Mali Empire was the wealthiest, peaking from 1235 to 1610.
• By the late medieval period, an estimated 10% of the world's gold came from West Africa.
• The Great Famine and Black Death wiped out about 50% of Europe's population, reducing silver mining and causing coin shortages.
• In England, silver pence coins fell by 75% between 1351 and 1422.
• By 1422, Venice had minted 1.2 million gold ducats.
• In 1441, Portuguese ships began shipping West African gold from the African coast, ending the trans-Saharan monopoly.
• West African gold continued to be conveyed to Europe up to the 19th century.
• European economies began to recover by the late 15th century after new gold routes, including from the Americas, ended the precious metals shortage.