Gerard de Malynes

1586–1641

Nationality: English

Historical Period: The Early Modern Period

Malynes was the Assay Master of the English mint and wrote on money, trade, and merchant law. He became involved with a merchant, Edward Misselden, over the causes of a slump in English commerce in the early 17thC. Against the more free trade Misselden, Malynes argue in favor of an absolute value of the crown’s coinage and berated merchants for robbing the crown of valuable coins by setting their own prices for international trade.