BC / ADBCE / CE

c. 1571 CE–c. 1650 CE

Silver circuits between Potosí, Manila, and China

Trade & global routes · Plata · Rutas transpacíficas · Minería colonial · Intermediarios

After Manila’s colonial foundation in 1571, American silver circulated toward the Philippines and China in exchange for textiles, porcelain, spices, and other Asian goods; Potosí was a central node, not the sole source or a single route. This circuit depended on colonial extraction, tribute, trans-Pacific transport, and Asian intermediaries. Sources do not justify one fixed volume of silver or reduce Chinese or American economies to passive demand.

Precision, calendar, and review
Start
year · approximate
End
year · approximate
Calendar and convention
Historical-era years; the source calendar is not identified. No conversion of days is assumed.
Year zero
The scale goes from 1 BCE to 1 CE without year zero. Changing era names changes labels only.
Documentary review
Date not recorded

Reading the date: duration of a process.

Sources

  1. www.metmuseum.org (opens in a new tab)
    Source provenance and scope
    Publication date
    Pending verification: the source could not be accessed
    Bibliographic date checked
    2026-09-23

    The correspondence between this reference and individual claims has not yet been itemized.

This record is an editorial synthesis. Consult the sources to check claims and their limits. Chronological relationships alone do not establish causation.

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