Resumen de Latin America in the International Cashless Payments System from Independence to World War I
The present contribution highlights the gradual process of integration of the Latin American financial places into the international system of cashless payments after independence. Completion of this process was not achieved until the end of the First World War. Whilst during the colonial era bullion had been the most frequently used means of exchange in transatlantic payments from South and Central America, bills of exchange as a means of cashless payments became more and more important in international transactions thereafter, i.e. after these regions had become independent. A thorough analysis of exchange rate quotations from the Central and South American financial places allows tracing the separate stages of this process of integration of South America into the international system of cashless payments, as well as the emergence of local and regional sub-systems within this geographical area.
