In addition to creating an equity market, the Dutch developed an innovative banking system, which grew rapidly and began to finance international trade for Dutch and non-Dutch merchants. Prior to the Dutch banking innovations, the international currency situation was a mess. In the late 1500s, around 800 different foreign and domestic coins circulated in the Netherlands, many of which were debased (i.e., had a lowered content of precious metal in the coins) and difficult to distinguish from counterfeits. This created uncertainty over the value of money, which made international trade slower
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