The private mint in economics: evidence from the American gold rushes†
研究了1830-63年美国淘金热期间的私人造币厂，发现尽管存在欺诈，但信息充分的货币使用者会淘汰劣质硬币，只有诚实高效的造币厂才能存活。
Abstract Prominent economists have supposed that the private production of full‐bodied gold or silver coins is inefficient: due to information asymmetry, private coins will be chronically low‐quality or underweight. An examination of private mints during gold rushes in the US in the years 1830–63, drawing on contemporary accounts and numismatic literature, finds otherwise. While some private gold mints produced underweight coins, from incompetence or fraudulent intent, such mints did not last long. Informed by newspapers about the findings of assays, money‐users systematically abandoned substandard coins in favour of full‐weight coins. Only competent and honest mints survived.