When was silver discovered at Potosí in Bolivia?
Silver is found at Potosí
La plata de Potosí
1545. In 1545 an Indigenous man, Diego Huallpa, is said to have found silver on the Cerro Rico, a red mountain 4,000 metres up in the Andes of today's Bolivia.
Where: The whole Spanish-speaking world, Bolivia, Potosí
What happened
In 1545 an Indigenous man, Diego Huallpa, is said to have found silver on the Cerro Rico, a red mountain 4,000 metres up in the Andes of today's Bolivia. Potosí grew into one of the largest cities in the world, with about 160,000 people by 1600, when its more than 600 mines yielded around 9 million pesos a year, more than all the rest of the world's silver mines. From about 1560 the ore was refined with mercury, and from the 1570s Viceroy Toledo's mita obliged Andean villages to send men in rotation to the mines, where many died. The Crown took a fifth. 'Vale un Potosí', worth a Potosí, still means something priceless in Spanish.
Say it
En español, algo que vale mucho 'vale un Potosí'.
In Spanish, something very valuable 'is worth a Potosí'.
Why it matters
Potosí's silver paid for Spain's wars, inflated prices across Europe and filled China's treasury; 'vale un Potosí' entered the language through Cervantes.
Read about it
Connected
- The Columbian exchange (1492–1800)
- Cajamarca: Pizarro captures Atahualpa (16 November 1532)
- Cajamarca: Pizarro captures Atahualpa (16 November 1532)
- Silver and the first global trade (1545–1800)
- The Manila galleon (1565–1815)
- The Manila galleon (1565–1815)
- The rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (4 November 1780–18 May 1781)
- The rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (4 November 1780–18 May 1781)
- Before: Elcano sails round the world
- After: The Valladolid debate
Sources
- The Silver of the Conquistadors — World History Encyclopedia
- Spanish Treasure Fleets — World History Encyclopedia
- The Iberian Conquest of the Americas — World History Encyclopedia