Commodities to 1252
When Florence issued the first gold coin in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in 1252, this signaled the revival of trade in Europe. Gold and silver became the basis of the economy and GFD is able to provide data on the price of gold and silver back to 1252 with data from Florence to 1252, London to 1257 and Paris to 1258.
Monks collected data on the costs of running their monasteries and as the trade fairs blossomed in continental Europe, traders kept track of their costs. Consequently, GFD can provide data on agriculturals such as oats, rye, barley, wheat, cheese and butter back to 1348.
GFD provides daily prices on some commodities back to the 1870s and monthly prices on dozens of others. GFD provides prices on over one hundred commodities. No other source can provide the level of historical data on commodity prices than GFD.