WHILE the problems of the current financial crisis are focused on the what the Budget may reveal later today, the situation is far from unique - as residents in Monmouthshire discovered during Elizabethan times.

The country was enduring a severe economic crisis and drastic measures were needed to reverse the nation’s fortunes. Financial advisors to Queen Elizabeth I drafted a budget which she approved in 1560 to call in and re-mint all silver and gold coinage in circulation.

A capital investment was needed to restore stability and the timely introduction of 120 tonnes of Spanish gold made a substantial contribution to the economy.

The currency change over was supervised by special representatives of the trades associations to walk the counties markets in Monmouth, Abergavenny, Chepstow and Usk to ensure that only the new currency changed hands.

A new law made it an offence to even speak of the change, with the penalty being a session in the stocks and three months in jail.

The result was to place business transactions on a firmer footing and at the same time providing a handsome profit for the Crown.

Business confidence was boosted and Britain’s economy became the third largest in Europe.

Whether chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce similar measures later today remains to be seen.