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At the time, the demand for fur was surging in Europe as it was used to make cloth and fancy hats. Data collected from England in the 18th century highlights that the years from 1746 to 1763 saw an increase of 12 shillings per pelt. It has been calculated that over 20 million beaver hats were exported from England alone from 1700 to 1770. [16]
The HBC drastically reduced the price paid for furs, by 50% in many cases. By this time, however, the fur trade was in decline, both on the coast and the continent, due to a general depletion of fur-bearing animals, along with a reduction in the demand for beaver pelts.
A metal axe head, for example, was exchanged for one beaver pelt (also called a 'beaver blanket'). The same pelt could fetch enough to buy dozens of axe heads in England, making the fur trade extremely profitable for the Europeans. The Natives used the iron axe heads to replace stone axe heads which they had made by hand in a labor-intensive ...
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Modern fur trapping and trading in North America is part of a wider $15 billion global fur industry where wild animal pelts make up only 15 percent of total fur output. In 2008, the global recession hit the fur industry and trappers especially hard with greatly depressed fur prices thanks to a drop in the sale of expensive fur coats and hats.
Eventually, traders began using various foreign coins as stores of value. In order to trade with Indigenous peoples, the HBC standardized the unit of account as the made beaver, or one high quality beaver skin. In 1795, a made beaver could buy eight knives, one kettle, or a gun could be purchased with 10 made beaver pelts. [2]