Rechange: Part 2

Tomasso now has a bill for 65.5 ecus in return for his gold marc. This is the first step of the rechange. To turn this bill into cash Tomasso must remit the bill to 'You' in Florence, who will draw the bill on Federigo for 65.5 ecus. The result of this is that 'You' will have made back the 64 ecus from the bill bought from 'Me' as well as having made 1.5 ecus profit.

In Catholic Europe, Usury laws prohibited making interest from loans. This also included selling money for more than its stated price. This transaction circumvates usury laws because in Lyons, the ecus were bought for the price stated in the conto. It just so happens that a gold marc in Lyons will fetch more ecus than a gold marc in Florence. The exchange bankers often used this to their advantage using such transaction networks.