Sandy, you are wrong. 100% markup is waaaay too high - we are almost into "fiduciary currency" territory with that sort of markup (a fiduciary currency is a currency that whose agreed value is higher than it's intrinsic value - ie a modern US dollar)
Evidence : Morosini and Badoer to the Doge of Venice, 5 March 1551 - diplomatic corrospondence cites a 15% markup for the Netherlands for coining Peruvian silver for Spain (Braudel, Med, v1, p480)
Andrea Doria to the Republic of Genoa 27 April 1572 quotes a 1.5% charge for freighting silver from Spain to Genoa - this covers freight and insurance (Braudel, Med, v1, p489)
OK, this is late period. I also remember (but cannot cite references for - - my early period stuff is in storage) that the Anglo-Saxon coiners took a cut of 5% for coining (ie 1 in 20).
If people really want, I will dig up more extensive references but just trust me when I say a 100% markup is pure fantasy for a pre-modern currency vis a vis price in metal.
Powered by hypermail