Nicolaus Copernicus wide-ranging interests, among which astronomy was without any doubt the primary, included nevertheless economics in the broadest sense of the term.

Copernicus built on European economic thought, mainly on the theory of money. Its origins can be traced back to ancient times and Aristotle (384/383–322 BC) who demonstrated his ideas on money in two works in particular: Politika (Politics) and Ethika Nikomachaeia (Nicomachaean Ethics).

The time of Copernicus was a period of important economic change for Europe and particularly of the gradually emerging duality in the rate of economic development between Western, and Central Eastern Europe.

Copernicus wrote three versions of his treatise on the reform of Prussian coinage in the years 1517–26 which have survived in the form of copies and translations.