The Great Bullion Famine was a shortage of precious metals that struck Europe in the 15th century, with the worst years of the famine being 1457 to 1464. During the Middle Ages, gold and silver coins saw widespread use as currency in Europe and facilitated trade with the Middle East and Asia; the shortage of these metals therefore became a problem for European economies. The main cause for the bullion famine was outflow of silver to the East unequaled by European mining output, although 15th-century contemporaries believed the bullion famine to be caused by hoarding.

The exploration and later discovery of the New World is believed to have been fueled by the bullion famine. The discovery of the Americas with its silver and gold, along with innovations in mining techniques, and the Portuguese gaining access to African gold ended the bullion famine. It had been linked to the wider Crisis of the late Middle Ages.

The main cause for the bullion famine was outflow of silver to the East unequaled by European mining output. The historian John Day supports this theory, stating the loss of gold and silver was due to large-scale trading with the Levant, which provided Europe spices, silks, rare dyestuffs, pearls, and precious gems. The primary markets for these goods were found in Egypt, Syria and Cyprus.

Fifteenth-century contemporaries believed the bullion famine to be caused by hoarding. Şevket Pamuk, professor of economics and economic history, states the bullion famine was exacerbated by the increase in the hoarding of coin. However, the historian Diana Wood states that the silver shortage exacerbated economic problems already caused by war, famine, and plague.

During the first half of the 14th century, European mining more than compensated the bullion loss from trade with the Middle East. Prior to the Black Death, the loss of silver in England was caused by "accident and export". Yet by 1348, the Black Death had slowed silver mining. The mint at Bordeaux suffered a drop in production by fifty percent during the 1380s, and by 1392 French mints were suffering an accelerated decline in silver coining. By contrast, from 1346 to 1384, Flemish mints continued to produce silver groats, yet by 1392 the mint at Ghent had stopped coining and the Bruges mint fell idle in 1402. In the 1390s, the silver mints in Kutná Hora declined and the following Hussite Wars and the Sardinian–Aragonese war put a further strain on the European precious metal supply.

By 1405 French gold crowns were hardly issued at all, and in 1409 Parisian money-changers declared they could not sell bullion to the mint at any price. Even the ducal mints of John, Duke of Burgundy, stopped minting coins by 1432–1434. From 1400 to 1420, gold coins were no longer circulated in Toulouse. In 1414–1415, the Bordelais' Three Estates, faced with reports of a failure of circulating silver, appealed for action to be taken.

The English mint in Durham suffered a decline in output until its closure from 1394 to 1412. By 1411, the English sterling had been devalued to prevent silver loss in trade with Flanders. The London mint's bullion famine was partially mitigated by the reminting of old heavy coins to the new lighter standards which took effect in 1412. While the lightening of the gold English noble occurred from 1421 to 1524. The fine weight of a pound under the reign of Edward IV decreased by 35% compared to its value under Edward III.

During the 1370s, the mines in Serbia and Bosnia allowed Venice to avoid the worst of the silver shortage, but the bullion loss drained silver mines in Bohemia and Sardinia as quickly as it was mined.