They were mutually beneficial between the Spanish and Californians.
I believe the answer is: 1. Depreciating and 2. Fewer
When a currency depreciate, the purchasing power that the currency had toward imported product would decrease. When this happen, the the currency would be seen as less valuable by people from another country, which cause the price of the currency to be lower in foreign exchange market.
They both advanced economic powers by having authority over valuable marketing.