198 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



basis of 17 dvvt. the rate of silver was 7 j\s. per ounce. If the condi- 

 tions of the proclamation of 1704 were adhered to, then the rate was 

 6s. lOfd. per ounce. The general rating of the period appears, however, 

 to have been that given by Winslow, 7s. per ounce. A committee of the 

 General Court recommended that pieces of eight should pass at 7s. per 

 ounce, in 1701.* Another committee in 1703 1 proposed that plate, 

 bullion, and silver of sterling alloy should pass at 7s. per ounce. Seven 

 shillings may therefore be adopted as the generally accepted value at 

 that time.J 



All throusrh the Provincial legislation 6s. 8d. is treated as the normal 

 rate of silver in lawful money, and os. 2d. as the sterling rate. With 

 exchange at 133, and silver rated at 5s. 2d. sterling, the rate in lawful 

 money should have been 6s. lid., a fraction above the rate to be derived 

 from the proclamation. The question naturally arises, Whence came 

 this rate of 6s. Sd. ? My conjecture is that it dates back to the days of 

 the Colony, at which time silver is sometimes quoted at os. § This ster- 

 ling rating would be tlie equivalent of 6s. 8d. New England money. Its 

 use would in that event have been merely traditional, but a traditional 

 rate might have fixed itself upon a denominational money. 



During the period of the decline of the notes, the influence of the 

 Governors and of the Councillors, especially after the decline became 



* Mass. Archives, Vol. CI. p. 184. 



t Court Records, Vol. VII. p. .373. 



J The author of " Observations on the Scheme for £60,000 in bills of a new 

 Tenour," p. 18, gives the rate in 1702 at seven shillings. The same author, how- 

 ever, in "An Inquiry into the Nature and Uses of Money," etc., p. 4, gives the 

 rate tlie same year as eigiit shillings. Deeember 27, 1704, Dudley announced that 

 he had received the proclamation. Court Records, Vol. III. p. 95. On tlie od 

 of Marcli, 1704-5, tiie Council passed an order that no money should pass by tale 

 but what was of due weight, according to her Majesty's proclamation. Light 

 money and plate of sterling alloy were to pass until further provision should be 

 made at the ne.xt session of the Assembly at seven shillings per ounce. Tlie 

 House non-concurred, and the Governor summoned tiiem to a conference. After 

 tlie conference, tiie order was amended by striking out tlie seven shillings, and 

 making it read tliat light weight coins, etc. should pass and be good in payments 

 by the ounce Troy pro rata until the end of the session of the Court in May. 

 Court Records, Vol. III. p. 113. On the same day Dudley issued a proclamation 

 to that effect. Mass. Archives, Vol. CI. pp. 287 and 290. 



§ A Discourse, etc., p. 24. Douglass, speaking of the effect of the depreciation 

 of the currency on tlie salaries of clergymen, says the preachers " when silver 

 was at 5.S. had .£o per week ; at present, silver at 29s. per oz., they have only £6 

 to .£8, equal to 40s. of former times." 



