ANNALS OF THE NOVA SCOTIAN CURRENCY. 43 



I. Be it enacted, by the Lieutenant-Governor, council and assembly, Tliat immediate measures shall be taken 

 to obtain a quantity of good and proper halfpence, sufllcient for the trade and circulation ol this Province, and 

 calculated not to be under the weight of five pennyweight and twelve grains for eacli halfpenny ; for which pur- 

 pose one or more fit and proper persons, not exceeding three, shall be nominated by the Governor, Lieutenant- 

 Governor or commander-in-chief, for the time being, by and with the advice and consent of His Majesty's council, 

 for the time being, to act as commissioner or commissioners in this behalf and it shall be lawful for such commis- 

 sioner or commissioners when so appointed, to cause a quantity of copper, such as is generally used for the copper 

 coin issued from the Mint to be stamped and coined in England, each piece of copper when so coined and stamped 

 off, to be of the weight of five pennyweight twelve grains, at least ; and the device of the die to be used in stamp- 

 ing and coining such copper shall be taken from the great seal appointed by His Majesty for the use of this 

 Province — the arms of the United Kingdom to be on one side, and the Provincial Badge of distinction, by Royal 

 Authority appointed, for the reverse of said great seal to be on the other side of such copper coin, with such suit- 

 able legend or inscription as the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor or commander-in-chief for the time being, with 

 the advice of His Majesty's council, may appoint and direct. 



IL And be it further enacted That the copper halfpence so to be provided and imported, shall be of a value 

 not exceeding two thousand pounds of the Provincial currency; and the said commissioner or commissioners 

 shall cause the same, when so imported, to be deposited in the treasury of the Province, and shall take care tiiat 

 the die or stamp used for such coinage, shall be deposited in such a place and such a manner for safe-keeping in 

 England as the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or commander-in-chief for the time being, by and with the advice 

 of His Majesty's council, shall appoint and direct- 



IIL And be it further enacted. That as soon as conveniently may be after such half-pence shall have been so 

 lodged in the Provincial Treasury, it slvdl be lawful for the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or commander-in- 

 chief, by and with the advice of His Majesty's council, by proclamation, to order such half-pence to be issued and 

 to circulate from the Treasury ; and also to appoint a time when all other kind of copper, coined or uncoined, ex- 

 cept the copper coin issued under the authority of this Act and there enumerated and made lawful in the Act of 

 which this is an amendment, and such as shall be issued by Royal Authority for the use of the United Kingdom 

 of Great Britain and Ireland, since the first of January one thousand eight hundred, shall cease to be used and 

 shall no longer be tendered or received as halfpence in tliis province under the penalty of incurrmg the forfeiture 

 and fine imposed by the act of which this is an amendment. 



IV. And be it further enacted, That any person convicted of counterfeiting or impairing any of said copper 

 coin, or of uttering any counterfeit or impaired coin, knowing the same to be counterfeited or impaired, shall sufTer 

 the same fines and penalties which any person or persons convicted of counterfeiting or impairing any foreign 

 coins current in this Province, are liable to suffer by the laws or statutes of the Province in such cases made and 

 provided. 



APPENDIX V. 



MINUTES OF COUNCIL, AND LETTERS RELATING TO THE COINAGE OP 1823 AND 1824. 



A. 



MINUTE OF COUNCIL, MAKCH 18, 1817. 



His Excellency appointed the Honorable the Treasurer and the Honourable Charles Hill commissioners to 

 carry into effect the provisions of the copper coinage Act passed last season. 



B. 



Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 20th 1823. 

 Messrs. Smith, Forsyth & Co. 

 Gentlemen, 



This Province having for some years experienced much inconvenience and difficulty in its commercial deal- 

 ings for the want of silver coinage of every denomination, and the impossibility of retaining it when occasionally 

 imported, which has been the cause of introducing a very great quantity of base coppers and from necessity is 

 now circulated to an alarming extent. 



The Legislature, therefore, during its recent session, resolved and directed that some thousand pounds in 

 value of pennys and half pennys. should be provided and imported from England without delay, of good copper 

 coinage for the public service, and thereby, if practicable, put a stop to the further circulation of base copper. 



I am therefore to request that you will take the trouble to procure at Birmingham, or elsewhere as you may 

 deem best, 400,000, say four hundred thousand halfpennys, of the same size and weight as those that were struck 

 off in England in 1806 and 1807; they weigh nearly 6 dwt, six pennyweight each. Let them have the present 

 King's head on one side, with the Province of Nova Scotia round it, and on the reverse a handsome thistle (in place 



