218 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



by General Murray, the Governor, in 1764,i Although the Halifax 

 shilling was then only incidentally mentioned it was not long before 

 the trade without any official recognition settled to do business by this 

 standard and Sir Guy Carleton was left no other alternative than to 

 promulgate it officially. This was done by an ordinance, passed 

 in 1777, which rated the Spanish dollar as worth five shillings.^ 



Wliile 'this change in the value of the shilling could be easily ad- 

 justed to the larger coins, it was impossible to make it fit in with the 

 lesser coins in copper; for a halfpenny sterling could not be made to 

 ipass for more than a halfpenny currency whether the shilling circu- 

 lated for one and a penny or one and threepence. It will thus be seen 

 that any one importing legal copper coin could only do so at a heavy 

 loss while those exporting it stood to make as high as twenty per cent, 

 and even more, for the balance of trade was usually against the pro- 

 vince and exchange, as a result, often much above par. Under these 

 circumstances it can readily be understood that little if any legal 

 copper coins remained in the province and that the people had to 

 adopt such makeshifts as best they could to supply change. 



Towards the end of the eighteenth century, on the issue of a new 

 British coinage, the old coppers of 1770-1775 were shipped over to 

 Canada and for a time afforded a measure of relief; but, through the 

 ordinary lofes by circulation and the increasing demands of a growing 

 population, this supply soon proved insufficient; and, as the stringency 

 became more severe, merchants began to import tokens from England 

 for the use of their own trade. While these were at first of fair size 

 tmd value and therefore acceptable, soon the element of profit in the 

 business led merchants to reduce the weight of their tokens by almost 

 one half and as their avarice increased to import them m greater and 

 greater quantities until the circulation became loaded down with 

 copper change. This too, notwithstanding the law on the statute- 

 books against '' importing or manufacturing spurious or base copper 

 coin."' Such was the surfeit in copper change in 1817 that a petition 

 was presented from " divers inhabitants of Quebec " claiming " that 

 there has recently been put into circulation a prodigious quantity of 

 copper of which a large proportion has since become depreciated."^ A 

 similar petition was presented from Montreal " setting forth " that 

 " the evil has now increased to such an extent as to acquire a speedy and 

 efficacious remedy;"* and, although a special committee was appointed 



^ Ordinances for the Province of Quebec, 1767, page 4. 

 ■^ Ibid. (2nd series). Quebec, 1777, page 70. 



' Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. Quebec, 1817, 

 page 68. 



* Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. Quebec, 1817, 

 pasre 114. 



