[MACFAUL.1NE] IVIETALLIC CURRENCY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE SI 



'• Empire," and mentions the suggestion " that our new double florin 

 " should be treated as a dollar, and tliat it might become the dollar of the 

 " Empire." He does not, however, elaborate any new plan of introduc- 

 ing uniformity. On the other hand, Filelis adopts the following pro- 

 positions and works them out in detail : — 



1. The unit for an Imperial Coinage must be the pound sterling. 



2. An Imperial Coinage must be sub-divided on the decimal 

 system. 



This is essentially the same plan as recommended by the Australian 

 Committee. In Eilelis system ' the chief coin of account,' would be the 

 owe. which would pass current for the tenth part O'f a pound. Such a 

 coin the United Kingdom already possesses in the two shilling piece or 

 florin, and its retention is proposed. " The next ' coin of account ' 

 '* would be about two and a half pence, or very nearly the same as our 

 '' five cent piece, and it might be called a groat, as the four-penny groat 

 '• has passed out of use. The smallest coin of account would be the 

 *' 1000th of a pound, and would approximate very closely in value to the 

 " present English farthing, the nafne and place of which it might very 

 " appropriately take." 



This system excludes dollars and cents, substituting in fact, florins 

 and farthings foi^them, and no effort is made to harmonise it with the 

 currency of Canada, or of the United States. The problem is, however, 

 one that cannot be solved by inventing a system of coinage theoretically 

 perfect. The question is rather how uniformity can be introduced, a 

 decimal system estabished, and the present coins utilised, with the fewest 

 possible changes, and in the easiest possible manner. It seems possible 

 to maintain that this can best be done by adopting as the unit the double 

 florin mentioned by Mr. Probyn, or the Canadian dollar, which is the 

 same as that of the United States. In gold the United States dollar 

 has a legal weight of 25.8 grains (Fineness 900), which corresponds 

 closely to thp 25.68 grains (Fineness 916.66) of the Newfoundland gold 

 dollar. In fine gold these coins contain respectively 23.22 and 23.54 

 grains, so that, as Mr. Probyn says, " It will be seen that the Newfound- 

 " land dollar is worth a trifle more than the Canadian dollar." There 

 are other parts of the Empire where a dollar of nearly the same value 

 as the Canadian dollar is in use, and therefore some ground for inquiring 

 as to whether this coin would not be- the best unit for an Imperial coin- 

 age, and most 'easily introduced as such. 



The chief and almost the only alteration necessary for establishing 

 uniformity and utilizing by far the greatest number of the coins now 

 current within the Empire is to add a little more gold to the sovereign, 

 making it nearly equivalent to the old English guinea, and equal to $5.00 



