304 



COINAGE. 



the middle of the sixteenth to the middle of the 

 seventeenth century, the silver price of gold seems 

 to have risen with a very unaccountable slowness. 

 The first reduction in the weight of the gold coin 

 which James I. made, was found sufficient to create 

 an unprecedented abundance of that currency for 

 several years ; yet it amounted to no more than 10 

 ver cent, of rise in the mint price of that metal. This 

 was indeed, in some years more, found to be insulh'- 

 cient ; and in the ninth year of his reign, he aug- 

 mented the mint price 10 per cent, brtner, by rais- 

 ing the nominal value. No sooner had this measure 

 Iven adopted, than it was found that the rise was 

 much too great ; the silver coin began to disappear, 

 end continued diminishing rapidly lor many years, to 

 the great discomfiture ofxhe government, as we find 

 \ij various proclamations against the manufacture of 

 plate and the exportation of bullion/ in respect of the 

 ejfcesse of /arraign e commodities, which is a thing in 

 itselfe intolerable.' Yet the price of silver was all 

 this time continuing to fall, and did not, in fact, reach 

 its lowest point betore the year 1640 or 1650. It was 

 not till this last period, or about the time of the Com- 

 monwealth, that the depreciation of silver was able 

 to counteract the effects of the too great rise in the 

 mint price of gold, effected by the two operations of 

 James, and by another reduction which he very in- 

 judiciously made at the time when silver was most 

 quickly disappearing. After this, the market silver 

 price of gold continued to rise, so that Charles II. 

 once more reduced the weight of the gold coin ; the 

 guinea was issued at 20 shillings value, but it became 

 current at a higher rate, and was allowed to vary 

 with the relative market prices of the two metals. 

 The silver coin, during the remaining part of the 

 century, suffered extremely from clipping ; and at 

 last this evil rose to such a height, that the guinea 

 passed for 30 shillings ; all commodities became dear 

 in proportion ; and silver btdlion was exported to 

 buy gold. The recoinage was now undertaken at a 

 great expense ; and during the interval, the people 

 became more accustomed to gold than to silver coins, 

 which were besides disliked in general on account of 

 their late degradation. Guineas were at the same 

 time prohibited from passing for more than 22 shil- 

 lings ; they soon fell to 21s. 6d. ; but this was still 

 higher than the market price of gold bullion, and 

 the new silver coins were accordingly exported ; so 

 that in 1717, when government referred the consid- 

 eration of the matter to Sir Isaac Newton, he was of 

 opinion that, in a short time, the payments of silver 

 would not be made without a premium. In pursu- 

 ance of this great man's advice, the nominal value of 

 the guinea was reduced to 21s., and it was fixed at 

 this rate as legal tender. 



The violent changes which took place in the 

 monetary System during the interval between the 

 S4th Henry VIII. and the 6th Edward VI., were of 

 a different description from those hitherto under con- 

 sideration. They consisted in alterations of the stan- 

 dard. By three several debasements, Henry VIII. 

 reduced the standard of silver from 11 oz. 2 dwt. and 

 18 grs. alloy, to 4 oz. and 8 oz. alloy ; and Edward 

 VI. brought it down to 3 oz. and 9 oz. alloy ; so that 

 the pound of old standard silver was now coined into 

 jl3 6s. 4fd. Nor was any regard paid to the rela- 

 tive values of gold and silver during these altera- 

 tions. The proportion in 36th Henry VIII. was 6,*, 

 to 1 ; in 3d Edward VI. it was 5,5 to 1 ; and in 5th 

 Edward VI. it was only 2 to 1 : So that enormous 

 profits, sometimes above 350 per cent., were made 

 by melting and exporting the gold coin ; and accord- 

 ingly it afl disappeared from circulation in a very 

 short time. ' 



For this evil a reform of the coin was the only re- 



medy ; and it was undertaken at the end of Edward's 

 reign, upon very judicious principles, and to the full- 

 est extent. He left this salutary change nearly com- 

 pleted ; and Elizabeth, by putting the last hand to 

 so -reat a work, obtained, as often happens in such 

 cases, the glory of the whole enterprise. Indeed, 

 there is nothing really admirable in the general po- 

 licy of this renowned princess with respect to the 

 coinage. If she finished the reform of her brother, 

 she departed from some of its wisest principles ; and. 

 after restoring the standard of fineness, she reduced 

 the weight ol the currency, by several operations, ami 

 was only prevented from executing still greater chan- 

 ges, by the firmness and sagacity of Burleigh. 'I 

 sue of base coin in Ireland during Tyrone's rebellion, 

 is a measure scarcely to be paralleled in the history 

 of public frauds. If we except the extravagant imita- 

 tion by James II. it stands unmatched in the annals 

 of the coinage. The inefficacy of the plan was re- 

 markable. The Irish were ready for every species 

 of submission after the defeat of the insurrection ; but 

 the base coin was universally rejected, and would not 

 pass, even at its real value. See Pacata Hibernia, 

 and Rice Vaitghan's Discourse, p. 53. James II., 

 after the revolution in England, forced a copper and 

 pewter coinage upon the Irish, at the rate of above 

 660 times its intrinsic value. 



Coins. The following table of the relative value 

 of the different species of coin is taken from the 

 Companion to the British Almanac for 1830. The 

 American value in dollars and cents is here given, in 

 addition to the value in English currency, given in 

 the Almanac. The subject is one which does not 

 admit of perfect accuracy, but we believe the esti- 

 mates are sufficiently correct for all the purposes for 

 which such a table can be used. The rates used in 

 the custom-houses of the United States for some of 

 the most important monies of account mentioned, are 

 as follows, being somewhat different from the value 

 assigned to them in the table : 



llol. CtS. 



English pound sterling, . . 4 44} 



shilling sterling, . . 22, 



penny sterling, . . .0 01,',*, 



France franc, . . . . 18 1 



Holland and the Netherlands/ 

 florin or guilder, . \ 

 -sou or stiver, 



40 

 02 



The method of obtaining the results in the table be- 

 low (we use the words of the Companion) is founded 

 upon the following principle. In a coin we consider 

 the weight and standard. By standard is meant the 

 proportion of j ure gold or silver which it contains : 

 the rest is alloy. Thus, if we suppose a coin to con- 

 tain a thousand parts of metal, of which 917 are pure 

 gold or silver, the 83 remaining parts being alloy, 

 the 917 represent the standard, or relative purity of 

 the coin. Suppose we wish to know what is the ' 

 value, in English money, of the Russian imperial o. 

 10 rubles : the weight is 13-073 gram., the standard 

 at 917; deducting the alloy, that is, 1-08 gram., 

 there remain, in pure gold, 11-988 grammes. The 

 English sovereign weighs 7-9808 gram., the standard 

 is at 917, the alloy, consequently, 0-662 gram., and 

 the weight of pure gold contained in it, 7-3184 gram. 

 Now, by the rule of tliree, the question will thus be 

 resolved: 7*318 gram. : 11-988 gram. : : 20 shill- 

 ings : = jl 12s. Qd. By this method, we can as- 

 certain the relative value of all coins ; but sometimes 

 the value thus ascertained will not exactly agree with 

 the sum allowed in exchange. This difference arises 

 From political causes and commercial vicissitudes. 

 This fall and rise, in the relative value of money, 

 principally takes place wherever there is a paper 

 currency. A report of the director of the United 

 States' mint, in 1827, gives the weight, value ami 



