STATISTICAL ACCOUNT. 5 



should realize 18 rqr. rmt., or 12 rqr. bco. The exchange, 

 however, is varying, and I never yet obtained the full ex- 

 change, rarely, however, less than 17 rqr. rmt. and 50 6. 

 I may add now that an English bank is established in 

 Gothenburg, the traveller or English resident in Sweden 

 will in future be far more independent of the money 

 changers on the Gothenburg Bourse, who have till now had 

 a pretty good monopoly in their hands, and discounted 

 English bills quite as if they were conferring an obligation 

 on the seller, when they knew at the time that their own 

 Swedish money was valueless in England. 



Formerly fusty old paper notes as low as 3 6. were in 

 circulation. You now never see a paper note under 1 rqr., 

 and these, with others for large sums up to 100 rqr., are 

 in general circulation. 



The old Swedish copper money was very curious. I 

 have in my possession an old copper coin of 1731, value 

 about 2s. 6d., 10 inches square, weighing about six 

 pounds. 



Every note is clearly and properly stamped with its value. 

 I believe all the banks are pretty safe, but I fancy it would 

 be as well for the traveller to procure Gothenburg or Stock- 

 holm notes, and by all means to have them as new as he 

 can. When changing a large note, he will always find the 

 changer anxious to slip in as many ragged old notes as he 

 can. Refuse these at once, for perhaps up country they 

 won't pass. Norwegian notes are as well refused also, for 

 although they will pass on the border towns in Wermland 

 and no doubt are as good as Swedish paper, they are often 

 refused, and are always difficult to change. Moreover, such 

 is the desire of the little dealers here to turn a penny, that 

 I have actually had commission charged me on changing a 

 Norwegian note worth about 10s. in a little Swedish town 

 not far from the frontier. 



But I cannot find much fault with this, for I recollect 

 once on my passage from Gothenburg to Hull by one of the 

 English boats, I wanted to pay my fare to the captain, an 

 Englishman (whose business of course lay quite as much in 



