April — sept. 1859.] Ancient and Modern times. 



85 



Charlemagne in France corresponds in respect of coinage with 

 that of William the Conqueror in England. In his time the livre 

 ( libra, pound) was a pound troy of silver of a certain known fine- 

 ness ; and bore the same fixed proportion (240 : 1 ) to the French 

 penny — or penny weight of silver — that the English and Scots 

 pound bore to the English and Scots penny. The sou (solidusj 

 corresponding to the shilling, agreed with it in variability until 

 fixed by Charlemagne. At different times the sou was worth 5, 

 12, 20, 40, French penny s : and from Charlemagne till the Revolu- 

 tion the proportions between the French pound, shilling and penny 

 remained uniform. The depreciation, however, was 22 times as 

 great in the French as in the British currency. 



The standard silver of France, like her gold, is somewhat infe- 

 rior to that of England. It contains 0-900 pure silver, with a 

 legal tolerance of 0-003 above and below standard. Silver medals 

 contain 0*950 with the same tolerance. The standard for plate is 

 also 0-950, but the tolerance 0-015 below — no superior limit being 

 fixed. 



The gold is extracted as in the English Mint. The old 3-fr. and 

 6-fr. pieces, and the still older 5-fr. pieces, were deprived of their 

 gold by the process above described. 



When speaking of gold, I have given the sources from which 

 the world is chiefly supplied with silver. The lead-mines of Great 

 Britain and Ireland yield a considerable quantity. It is found 

 both native, in streaks or threads in the lead ore, and in the form 

 of sulphuret combined with the galena. It was formerly separat- 

 ed from the lead by oxidising the latter, which had again to be 

 reduced to the metallic state. This process was so expensive that 

 none but the most highly argentiferous ores would pay the cost of 

 extracting the silver. Latterly, however, it has been found prac- 

 ticable to extract the silver by a process of crystallisation ; and a 

 proportion of three ounces in the ton may be separated with 

 profit* 



* The modern process does not require the oxidation of more than 

 one-twentieth of the lead, instead of the whole. 



The richest argentiferous galena contains no more than 40 oz. of sil- 

 ver to the ton. The average quantity in the Irish lead- mines is 28 oz. 

 in the ton. 



