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Coin and Currency in [No. 9, new series. 



favorite number amongst the Greeks as well as the Jews. Cecrops, 

 for instance, divided Attica into twelve districts. 



The Roman system of coinage was duodecimal, the as was 

 divided into twelve parts. But into this system also the number 

 ten entered. When silver began to be coined, the denarius was 

 equal to ten ases : 1,000 sestertii (each of which was originally 

 equal to two ases and a half) made the sum " ( sestertium) '," in 

 which large amounts of money were counted. What led the Ro- 

 mans to a duodecimal system I cannot say. The numbers which 

 appear prominently in their traditions and institutions are 3, 10, 

 and their multiple 30 ; but 12 is the basis of the divisions both of 

 weights and measures of extension. 



In England, one of the two greatest commercial empires in the 

 world, the introduction of a decimal system of coinage would be 

 so obvious an improvement, that one not acquainted with the 

 " manners and customs" of the people would be disposed to be- 

 lieve that the mere proposal of such a measure would be imme- 

 diately followed by its adoption. But he is a sanguine man who 

 expects that he will live to see a Decimal Coinage in England. 

 A century of Parliamentary debates and Select Committees must 

 pass away ; and then our great grand-children may perhaps enjoy 

 facilities in the working of sums in Compound Division, which 

 their ancestors only talked of. We must be content with the 

 coinage of the florin, improvement enough for half a century at 

 least. In England reform is very slow, and I cannot help think- 

 ing that in the matter we are now considering, there is a latent 

 unwillingness in the national mind to adopt even an improvement 

 as yet peculiar to America and France. 



Depreciation of currency may be unavoidable — the natural 

 result of the wear and tear of the material by constant use, assist- 

 ed by " clipping," " sweating" and other industrial efforts of 

 fraudulent individuals. In England, in the reign of William III. 

 the gold and silver coin contained 30 per cent, less of the precious 

 metals than they professed. This was principally due to wear 

 and was remedied by the re-coinage of 1773. Since then the evil 

 has been little felt, although the silver currency at least has been 

 at times in a very worn state. At present the gold coinage is a 



