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



The Roman gold coinage was depreciated one-half (or nearly) 

 between its first introduction and the time of Constantine the 

 Great. Pliny tells us of 40 aurei to the lb., and under Nero (the 

 reading of this passage is doubtful) of 45 to the lb. This change 

 was most probably made under Julius Caesar. It reduced the 

 standard weight of the aureus from 130-1 grains to 115-64.* Con- 

 stantine struck 72 from the pound of gold,f and this continued to 

 be the standard to the end of the Empire. 



It would be tedious in the extreme, and uninteresting moreover, 

 to trace the progress of depreciation in the principal countries 

 of Europe. Sir Boyle Roche is said to have moved in the Irish 

 House of Commons "that every quart bottle should hold a quart." 

 A universal ordinance " that every pound should be a pound" 

 would produce a wonderful revolution in the commercial world. 

 " The English pound and penny contain one-third, the Scots one- 

 thirty-sixth, the French one-sixty-sixth of their original values." 

 The currency of every country tells a similar tale. 



I shall conclude this paper with a few historical facts connected 

 with the Drain of the precious metals to the East. I shall be as 

 brief as I can : I have already exceeded due limits. 



Gold and silver have always been advantageous articles of ex- 

 port from the West to the East. Perhaps this proposition should 

 be otherwise stated ; the East has always produced in abundance 

 necessaries and luxuries which the West has ever been willing to 

 import and pay for, while many circumstances have combined to 

 render payment in the precious metals more acceptable than pay- 

 ment in goods, or at least to establish a preponderance of imports 

 of commodities other than gold and silver over exports, leaving 

 the balance of course to be discharged in the universal medium 

 of exchange. In the jargon of the Mercantile system, and in re- 

 ference to this subject neither its language nor its theories are yet 

 quite exploded ; the " balance of trade" has almost invariably 



* There are no specimens of aurei extant weighing so much as 130*1 

 grains. The heaviest known is one of Pompey's and weighs 128-2 grs. 

 The average gold coins of Julius Csesar weigh 125*66 grs. — of Nero, 

 115*39 grs. The aurei of Augustus in the British Museum average 

 121*26 grs. 



t This would make the weight of each aureus 72*28 grs. 



