XXV111 
INTRODUCTION. 
is also made for rank-tax , unless the officers are 
exempted from it by special permission; and 
such is the case throughout the whole of his 
Danish Majesty’s dominions: all are obliged to 
pay a tax in proportion to the rank they main¬ 
tain ; whether this rank is obtained by the em¬ 
ployments they hold in the state, or whether it 
is a mere title. 
The current money of the country is chiefly 
Danish bank-notes of ninety-six skillings value 
each. One skilling is equal to a halfpenny Eng¬ 
lish, sixteen skillings constitute one mark Danish, 
and six marks Danish one »ix-dollar. These 
bank-notes are, however, distinguished from those 
current in Denmark, by having a few Icelandic 
words printed on the back, specifying their value. 
The only specie to be met with consists of these 
skillings, penny, twopenny, and fourpenny pieces 
of an adulterated silver: all other silver and gold 
coin, which used to be seen in abundance, is now 
almost unknown. 
A rix-dollar should be equal to four shillings 
English, and such w 7 as the case, or very nearly 
so, before the breaking out of the war between the 
two countries, but at present on account of the 
low course of exchange it is not more than equal 
to one-third of that value. It will be seen that 
