the Mint and have it coined into money, when every ounce would yield him £3. 178. 10d.

The whole bullion trade between France and England is in the hands of a few houses; the calculations are very nice, and it is sometimes difficult to see how the profit is made.

The Bank of England professes to sell Bar Gold at any time when it has any to sell, at £3. 178. 10 d. per ounce, standard.

The Mint is free. There is no seignorage upon Gold Coin.

The value of an ounce of Bar Gold is equal to an ounce of Gold Coin, with some very minute variations, not worth mentioning.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SILVER COINAGE.

It will be convenient here to consider some of the principal changes which have been made in the Silver Coinage, as affecting the money of the country.

In the year 1816, the old silver standard of coinage was abolished, and the pound weight of silver, which had been coined into 62s., was then coined into 66s., of which 4s. were taken for seignorage. The effect of this change was to reduce the pound sterling, or 20s., from 1,718,709 grains of fine silver, to 1,614,545 grains.

The Act which limited silver as a legal tender to £25 was repealed, and the legal tender was reduced to 40s.

By the Act of 1816, 56 Geo. III. cap. 68, silver, which was a universal medium of transfer, was almost prohibited in England. The Mint was closed against the Public, and the coinage of silver money has been, since that time, wholly in the hands of the Government.

The limitation of the silver coinage, as a legal tender, to 408. was judicious; but it is difficult to discover any principle in restricting the quantity of the silver coinage, which would be always regulated to the want by the limitation of the legal tender.

It appears, from a Memorandum issued in 1819, that the Silver Coinage Act of 1816 was part of the scheme by which the Crown usurped the right of regulating the quantity of silver money that should be in circulation, because it was considered that, "while the coinage of silver is in the hands of the Government, they have the power of regulating the amount, so as neither to be in excess or deficiency." But, this is a power quite unnecessary to be in the hands of the Government, as more silver would not be coined than is wanted.

The coinage of the money of the realm is properly a Royal Prerogative, but to restrict the quantity is not. The Royal Mint should be open to the coinage of silver as well as gold free of charge, and our standard, being in gold, has nothing to do with this question.

As this Memorandum is a document remarkable chiefly for its reasoning, the whole of it is here given.

MEMORANDUM UPON THE ISSUES OF THE

SILVER COINAGE.

"Under the authority of the 56th Geo. III. cap. 68, a new silver coinage was prepared, and by a proclamation, dated the 29th day of January, 1817, all the old silver coin of the realm was exchanged throughout Great Britain; this operation was performed by a simultaneous arrangement, and the whole exchange was effected in a fortnight, with a very few exceptions in distant and obscure places, where a few days further time was allowed to the inhabitants to bring in their old coin. The silver coin in the Isle of Man, and Guernsey, and Jersey, was in like manner also exchanged.

"Some silver, which had been in circulation and appeared to be French coin, was received at the Mint at the market price of the standard silver it contained; and some heavy old coin, which had been hoarded, was likewise exchanged there for new coin. Three months were allowed for these operations.

"The amount of silver coinage in Great Britain, previous to the new coinage, was estimated at the Mint to be about £5,000,000; £2,500,000 of which was supposed to be in old coin, and the remainder in Bank tokens; the

estimated amount of the coin appears to have been nearly correct; but what Bank tokens were in circulation it has not been possible for the Mint to determine.

"The amount of coin issued in exchange was £2,600,000. 18. 2d., the amount coined from the old silver coin £2,007,902. 168., amount coined from bullion, since purchased from the Bank, £516,684; total of new silver coinage issued to the present day, £5,124,636. 178. 2d.

"The new coin thus issued being £5,124,636. 178. 2d., and some of the distant parts of the country, and some of the manufacturing districts being still desirous of more silver coin for the accommodation of exchange in their internal traffic, it is probable that the amount of Bank tokens outstanding was more than the Mint calculated; it is certain that the sum already coined is not sufficient for the convenience of the country.

"The silver coined from the bullion furnished by the Bank since the old silver coin has been exhausted, has been lodged in the Bank on account of the Government; and it is distributed to the bankers of London, that it may be circulated throughout the country for the accommodation of the public, and in some instances large sums have been issued for particular dis