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THE HISTORY OF CURRENCY
1252 TO 1896

BY W.A. SHAW

[1896]

Reprints of Economic Classics
Augustus M. Kelley Publishers
NEW YORK 1967

First Edition 1895
(London: Wilsons & Milne, 29 Paternoster Row, 1895)

Reprinted 1967 by
AUGUSTUS M. KELLEY PUBLISHERS
From Second Edition of 1896

Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-20086

Printed in the United States of America
by Sentry Press, New York, N.Y. 10019

THE HISTORY OF CURRENCY

1252 TO 1894

     Being an Account of the Gold and Silver Moneys and Monetary
     Standards of Europe and America, together with an Examination of
     the effects of Currency and Exchange Phenomena on Commercial and
     National Progress and Well-being

BY W.A. SHAW, M.A.

LATE BERKELEY FELLOW OF THE OWENS COLLEGE
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL AND ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETIES

Second Edition

New York: G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS
London: WILSONS & MILNE
1896

TO

RICHARD COPLEY CHRISTIE

THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
IN MEMORY OF A FRIENDSHIP
OF PECULIAR GRACE AND INSPIRATION




PREFACE


The purpose of this book is twofold--first and foremost, to illustrate a
question of principle by the aid of historic test and application;
secondly, to furnish for the use of historical students an elementary
handbook of the currencies of the more important European states from
the thirteenth century downwards.

Little need be said as to this latter purpose. The total omission of the
historic, reasoned, and consecutive study of currency history--the most
important domain of practical economics--from the curriculum of every
university in the land is matter for surprise and regret, and can only
be attributed to the lack of an initiative and of a handbook.

As to the former purpose, there is no field of history so strewn with
scientific (i.e. comparative and prophetic) possibilities as economic
history; and in economic history there is no department in which the
study of the experience of other times and nations is more necessary and
resultful, lesson-full, wisdom-full, than the domain of currency. The
verdict of history on the great problem of the nineteenth
century--bimetallism--is clear and crushing and final, and against the
evidence of history no gainsaying of theory ought for a moment to stand.

Throughout mediæval Europe and up to the close of the eighteenth century
the currency of Europe was practically bimetallic--practically, because
actually so without the prescription of a law of tender, and without the
allowance of any theoretic grasp or conception of the practice as
distinctively what nowadays we understand as bimetallic.

The conception of a law of tender is quite modern. And the evolution of
the idea of such a law has gone hand in hand with the evolution of a
conception of monetary theory on the part of the legislator--that is,
with the bitter experience which for want of such a conception Europe
endured for centuries. In all systems of jurisprudence money and minting
appertains to the kingly office, and the development of the law of
tender is to be traced in royal proclamations of the King in Council for
long before it became the subject of parliamentary legislation. For
centuries, such proclamations were issued, referring to a prohibition of
export of the precious metals, banishing foreign coins from the land,
or, again, permitting their circulation, and, in that case, prescribing
the rough tariff or rate according to which (foreign) coin for (native)
coin they should be current. In such proclamations there is no idea of
separating the two metals, gold and silver; there is no idea of a law
of tender; there is no intention to declare a ratio; there is no
conception of _bullion_ apart from coin. The two metals had grown to be
the circulating and exchange medium; they were actually there, and all
that had to be done was to keep them there. The advantage which was to
be derived from a trade in bullion, and from an understanding of the
effects of differently-prevailing ratios in different countries, was
known only to the Jew and the Italian. They plied their trade in secret,
and the legislator was only apprised of the result by suddenly finding a
slipping away and dearth of coinage. Then the legislator altered the
tariff, and gradually rose to the conception of the ratio as underlying
this process of seduction. Then, as a further defence of a particular
class of coins, he imposed a limitation on the tender of such, so as to
prevent bullion operations on it. This limitation was the first
development of a law of tender. Throughout, from the thirteenth to the
eighteenth century, both gold and silver had been actually employed in
European commerce without any idea either of declaring or of restricting
the tender, whether of the one or the other.

The final outcome of the application of the law of tender was the
development of the modern monometallic system--a system in which alone
lay the safeguard against the operation of the bullionist. It was only
at the close of the eighteenth century that England evolved this system
and flung away the last remains of that mediæval ignorance which had
brought with it such a dower of mishap. France has taken almost a
century of further experience before arriving at the same point of
development.

Another point. At the time that England was shaking off the mediæval
system France, too, was accomplishing a reform of her money system. It
stopped half-way. The old kingly prerogative of altering the coinage was
taken away, the unit of the currency was declared definite and
unchangeable, and the seigniorage on minting was abolished. So much was
accomplished by her law of 1803. But no further application was made of
the law of tender than to throw the sanction of legal enactment over
that mediæval system which had been the bane of France since first two
metals found circulation in her bounds. As far as tender is concerned,
there is no difference between the practice of the French monetary
system in 1726 and that of 1803. The system was bimetallic in both
cases--in the first case, legally by recognition and as resting on the
royal jurisdiction; in the second case, legally by direct legislative or
parliamentary enactment. The idea that the law of 1803 created a new
system and a new heaven for France is doubly absurd. It was a
continuation of a very old and a very danger-fraught system, with its
roots deep in mediæval ignorance and practice.

In addition to this--and quite as demonstrably--there was no conception
of a theory of bimetallism in 1803, nor any conception of a bimetallic
function to be performed for the good of the human race by bimetallic
France. This is a conception of the schools, and bred of later needs and
hopes and fears. The modern theory of bimetallism is almost the only
instance in history of a theory growing not out of practice, but of the
failure of practice; resting not on data verified, but on data falsified
and censure-marked. No words can be too strong of condemnation for the
theorising of the bimetallist who, by sheer imaginings, tries to justify
theoretically what has failed in five centuries of history, and to
expound theoretically what has proved itself incapable of solution save
by cutting and casting away.

Such a verdict as this of history, negative as it is, must strike many a
serious mind with dismay. The following of bimetallism would not be what
it is were it not for the despair of any other remedy for the situation
at the moment. We are thereby left apparently hopeless and remediless.
But the first step to the discovery of a true and possible remedy, if
any exists, can only be the casting away of the false and impossible.

The difference between the monetary problem of the seventeenth century
and that of to-day lies in this, that while there has been continuity of
history and development there has been a change of needs and
circumstance. The danger of arbitrage transactions to the mediæval
legislator lay in the fact that they stripped the country, which
suffered from them, not, or not merely, of a bullion reserve, but of
her actual currency, and rendered even internal trade impossible. He
accordingly tried to arrest the drain by threatening imprisonment and
death.

To-day the safety and supply of the internal currency of the various
states is provided for by a monometallic system or by note issue, while,
conversely, trade in the precious metals has become free, and bullion
flows automatically from land to land in accordance with the dictates of
a now rightly-conceived theory of international trade. Just so far the
monetary problem has changed--becoming a question of the evolution of a
stable international exchange system. The theoretic pretensions of
bimetallism have correspondingly widened, but on any ground, wide or
narrow, the only material for the study, comprehension, and judgment of
such pretensions lies in the actual experience of Europe during the past
five centuries.

A few words of more particular explanation are necessary.

1. To the student of money and monetary standards the perpetually
recurring phenomena of reductions of the unit and standard weights and
contents of coins will present no difficulty. Three causes underlay the
process--(1) the practice of alloying, (2) the competitive and dishonest
action of governments, (3) the ideal nature of the unit itself, which
permitted, literally, anything in the way of arbitrary manipulation
(compare, e.g., the very different depreciations of the English
shilling and the French sou, being both descendants of the solidus; or
again, of the French livre and the Italian lire, being both descendants
of the libra).

2. A second and much greater difficulty is presented by the confusion of
nomenclature. It is often difficult to determine what particular piece
is meant by a given name, or, if the identity of the piece can be fixed,
its period may still be uncertain. In French numismatic history, for
instance, the term florin d'or or denier d'or is used in documents quite
generically for the more specific florins d'or à l'agnel, à l'écu, aux
fleurs de lis, à la masse, moutons d'or, etc. This quite indeterminate
use of the word "florin" (= denier = "piece," or generally, "coin") may
possibly explain the crux to be found on pages 3, 9, 301, and 399 of the
text (infra.), where florins d'or are mentioned in French history more
than seventy years before the first authentic minting of the gold florin
at Florence.

3. With regard to the figures of the ratios there is great difference
and divergence among the various authorities. The declared ratio may be
of a double nature--(1) mercantile, as calculated on the purchase price
of gold and silver in the open market; (2) legal, as settled by law in
the terms prescribed for Mint purchase and issue. The former is
comparatively simple, but it is not until a quite recent date, the
opening of the eighteenth century, that it is statistically
determinable. The table of the commercial ratio (pp. 157-9 infra.) is
taken from Soetbeer, and was by him calculated on the Hamburg exchange
and London market rates. The competing figures of the commercial ratio
drawn up by Ingham in his Report to the Senate of the United States (4th
May 1830), and by John White, of the same date (see _United States
Report of the International Monetary Conference of 1878_, pp. 583, 647),
I regard as comparatively untrustworthy.

With regard to the legal or Mint ratio (see infra., tables, pp. 40,
69-70, 157) there is the greatest discrepancy, and I print the figures
with much trepidation and every mental reserve. The differences in the
results arrived at by the various authorities are due to the difference
in method of calculation, according as the issue price or the purchase
price at the Mint is taken (i.e. with or without allowance of
seigniorage and remedy), or according as the pure or gross content of
the piece is calculated from (i.e. with or without allowance for alloy).
As a matter of fact, hardly any two authorities or sets of calculations
agree. See, for instance, duplicate sets of figures for Holland in
Appendix 1. to Schimmel's _Geschiedkundig overzicht_; or again, compare
Soetbeer's figures with those deduced by Köhler in his _Grundliche
Nachricht_; or by Dr. Arnold Luschin, in the _Proceedings of the Congrés
International de Numismatique_, 1880, p. 443; or with those deducible
from Le Blanc's tables (infra., Appendix VI.). It is to this difference
that must be attributed the discrepancy in the statement of the ratio
by the French Mint authorities in 1640 (see text, infra., p. 92 and
note, ibid.). The difficulty of calculating the European Mint ratio at
any moment can be judged from the experience and statements of persons
so widely apart as Sir Isaac Newton in England, Mirabeau and Calonne in
France, and Morris and Hamilton in the United States (see infra., pp.
172-3, 229-30, and 251).

With regard to the scope of the present work, it is confined entirely to
the history of metallic currency and standard. There is no reference to
the paper-money experience of any country, not even America or Austria.
Such a subject must form matter for a separate treatment. The account of
Austrian money is, therefore, to be found in Appendix v., under Germany,
and on the effects of the latest Austrian reform (as also of the latest
development in India and the United States) no opinion whatever is
expressed. I content myself with the simple statement of fact and event.

In appending a list of the authorities used, it is difficult to overcome
the feeling of humiliation which has come to me from the contrast of the
ephemeral, slight, and unworthy treatment of monetary history to-day,
with the grand, solid, scholarly works which the eighteenth century
produced. With the exception of Soetbeer's magnificent labours, without
which the present work would have been simply impossible as far as the
statements of production and relativity of the precious metals are
concerned, and of the similar historic work of M. Ottomar Haupt, the
literature of this subject to-day is light and polemic and transitory to
a nauseating degree.


GENERAL

_Authorities._

  J.D. Köhler             Grundliche Nachricht von dem Münzwesen
                                  insgemein. Helmstadt, 1739 and 1741.
                                  Third edition (Leipzig, 1781),
                                  enlarged and attributed to Von Praun.

  Budelius                De monetis et re numaria (with twenty-four
                                  other treatises). Coloniæ Agrippinæ,
                                  1591.

  Melchior Goldast        Catholicon rei monetariæ sive leges
                                  monarchichæ generales de rebus
                                  numariis, etc. Frankfort, 1620.

  Almanach des Monnaies. Paris, 1784.

  Münze und Münzwissenschaft (Oec. Techn. Encyc. xcvii.).

  Nicole Oresme           Traité de la première invention des monnaies,
                                  and--

  Copernicus              Traité de la monnaie, both re-edited by
                                  Wolowski. Paris, 1864.

  Jean Bodin              Descours sur le rehaussement et diminution
                                  tant d'or que d'argent et le moyen d'y
                                  remedier [en reponse] aux paradoxes du
                                  sieur de Malestroict (appended to
                                  Bodin's Six Livres de la Republique.
                                  Lyons, 1593).

  H.C. Dittmer            Geschichte der ersten Gold-Ausmünzungen zu
                                  Lübeck im 14 Jahrhundert (Zeitschrift
                                  der Vereins für Lübeckische
                                  Geschichte), Heft. i. 885.

  J.G. Hall               On European Mediæval Gold Coins (Numismatic
                                  Chronicle). Third Series, vol. ii. pp.
                                  212-226.

  P. Joseph               Historisch-kritische Beschreibung des
                                  Bretzheimer Goldguldenfundes vergraben
                                  um 1390, nebst einem verzeichniss der
                                  bisher bekannten Goldgulden vom
                                  Florentiner Gepräge. Mainz, 1883.

  K.T. Eheberg            Über das ältere deutsche Münzwesen und die
                                  Hausgenossenschaften. Leipzig, 1879.

  Neueste Münzkunde Leipzig, 1853.

  A.H. Smith              Encyclopædia of Gold and Silver Coins of the
                                  World. Philadelphia, 1886.

  A. Soetbeer             Edelmetall--Produktion und Werthverhältniss
                                  zwischen Gold und Silber, seit der
                                  Entdeckung Amerika's bis zur
                                  Gegenwart. Gotha, 1879.

      "                   Materialien zur Erklärung und Beurtheilung
                                  der wirthschaftlichen
                                  Edelmetallverhaltnisse und der
                                  währungsfrage. Berlin.

  A. Soetbeer             Litteraturnachweis über Geld--und Münzwesen.
                                  Berlin, 1892.

  F. Altés                Traité comparatif des monnaies, poids et
                                  mésures. 1832.

  G.K. Chelins            Mass and Gewichtsbuch. 1830.

  Gerhardt                Tafeln, etc. Berlin, 1818.

  Doederlein              Commentatio Historica de Nummis. 1729.

  C.C. Schmiede           Handworterbuch der Münzkunde. 1811.

  J. Leitzmann            Abriss einer Geschichte der gesammten
                                  Münzkunde ... aller völker Fursten und
                                  Städte der ältern, Mittlern, und
                                  neuern Zeit. Erfurt, 1828.


GERMANY

_Authorities._

  J.P. Ludewig            Einleitung zu dem teutschen müntwesen mittler
                                  Zeiten, etc. 1709.

  J.F. Klotzsch           Versuch einer Chur Sächischen Münzgeschichte.
                                  1779.

  D.E. Beyschlag          Versuch einer Münzgeschichte Augsburgs in dem
                                  Mittelalter. 1835.

  C. Binder               Württembergische Münz und Medaillenkunde.
                                  1848.

  C.P.C. Schönemann       Zur vaterländischen Münzkunde vom 12-15
                                  Jahrhundert. 1852.

  J.D. Köhler             Historische Münz Belustigungen, 22 vols.
                                  1729-65.

  H. Pauli                Tableaux des monnaies de l'Allemagne, etc.
                                  Frankfort, 1846.

  J.G. Hirsch             Das teutschen Reichs Münz Archiv, etc., 9 vols.
                                  folio. 1750-68 (absolutely unequalled
                                  and indispensable).

  J. Leitzmann            Wegweiser auf dem Gebiete den deutschen
                                  Münzkunde. Weissensen, 1869.

  Euler                   Verzeichniss und Beschreibung der frankfurter
                                  Goldmünzen mit einer geschichtlichen
                                  Einleitung etc. (Archiv fur Frankfurts
                                  Geschichte und Kunst), Heft iv. 1847.

  E.L. Jäger              Das Geld nebst einer kurzem Geschichte des
                                  deutschen Geldes. Stuttgart, 1877.

                          Geschichtliche Darstellung des alten und neuen
                                  teutschen Münzwesens. Weimar, 1817.

  J.F. Hauschild          Zur Geschichte des deutschen mass und
                                  Münzwesens. Frankfort, 1861.

  A. Soetbeer             Denkschrift über Hamburgs Münzverhältnisse.
                                  Hamburg, 1846.

  H.P. Cappe              Die Münzen der deutschen Kaiser und Könige das
                                  Mettelalters. 1850.

  C.P.C. Schoenemann      Zur vaterländischen Münzkunde. 1852.

  J.P. Graumann           Gesammelte Briefe vom dem Gelde, von dem
                                  Wechsel, etc. 1762.

  J.G. Hoffmann           Die Lehre von Gelde. 1838.

       "                  Die Zeichen der Zeit. 1841.

  J. Albrecht             Munzgeschichte der Hauses Hohenlohe, vom 13-19
                                  Jahrhundert.

  Grote and Hölzermann    Lippische Geld und Münzgeschichte, 1867.
                                  (Nachtrage by Weingaertner. 1890).

  E.J. Bergius            Das Geld und Bank wesen in Preussen. 1846.

  A. Von Berstett         Munzgeschichte des zähringen badischen
                                  Fürstenhauses. 1846.

  D. Braun                Bericht von Pohlnisch und Preussischen
                                  Münzwesen. 1722.

  E. Bahrfeldt            Das Münzwesen der Mark Brandenburg bis zum
                                  Anfange der Hohenzollern. 1889.

  Köhne                   Das Münzwesen der Stadt Berlin, 1837.

  F.H. Grautoff           Historische Schriften, 3 vols. 1836 (for Lübeck
                                  Mint).

  C.F. Eheberg            Über das ältere deutsche Münzwesen. 1879.

  J. Newald               Beitrag zur Geschichte des Österreichischen
                                  Münzwesen im ersten Viertel des 18
                                  Jahrhunderts. Vienna, 1881.

  Max Wirth               Geschichte der Handelskrisen. Frankfort, 1890.

       "                  Das Geld, Geschichte der Umlaufmittel von der
                                  altesten Zeit bis an die Gegenwart.
                                  Leipzig, 1884.


FRANCE

_Authorities._

  F. De Saulcy            Recueil de Documents relatifs à l'histoire des
                                  monnaies frappées par les rois de
                                  France depuis Philippe II., jusqu' à
                                  François I., 4 vols. 4to. Paris, 1879.
                                  (The unique value of this work is
                                  sadly impaired by the cutting out of
                                  the preambles of the various
                                  proclamations, etc.).

  Le Blanc                Traité historique des monnaies de France.
                                  Paris, 1690.

  Du Cange                Glossarium mediæ et infimæ Latinitatis (Art.
                                  Moneta).

  J. Adrien Blanchet      Documents pour servir à l'histoire monétaire
                                  de la Navarre et du Béarn, de
                                  1562-1629. Macon, 1887.

  Hubert de Martigny      De la Disparition de la monnaie d'argent et de
                                  son remplacement par la monnaie d'or
                                  (ou Situation Monetaire de la France
                                  en 1859). Paris, 1859.

  H. Costes               Les institutions monétaires de la France avant
                                  et depuis, 1789. Paris, 1885.

       "                  Notes et Tableaux pour servir à l'étude de la
                                  question monétaire. Paris, 1884.

  Hippolyte Berry         Études et recherches historiques sur les
                                  Monnaies de France. 1853.

  Natalis de Wailly       Mémoire sur les variations de la livre
                                  tournois depuis S. Louis à la monnaie
                                  decimale.

  C. Bouterouë            Recherches curieuses des monnayes de France
                                  depuis le commencement de la
                                  Monarchie. Paris, 1666.

  L. Faucher              Recherches sur l'or and l'argent. 1843.

  Dupré de St. Maur       Essai sur les monnaies ou réflexions sur le
                                  rapport entre l'argent et les denrées.
                                  Paris, 1746.

  Abot de Bazinghen       Traité des monnaies et de la jurisdiction de
                                  la cour des monnaies. Paris, 1764.

  Le Vicomte G. D'Avenel  Histoire économique de la propriété, des
                                  salaires, des denrées, etc.,
                                  1200-1800. Paris, 1894·

  For a bibliography of the works treating of the provincial monies of
    France, see Vicomte D'Avenel, _ubi supra_, i. pp. 483-91.


ITALY

_Authorities._

  Ignazio Orsini          Storia delle monete della repubblica
                                  fiorentina. Firenze, 1760.

       "                  Storia delle monete de' Granduchi di Toscana.
                                  Firenze, 1766.

  Zanetti                 Nuova raccotta delle monete e zecche d'Italia,
                                  5 vols. folio. 1785-89.

  Custodi                 Scrittori Italiani d'economia politica, vol.
                                  xiv.

  F. Schweizer            Serie delle monete Aquileia. 1818.

  Ph. Argelatus           Di monetis Italiæ varior. illustr. virorum
                                  dissertationes, 6 vols. 1750-9.

  A. Cinagli              Le monete de' Pape, folio. 1848.

  [Fr. Vettori]           Il fiorino d'oro antico illustrato. 1738.

  Menizzi                 Delle monete de' Veneziani dal principio al
                                  fine della loro repubblica. Venezia,
                                  1818.

  Vincenzo Padovan        La numografia Veneziana sommario documentato.
                                  Venezia, 1882.

  Fr. Ed. Ercole Gnecchi  Le Monete di Milano.

  Catalog einer Sammlung italienischer Munzen aller Zeiten. Munich,
    1882.

  Nicolo Papadopoli       Sulle origini della Veneta zecca, etc.
                                  Venezia, 1882.

       "                  Sul valore della moneta Veneziana. Venezia, 1885.

       "                  Monete inedite della zecca Veneziana. Venezia,
                                  1881.

  G. Carli-Rubbi          Delle monete e dell' instituzione delle zecche
                                  d'Italia. L'Aja, 4 vols. 1754.


NETHERLANDS

_Authorities._

  W.F. Schimmel           Geschiedkundig overzicht van het muntwezen in
                                  Nederland. Amsterdam, 1882.

  [Groebe]                Handleiding tot de kennis der nederlandsche
                                  munten. Amsterdam, 1850.

  [Warin]                 Bijdragen tot de kennis van het muntwezen ('S.
                                  Gravenhage). 1843.

  P.O. van der Chijs      Beknopte verhandeling over het nut der
                                  beoefening van de algemeene, dat is
                                  oude, meddeleeuwsche en heden daagsche
                                  munt en penningkunde. Leiden, 1829.

  V. Gaillard             Recherches sur les Monnaies de Flandres. 1857.

  Groot Plakkaat Boek (Can & Schelten).

  Mieris                  Beschrijving der Munten van Utrecht. 1726.

  A. Vrolik               Verslag van al het verrigte tot herstel van
                                  het Nederlandsche Muntwezen van
                                  1842-51.

  L. Deschamps de Pas     Essai sur l'histoire monétaire des Comtes de
                                  Flandres de la maison de Bourgogne.
                                  1863.

  F. Hénaux               Essai sur l'histoire monétaire du pays de
                                  Liege. 1845.

  W.C. Mees               Proeve eener geschiedenis van het Bankwezen en
                                  Nederland. Rotterdam, 1838.

  Kornelis van Alkemade   De goude en zilvere gangbaare penningen der
                                  Graaven en Gravinnen van Holland.
                                  Delft, 1700.

  W.J. de Voogt           Bijdragen tot de numismatiek van Gelderland.
                                  Arnhem, 1869.

  R. Serrure              Elements de l'histoire monétaire de Flandres.
                                  Gand, 1879.

  F. Verachter            Documents pour servir a l'histoire monétaire
                                  des Pays-Bas. Anvers, 1845.

       "                  Histoire monétaire de la ville de Bois le Duc.
                                  Anvers, 1845.

  Revue numismatique Belge.

  D. Groebe               Beantwoording der Prijswerk over de Munten en
                                  hetgeen daartoe betrekking--1500-1621
                                  (Koninklijke Akademie van
                                  Wetenschappen. 1835).

  Inleiding tot de heedendaagsche penningkunde ofte verhandeling van der
    Oorsprong van't geld, etc. Amsterdam, 1717.

  Fr. van Mieris          Beschrijving van der Bisschoplijke munten en
                                  zegelen van Utrecht, etc. Leyden,
                                  1726.

  Fr. van Houwelingen     Penninck-boeck enhondende alle figuren van
                                  Silbere und Goude penningen gheslaghen
                                  bij de Graven van Hollandt. Leyden,
                                  1591.

  J. Ackersdijck          Nederlands Muntwezen, etc. Utrecht, 1845.

  Ghesquière              Memoire sur trois points interessant de
                                  l'histoire monétaire des Pays Bas,
                                  etc. Bruxelles, 1786.

  F. Den Duyts            Notice sur les anciennes monnaies des Comtes
                                  de Flandres, etc. 1847.

  R.H. Chalon             Recherches sur les monnaies des Comtes de
                                  Hainault. 1843.

  P.O. van der Chijs      De munten der Voormalige Hertogdommen Braband
                                  en Limburg (in vol. xxvi. of Tayler's
                                  tweede Genootschap. Haarlem. 1851).

  Van den Berg            Introductory chapter to "The Silver Question."
                                  1879.


SPAIN

_Authorities._

  Breve Reseña historico-critica de la moneda Española y reduccion de
    sus valores a los del sistema metrico vigente (a Government Report
    of 1862).

  Juan de Dios de la Rada y Delgado Bibliografia numismatica Española
                                  Madrid, 1886. (A work of unequalled
                                  merit.)

  Vicente Argüello        Memoria Sobre el valor de las monedas de
                                  D'Alfonso el Sabio (memorias de la
                                  Real Academia de la Historia).

  Edward Clarke           Letters concerning the Spanish Nation. London,
                                  1773.

  J. Salat                Tratado de las monedas de Cataluñia.
                                  Barcelona, 1818.

  Andrea Merim            Escuela Paleographica, folio. 1780.

  Cascales                Discursos historicos de Murcia, folio. 1621.

  A. Heiss                Descripcion general de las monedas
                                  Hispaño-Cristianas, 1865-9. 3 vols. (A
                                  model work of immense labour.)

  Liciniano Saez          Demostracion historica del verdadero valor de
                                  las monedas, etc. 1805 (Real Acad. de
                                  la historia).

  Dr. Clemencin           On the Ratio in Spain (in Memorias de la Real
                                  Academia de la Historia, vol. vi. p.
                                  525).


ENGLAND AND AMERICA

  R. Ruding               Annals of the Coinage of Britain.

  Hawkins                 Silver Coins of England.

  Kenyon                  Gold Coins of England.

  Numismatic Chronicle.

  Lord Liverpool          Treatise on the Coins of the Realm.

  Sir James Stewart       Works.

  S.M. Leake              A Historical Account of English Money.

  H.N. Sealey             Coins, Currency, and Banking.

  Macpherson              Anderson's History of Commerce.

  Bishop Fleetwood        Chronicon Preciosum, or an Account of English
                                  Money, etc. etc. London, 1707

  Bishop Nicolson         English, Scotch, and Irish Historical
                                  Libraries.

  Thorold Rogers          History of Prices.

  Tooke and Newmarch      History of Prices.

  Sir Dudley North        Discourses upon Trade. 1691.

  Sir Walter Raleigh      Works (Oxford Edition).

  Sir Robert Cotton       _Posthuma._

  Harris                  An Essay upon Money and Coins. London, 1752.

  State Papers Foreign (Record Office). (Absolutely invaluable.)

  Close Rolls and Patent Rolls (Record Office).

  State Papers Domestic (Record Office).

  Treasury Papers (Record Office).

                          Reports of the Deputy-Master of the Mint, 1870-94.

                          United States Reports of the International
                                  Monetary Conference. 1878. (Embodying an
                                  invaluable series of reprints.)

  J. Laurence Laughlin    The History of Bimetallism in the United
                                  States. New York, 1894.

  Dunbar                  Laws of the United States on Currency and
                                  Banking, etc.

Of the almost endless series of Government Reports, a full bibliography
will be found in Soetbeer's Litteraturnachweis.

The American Mint Reports, and the Austrian _Statistische Tabellen zur
Wahrungs-Frage der Osterreichisch-ungarischen Monarchie_ (Vienna, 1892),
deserve separate and special mention for their unequalled usefulness.

I am deeply indebted to H.C. Maxwell Lyte, C.B., Deputy Keeper of the
Records, for references to the Patent and Close Rolls, the Exchequer
Records, and other sources, which I have attempted to work into the
tables of the French coins (Appendix VI.).

The Index of Coins at the end of the present volume is intended mainly
for the purposes of historical research. It has been compiled, along
with the General Index, entirely by my sister, Miss Edna Shaw, to whom
my warmest thanks are due.




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I

From the Commencement of Gold Coinages to the Discovery of America,
1252-1492

    Recommencement of gold coinages in Europe, 1; in Italy, 3; Germany,
    6; France, 9; Flanders, 10; Holland, Spain, and England, 11;
    characteristics of the first period, 13; general depreciation of the
    standard, 15; monetary experience of Italy, 17; the Florentine
    troubles, 18; monetary experience of Spain, 23; the Cortes of
    Valladolid, 24; monetary experience of Germany, 25; the Mint
    conventions, 26; tables of the groschen and gulden, 30, 31; monetary
    experience of France, 31; arbitrary debasements, 32; course of the
    monies under Philippe de Valois, 35; the States-General of France,
    1420, 37; Charles VII., 38; Louis XI. and Charles VIII., 39; general
    statement of the ratio, 40; monetary experience of England, 41;
    Edward III.'s issues of gold, 42; the measures of, 1353, 45;
    complaints of 1381, and the monetary investigation, 50; recoinage of
    1414, 55; recoinage of Henry VI., 58.


CHAPTER II

From the Discovery of America to the End of the First Cycle of the
Influence of the Metals of the New World on European Currencies,
1493-1660

    General characteristics: First movement of metals from the New
    World, 61; mercantile importance of the Netherlands, 63; statistics
    of the production of the precious metals, 65; statement of the Mint
    ratio, 69; operation of the Netherlands plakkaats, 71; list of
    ditto, 76; tables of ditto, 79; monetary experience of France, 83;
    course of the monies under Henry II. and Charles IX., 84; the
    States-General of 1575, 87; Henry III.'s reform of 1577, 88; checked
    by Henry IV., 1602, 89; the monetary experience of 1614, and reform
    of 1615, 90; recoinage of 1640, 91; Florence, 93; Germany, 95; table
    of the groschen and gulden, 97; Imperial Mint Ordinances of 1524,
    1551, and 1559, 98, 99; Mint disorders, 100; _Kipper und Wipper
    Zeit_, 102; Imperial basis of 1623, 106; Spain, 107; her function
    as a distributor, 108; England 113; tables of gold and silver coins,
    113; recoinage of 1527, 118; export of 1537, 119; measures of 1544,
    121; the Tudor debasement, 123; Elizabeth's recoinage, 1559, 129;
    the mistake of 1600, remedied by James I., 132; export of 1607 and
    1611, Sir Walter Raleigh's opinions, 134; crisis of 1620-22, 139;
    the State prosecutions of 1638, 148; the troubles of 1649 and 1652,
    151.


CHAPTER III

From the End of the First Cycle of American Influences to the Present
Day, 1660-1894

    Statistics of the production of the precious metals, 154; statement
    of the ratio, 157; development of theory of international trade,
    160; free trade in the precious metals, 163; place of discount and
    interest rates in the modern system, 165; monetary experience of
    France, 167; recoinages of 1689, 1726, and 1785, 168; Calonne's
    ratio, 172; monetary action of Republican France, 173; the law of
    1803, 176; bimetallic experiences, 1803-76, 179; movements and
    mintings of the metals, 183; measures of 1835, 187; French monetary
    commissions, 188; formation of the Latin Union, 190; its history,
    193; Germany, 197; Zinnaische standard, 199; Leipzig standard, 1690,
    200; Austrian or Convention standard, 201; South German standard,
    202; Prussian standard, 203; Conference of Munich, 1837, 204; Mint
    conventions of Dresden, 1838, and of Vienna, 1857, 205-212;
    agitation of 1857-70, 213; new Imperial system, 215; England, 219;
    recoinage of 1696, 222; Newton's report, 1717, 229; recoinage of
    1774, 233; silver legislation, 237; Bank Restriction and the Act of
    1816, 240; movements and mintings of the metals, 244; United States,
    246; beginnings of a national system, 247; reports of Morris and
    Hamilton, 249-251; Act of 1792, 253; gold export and the law of
    1834, 255; silver export and the law of 1853 and 1873, 259; Acts of
    1878, 1890, and 1893, 262; movements and mintings of the metals,
    265; Netherlands, 268; Portugal, 272; the international conferences,
    274; Paris conferences of 1867, 1878, and 1881, 275-280; Brussels
    Conference of 1892, 285; India, 293; her historic function, 293;
    movements and mintings of the metals, 299.


APPENDICES
                                                                     PAGE
  APPENDIX  I. The Monetary System of Florence, 1272-1530             301
     "     II.       "        "       Venice, 1284-1790               310
     "    III.       "        "       Spain, 1250-1894                319
     "     IV.       "        "       the Netherlands, 1250-1894      345
     "      V.       "        "       Germany, Austria, and
                                        Prussia, 1250-1894            360
     "     VI.       "        "       France, 1140-1894               396




THE HISTORY OF CURRENCY




CHAPTER I

From the Commencement of Gold Coinages to the Discovery of America,
        1252-1492


The monetary history of Europe begins in the thirteenth century, and in
the Italian peninsula. Its starting-point is the era of the
reintroduction of gold into the coinages of the Western nations, and is
definitely marked for us by the minting of the gold florin of Florence
in 1252. For all practical purposes gold had gone out of use since the
seventh century, and after the submersion of the Roman Empire; and the
currencies of the nations of mediæval Europe rested on a silver basis
entirely. There are limitations to the truth of this statement, but they
are of such a nature as not materially to affect it. In Spain, for
instance, the Moors kept up a tradition of gold coinage similar to that
of Rome, from the eighth to the middle of the thirteenth century. But
its influence on the monetary system of Christian Spain is not even a
matter of question. At the other extremity of the Mediterranean, at
Byzantium, seat of the Eastern Empire, the best traditions of the
coinage system of Rome were preserved for centuries after the imperial
city had fallen before the invasions of the northern barbarians. Indeed,
the monetary system of the Eastern empire, by becoming, as it did, the
model which Charlemagne copied in his currency enactments, became the
basis of all the modern European systems. Further than this, the
presence of gold _Byzants_ can be traced here and there, at isolated
points and dates, all over the darkness of those early centuries of the
Middle Ages, when all coining art seemed forgotten among the races of
Central Europe.

Notwithstanding such limitations, however, it still remains true that
the monetary history of the modern world dates from the thirteenth and
not the seventh century, and from the little commercial states of Italy
rather than from Byzantium. Previous to the minting of the gold florin
of Florence there is no trace of any independent minting of gold coins
on a commercial scale by any state of mediæval central Europe. The
currency system of England, for instance, from the time of the Saxons to
the days of Henry III. was based entirely on silver. In endless variety
and under a diversity of names the silver penny was the unit coin
current of the realm. Its equivalent in the Frankish Empire was the
silver denarius, which Charlemagne had made the unit of his system, and
which so continued for both the kingdom of France and the Holy Roman
Empire till the fourteenth century. Finally, among the numerous states
of Italy, with each their little independent Mint, there is no trace of
the coinage of gold until the days of the commercial greatness of
Florence and Venice. For eight centuries or more those races of Europe,
which were to turn the course of the modern world and build its
civilisation anew, were ignorant of the commercial use of what has been
through all history the most potent factor in civilisation--gold.

[Sidenote: THE GOLD FLORIN OF FLORENCE]

The explanation of the reintroduction and recoinage of gold is to be
found in the history of the Crusades and of the commercial growth of the
petty independent states which sprang from the political confusion of
Italy. No sooner had they achieved each their little autonomous
existence than they threw themselves with feverish energy into the
development of the trade with the East. Florence and Venice, Pisa and
Genoa, led the way and reaped the fruits; and it was in her most
flourishing time, when she had conquered her rivals, Pisa and Siena, and
was enjoying a prosperous peace and active trade, that Florence, at the
instance of the chief of her merchants, resolved on the coining of the
gold florin (1252).[1]

The mere idea of such a gold coinage could only be derived from the
East--from Byzantium. But it is a curious fact that the importation of
it should be due in the first place to the Crusades. Frederick II. of
Sicily was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1212. Sixteen
years later he headed the Fifth Crusade, and the gold coin (_Augustale_)
which he issued some time between his return from that crusade and his
death, probably commemorates his wish to rival the appearance of
opulence of the Eastern court. This Sicilian coin is the direct ancestor
of the florin of Florence, and to it would fitly belong the honour of
leading in a new era, were it not that the superior beauty of the
Florentine coin gave it universal currency and reputation, and
extinguished the memory of its predecessor.

The gold coin of Genoa (_Genoviva_) is supposed to have issued in the
same year as the florin (1252). Five years later (1257) Henry III. of
England imitated the florin in his gold _pennies_, and more than thirty
years (31st October 1284) later Venice followed the lead of Florence and
instituted a coinage of gold _zecchinos_, under the dogeship of Giovanni
Dandolo.

Two conditions were essential to the bringing about so momentous a
revolution as this, however little the mind of contemporaries may have
known it as such. In the first place, the foreign trade of the Italian
republics must have become so extensive as to demand a currency medium
of higher denomination than silver; and, secondly, that trade must have
developed in such directions as to tap gold-using or gold-bearing
regions in order to supply the Italian mints. It is a curious fact that
both these conditions were realised through the instrumentality of the
Crusades. The quickening effect of these vast movements on the trade of
the Mediterranean is well known, but their influence in the second
direction has not hitherto been pointed out. In the Fourth Crusade
Venice lent the force which captured Byzantium (1203), and when, by her
arms, Baldwin, Count of Flanders, had been seated on the Eastern throne,
Venice reaped her reward in three-eighths of the territories of the
Eastern Empire. She received Peloponnesus and a chain of islands in the
Ægean, and by the hold she had on Constantinople secured the virtual
control of the Black Sea. In its turn the control of the Black Sea
brought with it the monopoly of the overland trade with India.

[Sidenote: THE TRADE OF VENICE]

At one and the same moment, therefore, Venice acquired possession of a
huge treasure of gold wrested from the conquered city, and of the then
only gold-yielding districts--the Crimea--and of an intercolonial trade,
demanding a more enhanced currency medium. The result of such a
combination of circumstances was irresistible. During the continuance of
the "Latin Empire" at Byzantium, Venice and her sister state were
practically the only merchants of Europe.

The institution of a gold coinage among the Italian republics,
therefore, marks for us an era of commercial expansion which is only
fitly to be compared with that of Holland in the seventeenth century,
or of our own country in modern times.

We are not concerned with tracing the effects of this extraordinary
movement further than as they bore in their train the dower of a
currency of gold.

In the European system, Venice was the intermediary between the
spice-laden east and the wool-bearing north. England, the wool-growing
country of fourteenth-century Europe; Flanders, the home of the weaving
industry; the Hanse Towns of Germany and the gradually forming kingdom
of France were successively brought face to face with the new medium of
currency; and if the story of the gradual adoption of that new medium
could be written, it would form one of the most instructive of all
chapters of currency and commercial history.

As it is, we have only uncertain and scattered data.

In the case of Germany--of chief importance in the process by reason of
her geographical position midway between the Mediterranean and the
north--the first minting of gold in imitation of the Italian states fell
in the second quarter of the fourteenth century. Of the two types of
gold monies issued by the Emperor Louis IV., surnamed "Bavarian," the
first, struck some short time before 1328, was in direct imitation of
the florin of Florence. The second, struck some little time later, was a
copy of the _écu d'or_ of Philip VI. of France.

In 1337 our own King Edward was made vicar-general and lieutenant to the
Emperor, with powers to coin monies of gold and silver. He accordingly
kept his winter at the Castle of Louvain, and caused great sums of money
both of gold and silver to be coined at Antwerp. Two years later, this
same Emperor Louis, the Bavarian, granted to the Duke Rainhold of
Gueldres the right to mint gold coins, "after the valuation of the gold
monies of the Archbishop of Cologne, the Duke of Brabant, and the Counts
of Hainault and Holland." In the following year he granted to the free
state of Lübeck a similar right--the patent expressly stipulating that
their gold coins should not exceed in weight or value the gold florin of
Florence.

[Sidenote: BEGINNINGS OF A GOLD COINAGE IN GERMANY]

Sixteen years later (1356) the general liberty of coining gold was
conceded to the seven Electoral Princes by the Golden Bull of the
Emperor Charles IV., and subsequently state after state and free town
after free town purchased or were granted the right. Even as late as
1372, in the patent granting to Frederick of Nürnberg this so eagerly
solicited liberty, the stipulation is made that the gold gulden to be
coined should be of as good gold and weight as "the gulden or florin of
Florence."

In the case of Lübeck direct documentary evidence of transactions
relating to the introduction of a gold coinage has survived among the
archives of that state. The privilege of a Mint and of coining (of
silver) was first granted to Lübeck by Frederick II. in 1226. But it was
not until a century and more later that Louis the Bavarian, by his bull
of 28th November 1340, conceded the right of coining gold "in pieces
which were to be neither heavier nor of higher worth than the florin of
Florence." On the 8th September in the following year the Lübeck Mint
made its first purchase of gold from a certain Jacob Grell of Zütphen in
Holland. The purchase consisted of 4 marks 1 loth 8 pfen. weight of gold
(Lübeck weight), and the price paid was 24 solidi the carat. In other
parcels, up to Michaelmas of 1341, the authorities remitted to the Mint
a total weight of metal of 50 marks 2 oz. 3-1/2 ang., varying in
fineness from 15 to 23 carats. The consignment yielded in the pot 46
marks 1 oz. 7 ang. of pure metal, and was coined into 3199 pieces of a
total weight of 47 marks 5 oz. 10 ang., being 67.08 gold pieces to the
Lübeck mark. The coins were issued on the 18th February 1342, and bore
on the one side the lily of Florence and on the other the figure of John
the Baptist--all in direct imitation of the florin. The total issues
made in the immediately succeeding years from the Lübeck Mint were:--

  1342     24,783 florins      67.26 to the mark.
   "        5,483   "          67.11   "     "
  1343     30,436   "            "     "     "
  1344     32,590   "            "     "     "

With more or less irregularity the earliest German guldens imitated the
florin, and maintained something like a steady and uniform denomination
quite up to the beginning of the last quarter of the fourteenth
century.

[Sidenote: GOLD COINAGE IN FRANCE]

In France, as in Germany, the first coining of gold can only be dated
approximately, but for all practical purposes quite safely. The
generally accepted view is that the French series of gold coins was
initiated in 1254 by Louis IX., "St. Louis," and that the issue was
connected with the Sixth Crusade which he had headed five years before.
There is documentary evidence extant to disprove this. _Florins d'or
appelez Florences_ are mentioned as early as 1180, not vaguely but quite
definitely with an exact statement of weight standard and equivalence.
Unless the record of the first minting of the gold florin at Florence is
untrustworthy the coin here referred to can only be an imitation in gold
of the silver florin of Florence. The same document which contains this
reference (De Saulcy, i. 115) also specifies _petits royaux d'or_ as
minted not only in 1180 by Philip Augustus, but also in the days of his
father, Louis VII. Similar mention of at least two gold coins of Louis
IX. occurs as early as 1226, one evidently of the florin type, the other
a _pavillon d'or_. It is quite safe to assert, however, that these coins
were for show merely, due to an emulation of Byzantine and Italian
opulence, and indicate no wide or commercial employment of gold. Of the
gold florins of 1226, for instance, thirteen pieces were struck, twelve
for twelve peers of France as a gift, the thirteenth for the King
himself, "and know you that this is the most beautiful money that can be
found, and the finest and best engraved." The interest of such issues is
entirely numismatic and not commercial or monetary.[2] It is not until
late in the reign of St. Louis--until 1265 or thereabouts--that there is
mention in France of any such gold coinage as could have this commercial
rather than merely numismatic importance. For the purposes of metallic
or currency history proper the real starting-point for France is marked
rather by the _gros royaux d'or_, coined in 1295 by Philip le Bel, than
by the more meagre coinage of St. Louis and his predecessors. The _gros
royaux_ of Philip were double the value of the _petits royaux_ of St.
Louis, of which latter Philip le Bel speaks thus in his proclamation.
"We have commanded to be made in our name money of gold after the
_petits royaux d'or_, which shall be 70 to the Paris mark and cut as the
_petits royaux_ have been used to be, being issued at an equivalence of
11 sols Parisi." From this date (1295) onward the gold coinage of the
French Mint became one of the most important factors in the monetary
history of Europe.

In Flanders the first gold coins were struck in 1357, under the rule of
Count Louis II.[3] Both the coins issued by him are copied directly from
French types----his _real au lion_ from the French _écu_ of Philip IV.,
and his _mouton d'or_ from the French coin of the same name. And it was
the same French original which furnished the types to William V., Count
of Holland (1356-77), when he followed the fashion and coined gold. Of
the six types minted by Count William during his reign, two are an
imitation of the French _mouton_, and the last is derived from the
universally prevailing type, the florin.

[Sidenote: GOLD COINAGE IN SPAIN AND ENGLAND]

In Spain the first coining of gold by the Christian powers fell in the
same epoch and derived from the same source. Alfonso XI. (1312-50),
surnamed the "Noble," was the first King of Castille who coined the _oro
gran modulo_ (_doblas de oro_), while in Aragon Pedro IV. (1336-87),
"the Ceremonious," in his _oro florines_ directly imitated the
Florentine type, though his later pieces are more original in design.

Finally, with regard to England,--to whose monetary history a central
importance attaches,--the course of events was most evidently controlled
by the revolution in the continental currencies. It is, at the same
time, comparatively easy to ascertain. The first of our kings to issue
gold coins was Henry III., who in 1257 coined a penny of fine gold, of
the weight of two silver pennies of the time, and ordered it to be
current for twenty pence.

There can be no doubt that the idea of such a coinage was derived from
that of St. Louis of France; and, just as in France, the issue seems to
have been premature. Probably neither in the one country nor the other
did there exist a sufficient store of the precious metal itself, nor
sufficient activity of trade to attract such a store, or indeed to make
a gold coinage at all a matter of mercantile advantage. It is only a
developed and active or considerable trade that demands so enhanced a
medium of exchange. Accordingly, just as in France, there is a
noticeable gap between the first actual minting of gold by the
predecessors of St. Louis, and the minting of it in such quantities as
to make a factor in commercial and monetary history, in the days of
Philip le Bel (1295); so, in England, the first issue of Henry III. was
followed by an interval of nearly ninety years, during which no coinage
of gold by our kings took place. The real introducer of this metal into
English currency and commerce was Edward III., and the first practical
issue of it is to be dated in 1344, rather than 1257. It will be seen at
a glance what this statement implies. The issue of Henry III. in 1257
had been premature--an act of kingly rivalry and show, rather than of
commercial necessity. But the succeeding century saw a rapid development
in the commerce of Northern Europe, and a gold coinage had gradually
become both a possibility and a necessity. One after the other--in the
order of time just detailed--the various commercial states with which
England had intercourse had adopted it and profited by it. That England
should follow in the movement scarcely more than sixteen years later
than Germany, and a year or two before Flanders, is some evidence of the
organisation of her trade, as well as of the intimacy of
inter-commercial relationships. So purely a matter of trade and natural
growth was this vast movement of the adoption of a gold coinage--a
revolution indeed as it proved, though yet unwritten, more momentous in
its influence on European civilisation than either the Renaissance or
the Reformation.

[Sidenote: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIRST PERIOD]

Approximately, therefore, the fourteenth century may be taken as the
starting-point for a history of European bimetallism. The first period
of that history embraces all the movements of the previous metals, from
such starting-point up to the discovery of America in 1492--a matter of
two centuries, roughly speaking.

The characteristics of this period are perfectly well defined, and
repeat themselves with almost faithful and exact similarity of
recurrence in the several states comprising the Europe of that date. In
brief, such characteristics were those of--(1) a period of commercial
expanse, necessitating an increasing currency and advancing prices; (2)
a period of stationary production of the precious metals, necessitating
a struggle among the various states for the possession of those metals;
(3) a period of endless change in the ratio between gold and silver,
necessitating continual revision of the rate of exchange. Broadly
speaking, those characteristics fall into two classes, accordingly as
they relate to--(1) the natural movement of prices i.e. having regard
merely to the supply of the precious metals; (2) to the unnatural
struggle for the metals themselves--for the material for currency--due
to international rivalry and bad or crafty legislation.

With regard to the former of these, the period was distinctly one of
insufficient and relatively diminishing production of the metals. During
these two centuries, 1300-1500, the main sources of the derivation of
gold were the Eastern trade and the finds on the eastern shores and
northern interior of Africa. The chief supply of silver came from the
mines in Germany. These latter--in Hungary, Transylvania, Saxony, and
Bohemia--were of such importance and activity, in the fifteenth century
and towards the time of the discovery of America, as partially to keep
pace with the general trade expanse of the time, thereby helping to
arrest a fall of prices that would have been absolutely disastrous to
the civilisation of Europe. The combined production during this period
cannot even be conjectured. At the close of it--during the reign of
Henry VII.--the total coinage of England, both silver and gold, did not
probably exceed £3,000,000, while the total stock of both metals in
Europe in 1492 has been estimated at no more than £33,400,000. These
figures stand alone, for we have no idea of the extent of the commerce
which was worked on so small a monetary basis, and very little idea of
the amount of aid which was extended to metallic money by such
expedients as bills of exchange. To estimate, therefore, whether the
period was one of depreciating, stationary, or appreciating currency, we
are reduced to the testimony of prices and the Mint records.

[Sidenote: COURSE OF MONETARY DEPRECIATION]

In France, at the beginning of the period (in 1308), the mark of gold
was coined into 44 livres, and the mark of silver into 2 livres 19 sols.
At the close of the period, or towards it, in 1475, the mark of gold was
coined into 118 livres 10 sols, and that of silver into 10 livres.

In Germany the mark of gold was coined into 66 gulden of 23 carats in
1386, and into 71-1/3 gulden of 18-1/2 carats in 1495--a depreciation of
34.36 per cent. In Spain the mark of silver was coined into 130
maravedis in the year 1312, and into 2210 maravedis in 1474. This latter
case is, however, so inextricably complicated with considerations of
mere, i.e. arbitrary, debasement, as to render it useless for any
estimation of the natural appreciation of the metals. In England our
earliest gold coin weighed 128-4/7 grains, and was tariffed at 6s. 8d.
In 1489, 80 grains of gold were equivalent to the same, 6s. 8d.--a
reduction of 37.94 per cent. Within the same period the weight of the
silver penny sank from 22 to 12 troy grains, a reduction of 45.45 per
cent. Eliminating cases of arbitrary debasement, a rough average for the
period might fairly give 40 per cent. of depreciation through the two
centuries.

The case need hardly be laboured statistically, for the legislative
history of all the countries forming the circle of commercial Europe in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnesses this general downward
movement--this appreciation and restriction of currency--in grim and
unmistakable manner; and it is the expression of this general movement
in their legislations that gives the test and measure of the earliest
bimetallic troubles of Europe. In many ways the problem before the
various Governments was a more difficult one than that which besets the
modern world. There was, for instance, nothing like an equal and
generally recognised ratio of value between gold and silver prevailing
at any one single point of time. At one and the same date a ratio of 7
or 8 to 1 prevailed in the Moorish parts of Spain, and 12 to 1 in the
Christian parts (the kingdom of Castile). Similarly, at a later period,
in 1474, the ratio in England was 11.15, in Germany 11.12, and in France
11.00, in Italy 10.58, and in Spain 9.82.

The natural result of such a state of chaos, if it had been permitted to
work itself out unhindered, would have been arbitrage transactions of
such a nature--a flux and reflux of the European currencies so
perpetual--as would have induced a yearly and universal bankruptcy. In
spite of frantic efforts on the part of ruler after ruler, such results
did partially come about, and they sufficiently account both for the
distraction of Governments and the hatred universally visited upon the
Jew in the Middle Ages. The measures which were adopted by the various
States to counteract this invisible, insidious, and wasting process,
partake of the roughness and unscientific character of the age. The
export of gold and silver was forbidden on pain of death; and it was no
mere paper threat, for prominent London merchants were drawn and
quartered for the offence. The rates of exchange of foreign coins were
fixed by proclamation, and the office of exchanger limited to a
particular place. When all this proved ineffectual, the coins were cried
down, and violent and sudden changes in the ratio enacted. What made the
jerk and friction of such a process worse was that such measures were
not merely defensive, but intentionally offensive. The wish of the
fourteenth and fifteenth century ruler was not merely to defend his own
stock of precious metals from depletion, but--having gained the
conviction of the insufficiency of the production of those metals for
the needs of Europe--to attract to himself the stock of his neighbours
by whatever craft. There was a general struggle for the coverlid of
gold, and the methods of that struggle were almost barbaric in their
rudeness, violence, craft, and dishonourableness.


Italy.

On account of their knowledge and practice of the science of exchanges
and finance, the metallic history of the Italian states is of chief
importance for this earliest period. At a time when the northern nations
show signs of an infancy of commerce merely, Italy was advanced in the
art and practice of a most highly developed commercial and financial
state. It is to her that we owe our system of book-keeping and the use
of bills of exchange, not to speak of the pawnbroking and funding
systems; and it is permissible to conjecture that Italy, keeping her
finger as she did on the monetary pulsations of Europe, reaped her
harvest, and far the largest harvest, from the bimetallic fluctuations
of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In their turn those
fluctuations acted on herself, and occasionally disastrously. On account
of their pre-eminence as the commercial states of the peninsula,
Florence and Venice are chosen to illustrate in brief the monetary
history of Italy. The account of the general course of depreciation in
both these states, and of the fluctuations of Mint rates is given in the
Appendix (Nos. I. and II.). As regards the bimetallic influence of these
changes of rates, there is one telling record in the history of
Florence.

[Sidenote: THE FLORENTINE TROUBLES OF 1345]

The second quarter of the fourteenth century witnessed a decided rise in
the value of silver as against gold. It told immediately upon Florence,
on account of her Mint rates. By the regulation of 1324 the ratio in
Florence was 13.62, whereas in France the ratio was approximately 12.6,
and twenty years later, 1344, hardly more than 11 in both France and
England. The result on Florence was immediate, and silver disappeared
from circulation. In 1345, says her historian, Villani, there was great
scarcity. There was no silver money with the exception of the
_quattrini_. It was all melted down and transported. Silver of the alloy
of 11-1/2 oz. fine was worth in other parts out of Florence more than 12
_lire a fiorino_, whence arose great discontent to the woollen
merchants, who feared that the gold florin, in which they received their
foreign payments, should fall too much. Being a powerful factor in the
little state, they agitated, and the recoinage of 1345 was the result.
The precedent evil and the remedy applied by this recoinage may be thus
illustrated:--

  By law--

    Fiorino d'oro                  = 29 soldi.
    20 of these soldi              = la lira a fiorino.
    Therefore 12 lire a fiorino
      (the price of the libbra
      of silver as above, purchased
      abroad)                      = 8 fiorini 8 soldi.
                                   = 26 lire 8 soldi di piccioli.
    One fiorino d'oro being then current for about 3 lire 2 soldi piccioli.

The silver species current in Florence in 1345 were _quattrini_ and
_Guelfi del fiore_. These coins were of the same standard as above
(11-1/2 oz.), were coined at a tale of 167 to the libbra, and issued at
an equivalence of 30 piccioli. The libbra of this silver, therefore, by
Florentine Mint rate was valued at 20 _lire_ 17 _soldi_ 6 _denari di
piccioli_. Abroad, therefore, the price of silver was a matter of
slightly more than 5 lire higher than in Florence.

The same result could be got by taking the billon money of Florence and
calculating from its silver contents.

The natural result was a disappearance of silver. The only remedy was a
recoinage, and this was applied by the law of 19th August 1345. By this
law the standard of 11-1/2 oz. was retained, the tale of the _Grossi_
was increased to 134 pieces to the libbra (132 being rendered to the
merchant, and 2 retained for Mint expenses), and each piece issued at an
equivalence of 4 soldi.

  4 x 132 = 528 soldi.
  (= 26 lire 8 soldi di piccioli.)

It will be seen at a glance that this equalised the internal and
external price of silver.

Rather strangely this enactment of the 19th of August was followed by
another no more than four days later (23rd August 1345), by which a
slight reactionary change was made in favour of silver. The tale was
decreased from 134 to 132 pieces, to be struck from the libbra of the
same standard, and issuable at the same equivalence.

Slight as the backward change was, it was sufficient to leave the
monetary system exposed to the same influence of differential
exchanging, and within two months it had to be repealed by the law of
October 1345. Under the name of _Nuovi Guelfi_ a fresh coin was thereby
instituted of the same standard and equivalence as above, but at a tale
of 142 per libbra (140 being rendered back to the merchant, and 2
retained for expenses of coinage).

  140 x 4 = 560 piccioli.
  (= 28 lire di piccioli.)

This established a considerable advantage, and turned the flow of silver
back again to Florence.

[Sidenote: FLORENCE IN 1345]

The process might in many respects be compared to our raising of the
bank rate, were it not that the two operations represent quite different
and separated financial epochs. It is noteworthy, too, because the
process will be found immediately imitated in both France and England,
that these laws of 1345 represent preponderatingly the sense of the
class of exchangers of Florence,--i.e. the financiers professed,--men
who would profit individually in their exchange operations as much as
the state would in its restored currency of silver. "The above lords,"
says the preamble to the first-cited Act, "considering the numerous
petitions made to them by many artificers, merchants, and honourable
citizens, of the incredible lack of silver money in the state of
Florence, on account of which the citizens of the said state suffer many
inconveniences and wants, have determined to have and have had counsel
of the twenty-one guilds of the city, who have [by a roundabout method]
chosen eight men, skilled and prudent in the aforesaid, who have had
counsel with the officers of our Mint and with certain others of the
trade of exchangers," etc., with such result as above.

Yet even so, the effort was only temporarily successful. Before two
years was out the price of silver abroad, outside of Florence, had
advanced to 12 _lire_ 15 _soldi a fiorino_ = 27 _lire_ 14 _soldi di
piccioli_, whereas the price fixed by a fresh Mint law of 1345 had been
again reduced to under 26 _lire_ 10 _soldi di piccioli_. The result was
a second melting down and disappearance of the silver coins of the
state, a second agitation on the part of the Florentine woollen
merchants, and renewed legislation.

By the Mint regulation of 1347, a new-named money was introduced called
_Guelfi Grossi_, coined at a tale of 117 to the libbra (111-3/5 being
rendered cash to the merchants, and 5-2/5 retained by the Mint for the
state), at the same standard as before (11-1/2 oz.), but at an
equivalence of 5 instead of, as previously, 4 piccioli per piece.

  117 x 5 = 585 piccioli.
  (= 29 lire 5 soldi di piccioli);

a figure which is considerably above the 27 _lire_ 14 _soldi piccioli_,
which Villani gives as the price of foreign silver at the time. Even
taking the lower tale of 111-3/5 pieces, which the importer of silver to
the Mint got for his bullion, there is a distinct margin of profit.

  111-3/5 = 558 piccioli.
  (= 27 lire 18 soldi di piccioli.)

Indeed, in its entirety, this operation of 1347 has a sinister look. At
home the woollen merchants of Florence were obliged to pay wages in
silver, abroad to receive payment in gold. It was to their interest to
cry down the equivalence of silver; they paid less and received more.
The means by which they brought the state to put upon silver a price so
far removed from the market price could only be the bribe contained in
the relinquishing of 5-2/3 pieces in each libbra. But such a process is
in reality the beginning of debasement.

If this is not the true import of the Act of 1347, it testifies all the
more to the only other possible motive--the monetary straits of
Florence, her want of silver for currency, and the violent effort she
was prepared to make to get it.

Whether by way of effect or cause it is hard to say, but certainly
silver in the middle of the succeeding century had so far disappeared in
the Italian peninsula, or gold so far increased during the fifteenth
century, that the commercial ratio remained persistently low--1: 9.25,
both in Milan and Florence; and the Mint regulations of 1460 adopted by
the latter state (see under table of Florentine silver coins, Appendix),
can only be looked upon as a simple repetition of the measures of 1345
and 1347.


Spain.

The currency history of Spain up to the conquest of America is one long
list of alterations in the coinage, and of petitions from merchants and
various Cortes for or against changes in the rating of the coins. The
_oro gran modulo_ was rated at 100 pesetas, under Alfonso XI. of
Castile, 1312-50, and at 1000 under his successor, Peter the Cruel,
1350-69. The _oro dobla Castellana_ was rated at 60 pesetas under Henry
II., 1369-74; at 40 under Henry the Crafty, 1390-1406; and at 100 under
John II., 1406-54. In the case of this country the troubles in the
fourteenth century arose from the proximity of France, the circulation
of lower-rated French coins, and the consequent depletion of the
treasure of the kingdom. In Aragon, for instance, the charter of Peter
IV. in 1346 had ordered the coining of gold after the same weight and
fineness as of the florin of Florence. It was found too high, and three
years later he was obliged to cancel it by another proclamation,
ordering his own gold coins to be made of the same weight and fineness
as the _écus_ of the French kings. The close of his reign and the early
part of that of his successor witnessed acute crisis and distress, which
led to Henry II.'s celebrated reduction of the coinage at the Cortes of
Medina del Campo in 1371.

In 1391-93 another general proclamation was issued, ordering a reduction
of the value of the monies and fixing new rules of exchange, and this
was followed by one in 1398, prohibiting the circulation of foreign
coins in Spain, except at bullion value. This latter was a common
device, as will be seen in the case of our own country. It proved
ineffectual to prevent the outflow of the metals, and when re-enacted in
1413 was found to be of as little avail. The Cortes of 1442 (Valladolid)
complained bitterly, in a petition, of the money drawn away from the
realm by foreign merchants, and in the same year a fresh ordinance was
issued to readjust the values of the native monies to the foreign coins.
In this schedule, _doblas de la Banda_ were rated at 100 _maravedis_,
and the _florin d'oro d'Aragon_ at 65 _maravedis_. In 1473, only thirty
or so years later, by the charter of Henry IV., issued at Segovia, these
coins were rated at 300 and 200 _maravedis_ respectively. It was only
with the advent of the Catholic sovereigns that the internal disorder
and want of unity of the Spanish system was effectually remedied, in the
very hour of that discovery of a new world which was to put upon Spain
the vital function of distributing the new stores of precious metals
(see account of Spanish monies, Appendix III.).


Germany.

The movements of the precious metals in Germany--which, as far as the
ratio of the two metals is concerned, may be held to include the
Netherlands up to 1552, when Flanders withdrew from the monetary system
of the Holy Roman Empire--is a record of exactly the same process of
natural and gradual appreciation of the _metal_ (i.e. depreciation of
the weight and fineness of the _coin_) as in Spain, France, and England.
In the accompanying tables the movement of silver is illustrated by
means of the groschen, and that of gold by the Rhenish gulden. These
coins, it need hardly be said, were not unit coins, nor sole prevailing.
They are chosen from the bewildering variety with which the numerous
independent Mints of Germany have succeeded in perplexing posterity, as
being of relatively greater repute and wider acceptance, and because it
is a simply impossible task to combine all the denominations of these
coins, in order to deduce an average.

Up to 1375 the German gold coin was minted in close imitation of the
Florentine florin. The weight was 53 grs., as was that of the Florentine
piece; and the lily and St. John, the guardian saint of Florence, were
both employed in the two coins, the German piece being indeed issued at
first under the denomination, _Florin d'or_.

From the above-named date, however, and onwards, each succeeding and
various power altered type, weight, or alloy, with more or less
arbitrariness, but always to the increasing of the confusion of the
system as a whole. And it was to remedy this confusion, or to reduce it
somewhat, that the monetary union of the four electoral princes of the
Rhine was established (8th June 1386), under the lead of the three
towns, Frankfort, Speyer, and Worms; under which the four princes,
Frederick, Archbishop of Cologne, Carl, Archbishop of Treves, Adolf,
Archbishop of Mainz, and Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, agreed
upon a common minting of gold gulden. According to the treaty, 66 such
gulden were to be minted from the Cologne mark of gold, each of the
alloy of 22 carats 6 grs. gold, and 1 carat 6 grs. silver. In 1402 this
coinage was confirmed at Mainz by the Mint edict of Rupert II.[4]

Seven years later, 1409, the three spiritual electors, Frederick,
Archbishop of Cologne, John, Archbishop of Mainz, and Werner, Archbishop
of Treves, made a new and slightly different treaty, for the purpose of
again reducing the alloy of the gulden from 22-1/2 to 22 carats.

At this rate the system was, in the same year, at Speyer, formally
accepted for themselves by the Netherlands, and at Cologne also, in
1409, by the Empire generally.

The detailed and various changes which the independent princes and
powers of Germany subsequently made, it is out of the question to
follow. To instance only in brief. In 1419 Frederick of Brandenburg
ordered the coining of gulden for his own states, at the rate of 64-1/2
to the Cologne mark, and of the fineness of 19 carats--a very
considerable reduction in the metal value of the coin. In 1422, only
three years later, Sigismund was coining gulden 66-1/2 to the mark and
22 carats 6 grs. fine--a value somewhat higher than that accepted for
the empire in 1409. In 1428-29, accordingly, the Emperor Sigismund
issued an imperial order, which was formally adopted by the Reichstag
meeting at Eger (1437) and Nürnberg (1438), by which the Cologne mark
was to be coined into 68 gulden and the fineness reduced to 19 carats.
Four years later, 1442, the Emperor Frederick IV. projected a further
reform and reduction, proposing to coin 72 pieces of 19 carats fine, but
this was not carried into effect, probably as exaggerating the average
depreciation of the content of the coin (or appreciation of the metal).
The rate, therefore, established by Sigismund practically remained in
force for a matter of sixty years.

In the diet of 1495-97 (at Worms), however, a further slight reduction
in weight and fineness took place, 69-1/3 pieces being struck out of the
Cologne mark, and the fineness lowered to 18 carats 10 grs.

On the whole, therefore, the movement of gold during these two centuries
is remarkably sluggish in Germany, putting aside, i.e., the internal
variations between state and state; and remarkably corresponding to, and
confirmatory of, that in England. And in all probability the mean of the
quantities in the two countries would aptly measure the perfectly
natural or normal appreciation of gold (depreciation of the content of
fine metal in the current gold coin) throughout the period.

The movement of silver during the same two hundred years, 1300-1500, is
much more excited, but shows an average or mean appreciation that
tallies remarkably with that of gold just described, as also with that
of silver in England. The various denominations of silver coins which
arose in Germany, in those years, make it a work of extreme difficulty
even to attempt averages. In the accompanying tables, therefore, the
groschen is taken as most fairly averaging and widely current in the
empire. In its first form, the _Gros Tournois_, struck at Tours, in
France, this coin contained 55-1/10 parts of a Cologne mark, and was of
the fineness of 15 loth 6 grs. In 1296, when it was first adopted in
Germany (in Bohemia, and Meissen), 63-1/2 pieces were struck from the
mark, and the fineness had been reduced to 15 loth. Its subsequent
variations, up to the time of the discovery of America, are detailed in
the accompanying table and in Appendix No. V., the principal points in
which are marked by the years 1341, 1378 (a notable attempt at
reformation by Charles IV. and Wenceslaus), 1390, 1412, and 1444
(marking also an attempt at reformation by treaty between the Duke of
Saxony and the Margrave of Meissen).

MOVEMENTS OF SILVER IN GERMANY, 1300-1500, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE
GROSCHEN.

  +----------+-----------+---------+--------------------+
  |          |The Cologne| Of Alloy|  Equivalent Value  |
  |          |  Mark     |         |(as expressed in the|
  |  Date.   |coined into|         |20-Florin Standard).|
  |          +-----------+---------+----------+---------+
  |          |  Pieces.  |Loth. Qr.|Kreutzers.|Pfennige.|
  +----------+-----------+---------+----------+---------+
  |   1226   | 55-1/10   |  5   6  |    21    |0-216/551|
  |  (Gros   |           |         |          |         |
  | Tournois |           |         |          |         |
  |of France)|           |         |          |         |
  |   1296   |  63-1/2   | 15   0  |    17    |2-110/127|
  |   1309   |  63-1/2   | 14   0  |    16    |2-18/127 |
  |   1324   |  64-1/2   | 15   0  |    17    |1-33/48  |
  |(Meissen) |           |         |          |         |
  |   1341   |  78       | 10   0  |     9    |2-6/13   |
  |   1350   |  91       | 14   0  |    11    |2-14/91  |
  |   1364   |  74-1/2   |  9   0  |     9    |0-36/149 |
  |   1378   |  70       | 14   1  |    15    |1-1/14   |
  |   1380   |  72       | 13   0  |    13    |2-1/6    |
  |    --    |  91       | 11   0  |     9    |0-24/91  |
  |(Meissen) |           |         |          |         |
  |   1390   |  85       | 10   0  |     8    |3-5/17   |
  |    --    |  90       |  9   0  |     7    |2        |
  |(Meissen) |           |         |          |         |
  |   1407   |  72-40/131|  8   0  |     8    |1-57/296 |
  |   1412   |  82       |  4   0  |     3    |2-26/41  |
  |   1444   |  88       |  7  13  |     6    |2-43/132 |
  |    --    | 160       | 16   0  |     7    |2        |
  |   1459   | 101       |  5   9  |     4    |0-34/101 |
  |   1470   | 100-20/307|  5   0  |     3    |2-507/512|
  |   1490   | 103       |  5   0  |     3    |2-58/103 |
  +----------+-----------+---------+----------+---------+

[Illustration: TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD & SILVER IN GERMANY
1300-1500.]

THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD IN GERMANY, 1300-1500, ILLUSTRATED BY THE MOVEMENT
OF THE GOLD GULDEN (RHEINISCHE GULDEN).

  +-----------+------------+----------------+-----------------------------------+
  |           |  Cologne   |                |        Equivalent Value           |
  |           |    Mark    |     Alloy.     |     (as expressed in the          |
  |           |coined into |                |      20-Florin Standard).         |
  |   Date.   |            |                |                                   |
  |           +------------+-------+--------+---------+-----------+-------------+
  |           |   Pieces.  |Carats.| Grains.| Florins.| Kreutzers.|  Pfennige.  |
  +-----------+------------+-------+--------+---------+-----------+-------------+
  |   1252    |    44-3/8  |   24  |    0   |    6    |     22    |3-405/2911   |
  |(Florentine|            |       |        |         |           |             |
  |  Florin). |            |       |        |         |           |             |
  |  1371     |    66      |   23  |    1   |    4    |      6    |2-434/781    |
  |  1386     |    66      |   22  |    6   |    4    |      1    |1-85/781     |
  |  1409     |    66      |   22  |    0   |    3    |     55    |3-517/781    |
  |  1419     |    64-1/2  |   19  |    0   |    3    |     28    |1-2851/3053  |
  |  1428     |    68      |   19  |    0   |    3    |     17    |3-18/1207    |
  |  1442     |    72      |   19  |    0   |    3    |      6    |3-14/213     |
  |  1477     |    69-1/3  |   18  |   10   |    3    |      3    |2-3104/15194 |
  +-----------+------------+-------+--------+---------+-----------+-------------+


FRANCE.

In France during this same period the ratio of gold to silver was
changed in a single century more than a hundred and fifty times, and
with a roughness that is quite inconceivable to the modern mind. To take
a period of ten years for example:--

  In 1303 the ratio was 10.26
  "  1305       "       15.90
  "  1308       "       14.46
  "  1310       "       15.64
  "  1311       "       19.55
  "  1313       "       14.37

France presents the utmost difficulty to the student of metallic money
during this earliest period, by reason of these violent and arbitrary
alterations of the coinage. The extreme diversity of the coins, and the
perpetual changing of the composition or alloy, make it almost
impossible to estimate the fluctuations in the value of money in
relation to goods, or gold in relation to silver. Apart from the
international struggle for the precious metals, France was torn and
ruined by the English invasions, and debasement after debasement of the
coinage was resorted to as a means of raising money to continue the
struggle. Such debasements mark the reign of Philip le Bel, 1285-1314,
and of each succeeding king, from his days to the final ejection of the
English invaders, and after. A single instance will serve to show their
nature. In 1342 the mark of gold, which in a normal time just preceding
was valued at 41 livres 13 sols, was proclaimed equal to 117 livres, and
in 1360 the mark of silver, valued normally at 5 livres, rose to 102
livres.[5] It stands to reason that such abnormal movements must be
neglected in any attempt to determine the course of such fluctuations in
value of the metals, and the ratio of gold and silver, as arose
naturally from the metallic and currency history of the time.
Eliminating, therefore, this element of forced and accidental
debasements, due to political circumstance, the natural history, if it
may be so styled, of the French coinage displays the same tendency to
an appreciation of money metal which marks the history of the other
European countries.

[Illustration: TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD & SILVER IN FRANCE,
1300-1500.]

TABLE OF THE MOVEMENTS OF THE COINAGE OF FRANCE, 1300-1500.[6]

  +----------+--------------------+-------------------------------+
  |          | The Mark of Silver |       The Mark of Gold        |
  |          |    coined into     |          coined into          |
  |  Date.   |                    |                               |
  |          +-----------+--------+-----------+--------+----------+
  |          |  Livres   |  Sols. |  Livres   |  Sols. | Deniers. |
  |          |(Tournois).|        |(Tournois).|        |          |
  +----------+-----------+--------+-----------+--------+----------+
  |   1309   |     2     |   19   |     44    |    0   |     0    |
  |  (Philp  |           |        |           |        |          |
  |  le Bel.)|           |        |           |        |          |
  |   1315   |     2     |   14   |     45    |    0   |     0    |
  |   1343   |     3     |    4   |     43    |    6   |     8    |
  |   1350   |     5     |    5   |     53    |   18   |     9    |
  |   1361   |     5     |    0   |     60    |    0   |     0    |
  |   1381   |     5     |    8   |     60    |   10   |     0    |
  |   1422   |     7     |    0   |     76    |    5   |     0    |
  |   1427   |     8     |    0   |     72    |    0   |     0    |
  |   1429   |     7     |    0   |     77    |   10   |     0    |
  |   1446   |     7     |   10   |     88    |    2   |     6    |
  |   1456   |     8     |   10   |    100    |    0   |     0    |
  |   1473   |    10     |    0   |    110    |    0   |     0    |
  |   1475   |    10     |    0   |    118    |   10   |     0    |
  +----------+-----------+--------+-----------+--------+----------+

In this table each of the points or dates taken marks a period of return
to good money after a period of debasement, and in the mind of the
legislator such return to good money (_monnaie forte_) can only be
construed as based on an estimated general or normal rate of monetary
values, for each particular succeeding point of time. At every return
to good money a proclamation was issued, expressing the determination of
the administration to adhere to good money, as in the halcyon days of
St. Louis, etc. etc., and fixing the rate at which the monies should be
coined and current. By taking these points or dates of return to good
money, therefore, we eliminate the arbitrary action of the Government in
periods of debasement, and arrive at a net result showing the _natural_
movement of the metals.

The general trend of the table--or of the metals whose movements it
portrays--is perceptible at a glance, and will, moreover, be found
exactly similar to that of the cases of England and Germany below. On
account of the arbitrary debasements by the Kings and of the numerous
feudal coinages struck independently by the bishops and subsidiary
lords, the question of the friction with which this process of metallic
appreciation worked itself out cannot be so well illustrated in the case
of France as in that of England. But so much as this may be briefly
indicated. In 1294 the scarcity of silver coinage was so great that a
proclamation was put forth ordering silver to be brought to the Mint,
and forbidding the export of the metals. In consequence of the futility
of this ordinance, a further proclamation was issued in 1309, forbidding
the circulation in France of English silver sterlings and gold florins
of Florence, and crying down the exchange denomination of all other
foreign coins. Similar proclamations were issued again and
again--notably in 1328. But the complaints as to the depletion of the
coin of the realm became much more serious in France after Edward III.
had instituted his gold coin in 1344. There was henceforth a process of
double friction--(1) as arising from the difference of the declared
value of the French King's coin, as compared with foreign tariffs of
coins; (2) as arising from the difference between the ratio of gold to
silver in France and that prevailing in other countries.

[Sidenote: ALTERATION IN SILVER RATE]

In 1336 Philippe de Valois had fixed the ratio at 1:12, "the cause which
moved us to this being that so our people who were in great privations
and straits for money may more abundantly and quickly be filled again
with money new and current." This was re-enacted in 1339, but proved
quite inoperative to rule the market rate, and in 1346 Philippe found
himself obliged to tolerate the advance which had been put upon the good
monies in the market, by allowing provisionally the _chaise d'or_ to be
current for 30 sols Tournois. Four years later the silver rate was
altered by a proclamation conceived in these terms: "As the changers and
merchants who are accustomed to bring bullion to our Mint have ceased,
and do daily cease to do so, so that the working of our Mint is greatly
impeded, to the great prejudice of our people if no remedy is applied,
we therefore order that for each mark of silver brought to the Mint
there shall be delivered out by the Mint another 8 sols Tournois in
addition to the 112 sols Tournois fixed by law." The immediate
consequence was a hoarding and disappearance of the gold coins, and in
the following year, 1351, the tale of the _denier d'or aux fleurs de
lis_ was altered from 50 to 54 to the mark.

There is here no question of an arbitrary debasement. It was simply an
attempt to preserve the currency from the action of a changing market
ratio, which led to the withdrawal now of the one, now of the other
coins, and to the circulation meanwhile of foreign coins at a rate
apparently disproportioned to the metallic content.[7] In 1361 evidence
was given before the Mint authorities that "in payments the people do by
abuse give foreign monies at a higher rate than they are worth, viz. the
_moutons_ of Flanders and Brabant at a higher rate than the _franc
d'or_, of which said _moutons_ the best specimens are worth 18 denars
less than the said _franc d'or_; a silver piece called _chartain_ for 16
and even 18 denars, which is worth no more than 10," and so on. Two
years later it was declared that the Mint at Tournay was on the point of
stopping work, "the people having been accustomed for a long time to
give a higher price for the mark of gold than in the case of other
monies of this kingdom, and this by reason of the foreign merchants."
Towards the close of his reign Charles V., finding his kingdom filled
with depreciated imported specie, while all the good native pieces had
been drawn out of the land, sought and obtained from the Pope, 1372, a
Bull of Excommunication against neighbour powers who should counterfeit
his monies. It was not until 1391 that the proper defensive measure of a
change of ratio was resorted to, and by that time the conditions of the
Mint rates in surrounding nations had so altered as to render the change
partially inoperative. In 1393, accordingly, there was a great lack of
the smaller silver coin, which led to a proclamation by Charles VI. on
the 2nd April of that year for encouraging the minting of _petiz deniers
Tournois_. The same complaint was, however, re-echoed in 1395 and 1396,
but, as it appears, quite futilely, for nine years after another
proclamation had to be issued against the currency of foreign coins of
Scotland, Navarre, the Rhenish and Netherland provinces, etc., "which
have course in our kingdom for a greater value than they are worth, by
which means our monies are arrested in their course and greatly
withdrawn; the gold and silver _deniers a l'écu_ which we have minted
having been melted down."

[Sidenote: ACTION OF THE STATES-GENERAL IN 1420]

When the States-General met at Paris in 1420 the depreciated state of
the coinage was laid before the assembly as of prime concernment, and it
was by its advice that the proclamation of the following year was issued
fixing the _écu d'or_ at a tale of 66 to the mark and of the _gros
d'argent_ at 86-1/4, "it being come to our knowledge that for some time
past the money in our kingdom is so diminished and enfeebled that by
this means the gold and silver which abounded is in very great measure
drawn away and transported, and the traffic of strangers here almost
ceased, and all necessaries of life put at a great height," etc. The
result of this reformation of 1421 was that during some portion of the
succeeding years of Charles VII.'s reign silver came from all parts in
great abundance, although in 1436 complaints were again heard that money
was not being coined and did not suffice for the public needs. At this
point, however, the complaints apparently ceased, and it was not till
twenty years later that the step was again taken of decrying and
forbidding the circulation of foreign specie.

The ceasing of the disorders in the French money is attributed to the
expulsion of the English invaders, but there can be little doubt that
much more simple and natural laws were at work. From the reign of Louis
XI. onwards these natural laws had freer play as against the disturbing
influence of mere arbitrary debasements, and it is easier to analyse
their influence.

[Sidenote: FRANCE IN 1488]

From his accession in 1461 onwards the monetary history of France
displays many analogies with that of the Netherlands (see Chapter II.).
Thus in 1470, finding the market rate of foreign coins driven above the
home Mint rate by the licence of the people (i.e. by normal market
action), Louis issued a tariff to regulate the exchange rate in which
the prevailing prices of the foreign specie were tolerated as an interim
for a period of three months. At the end of that time it was manifestly
impossible to secure a permanent reduction, and in order to prevent the
transport of specie it was found necessary, 4th January 1473, to raise
the value of the home coin both gold and silver (see account of French
monies in Appendix No. VI.). Still the export continued, and in 1475 the
process of enhancement had to be repeated as a measure of defence for
the gold specie. Thirteen years later similar precautions were taken for
the silver specie by Charles VIII.'s proclamation of 24th April 1488.

This is the last defensive measure of the first period of the monetary
history of France, and no further act is on record previous to the great
change in the relative values of the precious metals which ensued upon
the discovery of the New World.

THE RATIO BETWEEN GOLD AND SILVER IN EUROPE, 1300-1500.

  +-----+------------------------+-------+--------+----------------+------+---------+-----+
  |Date.|       Italy.           |France.|England.|    Germany.    |Spain.|Burgundy.|Date.|
  |     +---------+-------+------+       |        +-----+----------+      |         |     |
  |     |Florence.|Venice.|Milan.|       |        | A.  |    B.    |      |         |     |
  +-----+---------+-------+------+-------+--------+-----+----------+------+---------+-----+
  |1252 |  10.75  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1252 |
  |1257 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |  9.29  | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1257 |
  |1284 |   ..    | 10.84 |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1284 |
  |1296 |  11.10  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1296 |
  |1303 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |   12.1  |1303 |
  |1305 |  10.88  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1305 |
  |1308 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1308 |
  |1315 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1315 |
  |1324 |  13.62  | 13.99 |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1324 |
  |1338 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 12.61 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1338 |
  |1343 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1343 |
  |1344 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   | 12.59  | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1344 |
  |1344 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   | 11.04  | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1344 |
  |1345 |  11.04  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1345 |
  |1346 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 11.11 | 11.57  |11.33|    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1346 |
  |1347 |  10.91  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1347 |
  |1348 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |   12.1  |1348 |
  |1350 |   ..    | 14.44 |10.59 |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1350 |
  |1351 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   12.3   |  ..  |    ..   |1351 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     | (Lübeck) |      |         |     |
  |1353 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   | 11.15  | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1353 |
  |1361 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 12.0  |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1361 |
  |1365 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   |11.37|    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1365 |
  |1375 |  10.77  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   12.4   |  ..  |    ..   |1375 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     | (Lübeck) |      |         |     |
  |1379 |   ..    | 13.17 |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1379 |
  |1380 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1380 |
  |1386 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   10.76  |  ..  |    ..   |1386 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     |  (Rhine  |      |         |     |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     |Provinces)|      |         |     |
  |1391 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 10.74 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1391 |
  |1399 |   ..    | 11.69 |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   11.16  |  ..  |    ..   |1399 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     |  (Rhine  |      |         |     |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     |Provinces)|      |         |     |
  |1400 |   ..    |   ..  |11.630|  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1400 |
  |1402 |  10.58  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1402 |
  |1406 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   10.66  |  ..  |    ..   |1406 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     |  (Rhine  |      |         |     |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     |Provinces)|      |         |     |
  |1411 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   12.0   |  ..  |    ..   |1411 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     | (Lübeck) |      |         |     |
  |1412 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   | 10.33  | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1412 |
  |1417 |   ..    | 12.56 |  ..  | 10.67 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1417 |
  |1421 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 10.29 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1421 |
  |1422 |  10.16  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1422 |
  |1427 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  9.00 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1427 |
  |1429 |   ..    | 11.04 |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1429 |
  |1432 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 10.87 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    | 5.822|    ..   |1432 |
  |1435 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 12.32 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1435 |
  |1441 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   |11.12|    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1441 |
  |1443 |   ..    | 12.1  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1443 |
  |1446 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1446 |
  |1447 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 11.44 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1447 |
  |1450 |   ..    |   ..  |10.965|  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1450 |
  |1455 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |   12.2   |  ..  |    ..   |1455 |
  |     |         |       |      |       |        |     | (Lübeck) |      |         |     |
  |1456 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 11.77 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1456 |
  |1460 |  9.33   |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1460 |
  |1462 |  9.37   |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1462 |
  |1464 |  11.42  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   | 11.15  | ..  |    ..    | 9.824|    ..   |1464 |
  |1471 |  10.58  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1471 |
  |1472 |   ..    | 11.13 |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1472 |
  |1474 |   ..    | 10.97 |  ..  | 11.00 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1474 |
  |1475 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |10.41 |    ..   |1475 |
  |1480 |  10.83  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |10.87 |    ..   |1480 |
  |1485 |  10.46  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1485 |
  |1486 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |10.98 |    ..   |1486 |
  |1488 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  | 11.83 |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1488 |
  |1495 |  10.46  |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1495 |
  |1497 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |10.01 |    ..   |1497 |
  |1500 |   ..    |   ..  |10.975|  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |  ..  |    ..   |1500 |
  |1506 |   ..    |   ..  |  ..  |  ..   |   ..   | ..  |    ..    |10.262|    ..   |1506 |
  +-----+---------+-------+------+-------+--------+-----+----------+------+---------+-----+

Germany--_A_, as determined by the purchase prices of the two metals in
the Lübeck Mint. _B_, as determined by the Mint ordinances.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: COINAGE OF 1344]


England.

Even before the adoption of a gold coinage by Edward III., England had
felt the effect of loss by exchange, owing to the introduction of gold
florins by means of the Flemish trade. In the Parliament of 1339, at
Westminster, complaint was made of the want of coinage. It was proposed
as a remedy--(1) that every merchant should bring in 40s. or more for
every sack of wool that he should import, and (2) that it should be
considered by the King and his council whether it might not be
advantageous to permit _florins de écu_ (of France), and florins of
Florence (i.e. gold), and other good florins to be current with the
_esterlings_ (i.e. the silver penny), "but only esterlings to be
compulsory for under 40s. value." In less than four years good money was
being carried out of the realm, and false money brought in at such a
rate that Parliament was seriously perplexed. In its debate on the
matter at Westminster, 1343, the result is thus stated: "All orders of
persons in the realm had loss for a long time, on account of the florins
which were delivered in payment in Flanders, bearing so high a value
there as to occasion a loss of one-third on all merchandise imported
thence." Certain goldsmiths of London were therefore ordered to be
called in to advise and to refine one or two of each kind of florin, so
as to rate the fine gold in them according to the true value. And it was
proposed that of this fine gold one kind of money should be made in
England and Flanders, provided the Flemings were willing, to be current
in both countries at such an alloy and value as should be determined by
the King and Council, and all other gold money to be taken at bullion
value, and all silver money to be reckoned thereby ("other sufficient
money to be received according to the value of the fine gold").

The result was the first practical issue of English gold. In 1344 an
indenture was made between the King on the one part and George Kirkyn
and Lotte Nicholyn of Florence, goldmasters and workers, on the other,
for the coining of three monies of gold, one to be current at 6s., and
to be equal in weight to 2 _petits florins_ of Florence of good weight,
50 of these being coined out of the pound Tower of London.

In this indenture Edward copied the ratio prevailing in the French
kingdom, viz. that of 12.61 to 1 between gold and silver. That ratio was
considerably too high, and he quickly experienced the same effects which
were felt by the French King from it. During his reign (1327-50) Philip
of Valois coined more species of new money than all his predecessors put
together, but owing to the adoption of this too high a ratio the country
was gradually depleted of good money. In order to induce people to bring
bullion to the Mint he offered to coin free of cost, but found nothing
of avail until he followed the example of England and altered the ratio.

In our own country the same truth had been quickly grasped. It was found
that the new gold money was rated too high, i.e. overvalued in relation
to silver, and was therefore refused. By a proclamation of the same
year, therefore, 9th July, it was withdrawn and ordered to be taken only
as bullion, and a new indenture was made for the coining of gold
nobles--39-1/2 out of the pound Tower, and at the value of 6s. 8d. The
nobles were at once made current and tenderable along with silver, by
proclamation; gold being ordered to be received in payment of 20s. and
upwards.

[Sidenote: GOLD NOBLES COINED]

By this indenture the ratio was at once dropped from 12.59:1 to 11.04:1.
This attempt to determine the rate of exchange is a common feature in
the legislation of France and Spain as well as of England. It stands to
sense, and is apparent on every page of the monetary history of the
period, that it was absolutely imperative. The friction which
accompanied the process can now only faintly be imagined, but that is a
secondary consideration. The essential point was, that such changes were
normal and inevitable, forced by sheer necessity upon Governments, such
an one even as our own, which has always been most jealously
conservative in matters of coinage.

TABLE OF THE VARIATIONS OF THE GOLD AND SILVER COINS OF ENGLAND,
1300-1500.

  +----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
  |       Silver.        |                    Gold.                          |
  +-------+--------------+-------+--------+----------+-----------+-----------+
  |       |  Weight of   |       |        |  Weight  |           | Price in  |
  | Date. |  the Silver  | Date. |  Coin. |    in    |   Value   | Pence per |
  |       |   Penny in   |       |        |  Grains. |  Declared.| Grain of  |
  |       | Troy Grains. |       |        |          |           |   Gold.   |
  +-------+--------------+-------+--------+----------+-----------+-----------+
  |       |              |       |        |          | _s._ _d._ |           |
  | 1300  |     22       |  1344 | Florin | 108      |  6    0   |   0.6666  |
  | 1344  |     20-1/4   |  1344 | Noble  | 138-6/13 |  6    8   |   0.5777  |
  | 1346  |     20       |  1346 |  ...   | 128-4/7  |  6    8   |   0.6222  |
  | 1351  |     18       |  1353 |  ...   | 120      |  6    8   |   0.6666  |
  | 1412  |     15       |  1414 |  ...   | 108      |  6    8   |   0.7407  |
  | 1464  |     12       |  1460 |  ...   | 120      |  8    4   |   0.7500  |
  |       |              |  1470 | Angel  |  80      |  6    8   |   1.0000  |
  +-------+--------------+-------+--------+----------+-----------+-----------+

In the first issue of Edward III. the Troy grain of gold had been valued
at .6666 of a penny. At such rate it was overvalued and refused, and in
the second issue of the same year the value was dropped to .5777 of a
penny. Gradually, as the ratio on the Continent changed, and came to
bear on the English rate, this was in its turn found an under-valuation,
and only two years later, 1346, the value was raised to .6222, making a
ratio of 11.57 to 1. The change was made in consequence of loud and
serious complaints of the scarcity of coin, good money being carried out
and false "Lusshebournes" (Luxembourgs), worth only 8s. in the pound,
being brought in. The grievance was so great that Parliament petitioned
Edward most urgently to interfere, instancing in special the Lombards,
"that they purchased English florins at a lower rate than that which was
appointed," and praying "that such persons should not buy or sell the
said money, nor make any agreement, in the sale of their merchandise,
what money they would receive in rejection of English money." To this it
was answered, that it should be commanded throughout England that all
persons should receive for their merchandise gold, according to the
currency ordained, without any agreement to be made, under pain of
imprisonment and heavy ransom, and when any agreement had been made it
should be at the will of the purchaser to pay money of gold or silver as
he should think fit. At the same time, an ordinance was issued
forbidding any person to carry out the King's good money or to bring in
counterfeit.

[Sidenote: EDWARD III.'S CHANGES OF RATIO]

[Illustration: TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD & SILVER IN ENGLAND
1300-1500.]

The effect of Edward's change of ratio--from 12.59 (the same as the
French rate) in 1344 to 11.04 in 1346--told immediately on the French
currency, and at the first return to good money in the first year of
King John (1350-64) the ratio in that country was changed at a stroke
from 12.61 to 11.11. This in its turn acted upon precious metals in
England, and for three years the English King found himself futilely
struggling against an outflow of silver, by such measures as the hanging
and drawing of merchants, before he discovered that it was due to an
overvaluation of gold. In 1353, accordingly, he lowered the weight of
the gold nobles from 128-4/7 grs. to 120. At the same time, the contents
of the silver penny were reduced in a greater proportion (from 20 grs.
to 18). By this means the ratio of 11.04, which had prevailed since
1346, was lowered to 11.15.

That this ratio achieved its purpose, as far as England was concerned,
is apparent from the simple fact that it remained unaltered for over
sixty years until 1414; that it acted adversely upon and drained France
of her gold is apparent from the change of the ratio there at her first
immediately succeeding return to good money. Two periods of debasement
had marked the short reign of John of France (1350-64), and the effect
of these and of the influence of the English ratio was such that in 1360
there was no gold in his kingdom. Towards the end of that year, and in
the beginning of 1361, John promulgated a reformation of the coinage--a
return to good or "forte" money, and in this reformation he adopted a
ratio which would act on the English stock of precious metals.

In England, Edward's action in 1353 in lowering the contents of both
silver and gold coins, and altering the ratio, had given rise to great
discontent, to an extent which proved how wiser and truer to the
nation's interest was the King than his people. This diminution of the
value of these coins, says the Chronicle, made all things dearer, so
that the workmen and servants became assuming and demanded greater
wages.

There is as little foundation for such an innuendo as there is for the
view which regards this depreciation as an issue of base money. It was
simply a measure of precaution, as stopping an invisible and insidious
outflow of the currency.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND AND FRANCE IN 1360]

Looked at historically, and not at all controversially, such results as
have been just described can only be attributed to the European monetary
system of the time. Apart altogether from the arbitrary debasement of
the coin, as, e.g., in France--apart even from changes of the ratio
enacted with the mere crafty design of inducing a flow of gold, the
monetary system of the time was so rough, so unscientific; the tariffing
of the coins of different nations against each other was so inexact, so
much a matter of rule-of-thumb, of hasty average, that it was simply
impossible to issue such general tables of equivalents of coins and such
a ratio as would have given stability to the various coinages of Europe.
If the currency system of England had been of silver alone, a single
enactment lessening the content of the unit coin, or crying up its
denomination, would have stopped any outflow caused by under-valuation
as compared with foreign money value. The same if it had been only gold.
But being combined of the two, being, as it was, both gold and silver,
it was necessary, in the case of such outflow, not merely to call down
one or both of them below the value of foreign gold or silver, but also
and at the same time to establish such a ratio between the two metals
for _internal_ circulation as would give no advantage to exchangers
acquainted with a different ratio prevailing in some particular part of
the Continent. And just the same for the other European money systems.
If, for instance, the English sterling had been called down to a value
which would of itself have forbidden export to the Continent, but at the
same time such a ratio had been left standing between these sterlings
and the gold nobles (say 12:1) as was so far in excess of the ratio
prevailing in some parts of Europe (say 11:1) as to overlap the amount
by which the sterling had been called down, then the result could, and
doubtless would, be an outflow of silver, in face and spite of the
apparent higher tariff of the English sterling, as against the
continental silver coins. This is the historic, patent, undeniable
defect and weakness in the bimetallic system of the Europe of that day.
It must be borne well in mind how different the problem then was from
that which now besets the monetary world. To-day the flow of the
precious metals is natural, the indicator, facilitator, and safety-valve
of international trade. Such a conception was an utter impossibility to
the fourteenth century. The rulers of that age had only one idea, the
maintenance or increase of the treasure of the realm, first for military
purposes, and then for trade; and their mental horizon was limited by
the boundaries of each their little dominion. They could not grasp the
idea of Europe as a monetary whole, each fought for his own head or
land, and each found a ready weapon to hand in the monetary confusion of
the time. In any system so rough and so non-uniform as that of Europe in
the fourteenth century, any variation of one metal served as a
vantage-point against the other, as a lever to press upon and force it
out. One metal would have been safe (so long as no partial depreciation
was allowed), two metals served simply as fulcra to each other's
oscillations, to the undoing of both. The mediæval legislator could not
grasp that there was a double train of principle and event transacting
itself under his very eyes--the one, changes of denomination of coins;
the other, changes of ratio. In less than thirty years after Edward III.
had cried down the English coins to below the competing denominations of
the Continent, the changes of the European ratio had produced their
effect, and Richard II. found the realm denuded of its treasure and
currency.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND IN 1378]

From 1360 the ratio on the Continent gradually sank from 12:1 till
towards the end of the first quarter of the fifteenth century, when it
stood in France as low as 9:1.

That France experienced the process, which must have been perfectly
natural and due simply to relatively diminishing production of silver in
those years, 1360-1425, is seen in her alteration of the ratio from 12
to 10.74 in 1380 and to 10.29 in 1422.

In England the same train of events made itself felt at almost the same
moment. In 1378 great complaints were made of the export of gold and
silver, and of the enfeebled state of the money which remained in the
realm, "so that if a remedy be not speedily applied, the King will
receive no more than 4s. where he should receive 5s."

[Sidenote: THE MONETARY INQUIRY OF 1381]

Three years later--one year after the French King had lowered his ratio
from 12.1 to 10.74--the Commons presented a petition to the King during
the sitting of Parliament, 1381, complaining of the wretched want of the
kingdom, which was devoid of treasure, monies of gold and silver being
carried out of the realm, and those remaining being clipped to one-third
their nominal value. No money at all was being minted in the Tower, and
a heavy export of our metals to Scotland and Ireland was taking place.
Simultaneously the officers of the Mint presented a petition to the King
and his Council in Parliament, complaining that no money was being
coined. The causes of this, in their opinion, were--

1. That the monies of gold and silver beyond the seas were more feeble
than the monies of England, on which account the merchants could not
bring bullion into England for their profit nor for the King's
advantage. But if any manner of bullion of gold were brought into the
kingdom, by persons travelling, it was sold to those who conveyed it out
of England, to their great gain and to the injury of the whole realm.

2. That the silver of England which [i.e. when it] was found to be good
and heavy, was taken into Scotland, because the money of that country
was so light.

3. That the gold of England being so good and heavy, and that beyond sea
so light, the _nobles_ which came from Calais were gone into Flanders,
and the English _nobles_ were carried beyond the sea, to the great
profit of those who exported them, etc. etc.

4. That the money of gold and silver of England was commonly clipped, so
that they who thought they should have £100 would have no more than £90,
unless a remedy were speedily applied.

The officers of the Mint were accordingly ordered to be called before
the Lords of the Parliament for examination, and they were succeeded by
others, private persons but mostly goldsmiths, who were called upon as
experts. In the case of these latter the various statements of opinion
are preserved for us in the Rolls of Parliament, and they possess a
peculiar interest.

Richard Leye thought that the reason why no gold or silver was brought
into England, but, on the contrary, that which had been in the kingdom
was exported, was this, that the realm expended too much on merchandise,
such as grocery, mercery, furs, etc. He therefore proposed that every
merchant who imported goods into England should export an equal quantity
of the produce of the realm, and that no one should take out gold or
silver, contrary to the statutes.

As to the gold not agreeing with the silver (which was Article IV. of
the inquiry), he thought that could not be remedied, unless the money
were changed, and to change it in any manner would be productive of
universal injury to Lords, Commons, etc.

To Article V. he advised that, whereas new money had been made in
Flanders and in Scotland, proclamation be made that all manner of coins
of Flanders, Scotland, and of all other places beyond the seas, should
be no longer current in England, and that no one should receive them in
payment except as bullion to be carried to the King's Mint.

Lincoln, a goldsmith, gave his opinion similarly against the permission
to export gold and silver, and proposed that the gold noble should
remain of the same weight as it had been, but at a greater value.

To the First Article Cranten said, that no more in value of foreign
merchandise should be consumed within the realm than should be exported
of commodities, the growth of England; and then, whether the money were
enhanced or debased, it would hereafter remain within the realm. Also,
that exchanges or other payments by letters should not be made out of
Flanders, or other parts beyond the seas, to pay in England for any
merchandise.

John Hoo advised a proclamation against the carrying out of gold or
silver, and that the money should be received by weight.

The statement of opinion of the succeeding and last witness is extremely
valuable and interesting. Richard Aylesbury opined that, provided the
merchandise exported from England was properly regulated,--that is, if
no more of foreign commodities were allowed to be imported than the
value of the native products which should be taken out,--the money then
in England would remain, and great plenty would come from beyond the
seas.

He also conceived it to be expedient that the Pope's collector [of
Peter's Pence] should be an Englishman, and that the Pope's money
should be sent to him in merchandise and not in coin, and that the
journeys of clerks should be entirely forbidden, on pain, etc.

For the feebleness of the gold, which was occasioned by clipping, he
conceived there was no other remedy but that it should be universally
weighed by those who received it, and that the proclamation should be
made accordingly.

_The agreement of the gold with the silver he believed could not be
effected unless the money were changed, but that he dared not to propose
on account of the general damage which would ensue._

On account of the new money which had been made in Flanders and
Scotland, he advised that all Scottish monies should be forbidden by
proclamation, and also all other monies from beyond the sea, so that
they should have no currency in England; and that no one should take
them in payment, except at their value as bullion and for the King's
coinage; that no one should export gold or silver, according to the
statute in that case made, etc.

And, further, he suggested, by way of information, that the pound of
gold which was there made into the sum of 45 nobles (but which pound, by
reason of clipping and otherwise impairing, was then valued at 41-1/2
nobles) should be made into 48 nobles, to be current at the same value
as before.

This last proposition would have reduced the ratio to a fraction over
11:1--something higher than the ratio prevalent in France. Instead of
acting on evidence such as this, however, and so changing the ratio,
Richard's Government contented itself with the perfectly useless
prohibition of export of gold or silver (statute 5 Rich. II. cap. 1).
Four years later, accordingly, the matter was again pressed upon the
attention of Parliament, and even by the Chancellor of the realm,
Michael de la Pole himself, in his opening speech. The English money, he
said, was in greater estimation and of higher value in all other places
than in England. It was therefore sought out and craftily withdrawn, and
the chief or greatest remedy was to increase the value or price of the
said money.

In spite of such recommendation as this the measure was not adopted, and
Richard fell back on his previous expedients, crying down by
proclamation the value of the Scotch coins, 1387, and of the gold coins
of Flanders and Brabant, 1393, and ordaining by enactment that exporters
of goods should bring in 1 oz. of gold for every sack of wool which they
sold.

Such an ordinance as this last is of the commonest and most frequent
occurrence in the enactments of fifteenth-century England, but always
unworkable as warring against the most elementary principles of
international trade.

On his accession, therefore, Henry IV. found himself heir to an
accumulation of monetary evil, through the impolicy and want of courage
of Richard.

[Sidenote: THE RECOINAGE OF 1414]

He was obliged, at the request of the mayors and merchants of the staple
of Calais, to abolish the last unworkable ordinance just referred to,
and attempted at the same time to provide a positive remedy by reviving
a proclamation against the currency of silver halfpennies brought from
Venice, of which three or four only were equal to one sterling in value.
In 1401 the Commons complained in Parliament that nobles of Flanders
were so common in England that a man could not receive a sum of 100
shillings without taking three or four such nobles, each of them more
feeble than the English noble by two-pence.

A statute was accordingly passed, enacting that all money of gold and
silver of the coin of Flanders and all other lands, and of Scotland,
should be voided out of the land, or put to coin to the bullion.

It was all in vain. Two years later, 1403, the Commons again complained
of the depletion of gold, and again a statute was passed, and so on.
This futile process actually reproduces itself yearly up to 1411, when
at last the question of a recoinage was fairly faced. By the ordinance
for, and regulation of, the money of the realm, of that year, it was
provided that, "because of the great scarcity of money at the time," the
Master of the Mint should make of every pound of gold 50 nobles, and of
silver 30 shillings of esterlings of old alloy.

This recoinage was carried out and finished in the third year of Henry
V., 1414. Under it the contents of the silver penny sank from 18 to 15
grs., and of the gold noble from 120 to 108 grs., the consequent change
in the ratio being from 11.15, which had prevailed since 1353 to 10.33.

At this latter rate the monetary system of England remained for almost
fifty years, viz. up to 1460. But, though the rate endured so long, it
is not for a moment to be supposed that the ensuing period was one of
repose. Within eight years of the accomplishment of the reform in the
English coinage, the ratio in France was lowered to a point somewhat
below the established rate in England, and with considerable variation
remained lower through all the years in question, 1414-1460. In 1421 it
was changed to 10.29, in 1427 to 9, in 1432 to 10.87, and in 1447 to
11.44.

The effect on England, as recorded in the complaints in Parliament, was
almost parallel with that in the days of Richard. In 1414 complaints
were made against the circulation of galley halfpence by the merchants
of Venice. Three years later proclamation was made against the
circulation of the gold monies of Flanders, called _Burgundy nobles_,
which were of less value than the English nobles. In 1419 it was found
that money was being exported "more largely, and in many other manners,
than had been accustomed, to the great mischief and impoverishment of
the whole realm." And in the following year the usual statute was
enacted, on the petition of the Commons, commanding foreign money to be
taken as bullion. Again, two years later, 1422, the enfeebled and
depreciated state of the coinage was so apparent that the collectors of
the subsidy granted in that year by Parliament were instructed to accept
nobles as of the denominational value of 6s. 8d. (i.e. the full value),
"provided they stretched verily to the value of 5s. 8d. by weight." At
the same time silver money was so scarce that "though [i.e. even if] a
noble were so good of gold and weight as 6s. 8d., yet men could get no
white money for it." In 1423 the Commons complained of the want of
silver coins in the realm, "to the great unease and harm of the poorer
people of this land," "because [says the statute, which was accordingly
enacted], that silver is bought and sold uncoined at 32s. the pound of
Troy, whereas the same pound is no more of value at the coin than 32s.,
with an abatement of 12 dens. for the coinage."

[Sidenote: THE MONETARY TROUBLES OF HENRY VI]

From the twenty-fourth chapter of the statute of 1429 it appears, quite
consonantly, "that the merchant aliens had of late introduced a custom
of refusing to take silver, as they were wont, for their merchandises,
and of taking only gold nobles, half-nobles, and farthings, which, from
time to time, they carried out of the realm into other foreign
countries, where they were changed to their increase and forged into
other coins, so that they gained in the alloy of every noble twenty
pence, against the tenor of the statutes, etc., and to the prejudice of
the King and realm. Therefore the King, willing to provide a remedy,
ordained that no merchant alien should constrain nor bind any of his
liege people by promise covenant or liege, to make him payment in gold
for any manner of debt due to him, nor refuse to receive payment in
silver for any manner of such duty or debt, upon the pain of the double
value of the same."

In 1439 provision was again ordered to prevent exportation of money by
merchant aliens. It was renewed in 1448, and five years later the
Commons petitioned that the silver mines of Devon and Cornwall, which
had not been worked for a long time, might be again opened, on account
of the great scarcity of money.

The confusion of the Wars of the Roses, however, renders it slightly
problematical how far the two successive lowerings of the coinage, which
took place in 1460 and 1465 or 1470, are to be attributed to arbitrary
action or to a natural process. By the recoinage of 1460 the noble was
increased in weight from 108 grs. to 120 grs., and the value from 6s.
8d. to 8s. 4d., being a real appreciation of the grain of gold from
.7407 to .7500 of a penny. At approximately the same date, 1464, the
weight of the silver penny was lowered from 15 to 12 grs. In the
succeeding recoinage of 1465 and 1470 these rates were again altered. A
new gold coin, the _angel_, was instituted, weighing 80 grs., and valued
at 6s. 8d., while the weight of the silver penny was left unaltered. The
ratio was accordingly changed to 11.15.

This was the last change of the coinage made in England before the era
of the discovery of America. The internal effects which the changes had
on the commerce of the time are hidden from us by the disturbing
influences of the Wars of the Roses.

[Sidenote: CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST PERIOD]

But it is, probably, in connection with this change of the English
ratio--or with some wider, general movement, acting on both countries
alike--that the last monetary ordinances of Louis XI. of France,
referred to above, are to be understood.

These acts of conflicting policies mark the conclusion of the first
period of European metallic monetary history, for no further changes
were enacted previous to the close of the century and the discovery of
America. As far as England was concerned, the monetary system remained
comparatively unchanged till the days of Henry VII.

On a review of the whole period two simple facts emerge with
unmistakable plainness and import.

1. It was a period in which the commercial expanse outstripped the
reinforcing supply of the precious metals, and therefore in which a real
decline of prices[8] prevails.

2. The evil effects of such decline were enormously increased by
shortsighted, crafty manipulation of the currency by the European
rulers, and by the rough, unscientific system of the prevailing coinage
and exchange rates, and by the inability of the age to understand, or
even to perceive, the hidden working of two metals see-sawing against
each other--acting as levers against each other--cutting each other's
throats. The discovery of America corrected the fall of prices and saved
Europe, but it left her rulers as deadly ignorant as before of the
workings of bimetallism--to give a name to what they had not even
perceived as a phenomenon, much less as a system.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: This is the date accepted by the numismatic authorities. It
is adopted by Orsini (_Storia delle Monete della Repubblica Fiorentina_,
p. xxiv, where he states the authority for it). It is nevertheless open
to serious doubt. See in De Saulcy, Documents I. pp. 115-131, references
to florins d'or from 1180 onwards. On the other hand, as to the nature
of the florin de compte and its distinction from the florin d'or, see
M.L. Blancard, _Revue numismatique_, 1886, pp. 48, 218, and 1887, p.
259; and Vicomte D'Avenel, _Histoire de la propriété, etc._, i. p. 41.]

[Footnote 2: Est a notter que le Roi en fit forger aulcune quantité
(some slight quantity) d'or du poids de 12 den. 16 gr. chacune pièce
laguelle auvrage il dedia seullement pour sou aulmosne aux pauvres
ausquels souvent il lavait les piedz par humilité. Et en fut jamais
inventée ladite pièce d'or pour aultre cause que dessus et non pour
monnaie uzuelle et publicque." (De Saulcy, _Documents, i._ 115, 122,
125).]

[Footnote 3: See, however, in De Saulcy, i. 31, a mention of _manteletz
d'or de Flandre_ in 1265.]

[Footnote 4: Soetbeer considers the standard in 1386 as 23 fine, and
asserts that, by the Mint edict of 1402, it was lowered to 22-1/2
carats.]

[Footnote 5: For an estimation of the _commercial_ effect of these
debasements, see Vicomte D'Avenel, _Histoire de la propriété, etc._, i.
53-54]

[Footnote 6: For a similar table calculated in francs, see Vicomte
D'Avenel, _Histoire de la propriété, etc._, i. 62, 481, where the
figures are very different. On Le Vicomte D'Avenel's method of
calculation, see the _English Historical Review_.]

[Footnote 7: See note on p. 397, infra..]

[Footnote 8: By prices here, and subsequently throughout this volume, is
meant the price or tariff and Mint rate of the coins. There is no
reference whatever to general prices.]




CHAPTER II

From the Discovery of America to the end of the First Cycle of the
        Influence of the Metals of the New World on European Currencies,
        1493-1660


The last decade of the fifteenth century witnessed the discovery of
America, and therein the monetary salvation and resurrection of the Old
World. The end of the second quarter of the seventeenth century in its
turn witnessed the end of the first phase, and the most important, of
the New World upon the destinies of Europe. Practically and historically
the century and a half intervening between 1493 and 1660 may be treated
as a single cycle with a single aspect. It was a time of unexampled
increase in the imports of the precious metals, of equally unexampled
rise of prices, and at the same time of feverish instability and want of
equilibrium in the monetary systems of Europe. Two general statements
may be premised.

1. Broadly speaking--of prices, i.e.--no movement of any note is
perceptible, or records itself in legislative enactment until about
1520, so gradual and at first unimportant was the flow of metal from
America. What did come at first was not silver so much as gold, and
represents the puny and blood-stained plunder of ornaments from the
natives. If this import tended to turn the balance in any way, it was in
the direction of depreciation of gold as compared with silver. But
during this first quarter of the sixteenth century, possibly more
influence on the maintaining of equilibrium is to be attributed to the
largely increased home production of silver. The silver mining in the
Saxon Harz, in Bohemia, and the Tyrol, had received a strong impulse
towards the close of the fifteenth century, while gold was obtained
during the same period in appreciably greater quantities in the
archbishopric of Salzburg, and in Hungary, as well as from Africa.

[Sidenote: GENERAL STATEMENT]

2. In this second period of European bimetallic history, the centre of
European monetary exchanges passes from Italy to the Netherlands.
Antwerp takes the place of Venice and Florence. There is a double and
deep significance in the fact. It is not merely that the trade route had
changed in such a way as to lay the foundation for that development of
European commerce, of which England is the highest expression in our own
days; it is that by the change was provided a more effective safeguard
against precipitate and overwhelming depreciation. The centre of
European exchanges--Antwerp in the sixteenth, as London to-day--has
always performed one supremest function--that of regulating the flow of
metals from the New World by means of exporting the overplus to the
East. The drain of silver to the East, discernible from the very birth
of European commerce, has been the salvation of Europe, and in providing
for it Antwerp acted as the safety-valve of the sixteenth-century
system, as London has done since. The importance of the change of the
centre of gravity and exchange from Venice to Antwerp lies therefore in
this fact. Under the old system of overland and limited trade, Venice
could only provide for such puny exchange and flow as the mediæval
system of Europe demanded. She would have been unable to cope with such
a flood of inflowing metal as the sixteenth century witnessed, and
Europe would have been overwhelmed. But the foundations of the commerce
of the Netherlands were laid wider. Together with Portugal she opened an
extensive empire along the coasts of Africa and in the Indian East; and
the very time which gave birth to the revolution in the production of
the precious metals in America saw provision made for the regulation of
its outflow through the commerce and exchanges of Antwerp to India. In
the modern system this would be a theoretically perfect world-mechanism,
and its working would be normal and healthy, and the safest indicator of
commerce. That it was not so to seventeenth-century Europe was simply
due to the existence of a disordered, understood bimetallic system, and
the crisis to which the working of this mechanism brought her has
perhaps not been since equalled at any point of time.

The underlying causes of this crisis have been already described. The
currencies of the trading nations of Europe were all unconsciously
bimetallic. Throughout, there was in existence one class who grasped the
_fact_ without any knowledge of the _theory_, and profited by it--the
merchant exchangers. There was constant oscillation--change of ratio,
and the least alteration of the condition of one metal made it a lever
for operations upon the other. These operations were arbitrage merely.
They had no relation to the ebb and flow of commerce as modern arbitrage
transactions have. It was a financier's opportunity of _private_ gain,
and for _private_ gain the system was worked. The ebb and flow of
European currencies, which the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
witnessed, were as unnecessary (i.e. for the purposes of her commerce)
as they were disastrous.

It is sufficient to indicate the tendency of this argument, and to leave
the illustration of it to the following pages.

To return to the yield of precious metals during the years under
discussion. Any estimate must be conjectural, in the absence of the
accounts of the Spanish Mints.[9] This understood, it may be thus
tabularly represented.

[Sidenote: PRODUCTION OF THE PRECIOUS METALS]

  +-----------+-------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+
  |           |   Annual    |   Annual    |  Proportion  |  Proportion  |
  |   Date.   |  Average    |  Average    |   of Gold    |   of Silver  |
  |           | Production  | Production  |   in Total.  |   in Total.  |
  |           |  of Gold.   | of Silver.  |              |              |
  +-----------+-------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+
  | 1493-1520 |   £800,000  |   £600,000  |      57%     |     43%      |
  | 1521-45   |  1,000,000  |  1,100,000  |      47%     |     53%      |
  | 1545-60   |  1,200,000  |  3,850,000  |      23.6    |     76.4     |
  | 1560-80   |    855,000  |  3,640,000  |      20.8    |     79.2     |
  | 1581-1600 |  1,030,000  |  4,945,000  |      17.2    |     82.8     |
  | 1601-20   |  1,190,000  |  4,820,000  |      19.8    |     80.2     |
  | 1621-40   |  1,157,850  |  3,916,300  |      22.8    |     77.2     |
  | 1641-60   |  1,223,400  |  3,516,500  |      25.8    |     74.2     |
  +-----------+-------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+

The general tendency of the first years of this period (1493-1520), if
discernible at all, seems rather in favour of silver, and to the
depreciation of gold. The average ratio was 10.75, speaking very
generally, and with every mental reservation as to its applicability at
any particular time and place. An equally rough average for the
preceding time (see Chapter I.) would give a ratio of 11.28, showing
apparently a movement in favour of silver owing to the increased
production of gold.

The succeeding quarter of a century, 1521-45, covers the time from the
conquest of Mexico to the commencement of the exploitation of the silver
mines of Potosi. Looked at from the point of view of prices in
Europe,--as evidenced most circumstantially in the _Plakkaats_ of the
Netherlands, to which reference will be immediately made,--these years
display stability--i.e. a steady maintaining of the advance gradually
and already made between the years 1493 and 1520, and chronicled for us
in the prices of 1521--rather than any further great and readily
perceptible rise. For example in brief. In the Flemish _Plakkaats_ the
French crown is quoted at an equivalent of 1 florin 15-1/2 stivers in
1499, and of 1 florin 19 stivers in 1522, when an attempt was made to
reduce it to 1 florin 15-1/2 stivers again. From 1522 to 1548 no further
advance, but retrogression rather is quoted thus:--

  +-------+-----------------------------------+---------+-----------+
  | Date. |                                   | Florin. |  Stivers. |
  |-------+-----------------------------------+---------+-----------|
  | 1519  | French Crown quoted at            |    1    |   15-1/2  |
  | 1522  |    "           "                  |    1    |   19      |
  | 1526  |    "           "     {(Real)      |    1    |   19      |
  |       |    "           "     {(Attempted) |    1    |   15-1/2  |
  | 1539  |    "           "     {(Real)      |    1    |   17      |
  |       |    "           "     {(Attempted) |    1    |   15      |
  | 1548  |    "           "                  |    1    |   17      |
  | 1552  |    "           "                  |    1    |   19      |
  +-------+-----------------------------------+---------+-----------+

This general conclusion will be found quite invariably illustrated in
the tables of Netherland coins (below).

[Sidenote: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERIOD, 1493-1548]

With regard to the annual average production of the metal, there is
perceptible a slight movement towards the depreciation of silver or in
favour of gold. This might naturally be expected to express itself in a
somewhat higher ratio. But the differentiation is so slight as hardly
thus to indicate itself, and certainly not consistently, so far as the
ratio is capable of ascertainment.

  In France the ratio in              { 1519 was 11.76
                                      { 1540  "  11.82

  In the Netherlands the ratio in     { 1520  "  10.68
                                      { 1540  "  10.62

  In England                          { 1527  "  11.23
                                      { 1552  "  11.1

  In Germany                          { 1524  "  11.38
                                      { 1551  "  11.38

Broadly speaking, therefore, there is a certain homogeneity about the
first two periods, 1493-1520 and 1520-48, of the new era. These
fifty-five years mark a time of general advance on prices achieved by
1520 and maintained unequally up to 1548, but an advance which was
steadily and almost fairly level on the two lines of gold and silver, so
that the perfectly well-established advance of prices generally is
accompanied with no great disturbance of the ratio in itself.

In contrast with this all the succeeding periods have, up to 1660, a
distinct character and statistical bearing. An enormous and
ever-increasing advance in general prices occurs, but it is no longer,
as before, on level lines of the two metals equally. The proportion of
the production of the two metals changes, so rich was the yield of the
silver mines of Potosi. From being the same with that of gold, the value
of silver produced suddenly rises to three times and then to four times
that of its rival; and at once the ratio changes, bringing with it all
its accompaniment of feverish instability and flux.

[Sidenote: STATEMENT OF THE RATIO, 1500-1660]

The average result in the ratio was as follows:--

  1545-60          11.30
  1561-80          11.50
  1581-1600        11.80
  1601-20          12.25
  1621-40          14.00
  1641-60          14.50
  1661             15.0

As far as can be ascertained the detailed statement of the ratio during
the whole period, 1500-1660, is as follows:--

  +------+------+------+-------+------+---------+------------+-------+------+
  |      |      |  N   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |      |  e   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |  E   |  t   |       |      | Germany |S.W. Germany|       |      |
  | Date.|  n   |  h   |France.|Spain.|(Imperial|(Wurtemburg,|Venice.| Date.|
  |      |  g   |  e   |       |      | System).| Strasburg, |       |      |
  |      |  l   |  r   |       |      |         |  Colmar).  |       |      |
  |      |  a   |  l   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |  n   |  a   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |  d   |  n   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |  .   |  d   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |      |  s   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  |      |      |  .   |       |      |         |            |       |      |
  +------+------+------+-------+------+---------+------------+-------+------+
  | 1474 |      |      |       | 9.824|         |            |       | 1474 |
  | 1475 |      |      |       |10.985|         |            |       | 1475 |
  | 1480 |      |      |       |11.555|         |            |       | 1480 |
  | 1483 |      |      |       |11.675|         |            |       | 1483 |
  | 1484 |      |      |       |      |   11.37 |            |       | 1484 |
  | 1489 |      | 10.5 |       |      |   11.2  |            |       | 1489 |
  | 1497 |      |      | 11.83 |10.755|         |            |       | 1497 |
  | 1506 |      |      |       |10.262|         |            |       | 1506 |
  | 1511 |      |      |       |      |         |            |       | 1511 |
  | 1517 |      |      |       |      |  10.31  |            | 11.32 | 1517 |
  |      |      |      |       |      | (Erfürt)|            |       |      |
  | 1519 |      | 10.15| 11.76 |      |         |            | 12.04 | 1519 |
  | 1524 |      |      |       |      |   11.38 |            |       | 1524 |
  | 1527 | 12.23|      |       |      |         |            | 10.03 | 1527 |
  | 1529 |      |      |       |      |         |            | 11.07 | 1529 |
  | 1537 |      |      |       |10.760|         |            |       | 1537 |
  | 1539 |      |      | 11.68 |      |         |            |       | 1539 |
  | 1540 |      | 10.62| 11.82 |      |         |            |       | 1540 |
  | 1542 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.27  |       | 1542 |
  | 1548 |      | 11.0 |       |      |         |            |       | 1548 |
  | 1549 |      |      | 11.86 |      |         |            |       | 1549 |
  | 1550 |      |      | 12.07 |      |         |            |       | 1550 |
  | 1551 |      |      | 11.47 |      |   10.83 |            |       | 1551 |
  | 1552 | 11.1 |      |       |      |(Imperial|            |       | 1552 |
  |      |      |      |       |      |  Edict) |            |       | 1552 |
  | 1553 | 11.05|      |       |      |         |            |       | 1553 |
  | 1554 |      | 10.70|       |      |         |            |       | 1554 |
  | 1559 | 11.79|      |       |      |  11.44  |     11.55  |       | 1559 |
  | 1560 |      |      | 11.77 |      |(Imperial|            |       | 1560 |
  |      |      |      |       |      |  Edict) |            |       |      |
  | 1561 |      |      |       |      |         |            | 10.81 | 1561 |
  | 1562 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.01  | 11.53 | 1562 |
  | 1566 |      |      |       |12.294|  11.55  |            |       | 1566 |
  | 1572 |      | 12.42|       |      |         |            |       | 1572 |
  | 1573 |      |      | 11.76 |      |         |            | 12.33 | 1573 |
  | 1575 |      |      | 11.68 |      |         |     11.11  |       | 1575 |
  | 1576 |      | 12.67|       |      |         |            |       | 1576 |
  | 1578 |      |      |       |      |         |            | 10.61 | 1578 |
  | 1579 |      | 10.62|       |      |         |            |       | 1579 |
  | 1582 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.40  |       | 1582 |
  | 1583 |      |      |       |      |         |     10.93  |       | 1583 |
  | 1585 |      |      |       |      |  11.63  |            |       | 1585 |
  | 1586 |      | 10.66|       |      |         |            |       | 1586 |
  | 1587 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.03  |       | 1587 |
  | 1589 |      | 11.21|       |      |         |            |       | 1589 |
  | 1590 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.86  |       | 1590 |
  | 1590 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.32  |       | 1590 |
  | 1591 |      |      |       |      |         |     10.95  |       | 1591 |
  | 1593 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.18  |       | 1593 |
  | 1594 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.70  | 12.34 | 1594 |
  | 1596 |      | 10.90|       |      |   11.50 |            |       | 1596 |
  | 1597 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.78  |       | 1597 |
  | 1597 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.16  |       | 1597 |
  | 1598 |      | 11.29|       |      |         |            |       | 1598 |
  | 1599 |      |      |       |      |         |     11.05  |       | 1599 |
  | 1601 | 10.90|      |       |      |         |     11.86  |       | 1601 |
  | 1602 |      |      | 11.88 |      |         |     12.22  |       | 1602 |
  | 1603 |      | 11.64|       |      |         |     12.24  |       | 1603 |
  | 1605 | 12.15|      |       |      |         |     12.01  |       | 1605 |
  | 1605 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.49  |       | 1605 |
  | 1606 |      | 11.92|       |      |         |            |       | 1606 |
  | 1607 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.61  |       | 1607 |
  | 1608 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.16  | 11.04 | 1608 |
  | 1608 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.46  |       | 1608 |
  | 1610 |      | 12.54|       |      |  12.2   |            |       | 1610 |
  | 1611 | 13.32|      |       |      |         |     12.08  |       | 1611 |
  | 1612 |      |      |       |13.52 |         |     12.30  |       | 1612 |
  | 1613 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.35  |       | 1613 |
  | 1613 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.29  |       | 1613 |
  | 1615 |      | 12.03| 13.90 |      |         |     12.31  |       | 1615 |
  | 1617 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.58  |       | 1617 |
  | 1618 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.11  |       | 1618 |
  | 1619 |      | 12.10|       |      |         |            |       | 1619 |
  | 1620 | 13.34|      |       |      |         |            |       | 1620 |
  | 1621 |      | 12.5 |       |      |         |            |       | 1621 |
  | 1622 |      | 12.65|       |      |         |            |       | 1622 |
  | 1623 |      |      |       |      |  11.64  |     11.74  |       | 1623 |
  | 1624 |      |      |       |      |         |     13.42  |       | 1624 |
  | 1624 |      |      |       |      |         |     12.58  |       | 1624 |
  | 1626 |      | 12.65|       |      |         |            |       | 1626 |
  | 1630 |      |      |       |      |         |            | 10.31 | 1630 |
  | 1631 |      |      |       |      |         |     13.42  |       | 1631 |
  | 1633 |      | 12.65|       |      |         |            |       | 1633 |
  | 1634 |      |      |       |      |         |     15.10  |       | 1634 |
  | 1635 |      |      |       |      |         |     14.80  |       | 1635 |
  | 1636 |      |      | 15.36 |      |         |            |       | 1636 |
  | 1637 |      |      |       |      |         |     15.10  |       | 1637 |
  | 1638 |      | 13.39|       |      |         |            | 14.38 | 1638 |
  | 1640 |      |      | 14.49 |      |         |            |       | 1640 |
  | 1643 |      |      | 13.5  |      |         |            | 15.37 | 1643 |
  | 1645 |      | 14.13|       |      |         |            |       | 1645 |
  | 1648 |      |      |       |      |         |            |       | 1648 |
  | 1651 |      |      |       |      |         |            |       | 1651 |
  | 1652 |      | 14.13|       |      |         |            |       | 1652 |
  | 1653 |      | 14.13|       |      |         |            |       | 1653 |
  | 1656 |      |      | 14.71 |      |         |            |       | 1656 |
  | 1660 |      |      |       |      |         |            |       | 1660 |
  | 1663 |      | 14.43|       |      |         |            |       | 1663 |
  | 1665 |      |      |       |16.47 |         |            | 14.39 | 1665 |
  | 1667 |      |      |       |      |  12.88  |            |       | 1667 |
  | 1669 | 14.48|      |       |      |  15.13  |            |       | 1669 |
  | 1679 |      |      | 14.91 |      |         |            |       | 1679 |
  | 1690 |      |      |       |      |  15.13  |            |       | 1690 |
  +------+------+------+-------+------+---------+------------+-------+------+

To treat of these countries in detail.

[Sidenote: THE NETHERLANDS IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY]


Netherlands.

During the period under consideration, the seventeenth century
especially, the monetary history of the Netherlands supplies the key to
that of the surrounding nations. The history of her monetary exchanges
has yet to be written, and of her Mint ordinances very little is
accessible, as compared, e.g., with France. But this is more than
compensated by the numerous "plakkaats" or proclamations of the tariff
of coins, which are to us practical indicators of the rates of exchange.
The Netherlands, as has been already said, were the centre of European
commerce in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as the Italian
States had been in the fourteenth and fifteenth; and every change in the
precious metals or in the coins showed itself in the Antwerp Bourse as
surely and swiftly as to-day in London. As prompt to take knowledge of
these changes as Florence had been two centuries earlier, the
authorities tabulated the various coinages which were current in the Low
Countries,--and practically that meant the coinage of commercial
Europe,--tariffed them against their own by proclamation, and instantly
accommodated themselves to each new change or variation of value by a
new proclamation and a new tariff. These proclamations, therefore, give
us the measure and course of the monetary movements of the time in
fullest and most welcome details.

It has been already shown that this action of the government of the
Netherlands has a twofold aspect. From one side it expresses and
regulates the natural flow and ebb of commerce, just as exchange rates
and bullion remittances do to-day. And in this sense it was perfectly
normal, healthy, and sound, more especially in so far as it provided for
the gradual drawing away overplus metal to the East. But the Governments
of Europe were yet under the spell of the delusion as to a balance of
trade payable in gold--that delusion which was, later, dignified in
history by the name of the mercantile theory. Nor had they yet lost the
traces of that mediæval craft and lawlessness which rose from, and
prompted to, the mere desire of robbing or pilfering their neighbour's
store of precious metal as the first act of self-defence. Further than
this the monetary system of Europe--unconsciously bimetallic and with an
appalling variety of ratio prevalent at the same moment in different
places--lay open, helpless and defenceless, and inviting to the
bullionist, financier, or arbitragist. In so far as this element of
national greed and dishonesty, or private and unprincipled gain, entered
into the legislative enactments of the Netherlands, it condemns them as
mercenary, and the monetary straits or tightness, not to say crisis and
panic which ensued, as unnecessary and therefore in the highest degree
lamentable.

[Sidenote: SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ARBITRAGE]

In a blind way the age saw what was going on behind the financier's
screen, however little it understood the theory of it. In many a
sixteenth-century document, preserved among the State papers in the
Record Office at London, abuse is piled on the Netherlands for their
practices in enticing away the coin of the realm. One of the
correspondents of the Privy Council in the days of Elizabeth, 1575,
writes thus from the Netherlands: "The Low Country merchants return
great stores of money hither by exchanges, and by the proceeds, as the
exchange may serve for their purposes, they send away her majesty's coin
and bullion into the Low Countries in great quantities, and the rather
by reason of the Hollanders trading with the East, by which means the
realm will be secretly robbed, if it be not prevented." Twenty years
later the whole subject was again gone into, for the fiftieth time, for
the advice of the English Privy Council, and it was shown how "foreign
exchangers contrived, by arranging a rise or fall in particular monies,
to undervalue English monies, and draw them out of the kingdom.
Prevention has been vainly attempted by Acts of Parliament, by sending
over Sir Thomas Gresham to the Low Countries to complain, and by
establishing the office of exchanger, which was discontinued as
injurious to the State. A bank was proposed, but the Queen had not to
spare the £100,000 needed to start it. It is now proposed to settle the
exchange at 10 or 12 per cent., to be fixed yearly, according to the
state of affairs, 20 per cent. or more being sometimes paid now."

The _naïveté_ and helplessness of the suggestions contained in these
concluding words need not blind us to the real and pressing gravity of
the monetary situation to which they relate, and which periodically
beset each and every European Government throughout the centuries under
consideration.

Such, therefore, is the aspect of these monetary ordinances or plakkaats
of the Netherlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

To speak of them in detail.

The first of the Low Country proclamations, containing an _evaluatie_,
or tariff, is dated 2nd January 1516, and it marks the commencement of
the influence of the American discoveries. (See table below.) By the
succeeding proclamation of 4th February 1520, golden reals were
substituted for the golden florin. Its provisions remained nominally in
force for twenty years or so, but almost immediately the movement
towards higher prices made itself felt, and it was in consequence of
this, and after fruitless negotiations with the merchants of Antwerp,
that Charles V. issued a series of four closely consecutive
proclamations (1521, March 1522, 19th June 1524, 25th November 1525).
The first three concern gold, the last only bears witness to the rise of
silver by attempting to check it and call it down. Similarly, in his
ordinance of 10th December 1526, he enacted that the price ruling on the
4th February 1520 should be again used, and should be reached at two
drops or intervals, so as to create the less disturbance between debtor
and creditor. The ordinance proved fruitless, and was twice renewed, in
1531 and 1539. In spite of them all, the rise in prices against which
the authorities tried to fight, continued and had to be recognised. By
the ordinance of 11th July 1548 a higher limit of values was permitted.
Then, for a dozen years or so, attempts were made, by the proclamations
of 23rd March 1552 and 24th October 1559, to make those prices of 1548
the basis, and to compel a return to it in the future, while recognising
temporarily the higher prices ruling at the moment. And so the process
repeats itself continually--a further rise of prices, complaints of the
disorder in the currency and exchanges, and a new _evaluatie_ issued,
regulating the exchanges at the higher rate for the moment, and
providing for the reduction of prices to previous limits, from and after
such and such a date.

[Sidenote: THE NETHERLAND PLAKKAATS]

In the accompanying table wherever two figures are coupled together
thus,

  2  4}
  1 19}

the higher figure represents the price ruling at the date of the
ordinance, the lower figure is the price to which return was to be made
from and after some date fixed thereby. A simple glance at the tables
will show how futile and foredoomed was every such attempt to rule and
compel the exchanges. For the explanation of these tables it will be
sufficient to give the dates of the Netherlands ordinances, premising
that up to 1586 the series was applicable to the whole Netherlands, but
that from that date there is a separate series for the Seven United
Provinces, and for the Spanish Netherlands.


Netherlands Plakkaats.

  27th July 1572.

  7th February 1573.

  22nd June 1574 (countenances the rise of prices over those of 1572
        only until the end of the year).

  3rd December 1575.

  19th April 1576 (for Holland and Zealand, and to continue for only six
        months, when, by the ordinance of 25th October of the same year,
        a considerably lower limit was prescribed).

  1579. In this year no less than four plakkaats were issued, with the
        object of enforcing a reduction of prices, but in vain, and the
        last of the four, issued on the 19th December, was obliged to
        recognise some portion of the rise of prices which it was
        attempted to counteract.

  9th October 1581. In less than a year the effect of the strenuous
        attempt in 1579 had been completely swept away, and a further
        advance had to be recognised.

  From 1586 the series of proclamations divides into two, as has been
        said, owing to the revolt and establishment of the United
        Netherlands.

  The one set, relating to the Spanish Netherlands, includes
        proclamations of

  30th April 1590, again recognising provisionally a further advance,
        and renewed on

  15th December 1593,

  21st October 1594,

  16th November 1599,

  23rd June 1602 (with some slight alterations),

  30th December 1605, attempting to restrain a farther advance,

  30th June 1607,

  13th May 1609,

  30th September 1610,

  22nd March 1611, again recognising the inevitable advance.

    The last named remained in force until 21st May 1618, with the
        exception of not being applicable in Volkenburg, Dalen, and
        Limburg, where the abnormal height to which monies had risen
        necessitated a special ordinance (4th March 1616), lowering the
        price to the limit of 22nd March 1611, by five separate
        three-monthly steps or intervals.

[Sidenote: THE PLAKKAATS OF THE UNITED PROVINCES]

The second and separate series of monetary ordinances issuing from their
High Mightinesses, the States-General of the United Provinces, is
remarkably parallel to the above. It begins with the ordinance of 2nd
September 1594: "In view of the rising price of gold and silver," it
says, a "lessening of that price to the limit of 1586 is ordered at
three intervals, 15th September 1594, 10th November, 10th January 1595."

Like the contemporary enactment of the Spanish Netherlands, it proved
ineffectual, and a further rise had to be recognised in the ordinance
of 2nd March 1596, and again of 2nd April 1603. The preambles of these
ordinances, which are preserved in the huge collections of Can and
Scheltus, generally recite their purpose of providing against the
disorders in the coinage, caused by the daily rise in price, by the
greed and licence of the times, and by the inrush of the silver coins of
other states. Such is specially the tenor of that of 21st March 1606,
one of the most famous of these ordinances. Two years later an attempt
was made to reduce prices to the limit of 1606. It proved ineffectual,
and by the proclamations of 1st July 1610, 26th September 1615, and 13th
February 1619, further advances were recorded. By the last-named,
renewed on 5th June 1621, an attempt was made to re-establish the prices
of 1610.

So much for the ordinances themselves. It is only necessary to add, for
their general elucidation, that they generally contain and prescribe in
detail the value of each separate coin circulating in the Low Countries
at the particular time, coupled with an engraving of the coin, as an
assistance to the people in recognising them. Indeed, some of the
ordinances, that of 1606 for instance, contain engravings of upwards of
1000 different pieces--a significant witness to the international welter
of coins in the Netherlands exchange. Dissected in detail, with regard
to only a few of these coins, the tabular result is as follows:--

THE NETHERLAND PLAKKAATS
  +---------------------------------++----------------------------------+
  |       German Gold Guldens.      ||         Spanish Ducats.          |
  |(75 to a Mark of Gold, 18 Carats || (70 to a Mark of Gold, 23 Carats |
  |         4 Grs. Fine.)           ||      7-1/2 Grs. Fine.)           |
  +-----------+---------------------++-----------+----------------------+
  |           |   Declared Value    ||           |    Declared Value    |
  |           |   in Netherlands    ||           |    in Netherlands    |
  |   Date.   | Currency as by the  ||   Date.   |  Currency as by the  |
  |           |     Plakkaats.      ||           |      Plakkaats.      |
  |           +----------+----------++           +----------+-----------+
  |           | Florins. | Stivers. ||           | Florins. |  Stivers. |
  +-----------+----------+----------++-----------+----------+-----------+
  |   1499    |     1    |     8    ||   1499    |     1    |     19    |
  |   1522    |     1    |    10    ||   1522    |     2    |      3    |
  |   1526    |     1    |    12    ||   1526    |     2    |      4    |
  |           |     1    |     8    ||           |     1    |     19    |
  |   1539    |     1    |     9    ||   1539    |     2    |      1    |
  |           |     1    |     8    ||           |     1    |     19    |
  |   1548    |     1    |    10    ||   1548    |     2    |      1    |
  |   1552    |     1    |    11    ||   1552    |     2    |      2    |
  |   1559    |     1    |    12    ||   1559    |     2    |      5    |
  |   1572    |     1    |    15    ||   1572    |     2    |      7    |
  |   1573    |     1    |    19    ||   1573    |     2    |     15    |
  |   1574    |     1    |    16    ||   1574    |     2    |     13    |
  |   1575    |     2    |     0    ||   1575    |     3    |      0    |
  |   1576    |     2    |     0    ||   1576    |     3    |      3    |
  |           |     1    |    17    ||           |     2    |     12    |
  |   1577    |     2    |     0    ||   1577    |     3    |      3    |
  |   1579    |     2    |     3    ||   1579    |     3    |      4    |
  |           |     2    |     4    ||           |     3    |      0    |
  |           |     2    |     2    ||           |     2    |     18    |
  |           |     2    |     3    ||           |     3    |      0    |
  |   1581    |     2    |     8    ||   1581    |     3    |      6    |
  |   1590    |     2    |     9    ||   1590    |     3    |     10    |
  |   1605    |     2    |    10    ||   1599    |     3    |     15    |
  |   1607    |     2    |    12    ||   1609    |     3    |     19    |
  |   1609    |     2    |    15    ||   1618    |     4    |      1    |
  |   1611    |     2    |  16-1/2  ||                                  |
  |   1618    |     2    |  17-1/2  ||   United Netherlands.            |
  |                                 ||   1586    |     3    |      8    |
  |   United Netherlands.           ||   1594    |     3    |     12    |
  |   1586    |     2    |     8    ||           |     3    |     10    |
  |   1594    |     2    |    12    ||           |     3    |      8    |
  |           |     2    |    10    ||   1596    |     3    |      9    |
  |           |     2    |     8    ||   1603    |     3    |     16    |
  |   1596    |     2    |    10    ||           |     3    |   15-1/2  |
  |   1603    |     2    |    14    ||           |     3    |     15    |
  |   1606    |     2    |    15    ||   1606    |     3    |     16    |
  |   1608    |     2    |    17    ||   1608    |     4    |      0    |
  |           |     2    |    16    ||           |     3    |     18    |
  |           |     2    |    15    ||           |     3    |     16    |
  |           |          |          ||   1610    |     4    |      0    |
  |  1610 &   |     2    |    18    ||   1615    |     4    |      1    |
  |  onwards  |          |          ||   1619    |     4    |      2    |
  |           |          |          ||   1621    |     4    |      4    |
  +-----------+----------+----------++-----------+----------+-----------+

  +---------------------------------++----------------------------------+
  |       Spanish Pistoles.         ||          French Crowns.          |
  |(36 to a Mark of Gold, 21 Carats || (Old, i.e. not "of the Sun," 72  |
  |          10 Grs. Fine.)         ||   to a Mark of Gold, 22 Carats   |
  |                                 ||       4-1/2 Grs. Fine)           |
  +-----------+---------------------++-----------+----------------------+
  |           |   Declared Value    ||           |    Declared Value    |
  |           |   in Netherlands    ||           |    in Netherlands    |
  |   Date.   | Currency as by the  ||   Date.   |  Currency as by the  |
  |           |     Plakkaats.      ||           |      Plakkaats.      |
  |           +----------+----------+|           +----------+-----------+
  |           | Florins. | Stivers. ||           | Florins. |  Stivers. |
  +-----------+----------+----------++-----------+----------+-----------+
  |   1548    |     3    |    12    ||   1499    |     1    |   15-1/2  |
  |   1552    |     3    |    18    ||   1522    |     1    |     19    |
  |   1559    |     4    |     0    ||   1526    |     1    |     19    |
  |   1572    |     4    |     4    ||           |     1    |   15-1/2  |
  |   1573    |     4    |    16    ||   1539    |     1    |     17    |
  |   1574    |     4    |    10    ||           |     1    |     15    |
  |   1575    |     5    |     0    ||   1548    |     1    |     17    |
  |   1576    |     5    |     4    ||   1552    |     1    |     19    |
  |           |     4    |    13    ||   1559    |     2    |      0    |
  |   1577    |     5    |     4    ||   1572    |     2    |      2    |
  |   1579    |     5    |    10    ||   1573    |     2    |      9    |
  |           |     5    |    10    ||   1574    |     2    |      6    |
  |           |     5    |     5    ||   1575    |     2    |     12    |
  |           |     5    |     8    ||   1576    |     2    |     13    |
  |   1581    |     5    |    18    ||   1577    |     2    |     12    |
  |   1590    |     6    |     4    ||   1579    |     2    |     15    |
  |   1605    |     6    |     9    ||           |     2    |     15    |
  |   1607    |     6    |    12    ||           |     2    |   12-1/2  |
  |   1609    |     7    |     0    ||           |     2    |     14    |
  |   1611    |     7    |     2    ||   1581    |     3    |      0    |
  |   1618    |     7    |     5    ||   1590    |     3    |      3    |
  |                                 ||   1605    |     3    |      6    |
  |                                 ||   1607    |     3    |      8    |
  |                                 ||   1609    |     3    |     12    |
  |                                 ||   1611    |     3    |   12-1/2  |
  |   United Netherlands.           ||   1618    |     3    |     14    |
  |   1586    |     6    |     0    ||   United Netherlands.            |
  |   1594    |     6    |     6    ||   1586    |     3    |      0    |
  |           |     6    |     3    ||   1594    |     3    |      3    |
  |           |     6    |     0    ||           |     3    |      1    |
  |   1596    |     6    |     6    ||           |     3    |      0    |
  |   1603    |     6    |    15    ||   1603    |     3    |      8    |
  |   1606    |     6    |    17    ||   1606    |     3    |     10    |
  |   1608    |     7    |     1    ||   1608    |     3    |     14    |
  |           |     6    |    19    ||           |     3    |     12    |
  |           |     6    |    17    ||           |     3    |     10    |
  |   1610    |     7    |     4    ||   1610    |     3    |     14    |
  |   1615    |     7    |     6    ||   1615    |     3    |     15    |
  |   1619    |     7    |    12    ||   1619    |     3    |     16    |
  |           |     7    |     6    ||           |     3    |     15    |
  |   1621    |     7    |    12    ||   1621    |     3    |     18    |
  +-----------+----------+----------++-----------+----------+-----------+

  +---------------------------------++--------------------------------+
  |      English Rose Nobles.       ||      English Sovereigns.       |
  |   (32 to a Mark of Gold, 23     ||    (40 to a Mark of Gold.)     |
  |    Carats 8-1/2 Grs. Fine.)     ||                                |
  +-----------+---------------------++----------+---------------------+
  |           |   Declared Value    ||          |    Declared Value   |
  |           |   in Netherlands    ||          |    in Netherlands   |
  |   Date.   |Currency as by the   ||   Date.  | Currency as by the  |
  |           |     Plakkaats.      ||          |      Plakkaats.     |
  |           +----------+----------++          +----------+----------+
  |           | Florins. | Stivers. ||          | Florins. | Stivers. |
  +-----------+----------+----------++----------+----------+----------+
  |   1499    |     4    |     5    ||          |          |          |
  |   1520    |     4    |   5-1/2  ||   1548   |     3    |     0    |
  |   1522    |     4    |  10-1/2  ||          |          |          |
  |   1526    |     4    |  17-1/2  ||   1552   |     3    |     0    |
  |           |     4    |   5-1/2  ||          |          |          |
  |   1539    |     4    |    10    ||   1554   |     3    |     0    |
  |           |     4    |   5-1/2  ||          |          |          |
  |   1548    |     4    |    10    ||   1575   |     4    |     4    |
  |   1552    |     4    |    16    ||          |          |          |
  |   1559    |     5    |     0    ||   1576   |     4    |     6    |
  |   1572    |     5    |     3    ||          |          |          |
  |   1573    |     6    |    10    ||   1579   |     4    |     8    |
  |   1574    |     6    |     6    ||                                |
  |   1575    |     7    |     5    ||                                |
  |   1576    |     7    |    10    ||                                |
  |   1577    |     7    |     0    ||                                |
  |   1579    |     8    |     0    ||                                |
  |           |     7    |    10    ||                                |
  |           |     6    |     8    ||                                |
  |           |     6    |    14    ||   United Netherlands.          |
  |   1581    |     7    |     4    ||                                |
  |   1590    |     7    |     9    ||                                |
  |   1607    |     8    |     2    ||   1586   |     5    |     1    |
  |   1609    |     8    |    10    ||          |          |          |
  |   1611    |     8    |    13    ||   1594   |     5    |     5    |
  |   1618    |     8    |    16    ||          |          |          |
  |                                 ||          |     5    |     3    |
  |   United Netherlands.           ||          |          |          |
  |   1586    |     7    |    12    ||          |     5    |     1    |
  |   1594    |     8    |     0    ||          |          |          |
  |           |     7    |    16    ||   1596   |     5    |     2    |
  |           |     7    |    12    ||          |          |          |
  |   1596    |     7    |    13    ||   1603   |     5    |     9    |
  |   1603    |     8    |     8    ||          |          |          |
  |           |     8    |     7    ||   1606   |     5    |    12    |
  |           |     8    |     6    ||          |          |          |
  |   1606    |     8    |     9    ||   1608   |     5    |    16    |
  |   1608    |     8    |    16    ||          |          |          |
  |           |     8    |    12    ||          |     5    |    14    |
  |           |     8    |     9    ||          |          |          |
  |   1610    |     8    |    16    ||          |     5    |    12    |
  |   1619    |     9    |     0    ||          |          |          |
  |           |     8    |    16    ||    1610  |     5    |    18    |
  |   1621    |     9    |     0    ||          |          |          |
  +-----------+----------+----------++----------+----------+----------+

  +-------------------------------------++-----------------------------------+
  |                                     ||      Burgundian Gulden (or        |
  |        Philippus Rijder.            ||        Gulden Andries).           |
  |(67-1/2 and subsequently 70 to a Mark|| (72 to a Mark of Gold, 19 Carats  |
  | of Gold, 23 Carats 8-1/2 Grs. Fine.)|| Fine, from 1456 to 1567; later, 75|
  |                                     || to a Mark, 18 Carats 6 Grs. Fine.)|
  +----------+--------------------------++-----------+-----------------------+
  |          |     Declared Value       ||           |    Declared Value     |
  |          |     in Netherlands       ||           |    in Netherlands     |
  |   Date.  |   Currency as by the     ||   Date.   |  Currency as by the   |
  |          |       Plakkaats.         ||           |      Plakkaats.       |
  |          +-------------+------------++           +----------+------------+
  |          |   Florins.  |  Stivers.  ||           | Florins. |  Stivers.  |
  +----------+-------------+------------++-----------+----------+------------+
  |   1499   |      1      |     19     ||   1499    |     1    |      9     |
  |   1522   |      2      |      3     ||   1522    |     1    |     12     |
  |   1526   |      2      |      4     ||   1526    |     1    |     13     |
  |          |      1      |     19     ||           |     1    |      9     |
  |   1539   |      2      |      1     ||   1539    |     1    |     10     |
  |          |      1      |     19     ||           |     1    |      9     |
  |   1548   |      2      |      1     ||   1548    |     1    |     11     |
  |   1552   |      2      |      2     ||   1552    |     1    |     12     |
  |   1559   |      2      |      5     ||   1559    |     1    |     13     |
  |   1572   |      2      |      7     ||   1572    |     1    |   15-1/2   |
  |   1573   |      2      |     15     ||   1573    |     1    |     19     |
  |   1575   |      2      |     18     ||   1574    |     1    |     16     |
  |   1576   |      3      |      3     ||   1575    |     2    |      0     |
  |   1577   |      3      |      0     ||   1576    |     2    |      0     |
  |   1579   |      3      |      3     ||           |     1    |   18-1/2   |
  |          |      3      |      0     ||   1577    |     2    |      2     |
  |          |      2      |   18-1/2   ||   1579    |     2    |      3     |
  |          |      3      |      0     ||           |     1    |      5     |
  |   1581   |      3      |      6     ||           |     2    |    3-1/2   |
  |   1590   |      3      |    8-1/2   ||           |     2    |      4     |
  |   1610   |      3      |     18     ||   1581    |     2    |      9     |
  |   1611   |      3      |     19     ||   1590    |     2    |     11     |
  |                                     ||   1607    |     2    |     14     |
  |                                     ||   1609    |     2    |     17     |
  |                                     ||   1611    |     2    |     18     |
  |   United Netherlands.               ||                                   |
  |                                     ||   United Netherlands.             |
  |   1586   |      3      |      8     ||   1586    |     2    |      9     |
  |   1594   |      3      |     10     ||   1594    |     2    |     13     |
  |          |      3      |      9     ||           |     2    |     11     |
  |          |      3      |      8     ||           |     2    |      9     |
  |   1596   |      3      |      9     ||   1596    |     2    |     11     |
  |   1603   |      3      |     14     ||   1603    |     2    |     15     |
  |   1606   |      3      |     15     ||   1606    |     2    |     16     |
  |   1608   |      3      |     17     ||   1608    |     2    |     18     |
  |          |      3      |     16     ||           |     2    |     17     |
  |          |      3      |     15     ||           |     2    |     16     |
  |   1610   |      4      |      0     ||   1610    |     2    |     19     |
  +----------+-------------+------------++-----------+----------+------------+

  +--------------------------------++---------------------------------+
  |          German Thaler         ||     Netherland Rijksdaalder     |
  |            (Silver).           ||           (Silver).             |
  +----------+---------------------++----------+----------------------+
  |          |   Declared Value    ||          |    Declared Value    |
  |          |   in Netherlands    ||          |    in Netherlands    |
  |   Date.  | Currency as by the  ||  Date.   |  Currency as by the  |
  |          |     Plakkaats.      ||          |      Plakkaats.      |
  |          +----------+----------++          +----------+-----------+
  |          | Florins. | Stivers. ||          | Florins. |  Stivers. |
  +----------+----------+----------++----------+----------+-----------+
  |   1539   |     1    |     6    ||   1583   |     2    |     2     |
  |          |     1    |     7    ||          |          |           |
  |   1548   |     1    |     8    ||   1586   |     2    |     5     |
  |   1552   |     1    |     9    ||          |          |           |
  |   1559   |     1    |    10    ||   1594   |     2    |     6     |
  |   1571   |     1    |    11    ||          |          |           |
  |   1572   |     1    |    12    ||          |     2    |     5     |
  |   1573   |     1    |    16    ||          |          |           |
  |          |     1    |    14    ||   1603   |     2    |     7     |
  |   1577   |     1    |    18    ||          |          |           |
  |   1579   |     2    |     1    ||   1608   |     2    |     8     |
  |   1581   |     2    |     5    ||          |          |           |
  |   1611   |     2    |    11    ||          |     2    |     7     |
  |                                ||                                 |
  |   United Netherlands.          ||                                 |
  |   1586   |     2    |     5    ||   United Netherlands.           |
  |   1594   |     2    |     6    ||                                 |
  |          |     2    |     5    ||                                 |
  |   1603   |     2    |     7    ||   1610   |     2    |     8     |
  |   1608   |     2    |     8    ||          |          |           |
  |          |     2    |     7    ||   1619   |     2    |    10     |
  |   1610   |     2    |     8    ||          |          |           |
  |   1619   |     2    |    10    ||   1621   |     2    |    12     |
  |   1621   |     2    |    12    ||          |          |           |
  +----------+----------+----------++----------+----------+-----------+


France.

In France the result of the American influx of metals did not make
itself felt until the time of Francis I. During his reign the value of
the mark of gold increased 33 livres 4 sols. 2 dens., and that of silver
1 livre 10 sols.

The main reduction took place at two periods, 1519 and 1540, and with a
consequent change in the ratio slightly in favour of silver. The
earliest find in America was gold, and at first this metal shows a
tendency to depreciate. Concurrently silver, as the overvalued metal,
commenced to disappear from circulation. It was to prevent this export
that in 1519 the _écu au soleil_ was advanced to 40 sols., and again in
1532 to 45 sols.--an advance of 12-1/2 per cent. The silver _testoon_
was advanced at the same time from 10 sols. to 10 sols. 6 dens., an
advance of 5 per cent. Even so equilibrium was not produced, and
disorders in the currency continued, along with the prevalence of
lower-rated coins. The town of Marseilles complained of it in a petition
to the King (8th May 1539), and the important edict of Blois, 1540,
which left the _écus au soleil_ untouched at 45 sols., while advancing
the _testoon_ to 10 sols. 8 dens., was professedly and purposely issued
"to more equalise the silver with the value of the gold, and
consequently to make the value of our monies, both red and white,
corresponding." Two years later the States-General when they met
complained of the lack of currency, and demanded the opening of the Mint
at Aix. The request was granted, but without visible result.

The same process of advance, unequally maintained, continued under Henry
II. and Charles IX. (see accompanying tables).

[Illustration: TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD & SILVER IN FRANCE
1493-1662.]

TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD AND SILVER IN FRANCE, 1500-1660.

  +----------+--------------------------+-----------------------------+
  |          |Price of the Mark of Gold.|Price of the Mark of Silver. |
  |  Date.   +---------+-------+--------+---------+---------+---------+
  |          | Livres. | Sols. |  Dens. | Livres. |  Sols.  |  Dens.  |
  +----------+---------+-------+--------+---------+---------+---------+
  |   1488   |   130   |   3   |    4   |    11   |    0    |    0    |
  |   1519   |   147   |   0   |    0   |    12   |   10    |    0    |
  |   1540   |   165   |   7   |    6   |    14   |    0    |    0    |
  |   1549   |   172   |   0   |    0   |    15   |    0    |    0    |
  |   1561   |   185   |   0   |    0   |    15   |   15    |    0    |
  |   1573   |   200   |   0   |    0   |    17   |    0    |    0    |
  |   1575   |   222   |   0   |    0   |    19   |    0    |    0    |
  |   1602   |   240   |  10   |    0   |    20   |    5    |    4    |
  |   1615   |   278   |   6   |    6   |   ...   |  ...    |  ...    |
  |   1636   |   320   |   0   |    0   |    23   |   10    |    0    |
  | 8th May  |         |       |        |         |         |         |
  |   1636   |   384   |   0   |    0   |    25   |    0    |    0    |
  |22nd Sept.|         |       |        |         |         |         |
  |   1641   |   ...   | ...   |  ...   |    26   |   10    |    0    |
  |   1662   |   423   |  10   |   11   |   ...   |  ...    |  ...    |
  +----------+---------+-------+--------+---------+---------+---------+

[Sidenote: FRANCE: THE MINT INQUIRY OF 1575]

In the case of the latter monarch it is expressly stated that the
change, which was effected in 1573, when the ratio was established at
11.77, had been preceded by a period during which "the people" had of
themselves augmented the value of the _écu d'or_ to 54 sols. At this
limit the Government was obliged to fix it, but by the year 1577 it had
risen successively to 58, 60, and 65 sols. The evil, as it was thought
to be, of the advance of the monies was attributed to the caprice and
unscrupulousness of "the people," and the King called several councils
of experts to discuss the matter. Still the process continued unabated,
and on the 19th December 1575, Henry III. assembled the States-General.
The _cour des monnaies_--the officials of the Mint--at once approached
him with a petition. Their representation is of peculiar significance:--

"In spite of the bad police prevailing, we draw in times of peace twice
as much silver from abroad as the foreigners draw from us. If the reform
we advocate were adopted we should double this net gain.... Between us
and the Netherlands and Germany, where we generally trade, there is this
difference, that 6 _écus_, at the price at which they are exposed here,
only come to 5 in the said places, which has induced a sudden and
enormous dearness in the merchandise which we export from there, and
besides has caused us a great disorder--to wit, that the merchants have
transported all our _douzains_ and other billon money, to save
themselves from the loss they would have had to incur in settling in
_écus_ or in any foreign species of gold or silver on which, at the
price they are current at by the caprice of the people, there would be a
loss in settlement of 15, 20, and 25 per cent.... The cause of the
enhancement of prices proceeds from the malice of several who turn into
bullion the best of your coins in order to fill the kingdom with others
of less goodness, enriching themselves thus with the blood and misery of
the people....

[Sidenote: FRANCE: THE REFORM OF 1577]

"The remedy is to lower the rate of the monies.... The _écus_ ought to
come down to 50 sols., but for the present we would consent to it being
put at 60, awaiting a further reduction. The currency of all foreign
coins ought to be prohibited as the chief cause of these evils. For
although by all your ordinances they have been valued according to the
price of the _écu_, yet the people have always increased them more than
they have your own monies, so that the _écu_ at this moment, to be in
accordance, ought to pass for 78 sols. This arises from the craft of the
foreigner, and the only exceptions of importance are the _reals_ and
_pistoles_ of Spain, which are of known goodness and profit to the
melter. They have never brought us harm, but, on the other hand, they
are being melted down all over France, and at the present rate the
foreigner gets a profit of about 7 livres on the mark of them, so that
we advise prohibition of their circulation. Finally, we advise to do
away with the old reckoning by livres and sols, and substitute for it
the reckoning by écus."

The States-General, adopting in part the weakest suggestion of this
remarkable paper, fixed the écus at 65 sols. The Mint officials at once
represented that this only increased the evil. Henry accordingly
assembled at Pontoise a conference of experts, and as the outcome of
their deliberations decided on the adoption of the chief recommendation
of the Mint officials' representation. By his proclamation of 13th
November 1577, the reckoning by livres was abolished and that of gold
_écus_ substituted, values of under 1 écu or 60 sols. to be settled in
divisional coinage, and circulation of all foreign coins prohibited,
with the exception of Spanish and Portuguese gold ducats. It was
forbidden to constrain payment of any sum above 100 sols. in billon
money, and in sums below that amount to present more than the third of
the total sum in such billon money.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: FAILURE OF THE REFORM OF 1577]

This extraordinary and, on the whole, admirably planned reformation
merits so much detail because of the intense importance of its bearing.
It in effect anticipated the reformation which was only accomplished in
England in our own century. So far as it was actually put in practice it
made France monometallic. The instinct of the time had found its way to
a comprehension of the evil before it, and of the remedy. The evil was
due to a badly-regulated, weltering, bimetallic system; the remedy was a
monometallic system. It matters little that such terms were not in use
and that the theory of the matter was not enunciated. The essential
point was that the _fact_, the _situation_, was grasped in practice for
a moment, dimly it may be, yet sufficiently to illustrate the whole
antecedent and succeeding event. As a matter of fact the ordinance
remained practically in great part a dead letter. That it did so--that
it did not accomplish its purpose--has been attributed to the _malheur_,
the unhappiness, of the time. It was due to no such thing. It was due to
the simple fact that in the ordinance two quite distinct, and one of
them impossible, reforms were projected. The attempt to tie down the
_écu_ to 60 sols. was foredoomed to failure, and as the eye of
contemporaries was fixed more entirely on prices rather than on method
of tender, the most significant part of the ordinance passed out of
mind; already by the time of the death of Henry III., "the people," it
is again said, had increased the _écu_ to 64 sols. On the 30th March
1594 a proclamation was issued to call it down to the value prescribed
by the celebrated declaration of 1577, i.e. 60 sols. but, finding it
impossible, the whole system created by that declaration was abolished
(September 1602); the reckoning by _écus_ was done away with, and the
old system of reckoning by livres returned to; the gold _écu_ was
tariffed at 65 sols., and the circulation of foreign monies was again
permitted. Henry IV., in his proclamation abolishing the almost
invulnerable system established by Henry III., attributes to the
attempts at working that system "the present dearness of everything." It
is almost impossible fully to represent the unwisdom of this
counter-reformation. To the eye of the then legislator there was only
one evil--the rising of prices. If levelly effected it was, as a matter
of fact, no evil at all--far the reverse indeed, and he did not need to
concern himself about it at all. Besides, it was irresistible. The evil
that escaped his eye, or to which he was blind, was that unceasing
process of flux which was caused by the different ratios prevailing in
different parts of Europe. The scheme of Henry III. would have proved
effective, where no other measure or scheme of the time was or could be,
and its abrogation in 1602 by Henry IV. removed a bulwark and a barrier,
and made way for catastrophe.

Le Blanc considers that this repeal of the system established in 1577,
itself failed of its purpose, _because the increase of prices still
continued_. "In the seven years of peace which followed the ordinance of
1602, the depreciation of the gold _écu_ was as much as it had been in
the preceding sixty-five years of war and trouble." The simple truth
was, that it was much more likely to increase in time of peace and trade
activity than in time of war. The point to notice was not at all how
much the _écu_ did depreciate, but the relativity of such its
depreciation with that of the standard currency of other countries, and
the monetary disorder which the inequality of ratio and of rate of
depreciation induced.

Alarmed beyond measure at the evident failure of his plans, Henry IV.
summoned monetary conferences of his wisest and best, and they were not
even suspended by his assassination. The complaint again was, that the
permission to circulate foreign monies had led to the transport of all
the good coinage, to the ruin of commerce and great general disorder.
Assemblies were held all over France in the trading towns, and the
result of the advice of their delegates was the proclamation of 5th
December 1614 (issued early in 1615). By this proclamation silver monies
were left untouched, the tariff of the gold _écu_ was increased from 65
to 75 sols., and the value of the mark of gold proportionally increased.
The ratio was thereby altered from 12.01 to 13.90. It is hardly too much
to say that this step and alteration in the ratio saved France from the
catastrophe which befell England and Germany in 1622 and 1623. The
arrangement established in 1615 endured unaltered until 1636, when a
slight reduction in the ratio was made to 13.61 (on the 8th May). Two
months later it was found that so serious an export of good coinage was
ensuing that "our kingdom would be entirely stripped of good currency,
to our great damage, etc." A proclamation was accordingly issued (28th
June 1636) attempting to regulate the course of exchange. The effort was
vain, and on the following 22nd September the ratio was suddenly and
violently altered to 15.36.[10]

[Sidenote: FRANCE: THE REFORM OF 1640]

A glance at the ratio prevalent in other countries will show how
masterful was this act of France, but it carried with it the seeds of
its own punishment. Such is the nature of the bimetallic law that any
overshooting of the ratio, on no matter which side,--in favour of silver
or in favour of gold,--establishes a differentiation, and the
differentiation at once gives to the one metal a fulcrum or lever
point--a purchasing power--against the other, and the undervalued metal,
whichever it is, at once tends to disappear. Four years after this
autocratic measure of France, it was found that her currency was in so
depreciated a state, through exchange, that the only pieces current were
lacking one-third of their full weight.

The recoinage established by her proclamation of 31st March 1640, which
established the new _louis d'or_, was intended as a complete and
permanent remedy, and it may reasonably claim the praise of having
effected so much. The alteration of the ratio established in 1640-41 by
this recoinage (from 15.36 to 14.49) was only made after most serious
deliberation. Monetary conferences of experts were held at Paris; and it
was found, after careful assays of all the monies of the surrounding
nations, that the prevailing ratios (1640-1) were at one and the same
time--

  Germany                        12   :  1
  Milan                          12   :  1
  Flanders and Netherlands       12.5 :  1
  England                        13.33

It was therefore decided to adopt a higher ratio than all these, viz.
13.5.[11]

The history of the few years succeeding this measure is most
instructive. The depreciation of monies continued, and on the 4th April
1652 a proclamation was issued, forbidding the currency of certain old
monies of France, and again attempting to restrain the course of the
exchanges; and three years later, 1655, under pretext that false
moneyers were imitating the _louis d'or_ and the silver _écus_, the
minting of _lis d'argent_ (lilies of gold and silver) was resolved upon.
"But," says Le Blanc, "everybody knows that the true motive was the same
as when a little later they resolved on the minting of 4-sol. pieces.
Under the above pretext, the ratio basis of 1641 was broken.
Remonstrances were vain until experience proved their weight, and the
minting of the _lis d'or_ had to be discontinued. The pieces already
minted received a value of 7 livres, and to correspond the _louis d'or_
was increased to 11 livres, by proclamation 15th March 1656." As silver
was left untouched, the resulting alteration of the ratio was from
13-1/2 to 14-5/7.


Florence.

With the advance of Antwerp as the centre of European exchanges in the
fifteenth century, the mercantile pre-eminence of Florence and Venice
decayed, and their monetary history loses its former prime importance.
But they by no means thereby lose their interest for us. Instead of
profiting as of yore by every veer in the winds of exchanges, they are
at the mercy of them, as was every other country outside the charmed
circle of the Netherlands. The influence of the changed conditions in
the production of the precious metals, due to the discovery of America,
does not show itself in Florence before 1531, when (4th August) the
price was by law advanced. Three years later, 5th March 1534, it was
found that the state was receiving damage from the foreign monies
circulating, and that the only native coin circulating was in a worn and
depreciated state. A recoinage was accordingly ordered, circulation of
all foreign monies of silver was forbidden, and all payments and
contracts were commanded to be made in gold _scudi_ of the state. In
order to inform the commercial element, the Mint masters were further
ordered to make trial every fifteen days of the value of any foreign
_scudi_, and to publish the result.

There is a wonderful simplicity about this enactment. In order to defend
themselves from a flood of cheap and cheapening silver, the Florentine
authorities adopted a virtual gold monometallism. That the enactment was
not permanently regarded and kept can only be attributed to the strength
of commercial custom, and to a true perception in the mercantile
community at large of the essential difficulty of the problem and its
remedy. The Florentines were simply obliged to circulate all coins, gold
as well as silver, because such was the universal custom of mediæval
Europe. By 1552 silver foreign monies were again current in Florence, in
such quantities and with such effects on the native gold currency, that
they had to be again prohibited and banished (by law of 18th May 1552);
renewed three years later (28th February 1555), and again in 1557 (29th
April). Indeed, within the period here treated of, up to, i.e., 1660,
there is a series of thirteen or fourteen separate re-enactments of the
prohibition relating to these monies and the depreciated Florentine
billon money ("_quattrini neri_"). If, during this period, Florence had
occupied the commanding position that Antwerp did, quite unique interest
would attach to the record of this monetary policy or experiment. But
not being in that position, and being, too, quite apparently unable to
enforce her own enactments in her own territory, even this merely
depressive policy was partially broken down. In so far as it was broken
down she lay at the mercy of the monetary changes around her, and of the
Netherland financiers, as did every other country of Europe. By the law
of 5th April 1630, all species of foreign ducatoons were prohibited, "in
consideration that, within the short time they have been introduced, so
great a quantity, and of such differing standards, has been imported
from the various foreign Mints." Five years later the gold coin was in
so depreciated a state as to call for legislative interference (9th
February 1635, renewed on 5th February 1645); and again in 1661 (3rd
February) it was found necessary to prohibit the circulation of the
silver _reals_ of Peru and every other kind of Spanish silver, except at
bullion value. These are only a few from a long list of similar
enactments, but they serve adequately to show the trend of events on
small as well as large fields of operations. What an amount of
commercial disturbance and disaster lies behind the dry details of these
legal enactments, the case of England will serve to show.


Germany.

The monetary history of Germany is one of extreme confusion and
intricacy. The lack of coercive power in the central authority--in the
Emperor himself--was as conspicuously displayed in the monetary
ordinances of the empire as in the political sphere. The imperial edicts
were disregarded, and each separate circle of the empire, or each
separate prince or union of princes, left to shift or act for
themselves. Amid all the confusion of such a disorganised and reeling
system sufficient is perceptible to indicate the broad tendency of
events, and to show how closely analogous was her experience to that of
Europe generally within the same period.

In Germany, as in the Netherlands, France, and England, the influence of
the discovery of America only begins to express itself about 1520, and
in the usual way--influx, movements and disorders in the currency and
ratio, and general complaints. In 1520 a monetary convention was
summoned to meet at Forchheim. This was followed by the debate in the
Reichstag at Nürnberg (1522), where great complaints were made of the
unusable, false, and depreciated coinage, "due to the stealing away and
exchanging abroad of the gold _gulden_ and silver coins." It was in
consequence of the representations of this Reichstag that the first of
the series of three imperial Mint ordinances was issued by Charles V.
(at Esslingen, 1524). The main details of this ordinance will be found
in the accompanying tables and in Appendix V.

The effect of the first imperial ordinance was to change the ratio from
something between 10 and 11 to 11.38. The _gulden_ was raised from 17s.
4 pf. to 17s. 6 pf. All foreign gold was to be taken at equivalent
rates, and whoever gave more for foreign coins of gold was to suffer a
heavy penalty. Further, the export of gold and silver was forbidden, on
pain of life and goods.

The ordinance remained a dead letter, and the monetary disorder of the
country only increased.

THE MOVEMENT OF SILVER IN GERMANY, 1459-1621, ILLUSTRATED BY THE
        MOVEMENT OF THE SILVER GROSCHEN, ACCORDING TO IMPERIAL AND OTHER
        MINT REGULATIONS. (_See preceding Table on p. 30._)

  +------+---------+------------+---------------------+-----------------------+
  |Date. | Cologne |            |   Equivalent Value  |                       |
  |      |  Mark   |   Alloy.   |    in Convention    |      Treaty           |
  |      | coined  |            |       Money.        |         or            |
  |      |  into   +------------+-----------+---------+     Ordinance.        |
  |      | Pieces. |Loths. |Grs.|   Krtzrs. |  Pfnge. |                       |
  +------+---------+-------+----+-----------+---------+-----------------------+
  | 1501 |   126   |    6  | 1  |     3     | 2-37/42 |Treaty of Dukes Henry  |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | and Erick of Brunswick|
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | and Bishop Barthold   |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | of Hildesheim, with   |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | the States of         |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Brunswick, Hildesheim,|
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Hanover,  Lübeck,     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | and Göttingen.        |
  | 1510 |   160   |    6  | 0  |     2     | 3-1/4   |Göttingen.             |
  | 1524 |   136   |   12  | 0  |     6     | 2-8/17  |First imperial Mint    |
  |      |         |       |    |     3     | 1-4/17  | edict of Charles V.   |
  |      |         |       |    |(1/2 Groat)|         | at Esslingen.         |
  | 1533 |   123   |    7  | 0  |     4     | 1-3/4   |Augsburg Mint edict.   |
  | 1535 |91-47/131|    8  | 0  |     6     |2-101/874|Mint treaty between    |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Ferdinand and the     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Counts Palatine of    |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | the Rhine and the     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | States of Augsburg    |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | and Ulm.              |
  | 1551 | 94-1/2  |   7   | 5  |     5     |3-59/567 |Second imperial Mint   |
  |      | 100     |   7   | 6  |     5     |    2    | edict of Charles V.   |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | at Augsburg. (Remained|
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | inoperative like that |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | of 1524, _supra_.)    |
  | 1558 |    88   |   6   | 9  |     5     | 2-7/44  |Saxony Mint ordinances.|
  | 1559 | 108-1/2 |   8   | 0  |     5     |2-26/217 |Mint ordinance of      |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Ferdinand I.          |
  | 1572 |    "    |   "   | 0  |     "     |   "     |Edict of the Lower     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Saxony Circle.        |
  | 1610 |   234   |  14   | 4  |     4     |2-82/351 |Edict of the Lower     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Saxony Circle.        |
  | 1617 |   144   |   8   | 0  |     4     |  0-2/3  |Edict of the Lower     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Saxony Circle.        |
  | 1622 | 108-1/2 |   8   | 0  |     5     |2-26/217 |Edict of the Upper     |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | and Lower Saxony      |
  |      |         |       |    |           |         | Circle.               |
  +------+---------+-------+----+-----------+---------+-----------------------+

THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD IN GERMANY, 1495-1621, ILLUSTRATED BY THE MOVEMENT
        OF THE GOLD GULDEN (RHENISCHE GULDEN), ACCORDING TO IMPERIAL AND
        OTHER MINT REGULATIONS. (_See preceding Table on p. 31._)

  +-----+-------+---------------+-------------------------+---------------+
  |     |Cologne|               |   Equivalent Value      |               |
  |     | Mark  |    Alloy.     | in Convention Money.    |     Treaty    |
  |Date.|coined +-----+---------+------+------+-----------+ or Ordinance. |
  |     | into  | 24  |  12     |      |      |           |               |
  |     |Pieces.|Crts.|Grains.  |Flrns.|Krtzs.|  Pfnge.   |               |
  +-----+-------+-----+---------+------+------+-----------+---------------+
  |1506 |71-1/3 | 18  |6 gold   |  3   |   6  |0-132/7597 |Treaty between |
  |     |       | 3   |6 silver |      |      |           | Bamberg,      |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | Würzburg, and |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | Brandenburg.  |
  |1509 |71-1/3 | 18  |6 gold   |  3   |   6  |1-3185/7597|Frankfort Mint |
  |     |       | 4   |0 silver |      |      |           | ordinance.    |
  |1524 |  89   | 22  |   ...   |  2   |  54  |3-5019/6369|Imperial Mint  |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | edict of      |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | Charles V. at |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | Esslingen.    |
  |1551 |71-1/3 | 18  |6 gold   |  3   |   6  |0-3682/7597|Imperial Mint  |
  |     |       | 3   |8 silver |      |      |           | edict of      |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | of Charles V. |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | at Augsburg.  |
  |1559 |  72   | 18  |6 gold   |  3   |   4  |1-2267/3834|Imperial Mint  |
  |     |       | 3   |8 silver |      |      |           | ordinance of  |
  |     |       |     |         |      |      |           | Ferdinand I.  |
  +-----+-------+-----+---------+------+------+-----------+---------------+

[Sidenote: GERMANY: THE THREE IMPERIAL EDICTS]

In 1530 the Reichstag of Augsburg demanded the holding of a council, in
order to enforce the late edict, and for a due consideration of the
monetary situation. Several attempts were made with this object, but
fruitlessly, and the princes of the empire fell back on the only
feasible but fatal plan of smaller Mint conventions between contiguous
states. There is an endless series of these, and they render the history
of German currency a perfect jungle of intricacies. Nine years later
(1539), a monetary convention was summoned to meet at Augsburg by
Ferdinand, heir to the empire. It proved fruitless. Again, in 1548,
after the expiry of a similar period, the Reichstag at Augsburg declared
for another monetary convention to relieve the disorder. The opinions of
certain deputies to this convention, which met on the 8th October 1550,
were as follows: "For fifty or even eighty years and more the ratio
between gold and silver has been between 12 and 13. But in a gulden of
those days there was an equivalence of more silver than in seventy-six
of our kreutzers. Since then we apprise the Rhenish gold gulden and
kreutzers less than foreign nations. Therefore France and England seek
them."[12]

A thorough inquest into the subject, or evaluation, was therefore
ordered, and it was in accordance with the advice of the convention and
with the report of the evaluation that the second imperial Mint edict
was issued at Augsburg, 1551. This edict was drawn up on a ratio of
10.83 as a basis, and, as might be reasonably expected from the
different ratios ruling abroad at the time, it proved as inoperative as
its predecessor. The succeeding ten years witnessed a rise in the
relative value of gold, or depreciation in that of silver, and the third
and last of these imperial Mint edicts, that of the Emperor Ferdinand,
issued at Augsburg, 19th August 1559, fixed a higher ratio, viz. 11.44.
The Rhenish _gulden_ was raised from 72 to 75 kreutzers. The increasing
production of silver indicated by this change is still more clearly
marked in the resumption of the coining of the imperial thalers, at the
instigation of the Reichstag at Augsburg, 30th May 1566. The advice of
this Reichstag was the outcome of the monetary convention held at
Nördlingen two years earlier, at which strong complaints were appointed
to be made before the Reichstag of the weak state of the coin, and of
its under-valuation.

In matter of fact, the Mint edict of 1559 remained a dead letter;
nominally, however, it continued in force up to 1600, although no less
than seven attempts were made at succeeding diets, from 1566 to 1596, to
enforce it and bring it up to date. In the Reichstag of Speyer, 1570,
complaints were made of the universal loss arising from the
non-observance of the edict. In place of an imperial coinage, nothing
circulated but foreign and counterfeit coins, and the necessaries of
life had risen to a prohibitive height. Similar were the complaints at
the succeeding diets at Frankfort, 1571, and at Regensburg, 12th October
1576, at which last Ferdinand's edict was again re-enacted, with a
command that the Burgundian circle and the Swiss should conform
themselves to it. Bitter complaints were made of the bad state of the
gold and silver coinage, and of the enrichment of the exchangers on the
Rhine. The circulation of Dutch and Swiss thalers was forbidden because
of the loss by exchange, and the export of all gold and silver again
forbidden. As an instance of the depreciation prevalent in the coinage,
it was noted that the silver _albus_ had lost one-third of its weight,
so that thirty-six were needed to purchase one gold gulden, whereas
formerly twenty-six were equivalent.

[Sidenote: GERMANY: DISORDERS OF 1580]

Four years later, 1580, Ferdinand, as Archduke of Austria, issued a
fresh tariff, with the object of checking exports, and in 1582 the
states, having consulted as to the condition of the coinage, strongly
advised a renewal of the prohibition of the export of coin, especially
by the Italians. This advice was adopted in the Reichstag of Augsburg,
which met seventeen days later, 20th September 1582. The preamble of the
Act then and there passed speaks of the export of a good portion of the
native currency, and of the unmeasured rise of prices, coupled with the
circulation of forbidden foreign specie, large and small.

This resolution of the Reichstag was followed by the enacting of the
Mint edict of 10th December 1582. It proved as futile as any of the
others; and two years later, July 1584, the deputies of the three
circles of Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria complained that within the
four years immediately preceding several millions had left the country
by way of the Rhine provinces for the Netherlands, very little going to
Italy by comparison.

On this representation another useless edict was issued by the Emperor
Rudolph II., and in the following year the merchants at Frankfort Fair
found themselves obliged to agree upon a tariff of _ducats_ and
_Reichs-thalers_. The _Philipps-thaler_ was put at eighty-two kreutzers,
and the _Reichs-thaler_, which, by the Imperial Mint edict still
nominally in force, should have been at sixty-eight kreutzers, was put
at seventy-four. This arrangement of the merchants established a ratio
between gold and silver of 11.4.

Certain of these same merchants, examined as to their opinion of the
method of the export in January 1586, explained that it went by way of
Nürnberg, and that the arbitrage was attended with 9 or 10 per cent.
profit.

[Sidenote: GERMANY: THE KIPPER UND WIPPER ZEIT]

Nominally, however--or in theory--the arrangement of 1559 continued the
unenforced law of the land up to 1600, underneath all these attempts at
revision and underneath the different regulations of the various
monetary unions of contiguous circles or states. With the latter date
commences that extraordinary movement of monetary depreciation and panic
which is known as the "_Kipper und Wipper_" period. In great part the
extraordinary acuteness of the panic which ensued was due to internal
monetary confusion of Germany, but that internal confusion simply
ministered to the export of all good specie and metal, and in the end it
became simply a money corner. The movement began by a coining of the
lower denominations of monies on a different and depreciated footing or
basis. The _specie_ thaler began to part company from the current
thaler, and to rise to more than the 24 silver groschen or 36 Marien
groschen, to which by the Mint edict of 1559 it was declared equivalent.
By 1618 it had risen to 1 thaler 6 silver groschen (= 48 Marien
groschen), by 1620 to 2 current thaler, by 1621 to between 7 and 8
current thaler, while the ducat had risen to 13 florins 30 kreutzers.

Tabularly the statement of the movement of the _Reichs-thaler_ is
this:--

  +--------------+--------+---------++--------------+--------+---------+
  | Date.        | Florin.| Krtzers.||  Date.       | Florin.| Krtzers.|
  +--------------+--------+---------++--------------+--------+---------+
  | 1582         |    1   |    8    || 1621 Jan.    |    2   |   20    |
  | 1587         |    1   |    9    ||      Feb.    |    2   |   24    |
  | 1590         |    1   |   10    ||      March   |    2   |   30    |
  | 1594         |    1   |   11    ||      April   |    2   |   36    |
  | 1596         |    1   |   12    ||      May  25 |    2   |   48    |
  | 1603         |    1   |   14    ||      May  31 |    3   |   15    |
  | 1604         |    1   |   14    ||      June    |    3   |    6    |
  | 1605         |    1   |   15    ||      July    |    3   |   15    |
  | 1607         |    1   |   16    ||      Aug.    |    4   |    0    |
  | 1608         |    1   |   20    ||      Aug. 10 |    3   |   15[A] |
  | 1609 June 15 |    1   |   22    ||      Sept.   |    4   |   30[A] |
  |      July  7 |        |         ||      Oct.    |    5   |    0[A] |
  |      Dec. 19 |    1   |   24    ||      Nov.    |    5   |   30[A] |
  | 1610         |    1   |   24    ||      Dec.    |    6   |   30[A] |
  | 1613 Sept.   |    1   |   26    ||      Dec. 20 |    3   |   15    |
  | 1614 Aug.    |    1   |   28    || 1622 Jan. 18 |    7   |   30[B] |
  | 1615 March   |    1   |   28    ||      Jan. 27 |    4   |   30    |
  |      Nov.  1 |    1   |   24    ||      Feb. 10 |   10   |    0[C] |
  |      Nov. 17 |    1   |   30    ||      Mar.    |   10   |    0[C] |
  | 1616         |    1   |   30    ||      Mar. 12 |    6   |    0    |
  | 1617         |    1   |   30    ||      June 16 |    3   |   15[A] |
  | 1618         |    1   |   32    ||      Oct.    |    5   |    0[B] |
  | 1619 Oct.    |    1   |   48    ||      Nov.    |    6   |    0[B] |
  |      Dec.    |    2   |    4    || 1623 April   |    1   |   30    |
  | 1620 June    |    2   |    8    ||      And at this last figure    |
  |      Nov.  9 |    2   |   20    ||        standing up to 1669.     |
  +--------------+--------+---------++--------------+--------+---------+
  [Footnote A: Nürnberg.] [Footnote B: Augsburg.]  [Footnote C: Vienna.]


The course of the _gold gulden_ which could be given is exactly
parallel.

This table speaks volumes. It marks the acuteness of the monetary panic
and crisis of 1621-22--the central time of the commercial ruin induced
by the disorder of the _Kipper und Wipper Zeit_. The pamphleteer and
polemic literature of this crisis is as rich and instructive as any
which has accompanied the bimetallic agitation and silver question of
our later days.

At Hamburg the _thaler_, which had gradually risen from an equivalence
of 24 schillingen to 33 schillingen in 1609, had a correspondingly
excited course during these years.

  +-----------+------------+----------++-----------+------------+---------+
  |           |Schillingen.|Pfennige. ||           |Schillingen.|Pfennige.|
  +-----------+------------+----------++-----------+------------+---------+
  |Oct.  1609 |    36      |    0     ||July  1618 |    42      |    6    |
  |   1610-13 |    37      |    0     ||Sept.      |    43      |    0    |
  |Dec.  1614 |    37      |    6     ||Nov.       |    44      |    0    |
  |Aug.  1615 |    38      |    9     ||Sept. 1619 |    46      |    6    |
  |Jan.  1616 |    40      |    0     ||Oct.       |    48      |    0    |
  |Aug.       |    41      |    0     ||Aug.  1620 |    52      |    0    |
  |April 1617 |    40      |    6     ||Feb.  1621 |    53      |    0    |
  |Aug.       |    41      |    0     ||Mar.       |    54      |    6    |
  |Sept.      |    41      |    6     ||May        |    54      |    0    |
  |Nov.       |    42      |    0     ||May   1622 |    48      |    0    |
  +-----------+------------+----------++-----------+------------+---------+

It was in anticipation of the approaching disorder that on the 3rd of
March 1609 a Mint treaty had been made between Mecklenburg,
Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, and Hamburg, "for protection against the
Mint disorder, which is most disastrous to land and people, and to take
precaution against the advance of the larger silver specie." Seven years
later, on the 10th January 1616, the merchants and financiers of Hamburg
drew up a petition complaining that, through the monetary disorder,
trade and exchange was being driven from the city, as within a short
period the exchange with Frankfort had fallen from 74 kreutzer (=32
schillingen Lübeck) to 62 kreutzer (=32 schillingen Lübeck), and the
exchange with Amsterdam from 46 stivers (=32 schillingen Lübeck) to 39
stivers. To the Senate's proposal for the erection of an exchange bank,
the merchants would, however, have nothing to say, considering it
unnecessary and dangerous, and called for the suppression of the notes
which the merchants had brought into use to facilitate their
settlements.

Three years later, however, the Senate declared more strongly for the
establishment of a bank, premising in the preamble of their resolution
that "it is many ways known and plain how disastrous a disorder has
hitherto been in the currency, both from the rise of the larger silver
species and from the excessive importation of smaller depreciated
specie, whereby not only private individuals but also common interests,
as churches, hospitals, widows, and orphans are greatly pinched in their
incomes."

[Sidenote: GERMANY: HAMBURG IN 1619]

It was as the outcome of this resolution that the celebrated Hamburg
bank was instituted in 1619, the later life of which was to become of so
much importance for the monetary and commercial history of North
Germany.

The curious point to observe is the short time--a few months merely--by
which the crisis in Germany preceded that in England, and the analogy of
some of the manifestations, although there were no such Mint and coinage
disorders in England as had aggravated and in the first place partly
induced the movement in Germany.

In 1623 a great Mint deputation from all the circles was held, and in
accordance with its representations the new imperial basis was
established, which remained in force until the conclusion of the period
of which we here treat. By that basis the mark of silver was coined into
9 _Reichs thalers_ 2 _groschen_. The _thaler_ was fixed at 90 kreutzers,
the gold _gulden_ at 1 florin 44 kreutzers, and the _ducat_ at 2 florins
20 kreutzers. This disposition remained the Mint law over all the weary,
disastrous period of the Thirty Years' War, which is practically a blank
for the monetary history of Germany. It is not until 1665--the opening
of a fresh period--that complaints of the state of the lower
denominations of the coinage are again heard. But how far this
quiescence is to be attributed to the economic wisdom of the settlement
of 1623, or to the mute, dumb, inarticulate agony of Germany during that
strife when her commerce, much more even than her national life, was
suspended, is hidden from us in almost complete darkness.

[Sidenote: SPAIN: FUNCTION IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY]


Spain.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the function of Spain was
a very simple one in the European system. She was the receiver and
distributor of the metallic wealth and finds of the New World, and
accomplished her task perfectly naturally and efficiently. But it was at
the cost of her political and commercial future and greatness. If Spain
had been a commercially independent nation, growing for herself and
supplying herself with her own manufactures, the metallic wealth of the
New World would have stayed much longer in her lap, and Europe would
have starved. But she was not. She produced little, and manufactured
less, and the ill-gotten, blood-stained gain, which flowed to her shores
from America, served only to feed an impractical vanity and to further
unfit the nation for manufacturing and commercial life. The, to her,
disastrous influence of Spain's shortlived empire endure to-day, for she
is still as unfitted as ever by temperament and natural training for
mercantile life. Such is the penalty her dower of New World gold and
silver brought her. Finding she could purchase anything and everything
with this gold and silver, she threw herself into her work of conquest,
and let commerce go. Her manufactures came to her from England and the
Netherlands--countries she sought to conquer and enslave; and thither
her gold went in exchange, and before the century was out those
countries had risen exulting over her. But the point to notice is this.
Assuming this distributing function as her own and proper one, the only
condition essential to its proper fulfilment was the maintaining of an
absolutely unimpeachable coinage. The rapidity with which the precious
metals left her possession was simply due to the fact that Spain did so
maintain her coinage and for a sufficiently lengthened period. The
goodness of her coins exalted them above the prevailing rates in France
and the Netherlands, and they were eagerly sought in consequence. The
monies that did not, and could not, normally leave her possession by
ordinary way of trade left her by means of arbitrages working on the
system of bimetallism, which existed unacknowledged.[13] It was this
commanding quality of the Spanish coins that led to the adoption of
their system by France in 1641. That in the case of Spain we hear no
complaints of depletion of coinage and commercial disturbance resulting
therefrom, such as mark the history of the other countries of Europe, is
simply due to the fact that her stock of metals was continually being
replenished, and that she had no commerce to be disturbed. The gold and
silver of America came to her in a steady stream and left her for the
Netherlands and elsewhere in a stream as steady; and so long as that
flow was turned through her dominion, so long as the main sources of
precious metal-mining were American, and the product a
monopoly-possession of Spain, she stood above, and felt no immediate
harm from, the bimetallic law which insatiably sucked away her wealth.
Until the time came, therefore, when she lost her monopolist position in
this matter the monetary history of Spain is free from those features of
disturbance, commercial agitation, monetary conferences and edicts,
which are common to the rest of Europe, and consist merely of a record
of Mint ordinances regulating the fineness of her coins and slowly
adjusting them to the general movements of the century. Only in the case
of the first of these--the edict of Juan and Don Carlos, 1537, by which
the standard of _coronas_ and _escudos_ was fixed at 22 quilates, "which
is the standard of the greater escudos of France and Italy"--has the
enactment any comparative or international bearing.

For sixty-one years after the settlement of 1497 there had been no
alteration of the monetary system. In 1523 the Cortes of Valladolid had
petitioned the King, Charles I., to lower the standard and content of
the gold coin, "so that in weight and value they may pass equal with the
_crowns of the sun_ which are made in France, so that by these means
they will no longer draw our gold from the kingdom." In its ignorance
this Cortes also demanded that the silver monies should be reduced and
issued on a relatively depreciated footing. It was a matter of thirteen
years before Charles yielded and adopted the measure suggested, in the
edict of 1537, already referred to, and it may be safely said that by
the time of its adoption the need for the measure had passed away. Any
disturbance and loss of her stock of precious metals caused by the
general movement which marks itself in European history about 1519-20,
and which shows itself in Spain in the petition of the Cortes of 1523,
was quickly redressed by the inrush of metals from America. Finding gold
and silver come to her easily, Spain cared little how they went. After
the edict of 1537 there is only one complaint of the export of coin
recorded in the legislative enactments of the country, viz. in 1552,
when it was decided to alter the alloy of the billon money in order to
avoid its exportation, "as we are given to understand that its intrinsic
value is greater in other countries than here."

[Sidenote: SPAIN: PASSIVE ATTITUDE]

The Mint edicts of Spain during the years 1500-1660 simply follow in the
wake of the general movements of prices in Europe generally. The
authorities were perfectly passive to the export of the precious metals,
and no attempt was made to manipulate the ratio in such a way as to
arrest the outflow. The conduct of Philip II., in 1566, in still further
raising the denomination of the gold coins by one-seventh has the same
passive aspect, although it has been attributed to a mere base desire on
the part of Philip to fill his depleted treasury by a partial
debasement. A comparison of the movements of metals and prices in France
and Spain will show that the advance was only normal and general, and
the further changes which were made in 1609 and 1612 have this same
normal character, and call for no comment. At the points enumerated it
is quite evident that Spain merely and mechanically followed the general
trend of the precious metals and prices through the century. There is no
expression of aggrievement, either slight or acute, at the precious
metals leaving her. While every other country was occupied seriously,
sometimes desperately, with the question of how to guard their stocks of
them, the eyes of the Spanish Government and the nation's mind were
fixed only on conquest and imperial growth. The cost of her empire was
such that at the accession of Philip III., 1598, the national debt was
over a hundred million ducats, an absolutely unparalleled sum for the
time. When, therefore, the Spanish Government began the enormous issues
of base billon money which mark the reign of Philip IV., it is to be
looked upon as a financial, or treasury, or budget expedient, and
totally unconnected with any currency movement, pure and simple. These
issues were so great that, in 1625, the premium on gold and silver, as
compared with billon monies, was fixed at 10 per cent.; in 1636, at 25
and 28 per cent.; and, in September 1641, at 50 per cent. (See account
of Spanish monies, Appendix III.)

Such base monies always tend to become the only _visible_ currency of a
land. But, save as thereby facilitating the denudation of Spain's store
of precious metals, this matter of the depreciation of her billon money
has practically little or no relation to the general movements of the
two precious metals which we are investigating. It has more resemblance
to an over-issued and depreciated paper currency.

Of that ebb and flow, that oscillation and instability in the metals,
which make the study of the other currency histories of Europe during
this period so instructive an object-lesson of the effect and influence
of a bimetallic law and system, Spain shows not a trace. She received
the metals in a steady stream, and emitted them in a steady stream. They
poured _through_ her. Her function was that of distributor, and she
performed it. When the time came that her monopoly of the metals ceased,
her remedy against the ruin of a bimetallic law was removed, and she
became as signal an instance of its malignant operation as any--France,
England, or Germany. Until that time came she had her remedy against
immediate ruin in her yearly argosy, with its blood- and toil-stained
tribute.


England.

To come to England.

The following tables give a succinct synopsis of the general course of
her gold and silver coinage during this period:--

[Sidenote: ENGLAND, 1500-1660]

TABLE OF ENGLISH SILVER COINS, 1500-1660.

  +------+--------------+------------++------+--------------+------------+
  |Date. |Denomination. | Weight in  ||Date. |Denomination. | Weight in  |
  |      |              |Troy Grains.||      |              |Troy Grains.|
  +------+--------------+------------++------+--------------+------------+
  | 1504 | Penny,       |     12     || 1552 | Penny,       |    8       |
  |      | Groat,       |     48     ||      | Shilling,    |   96       |
  |      | Shilling,    |    144     ||      |              |            |
  |      |              |            || 1553 | Penny,       |    8       |
  | 1527 | Penny,       |     10-1/2 ||      | Groat,       |   32       |
  |      | Groat,       |     42-1/2 ||      | Shilling,    |   96       |
  |      |              |            ||      |              |            |
  | 1543 | Penny,       |     10     || 1560 | Penny,       |    8       |
  |      | Groat,       |     40     ||      | Groat,       |   32       |
  |      | Shilling,    |    120     ||      |              |            |
  |      |              |            || 1601 | Penny,       |    7-3/4   |
  | 1549 | Shilling,    |     80     ||      | Shilling,    |   92-3/4   |
  +------+--------------+------------++------+--------------+------------+

TABLE OF THE ENGLISH GOLD COINS, 1500-1660.

  +----------------------+--------------+---------+---------------+---------+
  |                      |Denomination. |Weight   |   Fineness.   |         |
  |      Date.           |              |in Troy  +-------+-------+  Equiv- |
  |                      |              |Grains.  |Carats.|Grains.| alents. |
  +----------------------+--------------+---------+-------+-------+---------+
  |Henry VII.,     1489  |Sovereign,    | 240     |   23  | 3-1/2 |£1  0  0 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |Henry VIII.,    1527  |Rose  Nobel   | 120     |   23  | 3-1/2 | 0 11  3 |
  |                      |or Rial,      |         |       |       |         |
  |                      |Sovereign,    | 240     |   23  | 3-1/2 | 1  2  6 |
  |                1544  |Angel,        | 80      |   22  | 0     | 0  8  0 |
  |                      |Crown,        | 57-21/67|   22  | 0     | 0  5  0 |
  |                      |Pound,        | 200     |   22  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                1545  |Crown,        | 48      |   20  | 0     | 0  5  0 |
  |                      |Pound,        |192      |   20  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |Edward VI.,     1549  |Pound,        |169-7/17 |   20  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                1550  |Angel,        | 80      |   23  | 3-1/2 | 0  8  0 |
  |                      |Sovereign,    |240      |   23  | 3-1/2 | 1  4  0 |
  |                1551  |Pound,        |178-8/11 |   22  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |Mary,           1553  |Angel,        | 80      |   23  | 3-1/2 | 0  6  8 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |Elizabeth,      1558  |Angel,        | 80      |   23  | 3-1/2 | 0 10  0 |
  |                      |Sovereign,    |240      |   23  | 3-1/2 | 1 10  0 |
  |                      |Pound,        |174-8/11 |   22  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                1601  |Angel,        | 78-66/73|   22  | 0     | 0 10  0 |
  |                      |Pound,        |171-61/67|   22  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |James I.,       1603  |Pound,        |171-61/67|   22  | 0     | 1 10  0 |
  |                1604  |Unit and its  |154-2/3  |   22  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  |                      |fractions,    |         |       |       |         |
  |                      |the Double    |         |       |       |         |
  |                      |Cr., Brit-    |         |       |       |         |
  |                      |ish Crown,    |         |       |       |         |
  |                      |and Thistle   |         |       |       |         |
  |                      |Crown,        |         |       |       |         |
  |                1605  |Angel,        | 71-1/9  |   23  | 3-1/2 | 0 10  0 |
  |                1610  |Angel,        | 71-1/9  |   23  | 3-1/2 | 0 11  0 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |Gold raised 10 p. ct. |Unit,         |154-26/31|   22  | 0     | 1  2  0 |
  |                1619  |Angel,        | 64-11/15|   23  | 3-1/2 | 0 11  0 |
  |                      |              |         |       |       |         |
  |Charles I.      1625  |Angel,        | 64-11/15|   23  | 3-1/2 | 0 10  0 |
  |                      |Unit,         |140-20/41|   22  | 0     | 1  0  0 |
  +----------------------+--------------+---------+-------+-------+---------+

TABLE OF THE VALUE IN PENCE OF THE GRAIN OF GOLD (23 c. 3-1/2 gr. Fine)
        IN THE VARIOUS GOLD COINAGES OF ENGLAND, 1500-1660.

  +-------------------+--------++------------------+--------+
  |                   | Pence  ||                  | Pence  |
  |       Date.       |  per   ||       Date.      |  per   |
  |                   | Grain. ||                  | Grain. |
  +-------------------+--------++------------------+--------+
  | 1527              | 1.125  || 1601             | 1.626  |
  | 1544 (22 carats)  | 1.281  || 1603 (22 carats) | 2.236  |
  | 1545 (20 carats)  | 1.470  || 1604             | 1.655  |
  | 1549 (22 carats)  | 1.518  || 1605             | 1.27   |
  | 1550              | 1.2    || 1610             | 1.856  |
  | 1551 (22 carats)  | 1.425  || 1619             | 2.052  |
  | 1553              | 1.0    || 1625             | 1.851  |
  | 1558              | 1.5    || 1625 (22 carats) | 1.838  |
  | 1558 (22 carats)  | 1.425  ||                  |        |
  +-------------------+--------++------------------+--------+

[Illustration: TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF GOLD & SILVER IN ENGLAND
1500-1680]

The testimony of these tables is perfectly general. They establish,
roughly speaking, just such an advance of price as befell the whole of
Europe. They do not witness the oscillation in the coinage, and the
commercial disaster due to the action of bimetallic law. For the
evidence of this latter, however, there is ample store of material in
the State papers of England throughout the period.

The moment prices began to rise on the Continent good English gold
tended to disappear and flow away, being replaced by continental coins
of lower contents (or higher denomination). The stress of this practical
diminution of the currency was made all the greater by the simple fact
that the increasing trade which accompanied such rise of prices demanded
an expanding rather than a contracting currency.

[Sidenote: WOLSEY'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE MINT]

The very year, therefore, 1519, which marks the commencement of the
rise for the Continent generally, marks the commencement also of
agitation in England with regard to the supply of the precious metals.
There is preserved among the State papers at the English Record Office a
paper of advice from a German of the name of Herman King to Wolsey,
dating in June 1519, "How to provide bullion from Germany for this realm
with the greatest profit." He advises contracting for a fixed supply of
metal at a certain price, which he puts down, and adds: "If Wolsey will
appoint a person to receive the money, I will engage to deliver 2000 or
4000 marks weight yearly at this price, but it must be secretly, as, if
the purveyor were discovered, he would be in great danger, and the
(German) princes would not suffer any silver to depart because of their
own Mints."

Four years later the effects of the exchange had made themselves so felt
that Henry was obliged to make a treaty with the Emperor, Charles V.,
"for the reformation of old and new money," 1523. An attempt was made to
tie down the chief coins in exchange--the gold _real_ of Flanders, the
gold _carolus_ and the _double carolus_ of Spain--and it was further
agreed (Article IV.) that no new money of Germany, Italy, Spain, France,
or elsewhere, should be given in payment to English merchants, unless it
had a fixed value in sterling money by consent of both princes.

In December of the following year Wolsey was meditating sending
commissioners to the Low Countries to require that all monies valued
too high should be reduced to their normal rate, but he was informed by
Knight, resident at Mechlyn, that, "having spoken with several who hear
daily the council's opinion, they think it is not likely to be done
while the war continues, as the chief merchandise now is finances; and,
besides, as their 'goldes' are highly esteemed in France, if they lower
them they will all be carried thither."

Any such method of procedure as this of Wolsey's was bound to be futile,
and Henry's Government fell back on the much wiser plan of altering the
denomination of the coins. On the 24th July 1526, a commission was
issued to Wolsey "for increasing the sterling value of the coinage to an
equality with the rates of foreign currency." The reciting information
contained in the commission itself is perfectly succinct and clear in
its bearing--"one pound weight of angel gold (i.e. 23 carats 3-1/2 grs.
fine) is worth, in current money, £27; by alloy of 1/11 it is worth £29,
6s., of which 11s. is allowed the Mint master for coining. In return he
gives the merchants 108 crowns of the rose, at 5s., really worth but 4s.
10-1/2d., which makes £26, 6s. 8d. So that there is a clear gain of 48s.
4d."

The investigations of the commission were followed by a proclamation on
the 22nd August 1526, fixing an altered tariff of exchange. _Crowns of
the sun_ were put at 4s. 6d., which only four years before had been at
4s. 4d., while the _ducat_ was raised from 4s. 6d. to 4s. 8d.

Finding the enhancing of the gold and the export of specie still
continue, an inquest was held, on the 30th October 1526, into the
fineness and value of the coins. As a result of the verdict of the jury,
a second proclamation was issued in the same year, dated November 5th,
"to check the exportation of specie arising from the increased value of
currency on the Continent." The sovereign was put at 22s. 6d. (having
previously been rated at 20s. 6d.), and other gold coins in proportion.
Silver coinage was to pass at previous rates, but a new issue was to be
made, in which the ounce Troy was to be coined into 3s. 9d. Finally,
foreign _ducats_ were to be taken as bullion, no rate of exchange being
even fixed.

At the same time Wolsey was attempting to negotiate for a supply of gold
from Antwerp to replenish the currency. On this subject there exists a
curious letter from his agent in Antwerp, dated 21st November 1526.
"These two days," says Hacket, "I have been trying to agree with the
principal merchants about the exchange, but none would make any bargain,
as you (Wolsey) have limited me to 4s. 6d. for the _ducat_, and as a
ducat of such gold as they would be bound to pay would be worth 4s. 10d.
in the Mint. They must receive either _ducats_, or a _crown of the sun_
and a _groat_, for every ducat, or the same in _angellets_. The best
thing would be for one or two of their factors to see you (Wolsey). The
gold can be kept at home for 2 or 3 more per cent., for they would be
glad to give that to take it out of the realm."

The new coinage of 1527 was in complete accordance with the proclamation
of the preceding November. As far as the tariff or absolute exchange was
concerned, it served to redress the balance, and thus to bring the
English coin abreast of the continental. In the matter of the ratio,
however, hardly any change was made. In the coins of the old standard
(i.e. 23 carats 3-1/2 grs.) the ratio remained as before, 1:11-151/755;
in those of the new standard (i.e. 22 carats) it was raised slightly (to
1:11-59/220). Neither in the appointment of the exchange, however, nor
in the matter of the ratio, could the measure be more than temporarily
successful under the conditions. The necessity remained as constantly as
ever to watch the changing continental tariff, and to accommodate the
English system to it. One State paper, dating apparently in 1529, thus
pictures the situation at the time:--

"Disputes in London between English, Italian, Flemish, and Spanish
merchants, as to the exchange, because of the last edict about gold. The
writer knows of the importation of 100,000 _crowns_ and £10,000 in gold,
which will be exported again unless care is taken. In Flanders, directly
after this proclamation, gold was publicly put at a higher price than
before--a noble at 24 _groats_," and so on. The writer, therefore,
recommends that the searchers at the various ports should be warned to
attend to their duty and see that no gold was carried away from the
realm.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS IN 1537]

No recoinage, however, or change in the Mint rates, occurred for some
years, and it must be taken as _primâ facie_ evidence that the basis of
1527 continued for some years efficient, and witnessed a steady growth
in the circulation, accompanying a steady expanse of trade and prices.
In 1535, however, complaints were again heard of the conveyance of coins
out of the realm, and on the 15th July a proclamation was issued against
it. This movement is perfectly well authenticated. On the 10th of May
1537, Hutton, writing from Brussels to Thomas Cromwell, says: "_Gold_
was formerly carried out of the realm [i.e. of England] for gain; now
great sums are sent hither [i.e. to the Netherlands] in sterling groats
[i.e. in silver]. This will both diminish the coin at home [i.e. in
England] and injure the sale of cloth, for here are but three sorts of
money current--_crowns of the sun_, sterling _groats_, and '_Riders
Gelderus_' coined in Guelderland." On the 6th of August the same hand
writes, again from Brussels: "Exchange is stopped, and much money like
to be conveyed over [i.e. hither], though all coins should be called
down here.... The act made for money will stop the [English] trade in
kerseys, and great sums will be conveyed out of the realm [of England to
the Netherlands]."

That the flow-out of gold in 1526 should change into a flow-out of
silver in 1539 was simply due to the alteration of the continental
ratio. The relatively great depreciation of silver only begins in 1550.
Up to that time the general trend of the two metals was on level lines,
but with occasional traces or evidence of an appreciation of silver or
relative depreciation of gold. At such a moment the lower-rated, i.e.
cheaper, English silver inevitably tended to flow out in the very teeth
of searchers and legislators. At almost the same time--and as showing at
once how international this trade in money or "finances" was, and how
confused, and conflicting the monetary system of Europe was, with a
flow-out in one direction and a flow-in from another--the English
merchants at their Calais Fair reported great gain of the precious
metals. "We have very good sale of clothes," writes a merchant to the
King on the 27th August 1538; "here is great plenty of money, which
causes all wares to be dear. Your subjects will bring back above £3000
sterling in _angels_ and _ducats_. We seek all the _angels_ here and
give a penny in the piece to have them to carry home, so that I trust
there will be few left here in a short time."

[Sidenote: THE CURRENCY MEASURES OF 1544]

The threatened rise of monetary denomination on the part of the
Netherlands was accomplished by their ordinance of 15th April 1539, and
almost immediately Henry found himself necessitated to change the basis
of his currency from that established in 1527. In 1542 the silver penny
was reduced from 10-1/2 to 10 grains, and shortly after 1544 the angel
was advanced from 7s. 6d. to 8s. The proclamation which enforced the
change is dated 16th May 1544. Gold was raised from 45s. to 48s. the
oz., and silver from 3s. 9d. to 4s. In the purchase price of the two
metals, therefore, there was no change in the ratio, but calculating on
the basis of the issue price, i.e. the pieces issued from the Mint, the
alteration of ratio was from 11-59/220 to 10-10/23. In the proclamation
the change was attributed to "the enhancement of the prices of these
metals beyond the sea, as well in Flanders as in France, which would
have drawn all the coins out of the realm if a remedy had not been
applied. And although the customers of the ports of the kingdom had been
ordered to put in execution the statutes for the conservation of the
coins, yet for the great gain they were still secretly carried abroad."

The coinage measures, therefore, of the year 1544, when justly
considered, do not possess the aspect which has been generally
attributed to them. It is incorrect to look upon them as the tentative
beginning of that debasement of the coinage which disgraced the later
years of the reign of Henry VIII. and the days of his son Edward VI. The
measures of 1544 were simply acts of justifiable self-defence and
currency safeguard. The real debasement began two years later, in
1545-46, when, by indenture, the silver coins (_testoons_) were reduced
from 10 oz. to 4 oz. fine silver, the 2 oz. of alloy in the former case
being increased to 8 oz. in the latter. In 1550 the content of fine
silver in the testoon was further reduced to 3 oz.

The plan of this history makes it incumbent to treat questions of
debasement as standing apart from the subject-matter of the book, which
is restricted to the natural and normal ebb and flow of the precious
metals, due to the action of bimetallic law. The operation of debasing a
coinage--of lowering it, that is, so far and so arbitrarily as to remove
it at once from the action of natural law of prices ruling around--means
an arrestation of natural economic processes and laws, and the events
which follow thereupon stand apart from such laws and ought to be
treated as so separate. In reality, debasements always favoured the
action of this malignant bimetallic law, and the fact might possibly
lead one to attribute to the normal action of a natural law what is in
three-fourths of it due to arbitrary action of government.

It would be, therefore, unfair to treat of debasements in a history of
bimetallism.

Given, however, the above standpoint, and mental reservation of
deduction and innuendo, it is permissible to treat of this debasement as
showing _how_ or _in what way_ a debasement _does actually_ facilitate
the malignant action of bimetallic law.[14] Further, the present
instance of debasement is the only one on record in English currency
history, and the testimonies regarding it are of extreme interest.

[Sidenote: THE TUDOR DEBASEMENT]

For the purpose of external or foreign trade, a debasement of currency
is fatuous and pernicious. The coins are estimated at their content of
pure metal, and the international exchange is so rated. The consequence
is an apparent rise of foreign prices proportioned to the extent of the
debasement. This at once unsettles internal or home trade prices, and
they rise to the same level, but with such inequality of motion as may
happen to follow from friction, local ignorance, want of communication,
or from the intricacies of trade. The inequality of exchange-coinage
rates which results from this is the bullionist's or the financier's
opportunity, and swiftly and invisibly the good species--or any, bad or
good, upon which any differential profit can be had--disappear from
circulation. The consequence is that the rising prices which instituted
the process are no longer accompanied by an expanding or increasing
volume of currency, but, on the contrary, with an enormous decrease in
the total of acceptable or efficient currency. Hence come decay of
trade, and ruin of town and country.

This is no paper, _a priori_ argument. It is the patent unmistakable
statement of history and fact.

The staple trade of England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
was woollen. Coventry was one of the considerable seats of the industry,
and known as a flourishing and wealthy town. In the third year of
Edward VI.--the time when this debasement of our coinage reached the
lowest point--its trade was gone, and its population had sunk to 3000,
"whereas within memory there had been 15,000."

In the extraordinary "_Dialogue concerning the common weal of this realm
of England_," the scene of which was probably laid in this very decayed
town of Coventry, the advance of prices, and the general tendency of the
above argument, is more than amply borne out. "I have well experience
thereof," says the "cappe" or hat manufacturer, "for I am fain to give
my journeymen 2d. a day more than I was wont to do, and yet they say
they cannot sufficiently live thereon. The city which was heretofore
well inhabited and wealthy (as ye know every one of you) is fallen for
lack of occupiers to great desolation and poverty."

"So the most part of all the towns of England," quoth the merchant,
"London excepted; and not only the good towns are decayed sore in their
houses, streets, and other buildings, but also the country in their
highways and bridges; for such poverty reigneth everywhere that few men
have so much to spare as they may give anything to the reparation of
such ways, bridges, and common easements. There is such a general dearth
of all things as I never knew the like, not only of things growing
within this realm, but also of all other merchandise that we bye beyond
the seas, as silks, wines, oils, etc. I wot well all these do cost me
more now by the third part well than they did but seven years ago."

"Such of us," says the knight, "as do abide in the country still can not
with £200 a year keep that house that we might have done with 200 marks
but sixteen years ago."

The course of the enhancement of foreign prices is thus argued between
the merchant and the doctor.

_Merchant._--"We that be merchants pay dearer for everything that cometh
over the sea, even by the third part well. And because they of beyond
the sea will not receive our money for their wares, as they were glad in
past times to do, we are fain to buy English wares for them, and that
doth cost us dearer by the third part, yea almost the one-half, dearer
than they did before time, for we pay 8s. for a yard of cloth that
within these ten years we might have bought for 4s. 8d. When we have
thus dear bought outlandish ware, then we have not so good vent of them
again as we have had before time, by reason there be not so many buyers,
for lack of power, though indeed in such things as we sell we consider
the price we bought them at."

_Doctor._--"I doubt not if any men have licked themselves whole [i.e.
recovered the loss] you be the same, for what odds soever there happen
to be in exchange of things, you that be merchants can espy it anon. _Ye
lurched some of the coin as soon as ever ye perceived the price of that
to be enhanced. Ye, by and by perceiving what was to be won thereon
beyond the sea, raked all the old coin for the most part in this realm
and found the means to have it carried over, so as little was left
behind within this realm of such old coin [i.e., good undebased coin],
at this day, which in my opinion is a great cause of this dearth that we
have now of all things._" "Thereby" he adds again, speaking of this
"basing or rather corrupting of our coin and treasure, we have devised a
way for the strangers, not only to buy our gold and silver for brass,
and not only to exhaust this realm of treasure, but also to buy our
chief commodities in manner for nothing. _It was thought it should have
been a means not only to bring our treasure home, but to bring much of
others, but the experience hath so plainly declared the contrary, so as
it were a very dullards part to be in doubt thereof,..._ Do you not see
that our coin is discredited already among strangers, which evermore
desired to serve us before all other nations at all our needs for the
goodness of our coins; and now they let us have nothing from them, but
only for our commodities, as wool, felt, tallow, butter, cheese, tin,
and lead. And whereas before time they were wont to bring us for the
same either good gold or silver, or else equally necessary commodities
again, now they send us other trifles as I spake of before, as glasses,
gelly pots, tennis balls, papers, girdles, brooches, etc.... As I told
you in your ear before, they send us brass for our treasure of gold and
silver, and for our said commodities I warrant you you see neither gold
nor silver brought over unto us as it was here before used, and no
marvel. To what purpose should they bring silver or gold hither, where
the same is not esteemed. Therefore I have heard say of a truth, and I
believe it the rather to be true, because it is likely that since our
coin hath been debased and altered, strangers have counterfeited our
coin, and found the means to have great masses transported hither, and
here uttered it as well for our gold and silver as for our chief
commodity; which thing I report me to you what inconvenience it may
bring the King's highness, and this realm, if it be suffered, and that
in brief time.... And besides this, have you not made proclamations that
our old coin specially of gold, that it should not be current here above
such a price? Is not that the readiest way to drive away our gold from
us, as everything will go where it is most esteemed? And therefore our
treasure goeth over in ships.... I hear say that in France and Flanders,
there goeth abroad such [brass and billon] coin at these days, but that
doth not exile all other good coin, but they be current withal, and
plenty thereof, howsoever they use it. _Therefore I think it wisdom we
did learn of them how we might use the one and the other keeping either
of them of like rate as they do so, that they should never desire any of
our coin for any greater value than they be esteemed at with them nor we
theirs for any greater estimate with us than with them, and then we
should be sure to keep our treasure at a stay._ And as for recovering of
old treasure that is already gone, there might be order that some
commodity of ours were so restrained from them that it should not be
sold but for silver or gold, or for the third-part or half in such coins
as is universally current, and thus chiefly our treasure might be
recovered by the use of means."

When pressed by the knight to show how this merchandise in coins was
actually initiated and worked the doctor thus replies: "Well, then, when
goldsmiths, merchants, and other skilled persons in metal, perceived
that the one groat is better than the other, and yet that he shall have
as much for the worse groat as for the better, will not he lap up the
better groat always and turn it to some other use, and put forth the
worse, being like current abroad? _Yea, no doubt, even as they have done
of late with the new gold. For they apperceiving the new coin of gold to
be better than the new coin of silver that was made to counter value it,
picked out all the gold as fast as it came forth of the Mint and laid
that aside for other uses, so that now ye have but a little more than
the old current, and so both the King's highness is deceived of his
treasures, and the thing intended never the more brought to pass, and
all is because there is no due proportion kept between the coins, while
the one is better than the other in his degree._"

"But how," asks the knight, "do they do in France and Flanders, where
they have both brass coin, mixed coin, pure silver, and pure gold
current together?" "I warrant you," is the doctor's reply, 'by keeping
of due proportion every metal towards other, as of brass towards silver
100 to 1, of silver towards gold 12 to 1. For the proportion of silver
towards gold, I think, cannot be altered by the authority of any prince,
for if it might have been, it should have been ere this, by some one
needy prince or other within 2000 years."

So much in brief for this depreciation of Henry VIII., and for this
extraordinary dialogue. The doctor's remedy was a recoinage, such as was
later effected. The extent of the knowledge of economic laws displayed
by this figure throughout the dialogue is astonishing. The divine was
the better merchant, and if he had lived--for Miss Lamond's masterly
identification of this character with Latimer hardly admits of
question--and ruled in later counsels, he might have shown himself the
better legislator.

[Sidenote: ELIZABETH'S RECOINAGE]

The recoinage which he advocated was not effectually completed till the
second year of Elizabeth's reign, 1559. The basis on which it was then
accomplished was that of a ratio of 11.79, as nearly as possible that
adopted in the same or the following year, 1560, by France, and slightly
higher than that which was established in Germany by the imperial edict
of 1559. The coincidence in these rates is remarkable, and it is quite
apparent that the action of Elizabeth dictated that of France, as also
that this her action secured for England a steady supply of the precious
metals during a period in which France was violently agitated by
currency crises.

In the first year of her reign, 1st May, Elizabeth issued a proclamation
against the export of bullion. This was followed by one in the second
year, 27th September, against the melting of monies, and by two others,
of the 4th October and 23rd December of the same year, "for the
valuation of certain base monies called _testoons_ ... finding that the
ancient good gold and silver is daily transported," etc. Finally, on the
15th November (3 Eliz.), a proclamation was issued forbidding the
circulation of French _crowns_ and Flemish or Burgundian _crowns_. This
series of proclamations is to be regarded as one measure with, and as
fortifying, the recoinage and the new ratio established. And the
efficiency of the system thus instituted is to be judged by the fact
that, with the exception of two unimportant proclamations of 16th
October (7 Eliz.), and 1st December (8 Eliz.), no further legislation or
Privy Council proclamation was needed for a matter of fifteen years.

[Sidenote: ELIZABETH'S FINAL REVISION]

From 1572-76, however, as has been seen already, the Netherlands issued
a closely consecutive series of plakkaats which altered the situation
for the whole of Europe, and England, equally with the rest, felt the
drain. Contemporary evidence as to this fact has been already quoted (p.
73). Accordingly, on the 20th September (18 Eliz.), Elizabeth issued a
proclamation "for the ordering the exchange of monies by enactment,
according to laws of the realm, ... because of disorders, ... decay of
merchandise, ... and value of monies." Again, in 1582, inquiries were
made respecting the export of gold, and one of the London aldermen wrote
to Secretary Walsingham, advising the appointment of four skilful
merchants as an advisory body. Finding the drain continue, on the 12th
October (29 Eliz.) the Queen issued a proclamation "for reforming of the
deceits in diminishing the value of coins of gold current in our
dominion, and for remedying the losses which might grow by receiving
thereof being diminished." According to the express testimony of this
proclamation the gold coins were _exported_, _diminished_, and
_returned_, and it accordingly enacted that no coins should be taken as
current when beneath such and such a weight, or lacking such and such a
remedy.

For a dozen years or so after this no further complaints of a gold
drainage are heard, but in 1597 they recommence. "If good provision be
not foreseen the coins of gold and silver of England will flow over to
the Low Countries as fast as they can be coined," is the testimony of a
document of April in that year, "for the _angel_ and _sovereign_ of
England are current in Holland and Zealand at 18s. the piece of Flemish
money, and our silver much after the same rate." And the writer adds: "I
see no harm to this realm, if the French gold coin was permitted to be
current for 6s. 2d., the Spanish gold _pistole_ for 6s., and the silver
_real of eight_ for 4s."

It was under the influence of this movement, of which more complaints
exist among the Domestic State Papers, that the final Elizabethan
revision of the Mint prices of the metals took place. On the 18th March
1600 she issued a proclamation "concerning coin, plate, and bullion of
gold and silver," reciting that "bullion of gold and silver, etc., for
these later years, have been much more abundantly transported and
conveyed away than in any former times," and commanding the observance
of the statutes against such transport.

Finding her proclamation mere waste paper, Elizabeth resorted to the
only safe and possible expedient, a change in the issue rate of the
coinage. But for once her instinct, or the wisdom of her councillors,
failed her. Instead of raising the ratio of gold to silver, she lowered
it from 1:11-1/10 to 1:10-5614/5921.

It is inconceivable that such a blunder should have been committed at a
time when the production of silver had advanced and was advancing by
leaps and bounds beyond that of gold, and when the currency of every
European country of commercial note was being accommodated to the
depreciation of silver with unerring instinct. But so it was, and the
blunder only served to accelerate and intensify the catastrophe under
James I.

[Sidenote: ECONOMICS OF THE PURITAN REVOLUTION]

In matters of currency history it is impossible to separate the Tudor
from the Stuart period, and this last and sole blunder of Elizabeth's
administration only serves to show the continuity of principle or event,
and how little of moral censure attaches in this matter to abused James
any more than to lauded Elizabeth. But it is instructive and curious to
note that the currency history of England during all the reign of
Elizabeth shows such remarkable quiescence. From 1558 to the fatal
blunder of 1601 there was no change in her Mint rates. The complaints of
exports of coins, and the evidence of the action of bimetallic law,
appears only at three isolated and widely separated periods. The
inference can only be--and it is more than an inference--that her reign,
besides being a period of currency expansion, was one in which the ratio
existing in England facilitated the flow of metals from the Continent,
and secured the permanence of that currency expansion. On this increased
basis of currency was built that commercial and national, yea even
literary, growth and expansion, which have made the Elizabethan age the
glory of our history. Similarly, the unrest and commercial credit crises
under James I. and Charles I., which resulted from the same wide causes
and principles, underlay and played a vitally determining part in the
agitation and revolution-sowing of their reigns, and that, too, in a
manner which has never yet been appreciated. The uprisal of England,
which resulted in the first dethronement of the Stuarts, was as widely
and vitally based upon economic causes as upon legal or
religious,--possibly, indeed, much more so, if we only knew it.

At first James was determined to proceed with the monies which were
being wrought by Elizabeth's warrant. But on the 11th November, in the
first year of his reign, a new indenture was made for the coining of a
new piece called the Unite, to commemorate the union of the two crowns
of England and Scotland. While preserving the same value as the pound
sovereign of Elizabeth's issue of 1601 (viz. 20s.), its weight was only
154-26/31 grains, while that of Elizabeth's was 171-61/67. In the
following year the angel was reduced from 78-66/73 grains to 71-1/9. The
combined effect was to raise the ratio from 10.90 (as in 1601) to 12.15.
Elizabeth's blunder was thereby effectually remedied, but it was not
before an outcry had been made about the decay in shipping, and in the
export of English cloth.

Even this higher ratio did not remain permanently, or for long,
effective. In 1607 the transportation of specie rose to such a height
that a proclamation had to be issued against it, 9th July, and there was
again talk of establishing "a true and perfect way to keep the money
within the kingdom by instituting a register for all payments made by
way of exchange." Again, two years later (10th August 1609 and 18th May
1611), the proclamation had to be twice renewed; no less a person than
Sir Francis Bacon drafting the clause in the first case. The anxiety
which the subject caused to the Privy Council is quite apparent in the
State papers, and much division of opinion prevailed before the only
possible remedy--a raising of the denomination of the coinage--was
adopted. Salisbury was at first adverse to the measure, but set himself
carefully to study the question. The slow working of his mind is still
traceable in the paper of notes he drew up for his own guidance. "All
the proportions of bullion ought to be xij for one between the gold and
silver unmixed. Our sterling standard is wrought with a mixture of 18
dwt. in every lb. weight, which is 12 oz.; so as every 18 dwt. is 4s.
6d., and therefore that is wanting.

[Sidenote: SALISBURY ON CURRENCY]

"Now, two things are in question, one the inconvenience of general
transportation, the other of the particular, viz. Scotland. In the
general this is the mischief, that our gold is not so much alloyed as
our silver, and therefore being more worth than silver is bought and
carried away. The particular, of Scotland, is more notorious, because it
is not forbidden....

"The gold ought to be 24 caretts.

"Now oure angell is not so much but neare it, about 23 caretts 3 grains
and 1/2.

"4 grains makes a caret. 24 caretts an oz.

"In silver every pound lacks 4s. 6d.

"A pound is 3^{li} in tale.

"In 6 angells wch is in tale 3^{li}, and in weight one ounce, there is
not such an alloy, for in silver we want 4s. 6d., and in gold but--"

The notes end thus imperfectly, but what Salisbury was toilfully
figuring for himself lay ready to his hand in the opinions of experts
and of the officials of the Mint. Immediately succeeding these broken
notes of his in the State Papers, there exists a series of documents
which he doubtless had under his eye, and which exposed the situation
with a clearness that was more than convincing. "Statement of the Loss
sustained by England in the Exchange of Coin." ... "Statement by the
Officers of the Mint that the Raising the Value of the English Silver
Coins by making a Pound Troy of Silver worth £3, 11s. 6d. only equalises
the Value of English Money with those of Foreign Countries, and that to
prevent the Export of Gold its Price must be raised in Proportion." And
so on.

As the result of such representations, and after ten months of wavering
Salisbury gave way, and on the 22nd November 1611 he consented to the
issuing of a proclamation raising the denominational value of all gold
coins 10 per cent. This proclamation was issued on the following day,
and the ratio was thereby at a blow raised from 12.15 to 13.32.

Among the many alternative schemes proposed before the adoption of this
measure, had been one for "raising £500,000 on loan to the King, by
coining brass money to that amount, and compelling their acceptance in
certain proportions by the people, on promise to repay within seven
years in full value silver." It was fondly asserted that this would be a
"means of preventing the export of coin and bullion, caused by the rise
and value of foreign coin."

Another project brought forward was "for meeting the increase of value
laid upon the coins of the Low Countries by issuing a copper coinage,
corresponding thereto, and by raising the value of English silver and
gold coins in order to prevent losses of merchants in foreign trade,
etc."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE AGITATION OF 1611]

A year later a third scheme was proposed to remedy the under-valuation
of English monies, "by the coinage of small silver monies of coarser
silver, so as to raise the value of the larger money in proportion; the
old standard to be observed in payments of rents, the new in ordinary
bargains."

The step actually and finally adopted, however, by the proclamation of
1611, did not equalise the exchange for more than a twelvemonth. The
rise on the Continent continued, and the outflow recommenced. In 1612
the Council took note of the persons concerned in this trade of
transporting, with a view to proceeding against them, while on their
side the general commercial public, or such of them as did not share the
secret and the gain of bullion-broking, demanded that the
under-valuation of English monies should be redeemed by further raising
the value of the coins one penny in the shilling. On the 14th May 1612 a
proclamation was issued forbidding merchants to exceed Mint prices in
buying bullion. A year later (4th July 1613) we are told that the Privy
Council had sat twelve or thirteen hours on the Sunday, and "have been
forced to dismiss the gold and silver business, and also that of the
fishing, as involving many points in the treaties with Burgundy and
Holland."

The State papers of this year contain quite numerous references to the
subject: "Statement of the Undervalue set upon English Money in Foreign
Countries, as proved by the last Placard of the Low Countries"; "Notes
of the Advantage arising to the Crown of England from raising the
Shilling to 13-1/2 Pence, and the Proportion of Gold from 12-1/2 to 13";
"Suggestions as to the Means of Preventing Foreign Nations from taking
Advantage of the English in the Exchange of Monies, viz., raising
English Coins in Nominal Value," etc.

On the 23rd March 1615 a further proclamation was issued against the
export of gold and silver coin, and in the following year the exports of
the East India Company were limited to £6000 in bullion or specie. The
Mint officials proposed a raising of the denomination, and again the
matter was hotly debated in and out of the Council. But a different race
of men from Raleigh had succeeded, and, on the 31st December 1618, the
Privy Council determined that "silver shall not be raised in value at
present, and uniformity in the weight of the coin is to be observed; the
melting of gold for braid or plate forbidden, but further regulations
postponed till the committee for exchanges bring their report."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE MEASURES OF 1619]

As it happened, owing to the necessity of replenishing the King's
finances, the question had become complicated, and some of the measures
proposed for staying the coin had a more sinister bearing, as is
apparent in one of the schemes referred to (_supra_, p. 136), being, in
short, cloaked proposals of debasement. In setting its face against such
proposals of debasement the Council was right, but such proposals had
relation only to the King's finances, and not to the currency crux, and
in delaying the proper tariffing of the English against the continental
coins the Council did wrong. By 1619 the evil had risen to so great a
height that the Council determined to act upon its own proclamations.
Eighteen merchants were sentenced in the Star Chamber for exporting gold
(8th December 1619), five being acquitted. The total of the fines
imposed on the sentenced men reached £140,000, and it was stated that
since the beginning of the reign a matter of £7,000,000 of gold had been
surreptitiously exported. On the 31st July 1619 proclamation was issued
for a new coinage. The gold _angel_ was reduced in weight from 71-1/9
grs. to 64-11/15, being equivalent to an increase of an eleventh in its
denominational value: and in January 1620, following the convictions of
the merchants referred to, the Council busily debated "the erecting an
exchange for monies, to prevent the export of silver by the goldsmiths
who have been the offenders."

All these steps were taken too late, and the currency crisis which shook
Germany ran its full course, too, in England.

In 1620 there was a great scarcity of silver in the country, and the
trade of the Eastland merchant was gone--a scarcity and decay which they
attributed "to the rise of foreign coin, especially that of Poland and
Holland, during the last four years in which the Hollanders have farmed
the King of Poland's Mint." The export of cloth had sunk to one-third
the output of the previous year. By May 1621 the situation had become
pressing. The secret export of money still continued, and it was again
proposed to register bills of exchange, and also to make Spanish and
French coins current in the country. In June the Privy Council issued
circulars to the East India, Turkey, French, Eastland, and Spanish
companies, and the Company of Merchant-Adventurers--practically the
whole mercantile corporation of London--desiring them to choose
experienced persons from each of these companies, to consult upon the
best means of managing the exchange of monies, so as to encourage the
import of silver, and prevent its export. Their statement on the 17th
June was simply that the export was due to the under-valuation of the
English monies. The Council considered their report on the following
day, and ordered it to be further considered, "but the Lords think it
best for some agreement to be made with neighbouring states for a due
correspondence in the value of the coins now used."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE CRISIS OF 1622]

But while the Lords of the Council talked of treaties the crisis came.
By the end of the year there was no money in the country, and trade was
at a standstill. In February 1622, Locke informs Carleton "money is very
scarce. In the clothing counties the poor have assembled in troops of
forty or fifty, and gone to houses of the rich and demanded meat and
money, which has been given through fear. The Lords ordered the
clothiers to keep their people at work, but as they complained that
they cannot sell their cloth, usurers and monied men though not in the
trade are ordered to buy it." In March the Justices write from
Gloucestershire: "The people begin to steal, and many are starving; all
trades are decayed; money very scarce." Stocks of cloth accumulated in
the London "halls" or warehouses of the various districts, and notes of
them were submitted to the Privy Council.

                                                             Pieces unsold.

  Gloucester, Worcester, Reading, Somerset, and Suffolk Hall,
  and Blackwell Hall,                                             433

  Manchester Hall                                                 853
  ("Besides many in the country which are not sent off for want
  of a market.")

  Storehouse for Gloucester, Worcester, Kent, Somerset           1163
  (Mostly belonging to Kent.)

  Wiltshire Hall                                                  560

  Northern Hall                                                  5159

  Leadenhall                                                     3057
  (Cloths from Suffolk and Essex.)

  Devonshire Kerseys                                              423

The merchant-adventurers were appealed to, to buy up these stocks, but they
were unable. The ordinary taxes of the country could not be levied, or,
when levied, proved only a fraction of the estimated amount, and
invariably the commissioner attributed the deficiency to the want of
money and the general decay of trade. "Wools and cloth are grown almost
valueless," write the justices of Somerset, on the 15th of May 1622,
"and the people desperate for want of work."

The expectations of outbreaks were great, and in Nottingham musters were
held, and the trained bands ordered to be ready for instant service, to
suppress riots, if any occurred (July 1622).

Meanwhile the Council was busy conferring with merchant delegates from
every part of the country. A new proclamation against exporting coin was
talked of (15th June 1622), and a declaration issued (same day), that
the King purposed to establish a Royal Exchange, to regulate all
exchanges.

"Treatises on Exchanges," "Statements of the Disadvantages of a Low
Exchange," and similar documents crowd the State papers; and on the 28th
July a proclamation was issued ordering nothing to be worn at funerals
but English-made cloth, forbidding the export of raw wool or yarn, and
declaring the establishing of a Standing Commission on matters of trade.
On the 30th of August the Goldsmiths' Company returned their answers to
the Council's queries with regard to the comparative weight and value of
Spanish _reals_ and English shillings, and suggested that the pound of
silver should be cut into 65s. instead of 62s. The officers of the Mint
followed up this advice by confirmatory testimony. "The business is
weighty," wrote Sir Robert Heath to Secretary Calvert, in enclosing him
the above reports. "For we are drawn dry. Coin must be brought in from
elsewhere [i.e. abroad], which can only be by assurance of gain to the
merchants in equalling our coin to that of other States." As a corollary
it was proposed on the following day, August 31, to encourage the
bringing in of money by making the Spanish _real_ pass current at 4s.
8d., its true value in English coin. "The merchants will bring them in
at this profit, though they can gain more for them in Holland, and they
press for an immediate reply, as the Spanish fleet is coming in, and the
money will be brought hither if the merchant can make a reasonable
profit."

In September the clothworkers and dyers of London complained in a
petition of their want of employment, and that many thousands of them
were in the greatest distress. So great was the want in the country
districts that a proclamation was issued ordering all persons of quality
in London and Westminster to go to the country, and reside on their
estates, for the relief of the poor in the dearth. In January 1623 fears
of disturbance in Essex were rife, "because of poor clothworkers, the
masters being unable to employ the men, and many who were thought the
wealthiest were likely to become bankrupt." On the 7th of February the
officers of the Mint reported to the Council that they found the value
of the Spanish _real of eight_ to be equal to 4s. 6-1/2d., as compared
with the new shilling coin; and on the 4th of March following a
proclamation was issued to make these Spanish _reals_ current at 4s.
6d., "in hopes of bringing some of that coin to the Mint."

From this time onwards no further references, save one laconic remark in
May 1623, "the poor do not complain much," occur in the State papers to
this, one of the acutest currency crises in our history; and we are
left to follow the process of recovery and the dumb, inarticulate agony
of the widespread ruin in sympathy and imagination merely. The details
here given are taken entirely from the State papers, stolid and
ungarnished, but the tale they tell is momentous and dire in its
importance.

When consulted by the Privy Council, the various committees and
delegates of the merchants attributed the crisis to the deceits
practised in the manufacture of cloth, to the embargo on its sale, and
other such causes, as well as to the scarcity of money, and the loss in
exchange. The first suggestion is hardly worth a moment's consideration.
Every testimony points to the fact that the crisis was as purely a
monetary or currency crisis, as later crises have been distinguishedly
credit crises. Between 1613 and 1621 hardly any silver monies were
coined in the English Mint; for example, between 1617 and 1620 the total
silver coinage was only £1070, whereas in the four succeeding years the
silver coinage at the Tower Mint amounted to £205,500.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: JAMES I.]

"From the year 1621," says one of the informers of 1638, to whose
petition reference will be shortly made, "many goldsmiths and cashiers
of London culled the weighty shillings and sixpences to make into plate,
silver wire, and to other manufactures; for most of that time, we having
wars with Spain, little or no silver came from thence; so likewise hath
little or no silver from France in that time, and no silver could be
brought out of Holland by reason it went so high by the placard. For
sterling silver passed in Holland for 4d. per ounce higher than it was
made in our Mint, sterling being in Holland at 5s. 4d. per ounce, so
that no silver could be imported from Holland to supply our Mint, which
the goldsmiths and others perceiving presently fell a-culling the silver
monies current, and the money being coined in the Mint at 5s. 2d., the
goldsmiths, finers, and wire-drawers did raise it up to 5s. 3d. per
ounce, and melted down into the weight of shillings and sixpences, and
left none to pass betwixt man and man but light monies and clipped, and
did exceed the rate of the Mint by giving for sterling 5s. 3d. per
ounce, and 5s. 3-1/2d., and sometimes more; by which means there was no
silver brought into the Mint for ten years to speak of but the silver
which came from Wales. This will appear by the Mint books."

The testimony only confirms the previous inference. The whole reign of
James I. was a period of inefficient attempts to rate the English
coinage to the incessant rise in the continental coinages, of consequent
drain of specie to the Netherlands, and of practical closing of the
Mints at home. The cause, opportunity, channel, or machinery of the
drain was the incessantly shifting, badly tariffed, imperfectly
understood bimetallic system of the times; and the crisis of 1622 was
only the most patent expression of its malignant action. It is doubtful
whether the political effect of that crisis has been properly estimated
by the constitutional student of the popular revolution under the
Stuarts. Its commercial, currency, and economic and theoretic influence
has certainly, and much more, been hitherto overlooked.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: CHARLES I.]

The reign of Charles I., and the period of the Commonwealth, display
similar characteristics to that of James I., but in a more modified and
less malignant measure. Putting aside, after one nearly fatal slip in
August 1626, the various propositions for a debasement which were made
early in his reign, Charles made, throughout, no change in the
denomination or value of his coins, and no change in the ratio. In 1627
the export of coinage became again perceptible, and a warrant was issued
for erecting a Royal Exchange between England and Scotland, September
28, and for a proclamation forbidding all indirect practices of
merchants, and underhand buying of uncurrent coin and foreign bullion.

In the following March, 1628, a committee was appointed to advise his
Majesty concerning the coins, and to observe from time to time all
accidents at home and abroad touching coins. Numerous schemes were
proposed for the arresting of the process of export. They bear generally
two characters--(1) as proposing a change of the ratio; (2) as proposing
a differential issue of the silver issue coinage, i.e. coining 4d., 3d.,
and 2d. silver pieces at a different and higher rate than the larger
silver pieces. Such schemes have no importance at the present day, save
as foreshadowing the mechanism by which England finally evolved a
monometallic system which permitted of the fullest retention of silver.
The flow of coinage which these proposals were intended to meet was not
now to the Netherlands but to France, and it must be attributed to the
course of the French currency already indicated. In 1630 the names of
certain merchants engaged in the transport of gold and silver were
reported to the Council, together with the names of the French merchants
who received the same in France. In June 1635 certain of these were
arrested, and in 1638 not less than thirty-seven of them were prosecuted
in the Star Chamber for this unlawful transportation. The drain went
steadily on during the whole of the decade. On January 18, 1635-6, a
proclamation was issued for restraint of the consumption of coin and
bullion. In the following March an order of the King in Council was
issued against the exportation of English and Scotch coin, and by
gentlemen crossing the sea, and forbidding the wearing of jewels, etc.,
"because of the great quantity of money exported." Any such enactments
were doomed to be futile. The true remedy, or rather the keynote of the
situation, was contained in a proposition submitted to the Privy Council
for the making current of certain foreign coins. "The forbidding of
Spanish money in England," says the author Barrett, "was to enrich the
Mint, which brought forth contrary effects, for the French, Dutch, and
other nations, by advancing Spanish coins, received the greatest
profit." He accordingly proposed that the King should raise the Spanish
money to be current in England by proclamation. The double _pistolets_
weighing 16s. to be raised to 15s.; the _piece of eight_ weighing 5s. to
be raised to 4s. 6d., "and when there is store brought into the kingdom,
then have a new proclamation to call in these coins to be stamped with a
mark and apprised to the intrinsic value." The step was not adopted, and
by his Majesty's declaration of 1639 in the Star Chamber, gold and
silver were to be considered commodities of merchandise. "By 1640 there
was not in the kingdom a million of silver," says Sir Ralph Maddison in
a memorial. "Gold and silver," said Sir Thomas Roe in his speech on
trade in the Commons, "are very scarce, and the kingdom is impoverished.
Money has been drawn away into other kingdoms, especially into France
and Holland, where it is worth more." One of the informants, who had
been employed by the Government in the prosecutions of 1638, thus gave
his testimony in a petition which he subsequently drew up: "Divers
goldsmiths of London are become exchangers of bullion of gold and
silver, and buy it of merchants and others, pretending to carry it to
the Mint. But indeed they are the greatest instruments for transporting
that are, and in a manner they are only those who furnish transporters
with English and foreign gold, Spanish money, _rixdollars_, _pistolets_,
_cardacues_, etc. Some of the goldsmiths make it their use and practice
to buy light English gold of shopkeepers and others, which, by the laws
of this kingdom, wanting beyond remedy, ought to be bought as bullion,
and upon the sale ought to be defaced and new-coined in the Mint. But
they take another way, for they sell all this gold to transport, though
it want four, five, or six grains above the allowance, and that a
20s.-piece will not make 19s. to be coined in the Mint. Yet the
goldsmiths will not abate above 2d. or 3d., and sometimes but 1d. in the
piece, let the gold want what it will, by which means they outgive the
Mint, and the gold which the goldsmiths buy of the subjects, thinking it
is to carry to the Mint to be new-coined, to pass in current payment,
they put it into a dead sea, never to be made coin of in our
commonwealth. For, weekly, French and English have bought up this gold,
let it be as light as it will, at 19s. 9d., 19s. 10d., 19s. 11d., and so
after that rate for all other gold, to the value of many hundred
thousand pounds. Many thousands of _dollars_ and Spanish money they
furnish yearly to merchants that trade for Norway and Denmark, to
transport silver for those parts."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE SITUATION IN 1638]

The drain of coinage to France he distinctly attributes to the raising
of the French coins. "At this present in France the native merchants
there match us with such a point of policy that it would be hard for our
merchants to be master of.... Since the raising of our 20s.-piece to
26s. there ... they have advanced the price of their commodities
according to their advanced monies, to the full sum of 6s. in the pound
more than they were before."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: SIR ROBERT STONE ON THE MINT]

During the Civil Wars there is a remarkable paucity of reference to the
subject, doubtless owing to the supreme importance of the war itself. On
the 26th August 1643, and on the 24th February 1643-4, the Long
Parliament issued orders, on the petition of merchant strangers who were
prevented from importing bullion by the rigours of the search of their
vessels, for their due encouragement. The petitions would argue a
tendency towards an importation of specie, but in 1649 this was again
changed, and a heavy export became perceptible. There can be little
doubt that the initial impulse came from the new coinage which was
instituted by the Act of 17th July 1649, and by the table of weights for
the Commonwealth coins which that Act adopted. For two years and more
both Council and Parliament were exercised in mind with regard to this
export of specie and the consequent decay of trade, and draft Acts to
prevent the export, as well as many other propositions, were had under
long consideration. No measures were adopted, and an Amsterdam
correspondent of Sir Robert Stone, in May 1652, thus gave his opinion of
the wisdom of the Mint officials and the Government in this process of
drift: "Experience has taught me that when the State does not keep
extraordinary watch, and the laws are not put into execution against
culling and sorting out the heaviest coins to be transported, and the
light and clipped left behind, it is a great debasing of the current
value of coin. All your silver money (i.e. in England) is thus abused by
goldsmiths and others. And when the State does not employ such as can
discover those offenders, but puts persons into the Mint who have had no
experience, great damage must follow. For there are bankers and
exchangers in Holland who know the ignorance of all your present Mint
men that have any place of trust, and laugh at them. They say when the
Mint in the Tower flourished, old Andrew Palmer, Mr. Rogers, and one
Cojan were there, who were all subtle Mint men, and held correspondence
here (i.e. in Amsterdam), and knew what to do to advance the Mint, and
would always find a way to bring grist to the mill. But now your Mint
comes to be neglected and money adulterated. Many of our bankers here
have a great trade with your goldsmiths and merchants in London for
English gold and heavy English silver. Your Mint will never go until
this be discovered, for these men are the sluices that drain all your
money. I believe there is at this day forty times more gold and silver
in the Low Countries than in England. About twelve years since the
French were forced to call in all their money, it being so clipped that
their commerce ran into confusion, and you have almost brought yourself
to the same point, the coin in Ireland being 20 per cent. less value
since the war. In England almost all your gold is transported, and the
little that is left is in hucksters' hands, that go to an exchange in
Lombard Street, and you must pay from £6 to £10, and sometimes more, to
have £100 in gold for silver. For who will take gold to the Tower to be
coined, and lose 2s. in 20s. of what they can make by transporting it?
We have more English gold in Amsterdam than you have (in England), all
sent within those twenty years, and great quantities of English silver
have weekly come over in pinks and Dutch men-of-war for years, to the
value of many hundred thousands of pounds, in return for coin. I
wondered at first how the merchants transported all the weighty and
culled English money into Holland, until one of the bankers told me. I
would have you inquire it and prevent it, for it is a most pernicious
thing. It is the goldsmiths, especially those in Lombard Street, which
are the greatest merchants, and London cashiers, and who will receive
any man's money for nothing, and pay it for them the same or next day,
and meantime keep people in their upper rooms to cull and weigh all they
receive, and melt down the weighty, and transport it to foreign parts,
sometimes without melting, and keep banks for all the principal coin in
Christendom in their shops."

The succeeding years of the Commonwealth saw little change in the
situation. In 1659 and 1660 the Council was still anxiously debating the
question of the transport of bullion and coin. But this chain of
phenomena refers to the third period in this history, and are to be
treated of in that connection.

[Sidenote: CLOSE OF THE SECOND PERIOD: RÉSUMÉ]

In broadest and hastiest résumé, and this by way of justification of the
length to which this chapter has been drawn out, the influence of
American gold and silver makes itself perceptible in 1520. For forty
years a level and equal advance in each of the precious metals and in
prices records itself, then the relative and absolute production of
silver increases enormously over that of gold, and the ratio is
disturbed. The inequality of the rate at which this change of ratio
spreads to successive countries, and is adopted in their various Mint
regulations, is the bullionist's or exchanger's opportunity, and the
disastrous effect of their activity results in the crisis of 1570 in
France, and 1622 in England and Germany. Properly speaking there has
been no subsequent crisis in European history fitly comparable with the
latter of these. If at all, there is only one comparison possible, and
that is the currency situation in which the monetary world is at this
moment, or which has come upon it since 1850--a period of bullion
inflation in which silver has, finally as yet, outweighed gold, to the
violent disturbance of the ratio. But, as will be seen, the other
conditions of the comparison are not reducible to, or expressible in,
similar terms, and so far the legitimate deduction fails. None the less,
the currency history of Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries has a vital didactic importance.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 9: The only accounts accessible are in Cabrera (see
Philippson's "Estimate of the Revenues of Spain," in his _Henrich IV.
and Philipp III._, vol. ii. p. 44), and relate only to the years
1599-1610. The amounts given are not the total yield of the American
mines, which is out of the question, but the amount of metal brought
yearly to Spain by the Silver Fleet. The amounts (without distinction of
the metals) were as follow:--

  1599   8,000,000 Ducats.
  1600   9,926,192   "
  1600  10,000,000   "
  1601   1,000,000   "
  1602  10,000,000   "
  1603   7,000,000   "
  1604  14,500,000   "
  1606   9,000,000 Ducats.
  1606   4,500,000   "
  1607  12,200,000 Pesos.
  1608   9,000,000 Ducats.
  1609  10,600,000   "
  1610  10,000,000   "

]

[Footnote 10: For further details of the troubles of 1632-36, see
Vicomte D'Avenel, _Histoire de la propriété, etc._, i. 120, 121.]

[Footnote 11: Such is the statement of the proclamation itself. The
difference between the ratios as there proclaimed and the ratios given
in the table, pp. 40 and 69, is presumably due to the calculation being
made on the mark of pure metal. For the character of these figures of
ratios see the Preface.]

[Footnote 12: See Hirsch, i. 318.]

[Footnote 13: "The second (cause for the decay of the trade of Spain) is
the residence of many Genoa merchants amongst them, who are found in
good numbers to abide in every good city, especially on the sea coasts,
whose skill and acuteness in trade far surpassing the native Spaniards
and Portuguese, and who, by means of their wealth and continual practice
of exchanges, are found to devour that bread which the inhabitants might
otherwise be sufficiently fed with; and by reason that the King of Spain
is ever engaged to their commonwealth for great and vast sums at
interest, he is their debtor, not only for their moneys, but also for
their favour, which by many immunities throughout his kingdom he is
found continually to requite them, and amongst the rest it is observed
that there is no Genoa merchant resident in Spain, or any part, but has
a particular licence to transport the _rials_ and _plate_ of this
kingdom to a certain round sum yearly, which they seldom use really to
do, but sell the same to other nations that are constrained to make
their returns in plate for want of other more beneficial commodities,
which, for the certain profit it is found ever to yield in other
countries, is often preferred before all the other commodities of the
kingdom."--_Lewis Robert's Map of Commerce_, p. 165.]

[Footnote 14: By the action of bimetallic law is meant any action of bad
money on good--of worn money on new--of higher rated (or lower valuable)
money on lower rated (or higher valuable) money. It does not at all
matter, especially in cases of debasement, whether there are two metals
in the process or only one or even three. If a currency is silver, and
part of it is debased and part left good there is bimetallic action, and
the good disappears. Of course, the case is argumentatively and for
deduction's sake much clearer if a currency is truly bimetallic in the
ordinary sense.]




CHAPTER III

From the End of the First Cycle of American Influences to the Present
        Day, 1660-1894


Up to the close of the eighteenth century the production of silver shows
a remarkable steadiness and uniformity--the decrease on the yield of the
Potosi mines being compensated by the increased output of Mexican
silver. In the condition of the output of gold, however, there is a
perceptible alteration, due to the increasing imports of that metal from
Brazil. The change in the relative production of the two metals appears
from the table on p. 155.

The effect on the ratio of this increased relative and absolute amount
of gold was, however, considerably diminished by the increasing favour
with which gold came to be regarded for currency purposes, from the end
of the seventeenth century onwards. In general terms this process or
tendency in favour of gold continued through the first sixty years of
the eighteenth century, at which time the proportion of gold to the
production of the two metals had risen as high as 40 per cent., whereas
in 1600 it had only formed 17.2 per cent. of the total.

[Sidenote: PRODUCTION OF THE PRECIOUS METALS, 1660-1893]

From 1760, however, such relative preponderance of gold was not
maintained. It gradually sank back until, by the beginning of the
present century, it had come to form only a little over 23 per cent. of
the total. From 1820 to 1840 a recovery took place, but it was not until
the Californian gold discoveries that the second great disturbance in
the relative production of gold and silver took place; such a
disturbance, i.e., as can be fitly compared with that which the
sixteenth century witnessed.

  +-----------+--------------+---------------+-----------+--------------+
  |           |   Annual     |    Annual     |Percentage |  Percentage  |
  |  Period.  | Production   |  Production   |of Gold to | of Silver to |
  |           |   of Gold.   |   of Silver.  |  Total.   |    Total.    |
  +-----------+--------------+---------------+-----------+--------------+
  | 1661-1680 | £1,291,750   |  £3,134,150   |    29.2   |     70.7     |
  | 1681-1700 |  1,501,700   |   3,179,650   |    31.1   |     67.9     |
  | 1701-1720 |  1,788,400   |   3,253,750   |    35.5   |     64.5     |
  | 1721-1740 |  2,661,650   |   3,988,600   |    40.0   |     60.0     |
  | 1741-1760 |  3,433,100   |   5,038,200   |    40.5   |     59.5     |
  | 1761-1780 |  2,888,350   |   6,201,550   |    31.8   |     68.2     |
  | 1781-1800 |  2,481,700   |   8,131,300   |    23.4   |     76.6     |
  | 1801-1810 |  2,480,000   |   8,002,650   |    23.7   |     76.3     |
  | 1811-1820 |  1,596,100   |   4,966,950   |    24.7   |     75.3     |
  | 1821-1830 |  1,983 150   |   4,075,950   |    32.4   |     67.6     |
  | 1831-1840 |  2,830,300   |   5,278,600   |    34.5   |     65.5     |
  | 1841-1850 |  7,638,800   |   6,867,650   |    52.1   |     47.9     |
  | 1851-1855 | 27,815,400   |   8,019,350   |    77.6   |     22.4     |
  | 1856-1860 | 28,149,950   |   8,235,950   |    77.4   |     22.6     |
  | 1861-1865 | 25,816,300   |   9,965,400   |    72.1   |     27.9     |
  | 1866-1870 | 27,256,950   |  11,984,800   |    69.4   |     30.6     |
  | 1871-1875 | 24,250,000   |  17,250,000   |    58.5   |     41.5     |
  | 1876      | 23,150,000   |  18,250,000   |    55.9   |     44.1     |
  | 1877      | 25,050,000   |  19,350,000   |    56.4   |     43.6     |
  | 1878      | 25,950,000   |  19,750,000   |    56.8   |     43.2     |
  | 1879      | 23,350,000   |  19,050,000   |    55.1   |     44.9     |
  | 1880      | 22,800,000   |  19,100,000   |    54.4   |     45.6     |
  | 1881      | 22,450,000   |  19,800,000   |    53.1   |     46.9     |
  | 1882      | 21,450,000   |  20,900,000   |    50.7   |     49.3     |
  | 1883      | 20,750,000   |  20,800,000   |    49.9   |     50.1     |
  | 1884      | 21,750,000   |  21,850,000   |    49.9   |     50.1     |
  | 1885      | 21,750,000   |  21,850,000   |    49.9   |     50.1     |
  | 1886      | 22,450,000   |  20,300,000   |    52.5   |     47.5     |
  | 1887      | 22,050,000   |  21,950,000   |    50.1   |     49.9     |
  | 1888      | 22,950,000   |  23,850,000   |    49.0   |     51.0     |
  | 1889      | 24,600,000   |  26,750,000   |    47.9   |     52.1     |
  | 1890      | 24,360,000   |  26,620,000   |    47.8   |     52.2     |
  | 1891      | 29,000,000   |  36,567,629   |    42.4   |     57.6     |
  | 1892      | 30,164,536   |  40,668,247   |    42.5   |     57.5     |
  | 1893      | 32,066,591   |  42,963,027   |    42.7   |     57.3[D]  |
  +-----------+--------------+---------------+-----------+--------------+


[Footnote D: The figures for the last three years are taken from the
Report of the Hon. R.E. Preston, director of the United States Mint,
1893 (_Report on the Production of the Precious Metals_, pp. 274-5). See
_ibid_. for a most carefully compiled table of the production of the
precious metals from 1493 to 1893, differing from the above in material
details.]

As far as this _relative_ production is concerned, the period,
1660-1840, is one of gradual and not abnormal variation, neither small
nor inconsiderable in effect, but certainly not revolution-working, as
had been the case in the sixteenth century with American silver, and as
was to be in the nineteenth century with Californian and Australian
gold, and in our own days with American silver for the second time.

With regard to the _absolute_ production--gold shows a rise up to 1760,
then a steady decline to 1820, followed by a second rise up to 1840. In
the case of silver the decline in the absolute amount was steady from
1600 to 1680, then ensued a steady and strong rise to 1800, followed by
an abrupt drop in the second decade of the present century, and then by
a strong and steady recovery, commencing from 1830 and continuing until
the present.

[Sidenote: WIDE EFFECT OF MINT LAWS]

The larger question of the relative distribution of this mass of
precious metals depends for its determination upon a full understanding
of the law of the various Mints. Speaking in large, during the
eighteenth century the Mint ratio was in favour of silver in France, and
her currency was almost entirely silver throughout the century;
conversely the Mints favoured gold in England and Spain, and gold was
almost the only constituent of the currency of either country for the
greater part of the century. There can be little doubt that these simple
facts had a great influence in actually determining the great currency
legislation which closed the century and finally decided England in
favour of gold, and France and the United States in favour of a
bimetallism strongly favouring silver.

The statement of the ratio is as follows:--

  South-West Germany.
  1657-80     15.10

  Netherlands.
  1663        14.43

  England.
  1663        14.48
  1690        15.39
  1715        15.21

  France.
  1679        14.91

COMMERCIAL STATEMENT OF THE RATIO (FROM 1687-1832, FROM THE HAMBURG
        EXCHANGE RATIO; FROM 1833 ONWARDS, FROM THE LONDON BULLION
        BROKERS' RATIO).

  +----------+---------+
  |  1687-8  |  14.94  |
  |  1689-90 |  15.02  |
  |  1691    |  14.98  |
  |  1692    |  14.92  |
  |  1693    |  14.83  |
  |  1694    |  14.87  |
  |  1695    |  15.02  |
  |  1696    |  15.00  |
  |  1697    |  15.20  |
  |  1698    |  15.07  |
  |  1699    |  14.94  |
  |  1700    |  14.81  |
  |  1701    |  15.07  |
  |  1702    |  15.52  |
  |  1703    |  15.17  |
  |  1704    |  15.22  |
  |  1705    |  15.11  |
  |  1706    |  15.27  |
  |  1707    |  15.44  |
  |  1708    |  15.41  |
  |  1709    |  15.31  |
  |  1710    |  15.22  |
  |  1711    |  15.29  |
  |  1712    |  15.31  |
  |  1713    |  15.24  |
  |  1714    |  15.13  |
  |  1715    |  15.11  |
  |  1716    |  15.09  |
  |  1717    |  15.13  |
  |  1718    |  15.11  |
  |  1719    |  15.09  |
  |  1720    |  15.04  |
  |  1721    |  15.05  |
  |  1722    |  15.17  |
  |  1723    |  15.20  |
  |  1724-25 |  15.11  |
  |  1726    |  15.15  |
  |  1727    |  15.24  |
  |  1728    |  15.11  |
  |  1729    |  14.92  |
  |  1730    |  14.81  |
  |  1731    |  14.94  |
  |  1732    |  15.09  |
  |  1733    |  15.18  |
  |  1734    |  15.39  |
  |  1735    |  15.41  |
  |  1736    |  15.18  |
  |  1737    |  15.02  |
  |  1738-9  |  14.91  |
  |  1740    |  14.94  |
  |  1741    |  14.92  |
  |  1742-3  |  14.85  |
  |  1744    |  14.87  |
  |  1745    |  14.98  |
  |  1746    |  15.13  |
  |  1747    |  15.26  |
  |  1748    |  15.11  |
  |  1749    |  14.80  |
  |  1750    |  14.55  |
  |  1751    |  14.39  |
  |  1752-3  |  14.54  |
  |  1754    |  14.48  |
  |  1755    |  14.68  |
  |  1756    |  14.94  |
  |  1757    |  14.87  |
  |  1758    |  14.85  |
  |  1759    |  14.15  |
  |  1760    |  14.14  |
  |  1761    |  14.54  |
  |  1762    |  15.27  |
  |  1763    |  14.99  |
  |  1764    |  14.70  |
  |  1765    |  14.83  |
  |  1766    |  14.80  |
  |  1767    |  14.85  |
  |  1768    |  14.80  |
  |  1769    |  14.72  |
  |  1770    |  14.62  |
  |  1771    |  14.66  |
  |  1772    |  14.52  |
  |  1773-4  |  14.62  |
  |  1775    |  14.72  |
  |  1776    |  14.55  |
  |  1777    |  14.54  |
  |  1778    |  14.68  |
  |  1779    |  14.80  |
  |  1780    |  14.72  |
  |  1781    |  14.78  |
  |  1782    |  14.42  |
  |  1783    |  14.48  |
  |  1784    |  14.70  |
  |  1785    |  14.92  |
  |  1786    |  14.96  |
  |  1787    |  14.92  |
  |  1788    |  14.65  |
  |  1789    |  14.75  |
  |  1790    |  15.04  |
  |  1791    |  15.05  |
  |  1792    |  15.17  |
  |  1793    |  15.00  |
  |  1794    |  15.37  |
  |  1795    |  15.55  |
  |  1796    |  15.65  |
  |  1797    |  15.41  |
  |  1798    |  15.59  |
  |  1799    |  15.74  |
  |  1800    |  15.68  |
  |  1801    |  15.46  |
  |  1802    |  15.26  |
  |  1803-4  |  15.41  |
  |  1805    |  15.79  |
  |  1806    |  15.52  |
  |  1807    |  15.43  |
  |  1808    |  16.08  |
  |  1809    |  15.96  |
  |  1810    |  15.77  |
  |  1811    |  15.53  |
  |  1812    |  16.11  |
  |  1813    |  16.25  |
  |  1814    |  15.04  |
  |  1815    |  15.26  |
  |  1816    |  15.28  |
  |  1817    |  15.11  |
  |  1818    |  15.35  |
  |  1819    |  15.33  |
  |  1820    |  15.62  |
  |  1821    |  15.95  |
  |  1822    |  15.80  |
  |  1823    |  15.84  |
  |  1824    |  15.82  |
  |  1825    |  15.70  |
  |  1826    |  15.76  |
  |  1827    |  15.74  |
  |  1828-9  |  15.78  |
  |  1830    |  15.82  |
  |  1831    |  15.72  |
  |  1832    |  15.73  |
  +----------+---------+

[Sidenote: STATEMENT OF THE RATIO, 1660-1893]

  +---------+------------+--------++---------+------------+--------+
  |         |  Price of  |        ||         |  Price of  |        |
  |  Year.  |Silver Pence| Ratio. ||  Year.  |Silver Pence| Ratio. |
  |         |   per Oz.  |        ||         |  per Oz.   |        |
  +---------+------------+--------++---------+------------+--------+
  |  1833   |  59-3/16   | 15.93  ||  1864   |  61-3/8    | 15.37  |
  |  1834   |  59-15/16  | 15.73  ||  1865   |  61-1/16   | 15.44  |
  |  1835   |  59-11/16  | 15.80  ||  1866   |  61-1/8    | 15.43  |
  |  1836   |  60        | 15.72  ||  1867   |  60-9/16   | 15.57  |
  |  1837   |  59-9/16   | 15.83  ||  1868   |  60-1/2    | 15.59  |
  |  1838   |  59-1/2    | 15.85  ||  1869   |  60-7/16   | 15.60  |
  | 1839-40 |  60-3/8    | 15.62  ||  1870   |  60-9/16   | 15.57  |
  |  1841   |  60-1/16   | 15.70  ||  1871   |  60-8/16   | 15.57  |
  |  1842   |  59-7/16   | 15.87  ||  1872   |  60-1/4    | 15.65  |
  |  1843   |  59-3/16   | 15.93  ||  1873   |  59-1/4    | 15.92  |
  |  1844   |  59-1/2    | 15.85  ||  1874   |  58-5/16   | 16.17  |
  |  1845   |  59-1/4    | 15.92  ||  1875   |  56-3/4    | 16.62  |
  |  1846   |  59-5/16   | 15.90  ||  1876   |  53-1/16   | 17.77  |
  |  1847   |  59-11/16  | 15.80  ||  1877   |  54-3/4    | 17.22  |
  |  1848   |  59-1/2    | 15.85  ||  1878   |  52-5/8    | 17.92  |
  |  1849   |  59-3/4    | 15.78  ||  1879   |  51-1/4    | 18.39  |
  |  1850   |  60-1/16   | 15.70  ||  1880   |  52-1/4    | 18.04  |
  |  1851   |  61        | 15.46  ||  1881   |  51-11/16  | 18.24  |
  |  1852   |  60-1/2    | 15.59  ||  1882   |  51-5/8    | 18.25  |
  |  1853   |  61-1/2    | 15.33  ||  1883   |  50-9/16   | 18.65  |
  |  1854   |  61-1/2    | 15.33  ||  1884   |  50-5/8    | 18.63  |
  |  1855   |  61-5/16   | 15.38  ||  1885   |  48-5/8    | 19.39  |
  |  1856   |  61-5/16   | 15.38  ||  1886   |  45-3/8    | 20.73  |
  |  1857   |  61-3/4    | 15.27  ||  1887   |  44-5/8    | 21.13  |
  |  1858   |  61-5/16   | 15.38  ||  1888   |  42-7/8    | 21.99  |
  |  1859   |  62-1/16   | 15.19  ||  1889   |  42-11/16  | 22.09  |
  |  1860   |  61-11/16  | 15.29  ||  1890   |  47-11/16  | 19.17  |
  |  1861   |  60-13/16  | 15.26  ||  1891   |  45-1/16   | 20.92  |
  |  1862   |  61-7/16   | 15.35  ||  1892   |  39-3/4    | 23.74  |
  |  1863   |  61-3/8    | 15.37  ||  1893   |  35-9/16   | 26.49  |
  +---------+------------+--------++---------+------------+--------+
  |                                                                |
  | Up to 1878 this table is derived from Soetbeer,                |
  | _Edelmetall-Produktion_, pp. 130-2.                            |
  | From 1878-1890 I have calculated simply in accordance with     |
  | Soetbeer's method.                                             |
  |                                                                |
  | The figures for 1891-3 are taken from the United States Mint   |
  | Report, 1893, already referred to, p. 251. In the table there  |
  | printed the director of the Mint gives slightly different      |
  | figures for several years from 1872 onwards.                   |
  +----------------------------------------------------------------+

As far as the conditions of production of the precious metals are
concerned, and the connection between those conditions and the ratio,
there is historic and understandable continuity between the period
already passed in review and modern times. In the method of expressing
that ratio, however, there is a remarkable difference.

[Sidenote: EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN SYSTEM]

With the close of the seventeenth century the advantage of the process
of altering the denomination of the coinage, of diminishing the content
and reducing the standard of fineness, began to be impugned on theoretic
grounds, and in the course of the eighteenth century that process itself
fell into disuse. Since that time no Mint or legislative change such as
we have hitherto described was made on the expressed value or content of
any European coinage. Bearing in mind the twofold importance which was
attached to that process of legislative guarding of the currency, this
change must be regarded as of vital import. The legislator, from the
middle of the fourteenth century, had attempted two things by this
mechanism--(1) to follow the general rise of prices, and meet it by
reducing the contents of the coins in such proportion as he thought fit;
(2) to prevent any disastrous outflow of the precious metals by altering
the ratio. The control of the Mint rates of metal-purchase and
metal-coinage was, therefore, a matter of importance financially and
politically to the nation, and economically to international commerce.
In just such measure, therefore, was the entire ceasing of this State
control of the mechanism of international exchange and currency a matter
of almost incalculable significance in the history of the European
monetary system. In the domain of finance it effected a revolution as
signal as that produced in the relations of labour to capital by the
disuse of the old labour laws. The ceasing of the artificial arbitrary
Mint rates made way for a naturally determined or _commercial_ ratio,
and the regulation of the international flow of the precious metals was
left to the oscillation of trade balances, and to the action of interest
rates and discount. The change is one from a mediæval, State-bound,
merely legislative system to the modern system, in which the flow of
precious metals is determined by the perfectly natural and automatic
action of international trade--is indeed the index and safety-valve of
it, and of the whole present commercial world-circle.

This was not merely a change of fact and practice, it was a revolution
of theory.

For before the old State belief in the necessity of safeguarding the
supply of precious metals at any cost and consideration could go by the
board, the whole Mercantile Theory must have lost its force in men's
minds.

In the domain of theory the transition from the Mercantile to the modern
system was gradual, through the various intermediate steps of
Physiocratic and Smithian economics, and the complete abandonment of
that system for our own can only be put very late, if indeed its period
can at all yet be written, for modern Protectionist ideas are only a
lusty survival of it. In the domain of financial practice, however,
it--the mercantile system--ceased from the moment that the Governments
of Europe left their Mint rates stationary, and gave the flow of the
precious metals and the declaration of the ratio to the free unhampered
natural action of international trade. The steps of the completed
process can hardly be detailed, for there was much fear attending it,
and the various Governments frequently retraced their steps in
uncertainty. The earliest direct enactment was made by England. By the
Act of 15 Charles II., chap. 7, sect. 12 (1663), the statutes forbidding
the exportation of bullion were removed at one blow of astounding
boldness. "Forasmuch," says this Act, "as several considerable and
advantageous trades cannot be conveniently driven and carried on without
the species of money or bullion, _and that it is found by experience
that they are carried in greatest abundance (as to a common market) to
such places as give free liberty for exporting the same_, and the better
to keep in and increase the current coin of this kingdom, be it enacted
that from and after the 1st day of August 1663 it shall and may be
lawful to and for any person or persons whatsoever to export out of any
port of England and Wales in which there is a customer or collector, or
out of the town of Berwick, all sorts of foreign coin or bullion of gold
or silver, first making an entry thereof in such customhouse
respectively, without paying any duty, custom, poundage, or fee for the
same, any law, statute, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding."

[Sidenote: FREE TRADE IN THE PRECIOUS METALS]

Standing so early and so almost completely alone as it does, this Act
evinces an unexampled prescience and boldness. It doubtless reflects the
commercial traditions of Holland, but that it should have been at a
single stroke transferred to England at a time when she was so
economically different and distant from Holland, needs make us pause in
admiration. The only parallel to it, if any, would arise if France
should suddenly, and by a single enactment, adopt to the full the Free
Trade policy of England. As a matter of fact this Act of 1663 proved
itself for a long time, and through many oscillations, impossible of
execution, and far into the eighteenth century the British Government
meddled, by legislation and proclamation, with the export of the
precious metals, and with the tariff of the coins, as will be seen
immediately. It was not till 1780 that a similar Act was passed for
Ireland.

In 1803 the Lords of the Treasury were by statute authorised to grant
licences for the exportation of silver bullion without any such
certificate or document whatsoever as had been required by the statute
of 6 and 7 Wm. III. c. 17, sect. 5.

It was almost a century after this action of England that France
followed in the same path. By a proclamation of 7th October 1755,
permission was given to the free commerce in precious metals and in
foreign monies. But in the case of France, as in that of England, the
enactment was not immediately nor fully realisable. The exportation of
the national specie was still forbidden, and more than once the State
found itself obliged to return to the question of the tariffing of its
coinage.

It is this vacillation--a vacillation, however, which must in every
instance be attributed to sheer State necessity--which makes it
impossible to trace in detail and point by point the fall of so much of
the Mercantile System as concerned the regulating of international
movements of metals. The _practice_ of the commercial world was
doubtless in advance of the legislator's standpoint, as indicated by
such detached references, and was effectual in completing the revolution
silently and under the surface, whether by the aid or in spite of laws
and proclamations. The same had been the case, e.g., with the old usury
laws.

When effected there are two highly important results which stand as the
outcome of this change in the theory of international commerce.

1. The perception of a right theory of international balances opened the
way to the separation of finance or currency phenomena pure and simple,
and so prepared the ground for a scientific conception and treatment of
them. In one direction this treatment resulted in the evolution of a
theory and practice of a monometallic system--one, i.e., in which a
single metal was made the legal tender, and a second or third metal
bound to it in a hard-and-fast, subordinate relationship, so that they
could not by their oscillations injuriously affect the tenderable metal.
In another direction the same scientific conception and treatment
resulted in the evolution (and after a time the practice) of a
bimetallic theory. Modern currency history hinges on the antagonism of
these two systems.

[Sidenote: FUNCTION OF DISCOUNTS IN MODERN SYSTEM]

This statement of the case will serve to show the enormous difference
between nineteenth-century currency situations and problems and those of
mediæval and seventeenth-century Europe. To-day the point at issue is
between definitely and scientifically conceived rival theories, and the
_practical_ difficulty before the world is how to provide, not so much a
permanent ratio, as a permanent rate of international settlement between
countries using different monetary systems, between silver-using and
gold-using countries. In the seventeenth century there was no conception
of theory at all, and the practical difficulty was how to frustrate the
operations of the bullionist and arbitragist and politicians, and the
depletion of national treasure due to their activity, and based on a
difference of ratio prevailing in different countries.

2. The second practical outcome of the revolution was the development of
the modern system of control of the flow of gold balances, viz. by means
of the bank rate and the arbitrage transactions depending thereon, and
on interest and discount rates generally.

The modern theory of international trade does not say that between two
particular countries, or at any one particular point of time there is an
equivalence of exchange, but that between a circle of commercially
interconnected countries, and over a certain cycle of time or
operations, there is an equivalence of exchange of goods and services.
Movements of currency in the most elementary form assist the process, as
far as immediate settlements are concerned; bills of exchange assist it
when there is need of deferred payments, as, for instance, when a
country imports steadily all the year round, but has only one export
time, say after harvest; and, finally, bank and discount rates assist
the process by providing currency media at times and places which would
otherwise be unable to attract a supply. Over the whole circle of
completed operations there is equilibrium of exchange, and the machinery
by which that equilibrium is accomplished is currency in the widest
sense. The index or indicator and safety-valve of the whole is the rate
of interest. On these bank rates are based the operations of the modern
bullion dealers or arbitragists, which serve to equalise or economise
the distribution of the precious metals all over the world.

It will be seen at a glance, therefore, that they fulfil, in an
automatic and perfectly natural manner, all that was vainly attempted to
be accomplished by the repressive savage action of the State, and the
interfering unscientific handling of the Mint and coinage rates. It is
in this feature that the great distinction between the modern and the
seventeenth-century world consists. Such a difference can only be based
upon, and have arisen from, a true theory of international trade. But
the process of development which alone made it possible--the development
of modern banking, the invention of paper currency media, the breaking
down of international trade restrictions, all the mechanical and
scientific inventions which have resulted in the binding of the world
together in one whole as far as commerce is concerned,--all this would
comprise in brief the essential features of the complete commercial
development of two centuries or more, and how far they are related as
cause or effect it would be hard to say.

In this secondary period, therefore, the separate history of each
individual state gradually loses its distinct or isolated importance, as
far as mere Mint edicts are concerned. As a consequence the bimetallic
action which we have hitherto sought in the history of each individual
currency must now increasingly be sought in the wider field of the world
currency, that congeries or completed whole of currency of which each
national system now forms only a part, and that not an independent part.


France.

In this third period the first change which France made in her silver
monies was in 1674, when she for a time coined 4-sol. pieces of a
quality below that of the _écus blancs_ by more than a fifth. A great
outcry was made by the Mint officers and mercantile community against
this money as implying a debasement.

In 1679 there was a noticeable quantity of Spanish _pistoles_ and large
_écus d'or_ in circulation, and as a remedy it was ordered that they
should be recoined into _louis d'or_ and _louis d'argent,_ the King
offering to forego the seignorage as an inducement to bring them to the
Mint. In 1686, however, the louis d'or itself was raised from 10 livres
to 11 livres 10 sols., and the ratio thus changed to 15-1/2. This being
found greatly in excess, in the following year it was lowered to 11
livres 5 sols. (a ratio of 15-1/4). In 1689 both silver and gold were
again raised, the _louis d'or_ to 11 livres 12 sols. and the _louis
d'argent_ to 3 livres 2 sols., but almost immediately a general
recoinage was resolved upon. In this great operation, effected towards
the close of 1689, the weight and standard of the previous coinage was
exactly retained, but the louis d'or was issued at 12 livres 10 sols.
and the louis d'argent at 3 livres 6 sols. Only two years later again
the standard had to be altered, and the value of 1693 somewhat raised.
It will give some slight idea of the sapping of the coinage that the
pieces which in 1691 were minted at 12 livres 10 sols. were, in 1693,
called in at a valuation of 11 livres 14 sols. The new species of 1693
were issued at 13 livres and 3 livres 8 sols. respectively.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: THE REFORM OF 1726]

Ten years later a third recoinage was ordered, the louis d'or being
issued at 15 livres, and the louis d'argent at 4 livres. By 1709 these
species had sunk in equivalence to 12 livres 15 sols. and 3 livres 8
sols. respectively. In that same year, however, their issue value was
raised to 20 livres and 5 livres. This extraordinary and arbitrary
action was greatly to the detriment of French commerce, and the idea was
entertained of gradually reinducing the standard of 14 livres and 3
livres 10 sols. This was ordered by proclamation of 30th September 1713,
which was to continue in force till 1715. In the latter year a
reformation of the coinage was again undertaken, the reformed species
rising to 20 livres and 5 livres, and the worn species remaining at 16
livres and 4 livres. From this latter date up to 1721 the operations of
the financier John Law wrought great disasters in the monies. At the
time of the erection of the bank, 2nd May 1716, there were four species
of _louis d'or_ and three of _louis d'argent_. By 1720 the former had
grown to forty in number and the latter to ten. (For the disorders of
the period of John Law, see the account of French monetary system,
Appendix VI.) It was to remedy this disorder that the great edict of
1726 was enacted. This edict, which formed the basis of the French
currency system almost up to the days of the Revolution, prescribed the
minting of louis d'or at a tale of 30 to the mark, and issued at a value
of 20 livres; and of silver écus at 8-3/10 to the mark and issued at 5
livres--divisional coins in proportion. The legal ratio was therefore
14-5/8. All foreign coins and the ancient species of gold and silver
were decried, and ordered to be brought in for reminting. All the
prohibitive regulations of an old régime against cutting and export,
etc., were re-enacted with severest penalties. But as the rate at which
the Mint was ordered to take in the old coinage did not represent the
commercial value at the moment, the old coins were not brought in, and
up to as late as 1749 the recoinage had not been accomplished, although
the Mint prices had been at different times advanced on the whole a
matter of 30 per cent. or more. In 1759 the want of currency had become
so great that the King sent his plate to the Mint, and numbers of
private individuals followed his example, receiving in reimbursement
part payment at the rate of 861 livres 5 sols. 10 den. for the mark of
fine gold, and of 59 livres 5 sols. 10 den. for the mark of fine silver.

This latter tariff underwent no change until 1771, when, under the
pretext of the changes which foreign coinage tariffs had undergone,
those terms were fixed respectively at 709 livres and 48 livres 9 sols.

In this résumé the mention of billon money has been generally avoided,
as unduly complicating the subject. But in the legislative action of
France in the eighteenth century there is one act which necessitates a
momentary departure from this standpoint.

In 1738 the Government of the United Provinces diminished the value of
their _sols._ by one-half. The French Government fearing that this
diminution would lead to an immense influx of such sols. decided to
follow suit. By a decree of August 1st of the same year, 1738, it was
ordered that the _Douzains_ and pieces of thirty deniers should have
course only for eighteen deniers. The important point to notice in
connection with this is that, in order to mitigate the effect of this
reduction, the same decree limited the tender of such billon money. It
was ordered that in payments up to 400 livres not more than 10 livres
should be tenderable in billon, and for payments of more than 400 livres
not more than 1/40 of the total. The restriction was ineffectual in
preventing either the import of foreign billon specie or the operations
of billonage or arbitrage, based on the differentiated value of the
various kinds of billon circulating. This is quite evident from the
preamble of the edict of the following October, 1738, which attempted
the calling in of the 30-denier pieces, in order to put a stop to the
process.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: THE REFORM OF 1785]

Such a failure is quite in keeping with all previous experience as
recorded in these pages, and deserves no special reference. The point to
note is rather the gradual evolution and adoption of the idea of
limiting the tender of the lower species, so as to contract their action
on the main species of the currency. This idea forms the complement of
the idea of an agio, involved in the issue of fractional coins on a
lower standard or basis than that of the greater specie. The one idea
was--in long, over-long, periods i.e.--impracticable without the other;
but together, when finally evolved, thoroughly seized and put in
practice, they formed the main basis of the truest modern currency
system.

To return to the pure gold and silver species. The basis of 1726
remained at law unaltered until 1785. The edict of the 30th October of
that year commanded a recoinage; no change was made in the silver
coinage, which remained according to the tariff of May 1773, namely, 52
livres 9 sols. 2 den. to the mark fine. By the alteration of the tariff
of gold, however, to 828 livres 12 sols. to the mark fine, the ratio of
14-5/8, which had nominally prevailed since 1726, was altered to the
memorable 15-1/2. The reason was explicitly stated to be the increase in
the value of gold during several preceding years--an increase which had
banished or detained gold from the French Mint and even from France.

Writing in 1785, the minister, Calonne, who proposed and executed the
recoinage in that year, spoke thus:--

"In 1726 the legal ratio was fixed in France at 14 marks 5 oz. of
silver, to a mark of gold, and that which proves with how much sagacity
this point was seized is the fact that during a long course of years
France retained in her circulating medium a sufficiently large
proportion of each metal. Nevertheless, her gold gradually became less
common, and for some years this scarcity has rapidly increased, and this
precisely because its legal value has always remained the same, while
its metallic value has increased from year to year."

He estimated the amount of livres in _louis d'or_ existing in the
country at the time of the recoinage, 1785, as 650 million livres, which
amounted to only a half of the total coinage (1300 million livres) of
the period 1726-85. What seems to have determined Calonne to adopt
15-1/2 was the fact that Spain had the legal ratio of 16, and that there
was a probability that, in future, gold would rise in value. As for the
market price, he admits that it was only 15.08-15.12 in 1785. The
recoinage, therefore, brought a profit of 7,255,216 livres to the King's
purse, and a profit of 21,600,000 livres to the holders of the old
_louis d'or_.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: CALONNE'S POLICY IN 1785]

His policy was severely criticised in a report made in 1790 to the
National Assembly, which proposed a silver standard, with an authorised
circulation of gold coins at the ratio of 14-7/9 and the abolition of
seigniorage. It is well known that this was nearer to the market rate.
Calonne's ratio, therefore, must be regarded as arbitrary and designing.
Practically, the latter recommendation of the committee's paper of 1790
had been conceded in the decree of 30th October 1785, as the seigniorage
was by it allowed to be no more than the net cost of reminting.

By this celebrated edict of Calonne's, which also enacted a recoinage,
the right of seigniorage was practically finally relinquished for
France. Fixity was given to silver as the principal money, and a
definite ratio was established at which gold was to circulate by its
side. In these, its chief points or characteristics, it formed the exact
model for the later Act of Republican France, which is ignorantly looked
upon as having created the bimetallic system. The Act of 7 Germinal an
XI. did but re-enact and perpetuate the edict of 1785.

It is important to reaffirm and emphasise this point, as quite wild and
blind estimates have been formed of the later action of Republican
France. In merest fact, that later action created no new order, it
instituted no new idea, it did not even promulgate its own theory.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: CURRENCY LEGISLATION AT REVOLUTION]

Republican France began her reform of the currency in a very temporary
and opportunist manner by issuing a mass of inferior monies of 15 and
30 sous pieces to form the basis of the assignats, and to replace the
gold and silver which had almost entirely disappeared from circulation.
In the decree of 16 Vendémière an II. (7th October 1793), however, the
question of standard was approached, and decided in a remarkable manner.
The monetary unit was decreed to consist of the hundredth part of a
kilogram, named _grave_, represented (1) by a piece of silver 9/10 fine
and weighing 10 grms., (2) by a piece of gold of the same weight and
standard, to be current at 15 times the value of the silver piece.

This decree remained a dead letter, and two years later the _franc_ was
definitively adopted as the base of the French system. As determined by
the two laws of 28 Thermidor an III. (15th August 1795), that system was
based upon the silver franc (weighing 5 grms. 9/10 fine). A gold coinage
was ordained, of the same fineness, in a piece of 10 grms. weight, but
the ratio of value of the gold to the unit franc was not fixed. This was
exactly the monetary system which Mirabeau had counselled in his memoirs
to the Assembly in 1790. The silver _5-franc_ pieces prescribed under
this system found acceptance, the bronze pieces were refused and had to
be withdrawn, and as to the gold piece, its issue was not even
attempted. Two years later the "Directoire" pronounced in favour of
maintaining the 10-grm. piece of gold, but demanded the fixation of its
value, proposing a ratio of 16:1. In opposition to this scheme, Prieur
submitted to the "Council of the Five Hundred" a project adopting the
silver and gold coinage, as already determined as above, but leaving the
value of the gold piece to fluctuate according to the market, its value
being declared twice annually by public announcement. After being
materially altered in the "Council of the Five Hundred," this scheme was
definitively rejected by the "Council of Senators," and for several
years the question of the monetary system of the Republic was allowed to
slumber. When, in the year X., the consideration of the subject was
resumed, it was at the instigation of the Consuls. At their desire the
Minister of Finance, Gaudin, laid before the Council of State a scheme
in which he proposed the issue of 20 and 40-franc gold pieces, of a
value based on the ratio enunciated in the edict of 1785, namely,
15-1/2. He was, at the same time, careful to explain that silver
remained the basis of the currency, and that the gold money could be
reissued if a different market compelled a change in the ratio. In his
report to the Consuls, Gaudin admits that the commercial ratio had for a
long time been under 15. The decisive point which led him to maintain
the ratio established in 1785 was, that to change the _status quo_ by
the adoption of 15 as a ratio would occasion great loss to the holder of
gold coins, and that there was no sufficient reason for so great a
change.

The Financial Committee of the Council of State at first rejected the
scheme, preferring that of Prieur, already described, but on an
inquest, ordered by the First Consul, who insisted on pressing the
matter to a conclusion, M. Gaudin carried his propositions through the
Council of State, but with the important difference that the reference
to any future change in the ratio of gold to the basis of silver was
tacitly dropped. These propositions became the foundation of the law of
7-17 Germinal an XI. (28th March 1803), on which the monetary system of
Republican France was finally built.

The _exposé des motifs_ of this law speaks of the gold coins in these
words:--

"The gold pieces up to the present in circulation are the pieces of 24
and 48 livres tournois. Article 6 of this law substitutes in their place
pieces of 20 and 40 francs. The adoption of the decimal system
necessitates this change, which brings all parts of the system into
accord. It is on the same consideration that the standard is fixed at
9/10, like that of silver."

Not a word is said as to the ratio, and much more stress is laid upon
the suppression of billon money and on the abolition of seigniorage, as
of greater importance and benefit to the nation's interests. By this law
of Germinal XI. the monetary unit of the French system was declared to
be the silver franc, weighing 5 grms. of 9/10 standard. By the side of
this franc and its multiples, were to be issued gold pieces of 20 and 40
francs, valued on a basis ratio of 15-1/2 to the silver.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: THE REFORM OF 1803]

It will be seen at a glance from the course of this previous history
that this law instituted no new principle, or theory, or system in
French currency. The decimal system was adopted in place of the old
system of livres tournois, seigniorage was abolished, and fixation of
value given to the unit money, and billon money discontinued. But in
matter of standard and system there was not even innovation. The system
of Republican France, as established by this law, was no more and no
less bimetallic than in 1785, or than in 1610, or in the days of Francis
I. Theories as such did not occupy the mind of the legislator, and of
any conception of a bimetallic theory or system such as we have learned
to know there is no trace. The First Consul found at hand the two metals
which had formed the currency of his country for centuries. The problem
of their regulation was the same which had been faced by his
predecessors for centuries, and he settled it in the same practical
untheoretic way.

It was only gradually that in its totality of coins the French monetary
system was made to conform to the metric system thus established. The
old gold coins of 12, 24, and 48 livres were not suppressed until June
1829, the actual extinction of billon money was only accomplished in
1845, and the recoinage of the inferior monies in 1852-56. But such are
mere matters of detail and apart from the subject.

The experience of France under this new régime is, therefore, in no wise
different _in kind_ from such experience as has been described for the
preceding centuries. It is not until the broaching of a bimetallic
theory as such, and until the expression of that theory, as a theory, in
the formation of the Latin Union, that anything like a special
significance attaches to the monetary system and experience of France in
the nineteenth century, any more, e.g., than in the seventeenth. The
main difference in the situation was not that France had changed her
system, and that her experience was henceforth different and of
different signification, but that England had changed hers, and that the
brunt of the fluctuations of the precious metals about a fixed ratio was
left to be borne by a smaller area. The influence and the instance is,
therefore, more telling in degree, but in no way different in kind.

The second idea which is commonly entertained with regard to the action
of France during this later period, viz. that her action secured for the
world at large a fixed and steady ratio, is equally--indeed, still
more--fallacious. At no point of time during the present century has the
actual market ratio, dependent on the commercial value of silver,
corresponded with the French ratio of 15-1/2, and at no point of time
has France been free from the disastrous influence of that want of
correspondence between the legal and the commercial ratio. The opposite
notion, which prevails and finds expression in the ephemeral bimetallic
literature of to-day, is simply due to ignorance. From 1815 England has
been withdrawn from this action of a bimetallic law, and the modern
insular pamphleteer has before his eyes no sign of its workings in his
own country. He therefore assumes an universality of such experience,
and attributes it to the French legislative ratio. It is in no polemic
spirit, but simply in the interest of science that this particular
misapplication of history to the squaring of a theory is to be branded.
The plainest facts of history are thereby absolutely misrepresented, and
the assumption of cause and effect is so far from being true that the
repose of the English currency history in the nineteenth century is to
be attributed to the _absence_ of a bimetallic system; to its despite
rather than its presence and influence. To instance only by France for
the moment.

[Sidenote: FRANCE: COURSE OF THE RATIO]

The course of the actual or market ratio has been already stated in the
table (_supra_, pp. 157-59). In the graphic representation of this
(_opposite_) the legal ratio of 15-1/2 is represented by the fixed line
_x.y._, the actual ratio by the fluctuating black line _z_. At no point
do these lines coincide. After three years of fluctuations, 1803-06, now
above and now below, the ratio sinks persistently below for seven years,
1807-13, touching the lowest point (a ratio of 16.24) in 1813. For the
succeeding five or six years, 1813-19, the ratio was as consistently
above the legal rate, though with less violence and width of divergence.
From the latter year, 1819, up to 1850, its course was undeviatingly
below 15-1/2, then from 1851-67--the period, i.e., of the great gold
outputs of Australia and America--as undeviatingly above. From the
last-named date until the close of the bimetallic system in France, and,
indeed, up to our own days, the course of the commercial ratio has been
again unbrokenly below the 15-1/2 ratio, and, as is too well known, with
an ever-increasing enormity of divergence.

So much for the claim that the French law has dowered the world with a
steady ratio.

_Secondly_, what has been the influence of this divergence of the
commercial from the legal ratio upon France's store of precious metals?
It has been exactly similar in effect and force with that wielded by
similar trains of event and circumstance, in the monetary history of
France during the four preceding centuries. The exact official figures
of the import and export of gold and silver are not obtainable before
1822, and in a continuous stream not before 1830 (separably for the two
metals, that is to say).[15]

[Sidenote: FRANCE: BIMETALLIC EXPERIENCE, 1803-75]

From the latter date, however, the testimony of the figures is as
explicit as it is forceful. From 1830 to 1850, while the ratio remained
continually below the legal 15-1/2, there was a profit on the import of
silver, and a persistent and heavy import took place. In 1830 the
(balance of the) silver imported amounted to a matter of 6 millions
sterling, in 1831 to 7-1/4 millions, in 1834 to 4 millions, in 1837 to
over 5-1/2 millions, in 1838 to nearly 5 millions, in 1841 to nearly 5
millions, in 1843 over 4 millions, in 1848 to over 8-1/2 millions, and
in 1849 to nearly 10 millions. There was not a single year that was not
accompanied by this import, and over the whole twenty-two years the
total of importations reached the enormous figure of, approximately, 92
millions sterling. It must be clearly understood that this sum
represents not the gross but the net importation or balance of imports
over exports, and that the money passed into the currency of the
country, taking its place as such and displacing gold _pari passu_. The
movement of gold in the same time is represented by the red line in the
accompanying diagram. Within the limits of very considerable exceptions,
the correspondence of its fluctuations with those of gold is clearly
perceptible. The silver, on whose coinage a profit or premium was
offered by the existing French law to individuals, could only be bought
or paid for by the export of gold or services and goods. During these
years, 1830-50, it was quite apparently by the latter method, namely, by
remittance of goods, as on the whole period there is a slight gain of
gold, nearly 3 millions, contrary to what bimetallic law would have led
to expect. The correspondence, however--a simultaneity--of the two
movements, of import of silver and export of gold, is strongly marked in
the years 1834-39 and 1841-48, and the failure of correspondence of the
totals is to be explained by the statistics of French foreign trade
balances during the years named.

With the year 1852, the decisive change in the ratio sets in with the
new gold influx. The ratio rises above the 15.5 of the French law, and
the profit on the importation and coining of silver vanishes. Its place
is taken by a corresponding profit on the importation and coinage of
gold. The fourteen years during which the ratio remained above the legal
15-1/2 witnessed the importation into France of a total net (or balance)
of gold to the amount of 135 millions sterling, and a total net or
balance of exportation of silver of 66-2/3 millions sterling. The
coincidence of actual fluctuation will best be seen by the graphic
representation of it in the table. With 1865 the final and, so far as
the nineteenth century is concerned, the fatal change of the commercial
ratio sets in. It sinks persistently and increasingly below the legal
15-1/2, in face and spite of the united mintings of the Latin Union, and
at once the premium on the importation and coinage of gold changes into
one on silver. From 1865 to 1875, one year before the abandonment of the
coinage of the 5-franc piece and the consequent relinquishment by France
of the bimetallic system, her net imports of silver amounted to 56
millions sterling.

As far as these figures of import and export are concerned, they show
only the _final_ results of the action of bimetallic law. The metal on
whose importation and minting a premium was obtainable _was_ imported,
and in large quantities. That is the single fact standing out in large.
The reciprocal fact--of a corresponding export of the metal over whose
head the premium offered--does not emerge so distinctly, simply by
reason of the complication of the subject of exports of metals with the
wider general movement of trade balances. It also is, however,
distinctly perceptible and demonstrable. But this is to speak only in
large and of final results. What the intermediate course of events--of
see-saw and flux, was, can only be adequately grasped from the records
of the mintings, conjoined with the records of net import or export of
the two metals.

TABLE OF THE NET IMPORTS OR EXPORTS OF GOLD IN FRANCE UNDER THE
        BIMETALLIC LAW, 1822-75.

  +------+------------+------------++------+-------------+-------------+
  |      |    Net     |    Net     ||      |     Net     |    Net      |
  | Year.|   Import   |   Export   || Year.|    Import   |   Export    |
  |      |  (Francs). |  (Francs). ||      |   (Francs). |  (Francs).  |
  +------+------------+------------++------+-------------+-------------+
  | 1822 |  4,000,000 |    ...     || 1852 |  17,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1823 |    ...     | 19,000,000 || 1853 | 289,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1824 | 37,000,000 |    ...     || 1854 | 416,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1830 | 10,000,000 |    ...     || 1855 | 218,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1831 | 10,000,000 |    ...     || 1856 | 375,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1832 |    ...     | 39,000,000 || 1857 | 446,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1833 | 24,000,000 |    ...     || 1858 | 488,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1834 |    ...     |  7,000,000 || 1859 | 539,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1835 |    ...     | 20,000,000 || 1860 | 311,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1836 |    ...     | 14,000,000 || 1861 |     ...     |  24,000,000 |
  | 1837 |    ...     |  6,000,000 || 1862 | 165,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1838 |    ...     |  4,000,000 || 1863 |  12,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1839 | 24,000,000 |    ...     || 1864 | 125,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1840 | 49,000,000 |    ...     || 1865 | 150,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1841 |    ...     |  5,000,000 || 1866 | 465,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1842 |    ...     | 12,000,000 || 1867 | 409,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1843 |    ...     | 41,000,000 || 1868 | 212,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1844 |    ...     |  6,000,000 || 1869 | 275,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1845 |    ...     | 14,000,000 || 1870 | 119,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1846 |    ...     |  9,000,000 || 1871 |     ...     | 214,000,000 |
  | 1847 |    ...     | 13,000,000 || 1872 |     ...     |  53,000,000 |
  | 1848 | 38,000,000 |    ...     || 1873 |     ...     | 108,000,000 |
  | 1849 |  6,000,000 |    ...     || 1874 | 431,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1850 | 17,000,000 |    ...     || 1875 | 454,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1851 | 85,000,000 |    ...     ||      |     ...     |     ...     |
  +------+------------+------------++------+-------------+-------------+

TABLE OF THE MOVEMENT OF SILVER DURING THE SAME PERIOD.

  +------+-------------+-----------++------+-------------+-------------+
  |      |    Net      |    Net    ||      |    Net      |    Net      |
  | Year.|   Import    |   Export  || Year.|   Import    |   Export    |
  |      |  (Francs).  | (Francs). ||      |  (Francs).  |  (Francs).  |
  +------+-------------+-----------++------+-------------+-------------+
  | 1822 | 125,000,000 |    ...    || 1852 |     ...     |   3,000,000 |
  | 1823 | 114,000,000 |    ...    || 1853 |     ...     | 117,000,000 |
  | 1824 | 124,000,000 |    ...    || 1854 |     ...     | 164,000,000 |
  | 1830 | 151,000,000 |    ...    || 1855 |     ...     | 197,000,000 |
  | 1831 | 181,000,000 |    ...    || 1856 |     ...     | 284,000,000 |
  | 1832 |  60,000,000 |    ...    || 1857 |     ...     | 360,000,000 |
  | 1833 |  75,000,000 |    ...    || 1858 |     ...     |  15,000,000 |
  | 1834 | 101,000,000 |    ...    || 1859 |     ...     | 171,000,000 |
  | 1835 |  74,000,000 |    ...    || 1860 |     ...     | 157,000,000 |
  | 1836 |  27,000,000 |    ...    || 1861 |     ...     |  62,000,000 |
  | 1837 | 144,000,000 |    ...    || 1862 |     ...     |  86,000,000 |
  | 1838 | 120,000,000 |    ...    || 1863 |     ...     |  68,000,000 |
  | 1839 |  75,000,000 |    ...    || 1864 |     ...     |  42,000,000 |
  | 1840 |  96,000,000 |    ...    || 1865 |  72,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1841 | 117,000,000 |    ...    || 1866 |  45,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1842 |  92,000,000 |    ...    || 1867 | 189,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1843 | 103,000,000 |    ...    || 1868 | 109,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1844 |  82,000,000 |    ...    || 1869 | 112,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1845 |  90,000,000 |    ...    || 1870 |  35,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1846 |  47,000,000 |    ...    || 1871 |  15,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1847 |  53,000,000 |    ...    || 1872 | 102,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1848 | 214,000,000 |    ...    || 1873 | 181,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1849 | 244,000,000 |    ...    || 1874 | 360,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1850 |  73,000,000 |    ...    || 1875 | 194,000,000 |     ...     |
  | 1851 |  78,000,000 |    ...    ||      |             |             |
  +------+-------------+-----------++------+-------------+-------------+

TABLE OF THE COINAGE OF GOLD IN FRANCE, 1803-75, DURING THE BIMETALLIC
        RÉGIME.

  +------+-------------+-------------++------+-------------+-------------+
  |      |             |             ||      |             |             |
  | Year.|    Gold     |   Silver    || Year.|    Gold     |   Silver    |
  |      |  (Francs).  |  (Francs).  ||      |  (Francs).  |  (Francs).  |
  +------+-------------+-------------++------+-------------+-------------+
  | 1803 |  10,209,840 |  23,171,988 || 1810 |  46,070,600 |  57,170,216 |
  | 1804 |  38,463,980 |  47,517,195 || 1811 | 132,135,740 | 256,399,040 |
  | 1805 |  20,474,500 |  46,385,909 || 1812 |  97,717,880 | 160,786,409 |
  | 1806 |  38,533,760 |  25,241,651 || 1813 |  62,659,680 | 134,900,313 |
  | 1807 |  18,019,920 |   5,008,903 || 1814 |  64,544,720 |  61,244,121 |
  | 1808 |  32,311,260 |  67,833,922 || 1815 |  55,379,840 |  37,673,806 |
  | 1809 |  15,206,440 |  44,296,494 || 1816 |  15,151,280 |  34,917,526 |
  +------+-------------+-------------++------+-------------+-------------+

TABLE OF THE COINAGE OF GOLD IN FRANCE, 1803-75, DURING THE BIMETALLIC
        RÉGIME--_continued_.

  +------+-------------+-------------++------+-------------+-------------+
  |      |             |             ||      |             |             |
  | Year.|    Gold     |   Silver    || Year.|    Gold     |   Silver    |
  |      |  (Francs).  |  (Francs).  ||      |  (Francs).  |  (Francs).  |
  +------+-------------+-------------++------+-------------+-------------+
  | 1817 |  52,197,080 |  37,143,579 || 1847 |   7,706,020 |  78,285,157 |
  | 1818 |  95,410,460 |  12,406,076 || 1848 |  39,697,740 | 119,731,095 |
  | 1819 |  52,410,660 |  21,235,077 || 1849 |  27,109,560 | 206,548,663 |
  | 1820 |  28,781,080 |  18,436,620 || 1850 |  85,192,390 |  86,458,485 |
  | 1821 |     404,140 |  67,533,866 || 1851 | 269,709,570 |  59,327,308 |
  | 1822 |   4,718,100 | 100,679,137 || 1852 |  27,028,270 |  71,918,445 |
  | 1823 |     408,180 |  82,911,680 || 1853 | 312,964,020 |  20,099,488 |
  | 1824 |   7,071,700 | 114,476,007 || 1854 | 526,528,200 |   2,123,887 |
  | 1825 |  45,616,360 |  75,203,291 || 1855 | 447,427,820 |  25,500,305 |
  | 1826 |     925,540 |  90,835,623 || 1856 | 508,281,995 |  54,422,214 |
  | 1827 |   3,160,940 | 153,868,978 || 1857 | 572,561,225 |   3,809,611 |
  | 1828 |   8,025,740 | 161,466,133 || 1858 | 488,689,635 |   8,663,568 |
  | 1829 |   1,118,180 | 102,642,617 || 1859 | 702,697,790 |   8,401,813 |
  | 1830 |  23,516,640 | 120,187,089 || 1860 | 428,452,425 |   8,034,198 |
  | 1831 |  49,641,380 | 205,223,764 || 1861 |  98,216,400 |   2,518,049 |
  | 1832 |   2,046,260 | 141,353,915 || 1862 | 214,241,990 |   2,519,397 |
  | 1833 |  16,799,780 | 157,482,863 || 1863 | 210,230,640 |     329,610 |
  | 1834 |  30,231,200 | 218,288,304 || 1864 | 273,843,765 |   7,296,609 |
  | 1835 |   4,550,060 |  99,966,149 || 1865 | 161,886,835 |   9,222,394 |
  | 1836 |   5,097,040 |  43,242,399 || 1866 | 365,082,925 |  44,821,409 |
  | 1837 |   2,026,740 | 111,858,697 || 1867 | 198,579,510 | 113,758,539 |
  | 1838 |   4,940,140 |  88,489,324 || 1868 | 340,076,685 | 129,445,268 |
  | 1839 |  20,670,000 |  73,637,742 || 1869 |  34,186,190 |  68,175,897 |
  | 1840 |  40,998,240 |  63,795,527 || 1870 |  55,394,800 |  69,051,256 |
  | 1841 |  12,375,060 |  77,517,941 || 1871 |  50,169,880 |  23,878,499 |
  | 1842 |   1,852,720 |  68,391,170 || 1872 |     --      |  26,838,369 |
  | 1843 |   2,826,600 |  74,148,998 || 1873 |     --      | 156,270,160 |
  | 1844 |   2,742,260 |  69,134,980 || 1874 |  24,319,700 |  60,609,988 |
  | 1845 |     119,140 |  89,967,609 || 1875 | 234,912,000 |  75,000,000 |
  | 1846 |   2,086,420 |  47,886,145 ||      |             |             |
  +------+-------------+-------------++------+-------------+-------------+

During the years 1820-50, when the ratio remained below the legal 15-1/2
and there was a profit on the import of silver, the total silver coinage
of the French Mint amounted to £127,458,322, while that of gold reached
only £19,333,854. In the succeeding period, 1850-66, when the ratio
changed and remained for fifteen or sixteen years in favour of gold,
the total gold coinage reached £292,416,951, while the total silver
coinage was scarcely more than 1-1/4 millions (£1,315,532).

At the beginning of this second period, 1851, the Bank of France held in
its reserves approximately only 3-1/2 millions sterling of gold, whereas
its silver amounted to more than 19 millions. At the close of the period
indicated, 1866, the bank was holding 23 millions sterling of gold
against nearly 5-1/2 millions of silver. In the former case the
proportion of silver formed 85 per cent. of the total, in the latter
only 19 per cent.

TABLE OF THE RESERVES OF THE BANK OF FRANCE, 1851-76.

  +------+--------+--------+-----------++------+--------+--------+-----------+
  |      |  Gold  | Silver |  Percent  ||      |  Gold  | Silver |  Percent  |
  | Year.|(Million|(Million| of Silver || Year.|(Million|(Million| of Silver |
  |      |Francs).|Francs).| to Total. ||      |Francs).|Francs).| to Total. |
  +------+--------+--------+-----------++------+--------+--------+-----------+
  | 1851 |    83  |   478  |    85     || 1864 |   273  |    94  |    27     |
  | 1852 |    69  |   442  |    86     || 1865 |   238  |   208  |    44     |
  | 1853 |   102  |   214  |    67     || 1866 |   576  |   136  |    19     |
  | 1854 |   301  |   193  |    39     || 1867 |   697  |   318  |    31     |
  | 1855 |    72  |   147  |    66     || 1868 |   662  |   474  |    42     |
  | 1856 |    94  |   104  |    53     || 1869 |   461  |   798  |    63     |
  | 1857 |   110  |   126  |    52     || 1870 |   429  |    69  |    14     |
  | 1858 |   294  |   260  |    47     || 1871 |   554  |    80  |    13     |
  | 1859 |   250  |   329  |    56     || 1872 |   656  |   134  |    17     |
  | 1860 |   144  |   272  |    65     || 1873 |   611  |   148  |    19     |
  | 1861 |   225  |   100  |    30     || 1874 |  1013  |   314  |    24     |
  | 1862 |   187  |   108  |    36     || 1875 |  1168  |   504  |    30     |
  | 1863 |   119  |    72  |    37     || 1876 |  1349  |   540  |    28-1/2 |
  +------+--------+--------+-----------++------+--------+--------+-----------+

The statistics of the Latin Union, up to the suspension of the
bimetallic system will be separately dealt with.

Speaking only of the experience of France during these years of
bimetallic régime, the ebbing and flowing experience which has
throughout been instanced as the chief characteristic of such régime is
most strongly marked. The legal ratio did not give the market ratio, and
so far was it from giving France a stable currency, it was the one thing
which unsettled it and made a stable currency impossible. The _exposé
des motifs_ of the law of 1876, which will be referred to in another
connection below, puts the matter with official brevity. "The variations
of the commercial from legal 15-1/2 ratio remained normal during the
years 1824-67. All the same they sufficed to modify greatly the
composition of the French circulation. After the predominance of silver,
which became marked in 1847, the ratio from 1847-67 introduced gold in a
large proportion, and measures had to be taken to retain in France the
smaller silver coinage. Our silver _monnaie d'appoint_ of .835 fine was
created for this purpose."

To regard this question from a theoretic and international point of
view, to the exclusion of any regard for the separate national interests
of France, is a sheer absurdity. It mattered little or nothing to France
that by unloading the stores of silver she happened to possess at the
time of the gold discoveries of the Fifties she helped to steady the
ratio for the world at large. It did however matter, and very much, that
this process of exchange from the one metal to the other was attended
with public loss, balanced only by illicit private gain, and with a
disturbance of trade in every town of France through the disappearance
of the smaller silver specie. Whether or not France or any other country
is called upon to sacrifice herself thus--not once but every time the
ratio fluctuates from below to above the legal ratio or _vice
versa_--for the sake of an ideal, bimetallic, regulating, function, let
common sense decide.

The French monetary commission of 1867 speaks thus of the situation--

"It is well known by all that this ratio [of 1803] by the simple reason
of its being fixed could not remain correct. There was quickly a premium
on gold, and silver remained almost alone in circulation until near
1850. The discovery of the mines of California and Australia suddenly
changed this situation by throwing into the European market a very
considerable quantity of gold. By the side of this force, which tended
to create a divergence from the legal ratio by lowering gold, there was
another which occasioned a rise of silver. Under the influence of
various circumstances, too long to enumerate, the needs of the extreme
East had grown in unusual proportions, and as silver is alone in favour
there, it was exported in enormous masses. There was a premium on silver
to the extent of 8 per mille, and it disappeared almost completely from
circulation, yielding place to gold.

"Preoccupied by the situation the Government charged a commission to
study the measures to be taken. Its labours are summed up in the report
of M. de Bosredon (1857). After examining the system tending to
preserve silver money intact by lowering the value of gold money, and
conversely the system tending to the adoption of the gold standard by
reducing the silver money to the state of billon, the commission did not
decide between them. It confined itself, in fact, to counselling the
Government to a transitory step--the raising of the export duties on
silver.... The exportation of silver, therefore, continued; and if the
disappearance of 5-franc pieces was not remarked, because they were
replaced by gold, it was not the same with the scarcity of pieces of a
smaller value employed in petty payments.

"Being informed of the obstruction to retail commerce by complaints
carried before the Senate, and instructed by the example of Switzerland,
which had in 1860 reduced the standard of its divisional money, the
Minister of Finance appointed a commission, 1861, to study the remedy to
be applied to the evil. This commission counselled the reduction of the
standard of pieces of less than 5-francs to .834 fine. It did this in
complete knowledge of the cause, fully recognising that in so doing the
monetary unity of silver, characteristic of our system, would be thereby
broken, at anyrate for its circulating form; for while the franc no
longer existed in law, the 5-franc was disappearing in fact, so that the
change was equivalent to the establishment of a gold standard."

This advice of the commission was however, by the law of 1864, applied
only to pieces of 50 or 20 centimes.

The next step in the process was the formation of the Latin Union in the
year following. The above-quoted commission speaks of the intentional
aspect of this Union in these words: "This convention places in the
front rank gold money, and reduces the pieces of silver of 2 francs and
less to the _rôle_ of token money. It therefore definitely determines
[_consacre_] the ascendency of the gold francs, and solves practical
difficulties arising from the double standard."

This was written in 1867, less than two years after the formation of the
Latin Union. It is not the view which prevails among bimetallists to-day
as to the purpose and intentional bearing of that Union; but it is the
historic truth none the less, and it was only the complete revolution in
the conditions of production of the precious metals which made itself
felt from 1871, which has given the Latin Union the aspect of a
theoretic concert for the maintenance of, rather than as a defence
against, a bimetallic system. If silver had not fallen in 1871 the Latin
Union would still be the bulwark of defence of bimetallic France against
the action of bimetallic law.

[Sidenote: THE LATIN UNION]

The formation of the Latin Union, therefore, was a measure of defence
against the action of the bimetallic system in those countries which had
adopted the monetary system of France, and lay exposed to all its
disastrous fluctuations. The first and moving factor in its formation
was Belgium. So far as related to silver, Belgium had adopted the French
system by her monetary law of 5th June 1832. By the first article of
this law the monetary unit was fixed at the silver franc of 5 grms.
weight, and 9 fineness. For years Belgium endeavoured to maintain this
law in its integrity. Public opinion, however, demanded the admission of
French gold at its normal value, and this was conceded and decreed by
the law of 4th June 1861. From that moment she felt all the oscillating
movement which France was experiencing. The declaration of Article 1. of
the law of 1832 became a dead letter; the gold standard took the place
of the silver standard, and equally with France, Italy, and Switzerland,
Belgium had to witness the disappearance of her small silver coins. To
the previous abundance there succeeded a penury of small change,
although the drain was not so immediately felt because of large reserve
of silver 5-franc pieces (amounting to 48 millions of francs) held by
the National Bank. In slightly over a year, 1st June 1861 to 8th
November 1862, this stock of 48,645,000 francs had sunk to 14,629,000
francs, and in alarm the National Bank ceased, on the latter date, all
payments in 5-franc pieces. Concurrently with this drain of the 5-franc
pieces, the reserve of silver coins of less value began to be seriously
affected by the sapping influence. During the two following years,
1861-63, there was little commerce in the precious metals owing to the
American war. But in 1863 the movement of drain recommenced. The
reserve of 5-franc pieces and the stock of divisional coins of lower
denomination fell rapidly, to so low a point indeed as to become quite
insufficient for the ordinary trade and small change demanded of the
country. After a slight recovery in September 1865, the same downward
course continued. The smaller coins, of 1-franc piece, and 50 centimes
became so scarce that the bank could not supply the demands of
manufacturers for the payment of wages, and the Government had to have
resort to the coinage of nickel for small divisional money. The
simultaneous experience of Switzerland and Italy is not so capable of
statement and exact expression. But it was similar in kind. Previous to
1865 a net balance of over 12 millions sterling (consisting almost if
not entirely of silver) had left Italy, and it was known to be the
danger of entirely losing her silver which led Italy to the suspension
of cash payments on 30th April 1866, and to her acquiescence in the
Latin Union. It was not, however, Italy, but Belgium who first raised
the note of alarm. Conscious that her monetary community with France
made any independent efforts quite futile, the Belgium Government
proposed to France a monetary union for all the countries which had
adopted the franc as the basis of their currency. Taking up the
proposition France invited Italy and Switzerland, together with Belgium,
to send delegates to a monetary conference at Paris. At this conference
Belgium proposed the adoption of the single gold standard--the silver
pieces including the 5-franc pieces to be lowered by an agio, and made
divisional money. Italy and Switzerland were of the same opinion, but
their scheme failed before the opposition of France, and the final
outcome of the conference was the establishment of the convention of
23rd December 1865.

This convention, which instituted the Latin Union, came into force on
the 17th of August 1869; and under it one slight change was made in the
internal currency system of France. The hitherto full-valued silver
coinage from 2 francs downwards was changed into token money (being
reduced to .835 fine), the 5-franc piece remaining as full legal tender.

The union was to last for fifteen years. It established an identity in
the monetary system of the four powers, as far as weight and standard
were concerned, and prescribed free coinage for any individuals bringing
metals to the Mints--of gold into any form, and of silver into 5-franc
pieces; and reciprocal acceptance of those pieces in any of the States
of the union. Finally the minting of each State for national or currency
purposes was limited to 6 francs per head.

This limitation, together with the regulation adopted, that the
divisional coins should be issued at a rate inferior to that of the
monetary standard, must be regarded as a measure of mutual defence
against the sapping of the small coinage which had previously been
experienced. According to this clause the maximum of mintings for
national or currency purposes was presented thus--

                           Francs.
  For Belgium             32,000,000
  France                 239,000,000
  Italy                  141,000,000
  Switzerland             17,000,000

For a time everything bloomed, the minting went merrily on, and private
individuals (foreigners) reaped a profit at the expense of France. With
the heavy fall in the ratio which made itself marked in 1873, however,
events became too strong even for the Union, and Belgium took the
initiative by passing a law enabling her Government to suspend or limit
the coinage of the 5-franc piece. This principle was subsequently
adopted by all the states of the Latin Union. During the years, 1874-76,
three annual conferences of the Union were held at Paris, with the
result that the limitation of the coinage of the 5-franc piece was fixed
thus--

                      1874.             1875.            1876.
  Belgium          12,000,000        15,000,000       10,800,000
  France           60,000,000        75,000,000       54,000,000
  Italy            60,000,000        50,000,000       36,000,000
  Switzerland       8,000,000        10,000,000        7,200,000
  Greece (which had acceded to the Union in 1868)     12,000,000

Of these states Switzerland alone did not coin up to her total, and at
the conference in February 1876 her delegates pressed strongly for the
entire cessation of the coinage of the 5-franc piece, and for the
adoption of a gold standard. In this she was strongly opposed by Italy.
The latter state, on account of the disappearance of her metallic
currency before the inconvertible paper, had no interest in the
limitation of the mintings of the Union. In the conference of 1874 she
even sought and was authorised to coin beyond the quota accorded her, by
a sum of not less than £800,000 in 5-franc pieces, on condition that
such amount should be deposited as a metallic reserve of the Bank of
Italy.

The force of circumstances, however, soon broke down even this policy of
limitation. In the course of 1876 the fall of silver became more
disastrously pronounced. In addition, it was no secret that the amounts
accorded by the conferences of 1874-75-76 for the mintings of each
state, had been assigned as maximum, not minimum limits, under the Latin
Union.[16]

The next Mint convention of November 1878 would determine the Latin
Union on the 31st December 1885, if not prolonged by further treaty. As
the time approached the smaller states, such as Belgium, which had
committed themselves to a large minting and thereby to the liability of
having to liquidate or take back its own mintings--such 5-franc pieces
as happened to be beyond its frontiers--at full value, in the face of a
greatly fallen silver market, shrank from the responsibility, and sought
and obtained a prolongation of the _status quo_ until the end of 1891,
and thenceforward by yearly agreement.

Finding that individuals treated the agreed amounts of mintings as a
minimum limit, the French Government resolved to suspend the minting of
the 5-franc pieces entirely. Accordingly, on the 21st March 1876, M.
Léon Say, Minister of Finance, submitted to the Senate a Bill to that
effect. It was followed, eight days later, by a proposition of a law
suspending the emission of "_bons_" for the coining of silver money 9/10
fine. The _exposé des motifs_ of this Act is most remarkable:--

"The events which have happened for some time past in the relations of
the precious metals have brought to a head the monetary question amongst
us, although from 1815 Great Britain has laid down principles which have
attracted round her an ever-increasing circle of nations.

"The theory of the double standard, on which our monetary law of the
year XI. reposes, has been called in question ever since its origin.

"It is, to our conception, less a theory than the result of the
primitive inability of the legislators to combine together the two
precious metals otherwise than by way of an unlimited
concurrence--metals, both of which are destined to enter into the
monetary system, but which recent legislators have learned to
co-ordinate by leaving the unlimited function to gold alone and
reducing silver to the rôle of divisional money. From 1857 the French
Government has studied the question, and it may be stated that since
that date the principle of the gold standard has won increasing favour
through our several administrations."

Then follows an account of the monetary history of France during the
period, as in brief résumé already given. "If," the preamble continues,
"from 1874, certain precautions had not been taken to arrest the effects
of that grave perturbation in the ratio, France and her monetary allies
would have seen their monetary circulation invaded by silver and
correspondingly drained of gold." Hence the conventions of 1874-75-76,
limiting the mintings of the members of the Latin Union, although,
"according to us, the fall of silver in 1875 prescribed a complete
cessation even for that year rather than a simple limitation."


Germany.

Until the unification of Germany in our own days, and the adoption of
the present imperial currency system, German monetary history reproduces
perpetually all the elements of that mediæval system, bimetallic in fact
though not theoretically so conceived, which England flung away in 1816,
and from the toils of which France has not as yet completely emerged.

As safeguards against the evils of that system which she had felt with
such bitter experience, and which had culminated in the crisis closing
the Thirty Years' War, Germany could only feebly employ the mechanism of
ineffectual Mint conventions. For a century she persevered in the effort
to establish a common standard and Mint system, but in vain. The attempt
had to be abandoned, and the reeling system left to its own process of
disintegration; and when at last the events of 1871 came to give her
unity in her coinage, as well as political life, there were not less
than nine distinct and independent coinage systems in existence.

Hardly had the crisis of the Thirty Years' War passed out of mind before
again the currency system had begun to work its baneful effects.

[Sidenote: GERMANY: THE ZINNAISCHE STANDARD]

In 1665 complaints were loudly made of the corrupt and debased state of
the coin, due to export and culling. There is, indeed, quite a
literature of these same complaints. The language of the
_Reichstattisches conclusum_ (Ratisbon, 12th September 1666) expressly
attributes this export to the higher value set upon the gold in foreign
countries, especially Venice. And the statement of the warden of the
Mint of the three corresponding circles--Franconia, Bavaria, and
Swabia--delivered in his _Gutachten_ of the preceding May, was that the
place of these good German ducats had been taken by very depreciated
coins of Italy, France, England, and Holland. The three higher circles,
accordingly--Franconia, Bavaria, and Swabia--met in conference and
determined on a thorough investigation. The advice submitted to them
was to raise the thaler from 90 to 96-kreutzer (see account of German
coinage, Appendix V.), implying a lowering of the ratio from 15 to
14-1/8. This proposed scheme was accepted, _in comitia_, in 1667, the
fifth article of the resolution specially mentioning the infliction of
numerous intruding base foreign divisional money. From this scheme
Brandenburg and Saxony held off, maintaining that the ratio had not been
sufficiently lowered, considering the condition of the production of
gold; and, in the same year, by a Mint treaty between Frederick William
of Brandenburg and the Elector of Saxony, the so-called _Zinnaische_
standard was adopted for those two states. According to this standard,
the Reichs thaler was raised to 105-kreutzer (1 florin 45 kreutzers) and
a ratio of 13-5/9 was established.

The result of this action of Saxony and Brandenburg was to strip the
three higher circles of their silver, and in two years (1669) they
anxiously met again to consider the question, not only of the foreign
base coin everywhere prevalent, but also of the damaging exchange "and
ceaseless melting down and exchange of proper coin from the circles."

By a strenuous effort the three circles carried through the Reichstag of
1680 their resolution to reduce the Reichs thaler to 90 kreutzer (ratio
15-1/4). From this decision the Emperor stood apart, with Bavaria and
Salzburg, in putting the Reichs thaler at 96 kreutzer.

In view of such contrariety the impossibility of any general régime for
the empire became apparent, and further attempts at it were practically
abandoned. It was the perception by the mercantile community, as well as
by the various Governments, of the consequences of such disorder, that
led to the establishment of the so-called Leipzig standard in 1690. This
standard was promoted by John George III. of Saxony, and established by
treaty between Saxony, Brandenburg, and Brunswick-Luneburg. According to
it the Reichs thaler was raised to 120 kreutzers, or 2 florins, the mark
being minted into 12 thalers or 18 guldens.

The result of the introduction of this standard was that in a few years
the raising of the Reichs thaler to 120 kreutzers prevailed all over the
empire. Sweden accepted it in the same year, 1690, and three years later
the three upper circles acquiesced. At the same time the gold gulden was
advanced to 2 florins 56 kreutzers. The previous ratio of 15 was thereby
advanced to 15.1 (15-128/1278).

In 1738 the Reichstag determined on the adoption of the Leipzig standard
for the whole empire; no alteration was made in the Reichs thaler, which
was still retained at 2 florins and minted at 12 to the mark fine; but a
graduated scale of agio was adopted for the divisional coins, which were
minted at an equivalence of from 12-3/8 to 13-2/3 thalers to the mark
fine. The difference (varying from 3/8 to 1-2/3 thalers) represented the
agio.

[Sidenote: GERMANY: THE CONVENTION STANDARD]

From the first, however, the Leipzig standard had no more real success
than any of its predecessors. Although theoretically accepted by all
North Germany, and adopted in the Reichstag in 1738, it could obtain no
actual general adoption through the empire. Even from the moment of the
inception of the system in 1690, the process of competitively raising
the course of the coinage had still continued, and pieces of 30, 20, 15,
and 10-kreutzers were struck on a basis of from 20 to 21-1/3 gulden to
the mark. The result was to put upon the _carolus_, which from 1730
onwards was minted in great quantities in South-West Germany, an agio of
10 per cent., a differentiation which was much increased by the
disorders of the war of the Austrian succession. Such an agio swiftly
drove the larger, full-valued specie out of currency, and during the
continuance of that war the currency of Austria and South Germany was
almost entirely reduced to depreciated fractional pieces, while the
exchangers reaped untold advantage. It was on the close of this war, in
1748, that, with characteristic Austrian selfishness, though also with a
boldness none of his predecessors had approached, the Emperor, Francis
I., determined on the erection of the 20-gulden standard as a separate
Austrian independent system, minting the mark of fine silver into 13-1/2
Reichs thalers, or 20 guldens. This latter system, after the accession
to it of Bavaria, obtained the name of the Convention Standard, and the
2-gulden pieces minted under it are styled the Species or Convention
Thaler. The convention system remained in force in Austria until the
Vienna Coinage Convention of 1857, a period during which the _Convention
Thaler_ found wide circulation through South Germany.

The currency was eked out by the Austrian gold ducats and by vast
quantities of foreign silver, French _6-livre thalers_ (current for 2
florins 48 kreutzers) and the _crown_ or _Brabant thaler_ (current for 2
florins 42 kreutzers). From 1807 onwards this latter coin was imitated
by the South German States, Bavaria especially, in their _crown thaler_,
minted on a fresh basis of 24-1/2 guldens to the mark of fine silver.

The selfish initiative of Austria was followed by Prussia and the South
German States. The latter, the Rhenish and South German States, adopted
in 1761-65 the 24-gulden; subsequently changed into the 24-1/2-gulden
standard (see Appendix VI.). The overvaluation of the _Kronthaler_,
which led to that latest development from a 24 to a 24-1/2-gulden
standard, was the result of the immense circulation of French 6-livre
pieces (known in Germany as _Laubthalers_) in South-West Germany.
Graumann quite discredits the theory that the overswimming of South
Germany by these French pieces, with all the confusion in the currency
which resulted, was due to the wars and the progress of French arms, and
directly attributes it to the depreciation of the French specie, and to
their quite deliberate departure from the standard of French coinage as
fixed in 1726.

[Sidenote: SOUTH GERMAN AND PRUSSIAN SYSTEMS]

In Prussia the reform of the coinage system was undertaken by her first
King, Frederick I., father of Frederick the Great. In 1750 the latter
adopted the 14-thaler or 21-gulden standard, subdividing the thaler into
24 groschens of 12 pfennige each. The measure was undertaken expressly
to stop the export of gold which was going on. The adoption of a
standard lower than the Convention standard effectually prevented the
outflow of Prussian money, and it was not until the beginning of the
present century, through the new Mint confusion which arose from the
French Revolution, that Prussian money spread into Saxony, Hanover,
Hesse, and even into the south-west. The second idea of Frederick's
reform was to buy gold cheap, but in this it did not succeed. The
intention was to obtain for five Prussian thalers the gold _pistoles_,
which were purchasable for five convention thalers. This rate, however,
never prevailed in the market, as from the first the _pistole_ was
valued at 5-1/4 Prussian thalers. During the Seven Years War, when
Frederick was driven to a depreciation of his coinage, his system went
to pieces. But an active reform was undertaken upon the conclusion of
the peace of Hubertsburg, 1763. The 14-thaler system was re-established,
although, as far as the smaller divisional silver coinage was concerned,
the depreciation, in which Frederick had been imitated by the pettier
states round him, continued into the present century.

In 1821 a minor alteration was made in the Prussian system, by
subdividing the thaler into 30 instead of as previously 24 groschen,
the former being distinguished from the latter by the title of _silver
groschen_. To this Prussian or 14-thaler system Saxony acceded, as did
also, in 1848, Mecklenburg and Oldenburg, with many minor differences of
detail,--Saxony, for example, dividing the silver groschen into 10
pfennige; Mecklenburg dividing the thaler into 48 schillings of 12
pfennige each; and Oldenburg dividing it into 72 grotens of 5 schwarens
each. The gold coin was supplied by the Prussian and Hanoverian 5 and
10-thaler pieces, the Friedrichs _d'or_, a favourite trade coin even in
South Germany, and by Spanish _pistoles_ circulating at an equivalence
of 4 6-livre thalers.

[Sidenote: CONFERENCE OF MUNICH, 1837]

The confusion of these various German systems was further increased by
the uncertainty and difference which had come to prevail in the unit of
weight. In Austria alone there were 2 marks in use, the Vienna mark (=
288.644 grs.), and the Cologne mark (= 243.870 grs.). While in North
Germany, and subsequently in the south-west, the Prussian mark (=
233.855 grs.) prevailed. It was as the outcome of a desire to remedy at
once the evil condition and confusion of the currency, and the
uncertainty as to weight standard, which led to the conference of Munich
on 25th August 1837. At that conference, Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden,
Hesse, Darmstadt, and the Free State of Frankfort, adopted the
24-1/2-gulden standard as the standard for their several states. At the
same time the Prussian mark (233.855 grms. = half the Prussian pound),
was established as the Mint mark for the contracting members. For the
divisional coinage (6 and 3-kreutzer pieces) a standard of 27 guldens to
the mark was adopted, the details of the various fractional pieces being
left to the different states. To this convention Hesse, Hamburg, and the
two Hohenzollerns acceded in the following years.

This movement of South Germany gave a new impetus to the idea of Mint
unification, and led to the General Mint Convention of the States of the
Zollverein, agreed upon in full assembly of delegates at Dresden, 30th
July 1838, and ratified also at Dresden on the 7th January 1839. The
Dresden Convention was practically the first renewed attempt at Mint
unification which Germany had seen since 1738. The contracting members
to this general Mint convention were Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony,
Würtemburg, Baden, Hesse, Saxe-Weimar, Eisenach, Saxe-Meiningen,
Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Nassau, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Reuss, Reuss-Schleiz, Reuss-Lobenstein,
Ebersdorf, and Frankfurt.

Briefly, the articles of the convention were as follow:----

"1. The Mint mark of all these contracting states of the Customs Union
shall be the Prussian Mint mark = 233.855 grms.

"2. On this common weight standard the coinages of the contracting
states shall be in accordance with the two systems in existence among
the said states, viz. by thalers and groschen, according to the
14-thaler (or Prussian) system; or by gulden and kreutzer, according to
the 24-1/2-gulden (or South German) standard. For the purpose of
assimilation or equivalating, the thaler to be reckoned = 1-3/4-gulden,
and the gulden = 4/7-thaler.

"3. The 14-thaler system to be that of Prussian Saxony, Hesse, Saxony,
and Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Gotha),
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (Unterherrschaft), Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and
Reuss; the 24-1/2-gulden system to prevail in Bavaria, Würtemberg,
Baden, Hesse, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Coburg), Nassau,
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (Oberherrschaft), and the Free State of
Frankfurt.

"4. Each state will confine its mintings to such pieces as prevail in
the system of which it forms part.

"5. In larger specie, and also in divisional coin, each state to bind
itself to exercise the greatest care to preserve the standard and
weight.

"7. For the purpose of the commerce of the contracting states _union_ or
_convention_ coins (_vereinsmünze_) shall be minted seven to the mark of
fine silver, at an equivalence of 2 thalers or 3-1/2 guldens, fully
tenderable throughout the Union.

"8. Alloy to be .9 silver, .1 copper; so that 6-3/10 pieces = 1 Mint
mark in weight; remedy = .003.

[Sidenote: THE DRESDEN CONVENTION, 1838]

"9. From 1st January 1839 to 1842, at least 2,000,000 of these
_vereinsmünze_ to be coined, one-third part each year, and by the
various states _pro rata_ of their population. From 1842 onwards, in
case of no new treaty, the rate of minting to be two millions
_vereinsmünze_ every four years, _pro rata_ as before; each state to
give an account of its mintings.

"10. Also of their separate trials of standard and weight.

"11, 13. None of the contracting states to set its particular internal
specie at any different value except on a three months' notice, and to
renew its currency at face value in case of depreciation.

"12. The states bind themselves not to issue divisional coins in excess
of such _pro rata_ requirements as above.

"14. For the divisional coinage the standard of the convention of
Munich, 1837 (viz. 27 gulden), is adopted.

"18. The treaty to endure till the end of 1858. States intending to
retire then to give two years' notice. From that date, if not discarded,
the treaty to be periodically renewed (five-yearly)."

This treaty continued in force nominally until the later and still more
famous convention of Vienna in 1857, before which date Hanover,
Brunswick, and Oldenburg had also given in their adherence to it.

At the time of the Mint Conference and Convention of Vienna, therefore,
there were, broadly speaking, three competing systems in Germany, viz.
of Austria, Prussia, and South Germany or Bavaria.

One aspect of this latter conference of 1857, viz. its deliberations
with regard to gold coinage, will be referred to separately. As far as
relates to its attempted systematisation of these three German
currencies the agreement took the following form:--

1. The pound of 500 grammes decimally subdivided, to be used as the
basis of the coinage.

2. The competing systems to be assimilated to this basis by the
following regulation:--

The thaler (or Prussian) standard of 30 thalers to the pound of silver
to take the place of the 14-thaler standard, and to prevail in Prussia,
Saxony, Hanover, Hesse, and a string of minor states.

The Austrian standard to be on the basis of 45 guldens out of a pound of
fine silver, and to prevail in the Empire of Austria and the
principality of Lichtenstein.

The South German standard to be on the basis of 52-1/2-gulden to the
pound of silver (instead of the 24-1/2-florin standard formerly used),
and to prevail in Bavaria, Würtemburg, Baden, Hesse, Frankfurt, and a
few other places of South Germany.

The equivalence of the systems was to be--

One-thaler convention piece (1/30 pound) = 1-1/2 florins in Austrian
currency = 1-3/4 florin in South German currency.

All the coins to be of unlimited validity in all the states, divisional
coinage to be of a lighter standard than the coinage standard of the
country, but lighter only within limits fixed. The tender of these
latter to be limited to 20-thaler or 40-gulden.

[Sidenote: THE VIENNA CONFERENCE, 1857]

The regulations adopted by this Vienna Convention as to the gold coinage
are very significant, and deserve special note.

The advance in the gold price of silver, due to the Californian and San
Franciscan gold finds, acted on the silver-using countries. As soon as
the price of bar silver exceeded 60-7/8-pence per standard oz., there
resulted a melting down and export of the silver, in the countries which
had adopted bimetallism at the 15-1/2-ratio.

It was this experience in France, and the allied group of countries,
which led to the formation of the Latin Union in 1865. In mere point of
date, that union had been preceded by the Vienna Conference and
Convention by a matter of eight years. And as far as the regulations of
this latter relating to gold coinage are concerned, there is evidence
that the bimetallic action of France had driven Germany to her union of
1857, as a mere matter of self-defence, just as it later drove the Latin
states to their union of 1865. In both cases the underlying motive was a
wish to protect that part of their currency system which was threatened
by bimetallic law. The premium on gold, on its minting, i.e. the profit
to be made on minting it at 15-1/2 in France, while its market value was
considerably less in Germany and elsewhere, drew the gold to France. It
is a mistake to think that France attracted gold simply from California
and Australia. She attracted it by the action of bimetallic law from her
neighbour Germany, and replaced it by 5-franc silver mintings. The
circulation of French 5-franc pieces was so extensive in South Germany,
in the period preceding the Vienna Convention, that the cash reserve of
the Frankfort bank was at one moment composed almost entirely of them.

The manner in which the Vienna Convention met the difficulty has the
appearance of plausibility, though it proved in the end ineffectual. It
determined not to establish a fixed ratio but to follow the market price
of gold, apparently in the hope of attracting a natural or market
supply.

"For the purpose of further facilitating mutual transactions, and for
the promotion of trade with neighbouring countries, the contracting
powers may coin convention trade coins in gold, under the names _crown_,
and _half-crown_.

"1. The crown = 1/50 of a pound of fine silver.

"2. The half-crown = 1/100.

"The contracting powers may not coin any other gold piece, except
Austria, which retains the right of coining _ducats_ of the present
value, to the end of 1865.

"The silver value of the convention gold coins in ordinary intercourse
is entirely fixed by the relation of the supply to the demand. They must
not, therefore, be considered as a medium of payment of the same nature
as the legal silver currency of the country, and no one is legally bound
to receive them as such.

[Sidenote: THE VIENNA CONVENTION, 1857]

"Each state is at liberty to permit convention gold coins to be paid
into their offices instead of silver, according to a previously settled
fixed rate, and to extend this permission either to all transactions and
offices, or only to some. Such previous settlement of the rate is,
however, never to last more than six months, and must at the expiration
of the last month always be renewed for the following official treasury
period of exchange. The rate cannot be fixed at a higher value than that
given to such coinage by the average of the official commercial rate of
exchange during the previous six months. Each government also reserves
to itself the right to alter the rate at any time within the period
fixed, and to suspend it when it thinks proper.

"A treasury rate of exchange shall henceforth only be fixed for
convention gold coins, and not for other kinds of coined gold.

"The widest circulation to be given to the notices by which the official
rate of exchange is fixed. They must be published beforehand, even when
a change in rate for the next fixed period is not intended, and must
contain--

"1. The statement of the average trade exchange at the principal places
of exchange, during the six months immediately preceding.

"2. The treasury rate fixed accordingly.

"3. The duration of the value of the same.

"4. The reservation to alter or recall this rate of exchange if
necessary, even before the expiration of the term named.

"5. The declaration that such rate of exchange only affects payments to
be made into offices of the state.

"In the countries of the contracting powers pay-offices of the State, as
well as public institutions, banks, etc., shall not be allowed in
future, in payments to be made by them, to make any proviso with regard
to the medium of payment in silver or gold, in such a way that for the
latter a certain fixed relative value should be expressed beforehand in
silver money."

From the point of view of Austria, this convention had been entered upon
with the desire of effecting a gradual adoption of gold coinage,
together with a concurrent ceasing of the compulsory note circulation.
The outcome of the conference was, however, in quite distinct opposition
to this desire, as the agreement which was finally arrived at
established the maintenance of a pure silver currency. The continuance
of the gold _crown_ of 10-grs. fine gold was recognised only as a trade
medium. This experiment of a trade gold coin failed completely, though
it is none the less interesting intrinsically, as well as for its reflex
bearing on the similar schemes which were proposed in the early years of
the French Revolution. The premium on the minting of gold drew it to
France, in preference to any other place where a simple market price
prevailed. And the 20-franc gold pieces of France overflowed, while the
German crowns could not struggle into existence.

[Sidenote: GERMANY: ATTEMPTS AT REFORM, 1860-70]

The attempt which was made by a commercial conference at Hamburg, at the
time of the meeting of the Vienna Conference, to secure the introduction
by the Hamburg Bank of a gold instead of a silver _valuta_, remained
equally ineffectual.

As far as concerns the establishment of a simple and single monetary
system for Germany was concerned, this Vienna Convention, the last great
convention which Germany saw previous to the reconstruction of her
system in 1871, was as futile as that of Dresden in 1838, or as all the
conventions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries previously.

The consciousness of the need of such simplification and unification,
however, became thereby only the more apparent. Four years later the
first German Handelstag, which met in May 1861 at Heidelberg, turned its
first and special attention to the erection of some common currency
system. The recommendation which it finally concluded upon was the
adoption of the _Drittelthaler_ as the unit mark, with a decimal
subdivision. Four years later the third Handelstag, which met at
Frankfort (September 1865), confirmed the resolution, with the
additional proposition of the minting of a gold piece identical with the
20-franc piece, the value of which should be regulated from time to
time; the scheme being, therefore, as before, that of a silver standard,
with gold as trade money. The fourth Handelstag met at Berlin in October
1868, and again the matter was most seriously discussed. With the
single exception of the Berlin members, all the deputies declared for
the adoption of the gold standard. As, in the preceding year, Austria
had withdrawn from the German Monetary Union of 1857, she no longer
stood in the way of this proposition, and the erection of the North
German Union distinctly favoured the project.

In June 1870 the Bundesrath of the North German Union resolved upon a
reform and unification of the paper money, as preparatory to a complete
currency reform, and in the same month the Chancellor of the North
German Union had decided to call a Mint Convention. The outbreak of the
Franco-German War immediately afterwards put a short stop to the
proposal.

A long train of preparation had thus been laid, and there can be little
doubt as to what the ultimate direction of German monetary legislation
would have been, even without the war, and the consequent erection of
the Empire. That the latter event, however, enormously facilitated the
process cannot for a moment be questioned.

[Sidenote: GERMANY: NEW IMPERIAL SYSTEM, 1871]

When the subject was taken up after the Franco-German War, the
determination to adopt a gold coinage was only gradually arrived at. In
the original plan, as drafted soon after the conclusion of peace, the
new gold coinage proposed was intended not to be tenderable, for the
meantime, in private commerce. Such a provision roused all the
opposition of the mercantile community, and in consequence of the
agitation the scheme, as finally submitted to the Reichstag, was for a
gold monometallic system. The law passed on the 4th December 1871, and
the great operation of recoinage and conversion was immediately entered
upon. It was greatly favoured by the ratio existing at the moment, and
by the metallic condition of the world. The ratio taken as the basis of
the computation was the French 15.5, accepted because of its long and
present wide employment.

The previous silver standard thalers were taken as equivalent to 3
marks.

  30 thaler = 90 mark = 1 pound fine silver.
  90 × 15.5 = 1395 marks.

The gold piece of 10 marks was therefore coined at a tale of 139-1/2 to
the pound of fine gold.

Propositions were made to the Reichstag that the 20-franc piece should
be made equivalent to the English sovereign, or to the 25-franc piece,
giving respectively a ratio of 15.17 or 15.31, but at the moment the
price of silver in the London market ruled between 60-7/8 and 60-3/4
pence per ounce, i.e. at a mercantile ratio of 15.49-15.52. It was this
fact which decided the adoption of the French ratio.

The chief Acts which have accomplished the reform are of dates 5th
December 1871 and 9th July 1873, the first declaring the monetary system
and the latter the law of tender.

The unit of the system is the mark, which is the 1/1255.5 part of a
pound of gold of 500 grammes at 9/10 fine, and is coined into pieces of
20 and 10 marks. The gold crown is a 10-mark piece, is 9/10 fine, and
struck at a tale of 139-1/2 pieces to the German pound; charge for
coinage, 3 marks per pound of fine gold.

The pound of fine silver is struck into 100 marks, 9/10 fine. The total
amount of silver coin not to exceed 10 marks per head of population. No
individual need accept more than 20 marks of imperial silver coin in
payments. They are accepted in any amount by the Empire and by the
Federal States.

All other German coins are no longer legal tender, and have been
withdrawn, with the single exception of the thaler pieces. Whatever
pieces of this kind still exist are legal tender to any amount, like the
imperial gold coins, each being equal to 3 marks. An Act of 20th April
1870 provides that _Vereinsthalers_ coined in Austria before 1867 should
also be full legal tender. An Act of 6th January 1876 has authorised the
Bundesrath to put the thaler pieces and the Austrian _Vereinsthalers_ on
the same footing as imperial silver coins, i.e. to make them legal
tender only up to 20 marks, the thaler being still reckoned at 3 marks.
Since the suspension of silver sales and of the withdrawal of the silver
thalers (May 1879) there is no likelihood that the Bundesrath will make
use of this authority conferred upon it.

In briefest résumé, the course of the silver coinage during the
preceding century may be presented thus:--

GERMANY--COURSE OF THE 1-THALER PIECES.

                                                                Thalers.
  Total minted during 1750-1816                                64,380,936
  Withdrawn by the Government of the States       27,788,956
    "   under the new Imperial System,  1871-3     5,652,999
    "             "                     1874       6,319,170
    "             "                     1875       2,900,202
    "             "                     1876       2,582,123
    "             "                     1877       1,465,424
    "             "                     1878         864,253
                                                  ----------   47,573,127
                                                              -----------
                      Leaving a balance not accounted for of   16,807,809
                                                              ===========

                                                                Thalers.
  Total minted during 1817-22                                  24,261,735
  Withdrawn under the new Imperial System, 1871-3  3,623,511
      "               "                    1874    5,147,970
      "               "                    1875    2,580,580
      "               "                    1876    2,373,496
      "               "                    1877    1,421,719
      "               "                    1878      766,908
                                                  ----------   15,914,184
                                                              -----------
                      Leaving a balance not accounted for of    8,347,551
                                                              ===========

                                                                Thalers.
  Total minted during 1823-1856                                91,031,741
  Withdrawn under the new Imperial System, 1874       40,000
      "               "                    1875      566,677
      "               "                    1876   11,250,277
      "               "                    1877    5,753,269
      "               "                    1878    4,640,068
                                                  ----------   22,250,291
                                                              -----------
                      Leaving a balance not accounted for of   68,781,450
                                                              ===========

                                                                Thalers.
  Total minted during 1857-71                                 215,863,120
  Withdrawn by the Government of the States           2,538
     "     under the new Imperial System,  1875       3,000
     "               "                     1876      25,958
     "               "                     1877   64,806,347
     "               "                     1878   18,915,167
                                                  ----------  109,635,938
                                                              -----------
                      Leaving a balance not accounted for of  106,177,182
                                                              ===========

                                                                Thalers.
  On the whole period, 1750-1871, the total minted 1-thaler
      pieces amounted to                                      395,537,532
  Total withdrawn                                             195,423,540
                                                              -----------
    Leaving a balance not accounted for of                    200,113,992
                                                              ===========

Allowing 83,062,882 thalers as a rough equivalent for the loss by
attrition, there is still a deficit of 117,051,000 thalers, or about
£17,557,650 sterling to be accounted for (and laid to the account of
remintings and loss by arbitrage).

ACCOUNT OF THE MINTING OF THE RECONSTRUCTED GERMAN EMPIRE--GOLD--FROM
        1872 TO DEC. 1878

  +--------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
  |                                |  Supplied for the  | Supplied for Private |
  |                                |      Empire.       |      Accounts.       |
  | Origin of the Bullion supplied +--------------------+----------------------+
  |          to the Mint.          | Pounds Weight Fine |  Pounds Weight Fine  |
  |                                |       Gold.        |        Gold.         |
  +--------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+
  |  German gold coin of the old   |                    |                      |
  |     type                       |     64,092.3       |           11.4       |
  |  Bars                          |    402,382.6       |      214,825.7       |
  |  Austrian gold coins           |        381.7       |          711.9       |
  |  Francs and Napoleons          |    391,166.5       |          809.7       |
  |  Sovereigns                    |     30,181.3       |          223.1       |
  |  Russian gold coins            |     28,252.3       |       20,862.1       |
  |  Isabellas                     |     12,822.9       |         ...          |
  |  Dollars and Eagles            |     16,860.1       |       20,548.8       |
  |  Turkish gold coins            |         51.0       |        1,084.0       |
  |                                +--------------------+----------------------+
  |                                |    946,191.2       |                      |
  +--------------------------------+--------------------+----------------------+

Making a complete total, with odd amounts from various sources, and
including imperial gold coins minted in 1877-78 but now no longer
current, of 1,205,786 lbs. weight = £84,103,584.

SALES OF SILVER BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT FROM 1873 TO THE SUSPENSION OF
        THE SALES IN MAY 1879

  +-------+----------------+----------------+---------------+
  |       | Pounds of Fine |    Product.    | Price Per oz. |
  | Date. |     Silver.    +----------------+---------------+
  |       |                |     Marks.     |    Pence.     |
  +-------+----------------+----------------+---------------+
  | 1873  |   105,923.372  |   9,296,682.77 |   59-5/16     |
  | 1874  |   703,685.175  |  61,135,670.29 |   58-3/4      |
  | 1875  |   214,898.594  |  18,208,449.08 |   57-1/4      |
  | 1876  | 1,211,759.204  |  93,936,482.37 |   52-3/8      |
  | 1877  | 2,868,095.533  | 230,424,238.51 |   54-5/16     |
  | 1878  | 1,622,696.403  | 126,203,852.08 |   52-9/10     |
  | 1879  |   377,744.712  |  27,934,417.89 |   50          |
  +-------+----------------+----------------+---------------+
  |       | 7,104,895.993  | 567,139,992.99 |               |
  +-------+----------------+----------------+---------------+

The total silver withdrawn from circulation up to the close of 1880 was
1,080,486,138 marks.

Of this amount 382,684,841 marks were delivered to the Mint for coinage
into the new imperial silver coins.

The remaining 696,797,069 marks were melted into silver and produced
7,474,644 pounds of fine silver. Of this quantity 7,102,862 were sold up
to May 1879. The balance of unsold silver still in the hands of the
Imperial Government is 339,353 pounds of fine silver.


England.

Charles II. began his regulation of the currency by the proclamation of
29th January 1661, fixing the coins to be current and their tariff. This
proclamation was followed by another, of 10th June 1661, against the
export of gold or silver, and against buying or selling the metals at
higher rates than were given at the Mint, a practice to which the
proclamation attributed the scarcity of money. This edict proved of no
avail, for, in spite of it, the gold coins were exported in such
quantities that they were current more abundantly in foreign parts than
in England. As the result of deliberation of the Privy Council, assisted
by the Commissioners of Trade and officers of the Mint, who all
attributed the export to the higher price of gold abroad, it was
determined to raise the price of the gold coins to or near the value
which they had on the Continent at the moment. Accordingly, by
proclamation of the 26th August 1661, the value of the gold _unite_ was
raised from 22s. to 23s. 6d., and other gold coins in proportion, the
silver currency being left unaltered.

In referring to the Act for the free trade in gold and silver (_supra_,
p. 162), mention has already been made of the motive of the legislator,
namely, to increase the importation of the metals to the Mint. Exactly
similar was the intention, as expressed in the preamble of the
succeeding Act of 1666 (8 Charles II. c. 5), which abolished the right
of seigniorage, thereby establishing free and gratuitous coinage in
England--the principle of minting still in force in this country.[17]

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: CHARLES II]

The testimony of both Act and declaration as to the scarcity of money is
confirmed by actual record. In the following year, 1667, there was a
great scarcity of money, and _dollars_ and _pieces of eight_ were bought
up by the goldsmiths and bankers for 4s. 3d. each, and instead of being
brought to the Mint were at once exported to France for 4s. 10d. and to
Ireland and Scotland for 5s.

According to the new indenture for the coinage of 1670, a slight
reduction in the standard of the gold took place, the pound of crown
gold (22 carats fine) being to be minted at a tale of £44, 10s. The
scarcity of money still continued, however, and the separate experience
of Ireland only corroborated that of England. The general statement of
the case as to the fate of the coined money since the Act of 18 Car II.,
which instituted free coinage, is thus put by Sir Dudley North, in his
_Discourses upon Trade_: "I call to witness the vast sums that have been
coined in England since the free coinage was set up. What is become of
it all? Nobody believes it to be in the nation, and it cannot well be
all transported, the penalties for so doing being so great. The case is
plain--the melting-pot devours it all; and I know no intelligent man who
doubts but the new money goes this way. Silver and gold, like other
commodities, have their ebbings and flowings; upon the arrival of
quantities from Spain, the Mint commonly gives the best price, i.e.
coined silver for uncoined silver, weight for weight. Wherefore it is
carried into the Tower and coined. Not long after there will come a
demand for bullion to be exported again. If there is none, but all
happens to be in coin, what then? Melt it down again; there's no loss in
it, for the coining costs the coiners nothing. Thus the nation hath been
abused and made to pay for the twisting of straw for asses to eat."

By the time of the accession of William III. the scarcity of silver had
become so great as to cause a petition from divers working goldsmiths in
and about the City of London to the House of Commons (9th April 1690).
It stated "that upon search at the Customs they found that since last
October entries had been made of 286,102 oz. of silver in bullion, and
89,949 _dollars_ and _pieces of eight_ for exportation by divers private
persons, and they doubted not but it would appear that not only the East
India Company, but also divers Jews and merchants, had of late bought up
great quantities of silver to carry out of the kingdom, and had given
1-1/2d. per oz. above the value, which had encouraged the melting down
of much plate and milled monies; whereby for six months past, not only
the petitioners in their trade, but the Mint itself had been stopped
from coining."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE EXPORT IN 1690]

The petition was referred to a committee of the Lower House, which
reported on the 8th May that great quantities of silver had been
exported, of which seven-eighths had been shipped off by the Jews, who
would do anything for their profit. The reason for the exportation, too,
was plain, for the French king, of late finding his money very scarce,
had raised his coin 10 per cent., which was an encouragement to send
silver to fill his coffers, and therefore the Jews exported it daily in
very great quantities. The melting down of £1000 of milled money for
exportation was attended with a profit of £25 ready money and upwards,
silver being coined at the Mint at 5s. 2d. per oz., but at the time of
exportation sold generally at 5s. 3-1/2d. The remedies proposed to the
committee were either a prohibition of export or the enhancing of the
English monies.

Not less than three measures were presented to the House for the
prohibition of export--one of them by Sir Richard Temple--but were all
lost; and, meanwhile, the exports to Holland and France continued. In
November 1690 it was calculated that during the preceding sixteen months
about 140,000 oz. had been exported.

In addition to this actual drain of coinage, the processes of culling,
clipping, and counterfeiting, which had been going on through the reigns
of Charles II. and James II., had resulted in an unexampled depreciation
of so much of the coinage as remained. A large portion of the currency
consisted of iron, brass, or copper-pieces plated, and such coins as
were of good silver were worth scarcely one-half their current value.

This statement is more than borne out by quite reliable computations
which were made in the process of the recoinage five years later. A
medium lot of 5-1/2 bags, containing in tale £57,200 of the called-in
currency, and which should have weighed 221,418 oz. 16 dwt. 8 grs., was
found to weigh only 113,771 oz. 5 dwt. According to the accounts of
Neale, then master and warden of the Mint, 4,695,303 dwt. 15 oz. 2 grs.
of the clipped silver money produced only 790,860 lbs. 1 oz. 19 grs.,
implying a depreciation in weight alone of over 47.75 per cent.

The process of stripping the country of currency was increased by the
continual pouring out of money in aid of William's wars, and the loss in
exchange on such large remittances made the evil only too apparent. The
one or two millions yearly remitted to the Continent for the British
armies were negotiated in Holland in a thousand ways to England's
prejudice. Partisan statements were made that whereas in the beginning
of the war the Dutch allowed 43 schillings for an English pound they
gradually lowered the exchange to 28 schillings. Guineas, which were
equal in value to 21s. 6d. in silver, rose to 30s.; and they would have
risen to a still higher rate if the officers of the exchequer and the
receivers of public revenue had not refused to receive them in payment
at the increased value.

In 1695 the matter was taken up in the House of Commons, and a committee
appointed. The report of this committee, which was never passed, was
based on the proposition of a reduction of standard. By Montague's
influence the proposals were dropped, and it was not till the 22nd
November that the Act for remedying the ill state of the coins passed.
It is well known that the unwise determination of the Government of
William III. to adhere to the pre-existing standard was due to the
action and contrivance of Montague as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
to the influence of Locke's writings. By a subsequent series of Acts,
based on the complaints of merchants representing the evils resulting
from the unsettled price of gold, the price of the guinea was ordered to
be gradually reduced from 30s. to 28s., 26s., and finally 22s., before
10th April 1696.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: RECOINAGE OF 1696]

This great recoinage scheme was only completely accomplished in 1699,
having occupied the greater part of four years, and after a long series
of Acts and proclamations of, occasionally, very doubtful wisdom.

According to the accounts of the officers of the Mint, the new silver
coin amounted in tale to £6,882,908, 19s. 7d. The worn and clipped money
called in was estimated roughly at £4,000,000, on which the loss was
about £2,000,000; the whole charge and loss being stated at not less
than £2,700,000. It is significantly affirmed that, in a manner, all the
called-in silver was found to consist only of pieces coined between the
days of Edward VI. and 1662, a sure indication of the fate which had
befallen the coinage issued since the Restoration.

Before the transaction was finally complete the last safeguard and
complement of the system had been adopted, in fixing the relation of the
gold coinage to the new silver issue. On the 22nd September 1698, a
report was given in to the House of Commons, signed by four names,
including that of John Locke, stating that the value of gold in Holland
and the neighbouring countries was, as near as could be computed upon a
medium, 15:1 in silver; and that, according to this value, the currency
of the guinea at 22s. was too high, and occasioned a disproportionate
importation of gold and an exportation of silver. The bringing down of
the guinea to 21s. 6d. would make the value of English gold and coin
very near 15-1/2:1 to silver, which, though not so low as the rate in
Holland, would in their opinion be sufficient to correct the error.

In consequence of this report the Commons resolved that, under the Act 7
and 8 William III. chap. 19, no person was obliged to take guineas at
22s. a piece. The price then fell to 21s. 6d., at which rate they were
received by the officers of the revenue. With the exception of this
merely declaratory tariffing of the guinea, it is to be borne in mind
that this recoinage of William's reign was carried out on the principle
enunciated by Montague, and backed by the authority of Locke, namely,
that of a retention of the old standard, although in the face of a
clearly established advance in the value of silver, and in face of quite
irrefutable answers to all Locke's arguments. Momentarily the scheme
succeeded; the adverse exchange was instantly redressed, while the
renewal of the coinage and the ratio of 1698 was sufficiently above the
continual ratio to turn the flow of gold, as doubtless was the
(unexpressed) design in adopting it. According to Burnet the packet-boat
from France seldom came over during the following winter without
bringing 10,000 _louis d'or_, and often more. "The nation was indeed
filled with them, and in six months a million of guineas was coined out
of them. The merchants in fact said that the balance of trade was then
so much turned to our side that whereas we were wont to carry over a
million of our money in specie, we then sent no money to France, and had
at least half that sum sent over to balance the trade."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: EFFECTS OF THE RATIO OF 1698]

The circulation of French and other foreign gold became so great that on
the 5th February 1701 the Council issued a proclamation that the _louis
d'or_ and Spanish _pistole_ should not pass for above 17s. Such action
at once brought those coins to the Mint, and nearly 1-1/2 millions were
coined out of them.

It was not seen at the moment that the establishment of this ratio so
favourable to gold was _pari passu_ unfavourable to silver. The idea was
entertained that the French gold came over to bribe English members,
i.e., on mere political causes. The hypothesis was needless as it was
incorrect. Gold came over because it was higher priced in England than
abroad through the ratio of 1698, and for the same reason silver left
the country to pay for the gold. The one movement was the essential
counterpart of the other, and made itself at last only too visible.

As early as the seventh year of Anne's reign--only nine years after the
completion of this great recoinage, it was found necessary to give
further encouragement to the coinage of silver by offering a premium on
every ounce of foreign coins which should be brought to the Mint within
a limited time. The premium was not to exceed 2-1/2d. per oz., and the
time limited was from the 17th April to the 1st December 1709.

Such a measure has been already noticed in the history of France; it was
indeed a design frequently employed there under the title of _Surachat_,
and it always proved as futile as the Government of Anne found it to be.
As the drain continued, representations were made by the officers of the
Mint to the Treasury, and in 1717 the House of Commons requested these
representations to be laid before it (December 20th). On the same and
following day a remarkable speech was made by a member, Mr. Aislabie,
who took notice of the great scarcity of the silver species, and
proposed the remedy of lowering the gold species. On the second day he
was seconded by Mr. Caswall, who suggested that the overvaluation of
gold in the current coins of Great Britain had caused the export of
great quantities of silver species, "and to that purpose [i.e. the
purpose of his argument] laid open a clandestine trade, which of late
years had been carried on by the Dutch, Hamburgers and other foreigners,
in concert with the Jews and other traders here, which consisted in
exporting silver coins and importing gold in lieu thereof; which being
coined into guineas at the Tower, near 15 pence was got by every
guinea, which amounted to about 5 per cent.; and as these returns might
be made five or six times in a year considerable sums were got by it, to
the prejudice of Great Britain, which thereby was drained of silver and
overstocked with gold." He concluded by proposing to lower the price of
guineas and all other gold specie.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S REPORT, 1717]

His speech was received with applause, and the House unanimously
petitioned the King to call the guinea down to 21s., and other gold
species in proportion. To this George I. immediately acceded, and the
proclamation to that effect _verbatim_ was issued on the following day,
22nd December 1717.

The report for which the House had called two days earlier, and which
was produced on the 21st December, was the celebrated report made some
months before by Sir Isaac Newton as master of the Mint, at the demand
of the Commissioners of the Treasury. It is a document deserving the
careful attention of every student of currency history. Newton reviews
the ratio in each of the then commercial nations, and shows the effect
of difference of ratio in producing export and disturbance of one or
other metal. "Gold in Spain and Portugal is of sixteen times more value
than silver of equal weight and alloy; at which rate a guinea is worth
21s. 1d. net; this high price keeps their gold at home in good plenty,
and carries away the Spanish silver into all Europe. So that at home
they make their payments in gold, and will not pay in silver without a
premium. Upon the coming in of a plate [silver] fleet the premium ceases
or is but small, but as their silver goes away and becomes scarce the
premium increases and is most commonly about six per cent."

In France the ratio was 15:1, and the guinea therefore worth 20s.
8-1/2d. In Holland it was worth 20s. 7-1/2d., in Italy, Germany, Poland,
Denmark and Sweden, from 20s. 7d. to 20s. 4d. "In China and Japan the
pound weight of fine gold is worth but 9 or 10 lbs. weight of fine
silver, and in East India it may be worth 12 lbs., and the low price of
gold in proportion to silver carries away the silver from all Europe."
"If gold were lowered only so as to have the same proportion to the
silver money in England, which it hath in the rest of Europe, there
would be no temptation to export silver rather than gold to any part of
Europe, and to compass this last there seems nothing more requisite than
to take off about 10d. or 12d. from the guinea."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE STATE OF COINAGE IN 1760]

In a subsequent report of the 21st September 1717, Newton stated that,
since the beginning of 1702 to September 1717, the gold coined at the
Mint amounted to £7,127,835, while the silver within the same period
only amounted to £223,380, of which £143,086 had been brought to the
Mint in response to the premium offered; in 1709 and 1711, of their own
free will, the goldsmiths had only brought a matter of £21,220 to the
Mint. In the House of Lords, early in the following year, it was proved
that during the year 1717 the East India Company had exported nearly
3,000,000 oz. of silver.

The immediate purpose of the above proclamation of 22nd December 1717
was for a time thwarted by a speculative hoarding of silver in
expectation of a further calling down of the gold species; and it was to
cut the ground from under this speculation that in January 1718 both
Houses declared their determination not to alter the standard of gold
and silver coins in the kingdom, and proceeded in place of such
alteration to prepare a bill for preventing the melting down of the
coins of the kingdom.

It is demonstrable, even from Sir Isaac Newton's own figures, that the
calling down of the guinea to 21s., though largely, was not completely
effective in destroying the profit of arbitrage transactions with
Holland. With the guinea at 21s., the ratio was still 15-14295/68200
while in France and Holland the ratio was 15 or under. That the process
of culling and exporting the heaviest silver specie still continued is
proved by the state of silver coinage twenty years later, when shillings
were found to be deficient in weight, by between 6 and 11 per cent., and
sixpences between 11 and 22 per cent., and all species so scarce as to
threaten greatest confusion in every branch of trade. At the accession
of George III., 1760, the silver coinage was found in so imperfect a
state that the crown pieces had almost entirely disappeared, though
minted since 1795 to the amount of over a million and a half sterling.
Of half-crowns, likewise minted to the value of £2,329,370, only defaced
and impaired specimens remained current, while shillings and sixpences
had lost every sign of impression. Up to 1763 only a matter of £5791 in
silver had issued from the Mint--practically no coinage at all.

Gradually however, owing to the force of wider principles at work, the
matter of the ratio righted itself. Ever since 1756 the value of gold
had been rising all over Europe. In 1759 the continental ratio was still
calculated at 14-1/2, as compared with 15-1/5 in England; but by 1773
the continental ratio had overtaken the English, and the market price of
standard silver had risen to 5s. 2d. per oz.--the English Mint rate. In
the greatly depreciated state of the silver coinage--three-fourths of it
was said to be base--even the approach of a fair ratio acted
prejudicially on gold. Already, in 1771, the export of gold to Holland
had become noticed, and it was asserted that the gold coins had never
before been so deficient. They were sent over to Holland, and there
filed and returned and put into circulation--a bimetallic phenomenon
that always recurs in a currency containing two differently depreciated
elements.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: STATE OF THE COINAGE IN 1774]

The idea that bimetallic action replaces one good metal by another, an
equal weight of one metal for that of the other, a good undepreciated
coinage of silver for a good undepreciated coinage of gold, or _vice
versâ_, is not borne out by a single instance in history. Bimetallic
action always substitutes the less for the greater, whether weight or
value, the more depreciated for the less, or the depreciated for the
perfect standard coin. In this particular instance, 1774, the
depreciation of silver had been the result of the action of a too high
ratio from 1717 onwards; the depreciation of gold was effected in a much
less time between 1770 and 1773, simply because the already depreciated
state of the silver causing that differentiation of value, which is the
bullionist's opportunity, happened to coincide with a natural rise of
the value of gold all over the Continent. The result, therefore, of
fifty years of bimetallic régime left England with a currency
depreciated in both its limbs, in both gold and silver, and as deficient
in the quantity current as in the weight of the individual pieces. This
is not in keeping with the theory of bimetallism as developed to-day,
according to which the transition from one coin to the other would only
be made at the point of equation, and the substituted metal would
equalise that displaced. This is theory. The facts of the situation in
1774 are not theory but history, and tell a different tale.

"The evil was so great," says Lord Liverpool, "that the Government found
it necessary to take this difficult subject into their immediate
consideration. On this occasion I addressed a letter to a noble Lord,
who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer, suggesting what appeared to me
the proper remedy for this evil. I proposed that, with a view to the
general reform of the coins of the realm, all the deficient gold coins
should in the first place be called in and recoined, and that in future
the currency of the gold coin should be regulated by weight as well as
by tale, and that the several pieces should not be legal tender if
diminished below a certain weight. Your Majesty was pleased to approve
of this advice and to propose to your Parliament, on 13th January 1774,
the calling in and recoining of all the deficient gold coins; and the
Chancellor of your Exchequer opened the whole of this plan to the House
of Commons, who approved of the measure, which was carried into
immediate execution without any complaint and with great success. The
defects which had previously existed in this species of coins were
thereby removed, and the regulation, then established, of weighing the
gold coin has been the means of preserving it at nearly the state of
perfection to which it was then brought."

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: RECOINAGE OF 1774]

The resolutions of the House of Commons on which this recoinage depended
were passed on the 10th May 1774. After stating the depreciation
existing in the gold coinage the House asserted--(3) that it has been a
practice to export and melt down the new and perfect gold coin soon
after it is issued for private advantage, to the great detriment of
England; (4) that while pieces of gold coin, differing so greatly in
weight, are allowed to be current under the same denomination and at the
same rate and value, great quantities of the new and perfect pieces will
continue to be exported and melted down, and, there is reason to
apprehend, will be recoined into pieces the most deficient that are
allowed to be current."

The House then goes on to adopt the principle of limiting the
depreciation to be allowed on any single coin, i.e. of making the coins
current by weight as well as tale within the limits allowed.

The House next turned its attention to the silver element of the
currency. At the outset it was met by the patent fact that the
depreciated silver coinage had been made the handle or lever, or _point
d'avantage_, in all the operations against gold. "Whereas," is the
recital of the Act of 14 George III. c. 42, "considerable quantities of
old silver coin of this realm, or coin purporting to be such, greatly
below the standard of the Mint in weight, have been lately imported into
this kingdom, and it is expedient that some provision should be made to
prevent the practice," etc. The Act therefore decrees the prohibition of
importation of light silver coinage into the kingdom, and its
confiscation in case of discovery as such. "And be it further enacted
... that no tender in the payment of money made in the silver coin of
the realm, of any sum exceeding the sum of £25 at any one time, shall be
reputed in law or allowed to be a legal tender within Great Britain or
Ireland for more than according to its value by weight, after the rate
of 5s. 2d. per oz. of silver, and no person to whom such tender shall be
made shall be any way bound thereby or obliged to receive the same in
payment in any manner than as aforesaid; any law, statute, or usage to
the contrary notwithstanding."

The importance of this latter epoch-making clause is vital. It is the
first enactment of a law of tender in the history of English monetary
legislation, and it was the first step towards the shaking off the
incubus of that mediæval currency system which was even then only coming
to be understood in all its fatal perniciousness. For statesmanship, the
only parallel to it is that Act of Henry III. of France, which proved so
shortlived in its adoption (see _supra_, pp. 87-88). It was the first
step in the evolution of that system of a safeguarded currency which was
finally constructed in 1816.

This Act prohibiting the importation of light silver was renewed in 1776
for a further two years, and was again, in 1778, continued until the 1st
day of May 1783, and from thence to the end of the next session of
Parliament. On the 21st June 1798 the Act, being then expired, was
revived and further continued to the 1st day of June 1799 by a new
statute, and on the 12th July 1799 the Act was made perpetual by statute
of 39 Geo. III. c. 75.

The later legislative action with regard to silver belongs to the final
construction of the English currency system. In the main, the recoinage
of gold was accomplished in the year 1774, though it lingered over the
three succeeding years as appears by the items in the Appropriation
Acts.

The accounts of grants for recoinage were as follows:--

  1774. The first grant               £250,000  0  0
  1775. To the bank for receiving the
          deficient gold coin           46,846  0  0
        For extraordinary charges
          of the Mint                   22,824 19  0
  1776. Further grant                   92,421 14  1-1/4
  1778.    "      "                    105,227  8  3
                                      ------------------
                                      £517,320  2  2-1/4
                                      ==================

The scope of this series of Acts of 1774 will be seen at a glance; as
well as the tendency in policy, namely, in favour of gold, which it
indicated. The gold coinage was renewed, and as a safeguard against its
future depreciation the existing depreciated coin was cut off from any
sapping action upon it by the above restriction as to tender by weight.
For the renewal of the silver coinage itself no actual measures were
taken save the prohibition of the import of light coins.

For more than twenty years the defective state of the silver coin
continued quite unheeded; evidently as no longer causing international
embarrassment, now that its function and differentiating action upon the
companion metal had been partially tied down and limited.

In 1787 the depreciation of the silver coinage was ascertained
experimentally, when it was found that half-crowns were defective by
over 9 per cent., shillings by over 24 per cent., and sixpences by more
than 38 per cent. of their proper weight. To this depreciation was
added an exterior cause of drain by the action of France, who in 1792
increased the scarcity of silver coins and bullion by the issue of her
assignats. In that year not less than 2,909,000 oz. of silver were
purchased with assignats and sent into France. Five years later an
attempt was made to supply the deficiency of the silver coins by the
issue of Spanish _dollars_, countermarked with the hall mark of the
King's head. This was after the Bank of England had, in accordance with
the minute of the Privy Council of 26th February 1797, suspended cash
payments.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: ACT OF 1798]

On the 7th of February of the following year, 1798, the subsisting
Committee of Council for Coins was dissolved, and a new committee
appointed to consider the state of the coins and Mint. During its
deliberations, and until it established the new rule, the further
coining of silver was suspended by the Act already spoken of, which
(21st June 1798) revived the old law against importation of light
silver. This suspension of silver coinage was simply a temporary
precaution. "Whereas," says the Act, "His Majesty has appointed a
committee of his Privy Council to take into consideration the state of
the coins of this kingdom, and the present establishment and
constitution of His Majesty's Mint, and inconvenience may arise from any
coinage of silver until such regulations may be framed as shall appear
necessary; and whereas from the present low price of silver bullion,
owing to temporary circumstances, a small quantity of silver bullion
has been brought to the Mint to be coined, and there is reason to
suppose that a still further quantity may be brought, and it is
therefore necessary to suspend the coining of silver for the present, be
it therefore enacted that no silver bullion shall be coined at the Mint,
nor shall any silver coin that may have been coined there be delivered."

There can be little doubt that this enactment was due to Lord Liverpool,
and if so that it was intended as an arrest, with a particular intent or
bearing; for Liverpool had formed his conception of a monetary theory as
early as 1773. None the less it is quite inadmissible to state, as has
been done, that this restriction, so evidently and expressly only a
temporary or interim measure of self-defence, was equivalent to a
placing upon the statute-book of Lord Liverpool's gold monometallical
theory. There was as yet no restriction on the legal tender of silver.
It was still legal tender to any amount,--it was indeed the standard
coin of the realm,--only, in order to avoid the effects of depreciation,
and to prevent further depreciation, it was now the law of the land that
payments of silver of sums over £25 should be made by weight, and the
further coinage of silver was temporarily stopped.

This was not a gold monometallic system, and the Act which established
that system was passed eight years after the death of Lord Liverpool,
and six years after the Bullion Report of 1810 had been printed.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE BANK RESTRICTION]

Further than incidentally it is inconsistent with the design of this
book to refer to the period of suspension of cash payments and the
Bullion Report. These latter are banking phenomena, and will find their
place in a treatise of currency in the fuller acceptance of the term,
rather than in a treatise definitely restricted to the subject of the
metallic currencies. The events of 1797 which led to the
suspension,--the remittances to the Continent for war purposes, a
failure of credit, a run on the country banks, and then upon the London
banks,--had been experienced in 1793 as acutely as in 1797; and,
according to the express statement of the report itself, even in the
years 1796 and 1797, when the country bankers were making great demands
in order to increase their deposits, the market price of gold never rose
above the Mint price. These events were therefore one phase of the
internal experiences of the country, and have no relation to an
international outflow of gold, caused by the heightened ratio which
definitely set in in 1794. On the mere ground of first principles,
therefore, it is inadmissible to make argumentative use of this event,
known as the Bank Restriction, for judgment and illustration in the
wider question of bimetallism. Further, the argumentative use that has
been made of it--viz. that if from 1773 to 1797 England had possessed a
true rather than a halting bimetallic régime, she would have been
supplied by its means with an amount of silver that would have increased
the metallic reserve and strength of the country, and enabled it to
avoid suspension--is inadmissible: and the argument itself is untenable.
Such bimetallic action supplying silver could only have begun to operate
in 1794, three years before the suspension. It could only have operated
by substituting one metal for the other, not by adding silver to gold,
but by taking away higher valued gold, and furnishing lower valued
silver, i.e. by actually decreasing the metallic strength and reserve of
the kingdom. And, lastly, there is the peculiar fact still requiring
explaining, that the years of the bank restriction, until, that is, the
new Mint law of 1816, saw the heaviest export of silver probably that
England has ever experienced. During the ten years, 1801-10, nearly 10
millions sterling of silver was exported from England (over 38,176,016
oz.), while the gold exports amounted only to £2,088,483, so that, of
the total export, silver formed 82 per cent. (net amounts used in both
cases). It is still well known to what straits this export of silver put
the country. In almost every town where there was any employment of
labour the tradesmen were obliged to issue token money of their
own--shilling tokens, sixpenny tokens, half-crown and five-shilling
promissory-notes. Every conceivable form of hand-to-mouth unauthorised
currency was resorted to, in order to relieve the needs of the situation
caused by the want of silver coins. And stories are still remembered of
the straits to which the working classes were driven in order to make
their purchases at the week end with one pound notes, for which they
could get no change. The explanation of such a phenomenon can only be
that the one pound notes having driven gold out of circulation, by a law
which is merely another form of the bimetallic law, left only silver
available for remittance to the Continent for loans and war purpose.
But, whatever the explanation, the fact cuts the ground from under the
argument that bimetallism would have saved England from the bank
restriction. If silver had not been legal tender to any amount (up to
£25 by tale, and beyond that by weight), or again if it had been
protected by an agio in 1808 as it was in 1816, it could not have left
the country. The straits of the poorer classes in those years of
hardship were _due_ to the existing bimetallic system, and to it must,
therefore, be attributed the aggravation rather than alleviation of the
bank restriction.

If anything is required to confirm such view it can be found in the very
terms of that statute of 1816 (56 Geo. III. c. 68), which established
the gold standard in England. They reveal the fact that the Act was not
so much a philosophical or theoretical declaration of monometallism,
such as might have been expected if Lord Liverpool had still lived to
dictate it, but a measure for the protection of and relating almost
entirely to silver.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: THE ACT OF 1816]

"Whereas the silver coins of the realm have, by long use and other
circumstances, become greatly diminished in number and deteriorated in
value, so as not to be sufficient for the payments required in dealings
under the value of the current gold coins, by reason whereof a great
quantity of light and counterfeit silver coin and foreign coin has been
introduced into circulation within this realm, and the evils resulting
therefrom can only be remedied by a new coinage of silver money...."

The Act therefore prescribes the coining of silver, 11 oz. 2 dwts. fine,
at a tale after the rate of 66s. per Troy pound, whether the same be
coined in crowns, half-crowns, shillings, or sixpences, or pieces of a
lower denomination, but to be issued to the importer of the silver, or
to the public, after a rate of 62s. per pound Troy.

"And whereas at various times heretofore the coins of this realm of gold
and silver have been usually a legal tender for payments to any amount,
and great inconvenience has arisen from both these precious metals being
concurrently the standard measure of value and equivalent of property,
it is expedient that the gold coin made according to the indentures of
the Mint should henceforth be the sole standard measure of value and
legal tender for payment, without any limitation of amount, and that the
silver coin should be a legal tender to a limited amount only, for the
facility of exchange and commerce." The Act therefore prescribes the
limit of 40s. for the tender of silver.

This Act was repealed, but in substance re-enacted by the Coinage Act of
1870, and is still in principle and fact the law of the land and the
basis of our monometallic system.

From the date of its enactment England has been withdrawn from that
action of bimetallic law which had been her bane for centuries. The flow
of gold in or out became automatic, representing the natural flow of
world-balances, and therefore proving the greatest trade help and
indicator; and such commercial crises as have come upon her have arisen
from the peculiarly sensitive organisation of credit which distinguishes
the modern system, and are to be classed with banking rather than
metallic currency phenomena.

The total coinage in England from 1816 to 1875 inclusive was
£234,139,886 gold and £24,663,309 silver.

[Sidenote: ENGLAND: 1816-93]

  +-------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  |       | Coinage of  |  Imports of Gold  |  Exports of Gold  |
  | Year. |   Gold.     |    Bullion and    |    Bullion and    |
  |       |             |      Specie.      |      Specie.      |
  +-------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | 1855  |  9,008,663  |        ?          |     11,847,000    |
  | 1856  |  6,002,114  |        ?          |     12,038,000    |
  | 1857  |    485,980  |        ?          |     15,062,000    |
  | 1858  |  1,231,023  |    22,793,000     |     12,567,000    |
  | 1859  |  2,649,509  |    22,298,000     |     18,081,000    |
  | 1860  |  3,121,709  |    12,585,000     |     15,642,000    |
  | 1861  |  8,190,170  |    12,164,000     |     11,238,000    |
  | 1862  |  7,836,413  |    19,904,000     |     16,012,000    |
  | 1863  |  6,607,456  |    19,143,000     |     15,303,000    |
  | 1864  |  9,535,597  |    16,901,000     |     13,280,000    |
  | 1865  |  2,367,614  |    14,486,000     |      8,493,000    |
  | 1866  |  5,076,676  |    23,510,000     |     12,742,000    |
  | 1867  |    496,397  |    15,800,000     |      7,889,000    |
  | 1868  |  1,653,384  |    17,136,000     |     12,708,000    |
  | 1869  |  7,372,204  |    13,771,000     |      8,474,000    |
  | 1870  |  2,313,384  |    18,807,000     |     10,014,000    |
  | 1871  |  9,919,656  |    21,619,000     |     20,698,000    |
  | 1872  | 15,261,442  |    18,469,000     |     19,749,000    |
  | 1873  |  3,384,568  |    20,611,000     |     19,071,000    |
  | 1874  |  1,461,565  |    18,081,000     |     10,642,000    |
  | 1875  |    243,264  |    23,141,000     |     18,648,000    |
  | 1876  |  4,696,648  |    23,476,000     |     16,516,000    |
  | 1877  |    981,468  |    15,442,000     |     20,374,000    |
  | 1878  |  2,265,069  |    20,871,000     |     14,969,000    |
  | 1879  |     35,050  |    13,369,000     |     17,579,000    |
  | 1880  |  4,150,052  |     9,455,000     |     11,829,000    |
  | 1881  |     ...     |     9,963,000     |     15,499,000    |
  | 1882  |     ...     |    14,377,000     |     12,024,000    |
  | 1883  |  1,403,713  |     7,756,000     |      7,091,000    |
  | 1884  |  2,324,015  |    10,744,000     |     12,013,000    |
  | 1885  |  2,973,453  |    13,377,000     |     11,931,000    |
  | 1886  |     ...     |    13,392,000     |     13,784,000    |
  | 1887  |  1,908,686  |     9,955,000     |      9,324,000    |
  | 1888  |  2,277,424  |    15,000,000     |     14,250,000    |
  | 1889  |  7,257,455  |    17,570,000     |     14,000,000    |
  | 1890  |  7,662,898  |    23,900,000     |     14,250,000    |
  | 1891  |  6,869,119  |    29,500,000     |     25,000,000    |
  | 1892  | 13,944,963  |    21,250,000     |     15,450,000    |
  | 1893  |  9,318,021  |    23,630,000     |     18,800,000    |
  +-------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------+

  +-------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  |       | Coinage of  | Imports of Silver | Exports of Silver |
  | Year. |   Silver.   |    Bullion and    |    Bullion and    |
  |       |             |      Specie.      |      Specie.      |
  +-------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | 1855  |    195,510  |        ?          |      6,981,000    |
  | 1856  |    462,528  |        ?          |     12,813,000    |
  | 1857  |    373,230  |        ?          |     18,505,000    |
  | 1858  |    445,896  |     6,700,000     |      7,062,000    |
  | 1859  |    647,064  |    14,772,000     |     17,608,000    |
  | 1860  |    218,403  |    10,394,000     |      9,893,000    |
  | 1861  |    209,484  |     6,583,000     |      9,573,000    |
  | 1862  |    148,518  |    11,753,000     |     13,314,000    |
  | 1863  |    161,172  |    10,888,000     |     11,241,000    |
  | 1864  |    535,194  |    10,827,000     |      9,853,000    |
  | 1865  |    501,732  |     6,977,000     |      6,599,000    |
  | 1866  |    493,416  |    10,777,000     |      8,897,000    |
  | 1867  |    193,842  |     8,021,000     |      6,435,000    |
  | 1868  |    301,356  |     7,716,000     |      7,512,000    |
  | 1869  |     76,428  |     6,730,000     |      7,904,000    |
  | 1870  |    336,798  |    10,649,000     |      8,906,000    |
  | 1871  |    701,514  |    16,522,000     |     13,062,000    |
  | 1872  |  1,243,836  |    11,139,000     |     10,587,000    |
  | 1873  |        674  |    12,988,000     |      9,828,000    |
  | 1874  |    890,604  |    12,298,000     |     12,212,000    |
  | 1875  |    594,000  |    10,124,000     |      8,980,000    |
  | 1876  |    222,354  |    13,578,000     |     12,948,000    |
  | 1877  |    420,948  |    21,711,000     |     19,437,000    |
  | 1878  |    613,998  |    11,552,000     |     11,718,000    |
  | 1879  |    549,054  |    10,787,000     |     11,006,000    |
  | 1880  |    761,508  |     6,799,000     |      7,061,000    |
  | 1881  |    997,128  |     6,901,000     |      7,004,000    |
  | 1882  |    209,880  |     9,243,000     |      8,965,000    |
  | 1883  |  1,274,328  |     9,468,000     |      9,323,000    |
  | 1884  |    658,548  |     9,633,000     |      9,986,000    |
  | 1885  |    720,918  |     9,434,000     |      9,852,000    |
  | 1886  |    417,384  |     7,472,000     |      7,224,000    |
  | 1887  |    861,498  |     7,819,000     |      7,807,000    |
  | 1888  |    755,113  |     6,000,000     |      7,500,000    |
  | 1889  |  2,215,742  |     9,000,000     |     10,500,000    |
  | 1890  |  1,708,415  |    10,300,000     |     10,500,000    |
  | 1891  |  1,049,113  |    10,500,000     |     11,800,000    |
  | 1892  |    773,353  |    12,375,000     |     14,075,000    |
  | 1893  |  1,089,707  |    11,320,000     |     13,532,000    |
  +-------+-------------+-------------------+-------------------+


United States

Under British dominion the American colonies retained the silver
standard, as did their mother country, with such variation of actual
coins and of their tariff as the situation of the country and the
immense variety of metallic values prevailing in the different colonies
gave rise to. The coin most commonly current was the Spanish _piece of
eight_, but the system of weights and measures was the English system,
and reckoning was by pounds, shillings, and pence. The method by which
such a composite system was regulated consisted in those coinage tariffs
with which early European monetary history is so well acquainted.
According to a tariff issued in 1750, the ounce of silver was declared
worth 6s. 8d. the Spanish milled _piece of eight_ was to be equal to
6s.; and "whereas there is great reason to apprehend that many and
great inconveniences may arise in case any coined silver or gold or
English halfpence and farthings should pass at any higher rate than in a
just proportion to Spanish pieces of eight, or coined silver at the
ratio aforesaid," a tariff list was appended according to which the
guinea was 28s., the _English crown_ 6s. 8d., and so on for other
European coins.

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: MORRIS'S SCHEME, 1782]

In accordance with this system the earliest financial steps of the
Continental Congress in 1775--its issues of bills of credit--were based
upon, and the bills were declared payable in, the Spanish _dollar_ or
_piece of eight_, to which, on the report of a special commission,
appointed on 19th April 1776, the various gold and silver coins
circulating by different standards in different colonies were rated by a
tariff. According to this tariff the guinea weighing 5 dwts. 8 grs. was
to be equivalent to 4-2/3 dollars, and the English crown equal to 1-1/9
dollar.

Gold bullion was rated 17 dollars per oz. Troy weight; sterling silver
at 1-1/9 dollar per oz.

Assuming the coins to be of full weight, the ratio here established is
nearly the English ratio of 15.21. The ratio for bullion is slightly
different, but hardly materially.

Six years later, at the request of a committee of Congress, the
superintendent of finance, Robert Morris, submitted a scheme for a
national coinage (15th January 1782). This scheme is remarkable for its
clear-sightedness and grasp, as well as the testimony it bore to the
European monetary system of the time. After deciding on silver as a
necessary unit, the report thus proceeds:--

"The various coins which have circulated in America have undergone
different changes in their value, so that there is hardly any which can
be considered as a general standard unless it be Spanish dollars. These
pass in Georgia at 5s., in North Carolina and New York at 8s., in
Virginia and the four Eastern States at 6s., in all the other States
except South Carolina at 7s. 6d., and in South Carolina at 32s. 6d."

As a common denominator, calculated from part of these figures, Morris
proposed a monetary unit of 1/4-grain in fine silver, the multiples to
be by the decimal system, the dollar containing 1440 units, and the Mint
price of fine silver being 22,237 units per pound.

On the following 21st February 1782 Congress approved of the
establishment of a Mint, and directed Morris to prepare and report a
plan for conducting it.

In a concurrent paper of notes on the establishment of a money unit, and
of a coinage for the United States, Jefferson proposed, in opposition to
Morris's scheme, a decimal system resting on the dollar, and with a
ratio of 15:1.

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: REPORT OF 1785]

"Just principles," he says, after stating the legal ratio in the chief
European countries, "will lead us to disregard legal proportions
altogether, to inquire into the market price of gold in the several
countries with which we shall be principally connected in commerce, and
to take an average from them. Perhaps we might well safely lean to a
proportion somewhat above par for gold, considering our neighbourhood
and commerce with the sources of the coins, and the tendency which the
high price of gold in Spain has to draw thither all that of their mines,
leaving silver principally for our and other markets."

The settlement of the matter was, however, delayed, although in the
course of the year Morris declared that "all our dollars are rapidly
going to the enemy in exchange for light gold, which must eventually
cause a considerable loss and a scarcity of silver which will be
seriously felt."

In this undetermined state the matter rested till 13th May 1785, when
the grand committee on the money unit made its report.

The proposed ratio was justified thus: "In France 1 grain of pure gold
is counted worth 15 grs. of silver. In Spain 16 grs. of silver are
exchanged for 1 of gold, and in England 15-1/5. In both England and
Spain gold is the prevailing money, because silver is undervalued. In
France silver prevails. Sundry advantages would arise to us from a
system by which silver might become the prevailing money. This would
operate as a bounty to draw it from our neighbours, by whom it is not
sufficiently esteemed. Silver is not exported so easily as gold, and it
is a more useful metal. Certainly our exchange should not be more than
15 grs. of silver for 1 of gold." The charge for coinage was to be
2-1/2 per cent. for gold, and slightly over 3 per cent. for silver. The
unit was to be a dollar of 362 grs. of pure silver, with a multiple gold
piece (5 dollars) and decimal aliquot pieces.

On the 6th July following, 1785, the Congress by vote adopted the silver
dollar as the basis of the currency on a decimal system, but the
resolution was not followed by the establishment of a Mint, although the
States were experiencing great loss by the circulation of base copper
coins made in Birmingham.

On the 8th April 1786, a report was made in triplicate by the Board of
Treasury to the President of Congress, the first of the three forms of
the report advocating a silver dollar of 375.64 grs. fine and a ratio of
15.256. These proposals were adopted by resolution on the 8th August
following, and on the 16th October of the same year, 1786, the ordinance
for the establishment of the Mint of the United States of America, and
for regulating the value and alloy of coin, finally passed Congress.

In accordance with the resolutions of 8th August, the mint price of the
pound Troy of gold (11 parts fine) was fixed at 209 dols. 7 dimes, 7
cents, and of silver at 13 dols. 7 dimes, 7 cents, and 7 mills.

The Mint charge here comprised is about 2 per cent. on both silver and
gold, "bringing the ratio of bullion at the Mint to 15.22, a little
below the ratio in the coin."

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: HAMILTON'S REPORT, 1791]

For several years all these regulations of Congress were not put in
force, and it was not until 5th May 1791 that the matter was again
brought before the Senate by the report of the Secretary of the
Treasury, Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton's scheme, as contained in his most remarkable paper, was for a
silver unit or dollar of 371-1/4 grs. of pure silver and a ratio of 15,
and instead of the allowance of 2 per cent. for waste and coinage the
principle was adopted of free coinage--of delivering at the Mint the
same weight of pure metal coined as should be brought to it in bullion
or foreign coin. Hamilton justifies his ratio thus: "The difference
established by custom in the United States between coined gold and
coined silver has been stated to be nearly 1:15.6. This, if truly the
case, would imply that gold was extremely overvalued in the United
States, for the _highest actual_ proportion in any part of Europe very
little, if at all, exceeds 1:15, and the average proportion throughout
Europe is probably not more than 1:14.8." He also deduces his ratio of
15 as a mean between the two lately preceding issues of dollars. "Taking
the rate of the late dollar of 374 grs., the proportion would be as
1:15.11. Taking the rate of the newest dollar of 374 grs., the
proportion would be as 1:14.87. The mean of the two would give the
proportion of 1:15 very nearly, less than the legal proportion in the
coins of Great Britain, which is as 1:15.2, but somewhat more than the
actual or market proportion, which is not quite 1:15." As to the
express selection of one or other metal for the unit, Hamilton makes a
departure which marks clearly that he was creating and not continuing a
system, and that if bimetallism is a feature of modern conception that
conception is due to American rather than French
statesmanship:[18]--"Contrary to the ideas which have heretofore
prevailed in the suggestions concerning a coinage for the United States,
though not without much hesitation arising from a deference for those
ideas, the secretary is, upon the whole, strongly inclined to the
opinion that a preference ought to be given to neither of the metals for
the monetary unit ... because this cannot be done effectually without
destroying the office and character of one of them as money and reducing
it to the situation of mere merchandise, which, accordingly, at
different times, has been proposed from different and very reputable
quarters, but which would probably be a greater evil than occasional
variations in the unit, from the fluctuations in the relative value of
the metals, especially if care be taken to regulate the proportion
between them, with an eye to their average commercial value. To annul
the use of either of the metals as money is to abridge the quantity of
circulating medium."

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: SCHEME OF 1792]

This scheme was accepted in its entirety by the Act of 2nd April 1792,
with the slight change that the standard of silver was changed from
11/12 to 1485/1664 fine. The silver dollar, therefore, weighed 416 grs.
gross (371-1/4 grs. pure silver); on this basis, at a ratio of 15, the
equivalent gold piece would contain 24.75 grs. (371-1/4/25 = 27-3/4).
This was accordingly established as the basis of the gold _eagle_ or
ten-dollar piece, which was to contain 270 grs. gross (247.5 grs. pure
gold).[19] The Act was followed by another on the 9th February 1793, for
regulating the rate of foreign coins. The gold coins of Great Britain
and Portugal of their then standard were made a legal tender for the
payment of all debts and demands, at the rate of 100 cents for every 27
grs. of their actual weight, those of France and Spain at the rate of
100 cents for every 27-2/5 grains.

For a period the system established in 1792 went on, although the ratio
established was prejudicial to gold. But, twenty years after, the
natural result arrived in America, as in England, and the circulation of
gold was completely extinguished in the States by the unseen withdrawal
of the metal.

In obedience to a resolution of the Senate of 3rd March 1817, John
Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, produced a report on weights and
measures, in which he impugned the correctness of the data on which
Hamilton had based his reckoning in 1791.

Two years later, 26th January 1819, a committee of the House reported an
ill-considered scheme, recommending a change in the ratio in favour of
gold, and the imposition of a heavy seigniorage on silver. On the 1st of
March following, the House of Representatives directed the secretary to
report such measures as might be expedient to procure and retain a
sufficient quantity of gold and silver coin in the United States.

In this report, in referring to one feature in the previous crisis,
namely, the necessity in 1814 for the suspension of specie payments,
Secretary Crawford stated that, from the commencement of the war until
that event of 1814, a large amount of specie was taken out of the United
States by the sale of English Government bills, at a discount frequently
of 15 to 20 per cent.

He concluded by suggesting a raising of the value of gold in relation to
silver, 5 per cent., implying a ratio of 15.75.

In the report to the House of Representatives, dated 17th March 1832,
quite a different statement was made, namely, that there was no export
of gold from the United States from 1792 to 1821, and that "there were
certainly no indications that gold was rated too low in our standard of
1:15 earlier than 1821, when the English demand commenced."

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: GOLD EXPORT OF 1820]

The terms of the report of the committee on the currency, which was
communicated to the House of Representatives on the 2nd February 1821,
must be contrasted with this statement. "The committee are of opinion
that the value of American gold compared with silver ought to be
somewhat higher than by law at present established. On inquiry they find
that gold coins, both foreign and of the United States, have in a great
measure disappeared, and from the best calculation that can be made
there is reason to apprehend they will be wholly banished from
circulation, and it ought not to be a matter of surprise, under our
present regulations, that this should be the case.... There have been
coined at the Mint of the United States 6 millions of dollars in gold.
It is doubtful whether any considerable portion of it can at this time
be found within the United States.... It is ascertained that the gold
coin, in an office of discount and deposit of the Bank of the United
States in November 1819, amounted to 165,000 dollars and the silver coin
to 118,000; that since that time the silver coin has increased to
700,000 dollars, while the gold coin has diminished to 1200 dollars, 100
only of which is American."[20]

The committee proposed a bill in the sense of their report, but for
seven years--years of acute commercial crises and distress--no actual
step was taken. In November of the following year the subject of the
disappearance of gold from the currency was brought before the lower
house of Congress by Mr. Lowndes. In December 1828, however, the Senate
required the Secretary of the Treasury to ascertain the ratio and to
state such alterations in the gold coins as might be necessary to
conform those coins to the silver coins in their true relative value.

In his report Secretary Ingham insisted on the advantage of a single
standard, but, in case of a determination to maintain both gold and
silver, he proposed to approximate as near as could be to the French
system by establishing a ratio of 15.625. In case of no change of the
ratio he proposed to discontinue the gold coinage, whenever the premium
for gold should exceed 2 per cent.

No action was taken on these reports, nor on the similar proceedings in
the two following years, nor very little more on the report which in
June 1832 the select committee on coins produced. Part of the
instructions given to this committee were "to inquire into the
expediency of making silver the only legal tender, and of coining and
issuing gold coins of a fixed weight and fineness, which shall be
received in payment of all debts to the United States, at such ratio as
may be fixed from time to time but shall not otherwise be a legal
tender."

In the House of Representatives the converse proposition of a gold
standard with a restricted legal tender had been made by M. Wilde, 26th
March 1832, but when the report appeared it advocated a silver
standard.

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: THE ACT OF 1834]

While Congress was thus delaying over a vital question the New York
bankers, May 1834, pressed for the regulation of the gold coins, so as
to retain them in the country.

Two months later, 31st July 1834, the long-sought measure passed, but in
an extraordinary form. At a blow the ratio was changed from 1:15 to 1:16
(15.988), by the reduction of the weight of the fine gold in the gold
coins to 23.20 Troy grains, soon afterwards, by an Act of 18th July
1837, changed to 23.22 grains, the standard being changed at the same
time from 11/12 to 9/10 fine.

The motives and amount of wisdom which underlay this sudden close of a
long period of agitation can be measured from Benton's own words, in his
_Thirty Years' View_:--

"A measure of relief was now at hand, before which the machinery of
distress was to balk and cease its long and cruel labours--it was the
passage of the bill for equalising the value of gold and silver and
legalising the tender of foreign coins of both metals. The bills were
brought forward in the House by Mr. Campbell H. White of New York, and
passed after an animated contest in which the chief question was as to
the true relative value of the two metals, varied by some into a
preference for National Bank paper; 15-5/8 was the ratio of nearly all
who seemed best calculated from their pursuits to understand the
subject. The thick array of speakers was on that side, and the eighteen
banks of the city of New York, with Mr. Gallatin at their head,
favoured that proportion. The difficulty of adjusting this value, so
that neither metal should expel the other had been the stumblingblock
for a great many years, and now this seemed to be as formidable as ever.
Refined calculations were gone into, scientific light was sought,
history was rummaged back to the times of the Roman Empire; and there
seemed to be no way of getting to a concord of opinion either from the
light of science, the voice of history, or the result of calculations.
The author of this _View_ had, in his speeches on the subject, taken up
the question in a practical point of view, regardless of history and
calculations and the opinions of bank officers; and looking to the
actual and equal circulation of the two metals in different countries he
saw that this equality and actuality of circulation had existed for
above three hundred years in the Spanish dominions of Mexico and South
America, where the proportion was 16:1. Taking his stand upon this
single fact, as the practical test which solved the question, all the
real friends of the gold currency soon rallied to it. Mr. White gave up
the bill which he had first introduced, and adopted the Spanish ratio.
Mr. Clowney of South Carolina, Mr. Gillet, and Mr. Cambreleng of New
York, Mr. Ewing of Indiana, Mr. McKim of Maryland, and other speakers
gave it a warm support. Mr. John Quincy Adams would vote for it, though
he thought the gold was overvalued, but if found to be so the difference
could be corrected hereafter. The principal speakers against it and in
favour of a lower rate were Messrs. Gorham of Massachusetts, Selden of
New York, Binney of Pennsylvania, and Wilde of Georgia, and eventually
the bill was passed by a large majority, 145 to 35. In the Senate it had
an easy passage. Messrs. Calhoun and Webster supported it, Mr. Clay
opposed it; and on the final vote there were but seven
negatives--Messrs. Chambers of Maryland, Clay, Knight of Rhode Island,
Alexander Porter of Louisiana, Silsbee of Massachusetts, Southard of New
Jersey, Sprague of Maine. The good effects of the bill were immediately
seen. Gold began to flow into the country through all the channels of
commerce, old chests gave up their hordes, the Mint was busy; and in a
few months, as if by magic, a currency banished from the country for
thirty years overspread the land and gave joy and confidence to all the
pursuits of industry."

The panacea thus magnificently lauded soon proved itself worse than
inefficient. The ratio was too high, and the silver dollars could not be
maintained. They were unduly exported, especially between the years 1848
and 1851. And in order to retain within the country a sufficient amount
of small coin the amount of silver in the small coins, from the
half-dollar downwards, was reduced by an Act of 24th February 1853. It
was at the same time provided that they should be coined only on
Government account, and they were made legal tender only up to the sum
of five-dollars.

The direction of this step will be seen at a glance--it was in the
direction of the gold valuation. This is as plainly the case as it was
in the Latin Union, already exemplified (p. 190). Further, it was so
conceived and explicitly stated by Dunham, who piloted the bill through
the House. "We have had," he said, "but a single standard for the last
three or four years. That has been and now is gold. We propose to let it
remain so, and to adapt silver to it, to regulate it by it." Legally,
the old silver dollar was left untouched, and the gold and silver
valuation was not expressly abolished. No reference whatever was made to
the silver dollar in the Act, for the simple reason that for years
nothing had been seen of them. They did not and could not circulate.
There was plenty of gold, and the absence of silver with the change in
standard therein practically implied was either unnoticed, or regarded,
if at all, only with indifference.

The final step in the simplification and unification of this system was
commenced in 1870, when a bill was prepared for a revised coinage law
with a pure gold standard, silver being demonetised as a legal tender
money. The bill did not become law till 12th April 1873. And no
opposition was expressed in either the House of Representatives or the
Senate to the abolition of the double standard. The silver dollars
previously coined (of which, however, but few were in existence)
maintained their quality as legal tender; but the coining of new
dollars, whether on Government or private account, was forbidden.

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: THE LEGISLATION OF 1873-74]

This Act was therefore simply the complement of the preceding
legislation of 1853.

The completion of this system thus established was provided in section
3586 of the Revised Statutes of 1874, by which the silver coins of the
United States were declared legal tender only up to five dollars, thus
completing, from December 1873 onwards, the demonetisation of silver,
and the establishment of gold monometallism on the English plan. As an
effective scheme it meant little because of the prevalence of paper.

Within a very short time of the passing of this bill, however, began the
great change in the relative value of the precious metals which has
continued since. The silver-producing interest, at that moment on the
eve of receiving an enormous accession of strength by the Nevada finds,
made itself heard. At the same time the prospect of the resumption of
cash payments brought an additional incentive and interest. A commission
to investigate the question of standard was therefore appointed, 14th
August 1875, and a majority of this commission recommended the
establishment of the double standard. Thereupon Bland, one of the
members of the commission, proposed in the House of Representatives the
re-establishment of the double standard, at the old ratio of 1:15.988,
with free coinage of silver.

The question of resumption was pressing near. On the 1st January 1879
the States were to return to cash payments. On what basis should that
return be effected? Should the Act of 1873 be maintained, or should a
return be made to the bimetallic system which had prevailed before then?
The Government was of the former opinion; the majority of Congress of
the latter.

The silver party, finding the measure could not be carried over the veto
of the president, agreed to a compromise, under which the free coinage
clause was dropped, and it was as a compromise that the Bland Act
so-called, the "Act to authorise the coinage of the standard silver
dollar, and to restore its legal tender character," passed on the 28th
February 1878.

To the favourers of a gold system it was conceded that in the
maintenance of the previous legal ratio of 15.988, the silver dollar
should be reserved for Treasury reckonings, and a maximum minting limit
of 4 million dollars monthly should be fixed. The bimetallists gained
the fixing of a minimum limit of 2 million dollars monthly of silver
coinage, and the clause enjoining the President of the United States to
take steps for the meeting of an international conference.

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: BLAND AND SHERMAN ACTS]

This scheme became law immediately, and on the 1st January 1879 the
United States resumed specie payment. As far as the actual circulation
of the country is concerned this return is only nominally effective. The
habit of employing redeemable paper had grown too strong and continuous,
and even the rule of the New York banking-houses, to employ only gold
in clearing-house settlements, has been formally, though not absolutely,
abolished by the Act of Congress of 12th July 1882, which provided that
no national bank should be a member of a clearing-house at which gold
and silver certificates were not accepted in payment of balances. The
Bland Bill deceived the hope of both parties, as such a compromise might
be expected to do. It remained in force, notwithstanding, till August
1890, and during the twelve years, 1878-1890, the United States coined a
matter of 370 million silver dollars, employing therein 9 million
kilogrammes of silver--a third of the total contemporary production.

Almost yearly, up to 1887, the repeal of the silver purchase clauses of
the Bland Bill and the suspension of the silver coinage was recommended
to Congress by presidential message, and in the reports of the Secretary
of the Treasury.

In December 1889 President Harrison and Secretary Windam definitely
proposed to cease the coining of silver, and to limit the issues of
silver certificates to the value of the silver bullion as deposited,
reckoning that value at its then market price. From these proposals
sprang, by the same peculiar process of committee gestation which had
produced the Bland Act, the compromise which passed on the 14th July
1890, under the title of the Sherman Act.

This act represents a compromise not of principles but of self-seeking
interests. The main regulations of the law, which came into force on
the 13th August 1890, were:--

1. The Secretary of the Treasury is to purchase silver to not more than
the monthly amount of 4,500,000 oz. at the market price, so long as that
price is below 129.29 cents per oz.

2, 3. To issue Treasury notes against the purchases, the said notes to
be full legal tender, and capable of forming part of bank reserves.

5. Up to 1st July 1891, 2 million oz. monthly of this silver to be
coined into dollars. That coinage to cease after the date specified,
except so far as necessary to secure the Treasury notes. At the same
time the Act declares the intention of the American Government to
preserve the parity of gold and silver.

The fillip given by this legislation to the price of silver was over in
a moment, and almost immediately the question recurred for pressing
consideration, on the strong demand of the silver party for free coinage
in place of these as yet ineffectual purchase schemes. The impotent
close of the international monetary conference at Brussels, in February
1893, was followed by the Act of the Governor-General of India in
Council of June 26th closing the Indian Mint to the free coinage of
silver. Left practically alone in her stand in defence of silver,
America, in the simple interest of her gold reserve, was obliged to
abandon the field, and after a bitter fight the repeal of the clauses of
the Sherman Act, which had enacted the compulsory purchase of silver,
was carried in November 1893.

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: COINAGE 1793-1893]

We are too near the event to estimate these later developments of the
situation, but as yet two remarkable facts have hinged upon this
report--(1) the immediate depreciation of the value of silver and the
effect on the export of silver to India were not such as might _a
priori_ have been conjectured; (2) the ceasing of the silver purchase
deprived the currency of the United States of its only remaining element
capable of expansion, and of all the countries of the world the United
States stands most in need of an expanding and expansible currency.

COINAGE OF THE MINTS OF THE UNITED STATES.[21]

  +--------+---------------+--------------++--------+---------------+---------------+
  | Years. |      Gold     |    Silver    || Years. |     Gold      |     Silver    |
  |        |   (Dollars).  |  (Dollars).  ||        |  (Dollars).   |   (Dollars).  |
  |--------+---------------+--------------++--------+---------------+---------------+
  | 1793-5 |     71,485.00 |   370,683.80 ||  1813  |    477,140.00 |    620,951.50 |
  |  1796  |     77,960.00 |    77,118.50 ||  1814  |     77,270.00 |    561,687.50 |
  |  1797  |    128,190.00 |    14,550.45 ||  1815  |      3,175.00 |     17,308.00 |
  |  1798  |    205,610.00 |   330,291.00 ||  1816  |      ...      |     28,575.75 |
  |  1799  |    213,285.00 |   423,515.00 ||  1817  |      ...      |    607,783.50 |
  |  1800  |    317,760.00 |   224,296.00 ||  1818  |    242,940.00 |  1,070,454.00 |
  |  1801  |    422,570.00 |    74,758.00 ||  1819  |    258,615.00 |  1,140,000.00 |
  |  1802  |    423,310.00 |    58,343.00 ||  1820  |  1,319,030.00 |    501,680.70 |
  |  1803  |    258,377.50 |    87,118.00 ||  1821  |    189,325.00 |    825,762.45 |
  |  1804  |    258,642.50 |   100,340.50 ||  1822  |     88,080.00 |    805,806.50 |
  |  1805  |    170,367.50 |   149,388.50 ||  1823  |     72,425.00 |    895,550.00 |
  |  1806  |    324,505.00 |   471,319.00 ||  1824  |     93,200.00 |  1,752,477.00 |
  |  1807  |    437,495.00 |   597,448.75 ||  1825  |    156,385.00 |  1,564,583.00 |
  |  1808  |    284,665.00 |   684,300.00 ||  1826  |     92,245.00 |  2,002,090.00 |
  |  1809  |    169,375.00 |   707,376.00 ||  1827  |    131,565.00 |  2,869,200.00 |
  |  1810  |    501,435.00 |   638,773.50 ||  1828  |    140,145.00 |  1,575,600.00 |
  |  1811  |    497,905.00 |   608,340.00 ||  1829  |    295,717.50 |  1,994,578.00 |
  |  1812  |    290,435.00 |   814,029.50 ||  1830  |    643,105.00 |  2,495,400.00 |
  +--------+---------------+--------------++--------+---------------+---------------+

  +--------+---------------+--------------++--------+---------------+---------------+
  | Years. |      Gold     |    Silver    || Years. |     Gold      |     Silver    |
  |        |   (Dollars).  |  (Dollars).  ||        |  (Dollars).   |   (Dollars).  |
  |--------+---------------+--------------++--------+---------------+---------------+
  |  1831  |    714,270.00 | 3,175,600.00 ||  1863  | 22,445,482.00 |    809,267.80 |
  |  1832  |    798,435.00 | 2,579,000.00 ||  1864  | 20,081,415.00 |    609,917.10 |
  |  1833  |    978,550.00 | 2,759,000.00 ||  1865  | 28,295,107.50 |    691,005.00 |
  |  1834  |  3,954,270.00 | 3,415,002.00 ||  1866  | 31,435,945.00 |    982,409.25 |
  |  1835  |  2,186,175.00 | 3,443,003.00 ||  1867  | 23,828,625.00 |    908,876.25 |
  |  1836  |  4,135,700.00 | 3,606,100.00 ||  1868  | 19,371,387.50 |  1,074,343.00 |
  |  1837  |  1,148,305.00 | 2,096,010.00 ||  1869  | 17,582,987.50 |  1,266,143.00 |
  |  1838  |  1,809,765.00 | 2,333,243.40 ||  1870  | 23,198,787.50 |  1,378,255.50 |
  |  1839  |  1,376,847.50 | 2,209,778.00 ||  1871  | 21,032,685.00 |  3,104,038.30 |
  |  1840  |  1,675,482.50 | 1,726,703.00 ||  1872  | 21,812,645.00 |  2,504,488.50 |
  |  1841  |  1,091,857.50 | 1,132,750.00 ||  1873  | 57,022,747.50 |  4,024,747.60 |
  |  1842  |  1,829,407.50 | 2,332,750.00 ||  1874  | 35,254,630.00 |  6,851,776.70 |
  |  1843  |  8,108,797.50 | 3,834,750.00 ||  1875  | 32,951,940.00 | 15,347,893.00 |
  |  1844  |  5,427,670.00 | 2,235,550.00 ||  1876  | 46,579,452.50 | 24,503,307.50 |
  |  1845  |  3,756,447.50 | 1,873,200.00 ||  1877  | 43,999,864.00 | 28,393,045.50 |
  |  1846  |  4,034,177.50 | 2,558,580.00 ||  1878  | 49,786,052.00 | 28,518,850.00 |
  |  1847  | 20,202,325.00 | 2,374,450.00 ||  1879  | 39,080,080.00 | 27,569,776.00 |
  |  1848  |  3,775,512.00 | 2,040,050.00 ||  1880  | 62,308,279.00 | 27,411,693.75 |
  |  1849  |  9,007,761.50 | 2,114,950.00 ||  1881  | 96,850,890.00 | 27,940,163.75 |
  |  1850  | 31,981,738.50 | 1,866,100.00 ||  1882  | 65,887,685.00 | 27,973,132.00 |
  |  1851  | 62,614,492.50 |   774,397.00 ||  1883  | 29,241,990.00 | 29,246,968.45 |
  |  1852  | 56,846,187.50 |   999,410.00 ||  1884  | 23,991,756.50 | 28,534,866.15 |
  |  1853  | 39,377,909.00 | 9,077,571.00 ||  1885  | 27,773,012.50 | 28,962,176.20 |
  |  1854  | 25,915,962.50 | 8,619,270.00 ||  1886  | 28,945,542.00 | 32,086,709.90 |
  |  1855  | 29,387,968.00 | 3,501,245.00 ||  1887  | 23,972,383.00 | 35,191,081.40 |
  |  1856  | 36,857,768.50 | 5,142,240.00 ||  1888  | 31,380,808.00 | 33,025,606.45 |
  |  1857  | 32,214,540.00 | 5,478,760.00 ||  1889  | 21,413,931.00 | 35,496,683.15 |
  |  1858  | 22,938,413.50 | 8,495,370.00 ||  1890  | 20,467,182.50 | 39,202,908.20 |
  |  1859  | 14,780,570.00 | 3,284,450.00 ||  1891  | 29,222,005.00 | 27,518,856.00 |
  |  1860  | 23,473,654.00 | 2,259,390.00 ||  1892  | 34,787,222.50 | 12,641,078.00 |
  |  1861  | 83,395,530.00 | 3,783,740.00 ||  1893  | 56,997,020.00 |  8,802,797.30 |
  |  1862  | 20,875,997.50 | 1,252,516.50 ||        |               |               |
  +--------+---------------+--------------++--------+---------------+---------------+

[Sidenote: UNITED STATES: MOVEMENTS OF METALS, 1851-1893]

IMPORT AND EXPORT OF THE PRECIOUS METALS INTO AND FROM THE UNITED
        STATES.

  +------------------------------------------------------------------+
  |                         Gold and Silver.                         |
  +--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  |                          | Import (Dollars). | Export (Dollars). |
  +--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | Yearly average,  1851-55 |      5,151,817    |     39,432,522    |
  |        "         1856-60 |     10,385,770    |     59,589,841    |
  |        "         1861-63 |     24,112,923    |     43,611,777    |
  +--------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+

  +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
  |                              Gold.                              |
  +-------------------------+---------------------------------------+
  |                         | Import (Dollars). | Export (Dollars). |
  +-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | Yearly average, 1864-70 |     11,117,584    |     58,757,484    |
  |       "         1871    |      6,883,561    |     66,686,208    |
  |       "         1872    |      8,717,458    |     49,548,760    |
  |       "         1873    |      8,682,447    |     44,856,715    |
  |       "         1874    |     19,503,137    |     34,042,420    |
  |       "         1875    |     13,696,793    |     66,980,977    |
  |       "         1876    |      7,992,709    |     31,177,050    |
  |       "         1877    |     26,246,234    |     26,590,374    |
  |       "         1878    |     13,330,215    |      9,204,455    |
  |       "         1879    |      5,624,948    |      4,587,614    |
  |       "         1880    |     80,758,396    |      3,639,025    |
  |       "         1881    |    100,031,259    |      2,565,132    |
  |       "         1882    |     34,377,054    |     32,587,880    |
  |       "         1883    |     17,734,149    |     11,600,888    |
  |       "         1884    |     22,831,317    |     41,081,957    |
  |       "         1885    |     26,691,696    |      8,477,892    |
  |       "         1886    |     20,743,349    |     42,952,191    |
  |       "         1887    |     42,910,601    |      9,701,187    |
  |       "         1888    |     43,934,317    |     18,376,234    |
  |       "         1889    |     10,284,858    |     59,951,685    |
  |       "         1890    |     12,943,342    |     17,274,491    |
  |       "         1891    |     45,298,928    |     79,187,499    |
  |       "         1892    |     18,165,056    |     76,735,592    |
  |       "         1893    |     73,280,575    |     80,010,633    |
  +-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  |                             Silver.                             |
  +-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | Yearly average, 1864-70 |      5,469,798    |     16,818,279    |
  |       "         1871    |     14,382,463    |     31,755,780    |
  |       "         1872    |      5,026,231    |     30,328,774    |
  |       "         1873    |     12,798,490    |     39,751,859    |
  |       "         1874    |      8,951,769    |     32,587,985    |
  |       "         1875    |      7,203,924    |     25,151,165    |
  |       "         1876    |      7,943,972    |     25,329,252    |
  |       "         1877    |     14,528,180    |     29,571,863    |
  |       "         1878    |     16,491,099    |     24,535,670    |
  |       "         1879    |     14,671,052    |     20,409,827    |
  |       "         1880    |     12,275,914    |     13,503,894    |
  |       "         1881    |     10,544,238    |     16,841,715    |
  |       "         1882    |      8,095,336    |     16,829,599    |
  |       "         1883    |     10,755,242    |     20,219,445    |
  |       "         1884    |     14,594,945    |     26,051,326    |
  |       "         1885    |     16,550,627    |     33,753,633    |
  |       "         1886    |     17,850,307    |      2,954,219    |
  |       "         1887    |     17,260,191    |     26,296,504    |
  |       "         1888    |     15,403,189    |     28,027,949    |
  |       "         1889    |     18,678,215    |     36,689,248    |
  |       "         1890    |     21,032,984    |     34,873,929    |
  |       "         1891    |     27,910,193    |     28,783,393    |
  |       "         1892    |     31,450,968    |     37,541,301    |
  |       "         1893    |     27,765,696    |     47,463,399    |
  +-------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+

In 1878 the currency total of America was thus composed:--

  +-------------------------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                               |     1878.     |     1879.     |
  +-------------------------------+---------------+---------------+
  | Gold (dollars),               |   82,500,000  |  123,700,000  |
  | Silver (dollars),             |      ...      |   11,100,000  |
  | Silver (small coin),          |   53,600,000  |   54,100,000  |
  | Gold Certificates,            |   44,400,000  |   14,800,000  |
  | Silver Certificates,          |      ...      |   12,000,000  |
  | State Notes,                  |  311,400,000  |  327,700,000  |
  | Notes of the National Banks,  |  313,900,000  |  330,000,000  |
  |                               +---------------+---------------+
  |           Totals,             |  805,800,000  |  862,600,000  |
  +-------------------------------+---------------+---------------+

In 1893--

                         Metallic.

     1893.                                      Dollars.
  Gold bullion,                                84,631,966
  Silver bullion,                             128,479,587
  Gold coin,                                  582,366,998
  Silver dollars,                             419,332,777
  Subsidiary silver coins,                     76,267,586
                                            -------------
                                            1,291,078,914
                                            =============

                           Paper.

  Legal tender notes (old issue),             346,681,016
  Legal Tender Notes Act, 14th July 1890,     153,160,151
  Gold certificates,                           77,487,769
  Silver certificates,                        334,584,504
  National Bank notes,                        208,538,844
  Currency certificates,                       39,085,000
                                            -------------
                                            1,159,537,284
                                            =============

Of the total of silver dollars in the above, only a matter of 57,869,589
are in circulation. The balance, 361,463,188, are in the Treasury
vaults.

[Sidenote: THE NETHERLANDS IN 1816]


Netherlands.

During the eighteenth century the monetary history of the Netherlands
loses its central and determining importance. The details of the Mint
laws, which precede the later developments of the nineteenth century,
are therefore relegated to the Appendix (No. IV. Holland).

When the United Provinces of the Netherlands and Belgium were united
under a single sceptre, both countries had an immense variety of coins,
for formerly nearly every province claimed a right of coining money. To
meet the desire for a simple and single system, a monetary law was
passed in 1816 under King William I. Its object was to arrive at a
currency having the old florin, called the florin of 200_as_, as the
unit. But at the same time a gold piece of 10 florins was allowed. The
florin contained 9.63 grms. of silver and the 10-florin piece 6.056
grms. of gold. The ratio was therefore 15.873, whilst in France it was
15-1/2.

Moreover, to respond to the desire of the inhabitants of Belgium, the
franc was accepted in the public treasuries, but at too high a rate,
viz. at 47-1/2 cents, whereas it was worth only 46.8 cents. The result
was that the new 3-florin pieces on leaving the Brussels Mint went to
the Lille Mint, to come back in the shape of 5-franc pieces.

The law was languidly carried out. Gold pieces were principally coined,
and in proportion as gold was coined it became more and more difficult
to coin silver.

In 1830 Belgium was separated from Holland, and it was not till 1844
that the recoining of the old money was seriously undertaken. The
monetary law had been already altered in 1839. Side by side with the
worn silver coins there were issued 5 or 10-florin gold pieces, which
had been coined to the amount of 172-1/2 millions of florins. The worn
and clipped silver coins not being available for international
transactions, gold formed the basis of exchange. This was regulated not
by the florin but by 1/10 of the 10-florin gold piece. All difficulties
it was thought could be obviated by adopting a florin of exactly 10
grms. weight, corresponding to the decimal metric system, and .945 fine.
As long as the gold coins remained in circulation, and they were of
great use while the recoinage was going on, there was thus a bimetallism
with a ratio of 1:15.504. From 1842-49 more than 85-1/4 millions of
florins in nominal value were called in and were recoined in new silver
pieces. The operation cost the State 8 millions of florins, 7 millions
being the loss on the old coins.

Before actually commencing the recoinage, the question of standard had
been carefully considered. Silver was resolved on. For more than a
century and a half the florin had been the unit of all transactions. As
the recoinage advanced, further attention was devoted to the necessity
of instituting the single standard. By the law of 26th September 1847,
the system of single silver standard was adopted. In June 1850 the gold
coins were called in. A total of 50 millions, not one-third of what had
been coined, was offered by the public. It was sold in 1850-51 by the
Government, which thereby lost rather more than 1 million.

[Sidenote: HOLLAND IN 1872]

There is a very noticeable point connected with this reform. The law of
September 1847 admitted trade coins in gold by the side of the legal
silver coins and fractional money. Besides the ducats, which are still
in demand from time to time, there were _Guillaumes d'or_, _double-_ and
_half-Guillaumes_. These pieces were inscribed only with the weight and
fineness.

This system failed completely. Though the gold Guillaume was coined of
the same weight and fineness as the old 10-florin piece, which was much
in request, people would not have it. The uncertainty of its value made
it unpopular. Between the years 1851 and 1853 only 10,000 Guillaumes,
10,000 half-Guillaumes, and 2636 double-Guillaumes were coined, and
since 1853 not a single one has been coined.

All through the Californian and Australian gold finds and until 1872,
the price of silver remained stationary for large transactions. Only in
small transactions did it exhibit from time to time some slight
fluctuations.

  From 1847-72 everybody was invariably
      able to sell his silver
      to the Netherlands Bank at         104 fl.  65 cents.
  Bank retained for recoinage, etc         1 fl.  17 cents.
                                        -------------------
                                         105 fl.  82 cents.

which, equal to value of 1 kilogramme of silver, .945, was as by the
Netherlands standard.

At Amsterdam also the price of silver did not change.

With the change in 1871 this repose was disturbed. A commission was
thereupon appointed, in October 1872, to consider the situation, which
reported in the following December. It proposed to prohibit the free
minting of silver, and this was enacted by the law of 21st May 1873. As
long as there was still a hope of Germany continuing her old system, the
commission merely proposed to coin a gold piece side by side with the
silver money. When, however, Germany adopted the gold standard, the
commission, in its additional report of 26th June 1873, proposed to do
the same by the introduction of a legal tender currency of 10- and
5-florin pieces in gold, and the withdrawal of the silver standard coins
issued under the law of 1847. This measure did not meet the approval of
the States-General. For the moment Holland had therefore no standard of
value, the Mint being closed to silver, and gold being unrecognised. The
consequent heavy fall in the exchange led to an agitation which resulted
in the enactment of the law of 6th June 1875, which opened the Mint to
the public for the coining of golden 10-guilder pieces of .9 fine, to be
legal tender concurrently with the silver florins at the ratio of 1 to
15.625 (calculated on a quotation of 60.35 price per oz. of silver). The
law was only enacted for a year, and in the following May 1876 an
attempt was made to pass a bill for the introduction of an exclusive
gold standard, and for the demonetisation of silver. The bill was
rejected by the First Chamber, and the law of 1875 renewed for another
year, and then (by the law of 9th December 1877) renewed "until
otherwise determined upon by law."

The result was the permanence of the limping standard--a gold piece with
free minting, side by side with silver pieces whose minting is
restricted, but gold and silver pieces being alike of unlimited legal
tender.

On the 28th March 1877 the States-General passed a law establishing, in
the Dutch East Indies, the double standard on the same basis as in
Holland, i.e. with the formal suspension of the further coinage of
silver. This law was promulgated in Java on the 7th June 1877.

[Sidenote: PORTUGAL IN 1868]


Portugal.

The first law respecting gold in Portugal is dated 4th August 1688.

By that law the price to be paid in the Lisbon and Oporto Mints for a
mark of gold (22 carats) was 96,000 reis (533 fr. 33 cents). This same
gold was valued at 102,400 reis (568 fr. 88 cents). For a mark of silver
of 11 dinheiros (i.e. 11/12 fine) the value was fixed at 6000 reis (33
fr. 33 cents), producing, when minted, 6300 reis (35 francs). The legal
ratio at that date (1688) was 1:16 (for purchase price of the metal),
1:16.25 (for the Mint issue rate).

In 1747 the value of a mark of coined silver was changed, and rose from
35 francs to 41 francs 66 cents (7500 reis), an enactment which changed
the ratio at a blow to 13.6.

This ratio remained until the beginning of the present century, and led
in short to the expulsion of gold from the monetary circulation.

The law of the 6th March 1822 gave to a mark of coined gold a fixed
value of 120 milreis (666 francs 666 cents), and the gold piece, whose
value was 6400 reis (35 francs 55 cents), had a value of 41 francs 66
cents (7500 reis). This law was repealed shortly afterwards, together
with those passed in the Cortes of 1820, but was restored and ratified
by another law of the 24th November 1823, and by a special charter of
5th June 1824.

The preamble of the law of 1822 had declared that the equivalence of
13.5 between gold and silver was very far from expressing the proportion
of their mercantile value, and that gold did not practically come into
circulation on account of the legal value of such money being below its
corresponding value in bullion, the legal ratio was therefore raised to
16 in 1825.

In 1835 a new law, of the 24th April, gave the coined silver mark the
value of 7500 reis (41 francs 66 cents), which brought the equivalence
to about 15.5, a figure which was considered the average rate of
exchange of money, whether national or foreign.

On the 3rd March 1847 a new law was passed raising the value of the gold
mark to 128,000 reis (711 francs 11 cents), and the gold piece, whose
value had been fixed in 1822 at 41 francs 66 cents (7500 reis), rose to
44 francs 44 cents (8000 reis). After this law other legal measures were
taken which established the legal ratio of 16.5.

It was these incessant alterations of ratio which led Portugal to
abandon bimetallism. The preamble of the law of 1854, which instituted
the gold single standard, expresses this, attesting that the circulation
felt the lack of harmony and the disorder produced by alterations in the
ratios, that the legal ratio being higher than the commercial ratio
hampered the transmission of money and burdened all transactions.

The law was adopted unanimously by the Portuguese Chambers.


The International Conferences.

The chief feature of the modern monetary agitation--the international
conferences and the attempt at international system--is due to the rapid
development of bimetallic theory in France, and to the initiative of the
United States, as well as to the universal or world-embracing needs of
the situation, and the extension of the domain of international law or
morality.

It is a mistake to suppose that this new era dates from 1871, from the
change in the German monetary system and the commencement of the wide
divergence between the two metals. The formation of the Latin Union was
the initial step in the process, although, in a smaller sphere, German
monetary history for centuries had been acquainted with Mint conventions
between very divergent systems, and had shortly before furnished another
illustration in the Conference of Vienna in 1857. The first
widely-embracing international conference proper, however, was the
outcome of an expression of opinion in the conclave of the Latin Union.
It was called at the invitation of France, and met at Paris on the 17th
June 1867. The States represented were Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium,
Denmark, Spain, the United States, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy,
the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Norway,
Switzerland, Turkey, and Würtemberg. The eight sessions of the
conference occupied till the 6th July 1867. All the states except
Holland declared in favour of a gold standard. It closed without
arriving at any actual or practical conclusions, but the president, De
Parieu, in his concluding oration, considered himself justified in
asserting that the sense of the conference was in favour of a gold
monometallic standard, approximating, as near as the occasions of future
Mint change in the various states would permit, to a unit based on the
5-franc piece (620 tale to a kilogramme of gold).

[Sidenote: THE CONFERENCE OF 1868]

Though without immediate practical result, the conference initiated a
wide movement. In England it was followed by the appointment of a
commission, 18th February 1868, "to consider and report upon the
proceeding of the said international monetary conference, ... and to
examine and report upon the recommendations of the conference, and their
adaptability to the circumstances of the United Kingdom, and whether it
would be desirable to make any and what changes in the coinage of the
United Kingdom, in order to establish, either wholly or partially, such
uniformity as the conference had held in contemplation."

The commission sat from the 13th March to the 8th July 1868, but closed
without practical decision, in regard of the difficulties lying in the
way of an international coinage. In particular, the proposition of a
reduction of the pound sterling to the 25-franc piece was rejected.

In France the whole course of public opinion, both before and after the
conference of 1876, and in the concluding examination of the _Enquête_
of 1865-69, ran strongly in favour of gold monometallism, and the
opinion has been unflinchingly held and expressed that only the breaking
out of the Franco-German War prevented the adoption of that system in
France and in the states of the Latin Union. It is hardly too much to
say that the conclusion of the war, with the heavy war indemnity which
she thereby suffered, took the initiative in monetary legislation out of
the hands of France.

Along with the latest reconstruction of her hoary imperial scheme,
Germany effected her great and greatly-needed monetary unification and
reform. She accomplished it on the basis of the old or French ratio of
15:5, and for two years after the reception of the scheme the price of
silver maintained itself moderately. On the 9th July 1873, however, she
completed the system by the Legal Tender Law, which demonetised the
silver currency, and gradually more than two-thirds of the total old
German silver money was called in, melted into bullion, and flung on the
market. Concurrently, other changes were at work on the Continent. In
1872 the Scandinavian States followed the example of Germany and adopted
a gold in place of a former silver standard. By the treaty of 18th
December 1872 a common system was established between Sweden, Norway,
and Denmark. For Sweden the conversion of the silver currency was based
on a ratio of 15.57, for Denmark 15.43, and for Norway 15.44. Three
years later the Netherlands followed suit. By their law of 6th June 1875
and 10th May 1876 they adopted a gold in place of their previous silver
standard at a basis ratio of 15.625.

Before the completion of these widespread changes, the great fall in the
gold price of silver had begun, and the United States in her
silver-producing interests, Great Britain in the interests of her Indian
dependency and in those of her trade with silver-using countries, and
the whole commercial world generally in the dislocation of
international exchange, found themselves menaced by gravest danger.

[Sidenote: THE DEPRECIATION OF SILVER]

Before the inrush of silver to the Mint, caused by such a fall, the
Latin Union first limited and then abandoned its coining of the 5-franc
piece.

The fall of silver became thereby only the more acute and confirmed. By
July 1876 it had sunk to 46-3/4 per oz. Apprehension was universally
felt, and in both England and the United States fresh commissions were
appointed to consider the question. The English commission on the
depreciation of silver was appointed in March 1876, and sat from the
20th March to the 8th May, under the presidency of Mr. Goschen. The
investigation turned upon the causes of the prevailing situation,
without any attempt at the suggestion of a remedial positive system.

Later, in the same year (15th August), the American Congress voted the
appointment of a like commission, to inquire into the causes of the
depreciation of silver and into the feasibility of a reconstruction of a
bimetallic system, as well as to devise a ratio and measures for the
facilitation of a return to cash payments in the United States. This
commission resulted in a double report, the 'majority' and the
'minority' report. The majority, comprising Messrs. Jones, Bogy,
Willard, Groesbeck, and Bland, recommended the remonetisation of silver
and the recourse to a fresh international conference. This latter
proposition was expressed in the compromise known as the Bland Bill, the
"Act to authorise the coinage of the standard silver dollar, and to
restore its legal tender character, 28th February 1878." Section 2 of
this law imposed it upon the President of the United States to invite
the members of the Latin Union and the other interested nations to an
international conference. On the invitation of France this conference
met in Paris on 10th August 1878. The American delegates proposed the
free coinage of silver in an international agreement and its
unrestricted employ on a full equality of tender with gold. The
delegates of Belgium, Switzerland, and Norway combated the proposals,
and, on the part of England, Mr. Goschen declared that while the
complete demonetisation of silver portended a commercial crisis to which
no parallel could be found, England could consent to no serious
modification of her currency system. Germany was not represented, and in
her absence France adopted a waiting policy, and the conference closed
with an impotent expression of opinion that, in view of the difference
of opinion, it was useless to discuss an international ratio, and that,
while it was necessary for the world to maintain the currency of silver,
the choice and treatment of each or either metal must be left to the
particular monetary situation and needs of each separate state.

It was not to be expected that so lame a conclusion could stand before
the needs of the situation. On the 19th May 1879 the landed interest in
Germany succeeded in driving the Chancellor of the Empire to suspend the
further sale of silver. The circumstance gave fresh hope to the
bimetallists, and a busy propaganda was carried on throughout Europe and
the States. The renewed international conference of 1881 is to be
regarded as an outcome of this movement.

[Sidenote: THE CONFERENCE OF 1881]

On the invitation of the United States and France the third
international conference met in Paris on the 19th April 1881. All the
European States, Canada, India, and the United States were represented.

France, through her delegates, Magnin, the president of the conference,
and Henri Cernuschi, at once and boldly declared for bimetallism. The
United States, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, and British India
followed suit. On behalf of their states the British and German
delegates declared that no change in the currency systems of their
countries could be entertained, but in case of an agreement among the
chief nations certain regulations to increase the monetary employment of
silver might be devised. Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, and the
Scandinavian kingdoms declared against bimetallism. After a recess from
the 30th June to the 19th May the conference closed on the 8th July 1881
with a nominal adjournment to the 12th April 1882, so as to give room
for possible currency legislation in the meantime. On the day fixed,
however, the conference, as need hardly be said, did not reassemble.

Practically, in the interval between the second and third of these
international delegations, the monetary situation had not perceptibly
altered. The price of silver in 1878 had been 52-9/16, in 1881 it was
51-11/16: the general level of prices had, if anything, slightly
improved, while the production of silver had not materially increased
(from 2,551,000 kilogrammes in 1878 to 2,593,000 kilogrammes in 1881),
though that of gold had certainly decreased. The close of the conference
was, however, followed by a strong bimetallic agitation in England and
Germany, which found united expression in the Bimetallic Congress at
Cologne in October 1882.

This congress unanimously adopted the following resolutions:--

"That in order to the establishment of a firm ratio between gold and
silver, it is desirable for England and Germany--

"1. To increase the employment of silver by minting full tender silver
by the side of the divisional restricted tender silver.

"2. That Germany should withdraw all gold and paper below the value of
10 marks [and replace it by silver].

"3. That Germany should sell no more silver.

"4. That the Bank of England should put in practice the clause of her
charter which allowed her to employ silver as part of the bank reserve."

The conclusions of this congress had, however, no practical influence on
the course of policy of either nation.

In the United States a parallel though more interested agitation was
conducted, centring round the yearly proposed repeal of the compulsory
minting clauses of the Bland Bill.

[Sidenote: THE ENGLISH GOLD AND SILVER COMMISSION]

In England the commercial depression, consequent upon falling prices and
the dislocation of exchanges with India and the East, ran its full
course, and gave fresh ground for activity to the then recently formed
Bimetallic League.

In the course of 1886 silver had sunk to 42d. per oz., and when the
royal commission on the depression of trade and industry closed its
investigations, with the expression of a desire for an inquiry into the
state of the precious metals, the British Government only too gladly
acceded. On the 20th September 1886 the royal commission "to inquire
into the present changes in the relative values of the precious metals"
was appointed. Its final report was made in October 1888, and, as is
well remembered, was of a divided nature. All the members of the
commission agreed that the action of the Latin Union in 1873 broke the
link between gold and silver, which had kept the price of silver, as
measured by gold, constant at about the legal ratio, and thereby left
silver exposed to the influence of all the factors which go to determine
the price of a commodity. On the question of bimetallism, in reference
to the actual and to any possible currency system, the commissioners
disagreed, and made separate reports. Lord Herschell, Sir C.W.
Fremantle, Sir John Lubbock, Sir Thomas Henry Farrer, J.W. Birch, and
Leonard H. Courtney expressed themselves adversely.

"Though unable to recommend the adoption of what is commonly known as
bimetallism, we desire it to be understood that we are quite alive to
the imperfections of standards of value, which not only fluctuate but
fluctuate independently of each other, and we do not shut our eyes to
the possibility of future arrangements between nations which may reduce
these fluctuations. One uniform standard of value for all commercial
nations would, no doubt, be a great advantage. But we think that any
premature and doubtful step might, in addition to its other dangers and
inconveniences, prejudice and retard progress to this end.

"We think also that many of the evils and dangers which arise from the
present condition of the currencies of different nations have been
exaggerated, and that some of the expectations of benefit to be derived
from the changes which have been proposed would, if such changes were
adopted, be doomed to disappointment.

"Under these circumstances we have felt that the wiser course is to
abstain from recommending any fundamental change in the system of
currency under which the commerce of Great Britain has attained its
present development."

From these opinions dissent was directly expressed in Part III. of the
report by the remaining members--Sir Louis Malet, A.J. Balfour, Henry
Chaplin, Sir D. Barbour, Sir W.H. Houldsworth, and Sir Samuel Montague.

[Sidenote: DISSENT FROM REPORT OF COMMISSION]

"We cannot doubt that if the system which prevailed before 1873 were
replaced in its integrity most of the evils which we have above
described would be removed; and the remedy which we have to suggest is
simply the reversion to a system which existed before the changes above
referred to were brought about--a system, namely, under which both
metals were freely coined into legal tender money at a fixed ratio over
a sufficiently large area.

"The remedy which we suggest is essentially international in its
character, and its details must be settled in concert with the other
powers concerned.

"It will be sufficient for us to indicate the essential features of the
agreement to be arrived at, viz.:--

"1. Free coinage of both metals into legal tender money.

"2. The fixing of a ratio at which the coins of either metal shall be
available for the payment of all debts at the option of the debtor.

"We submit, therefore, that the chief commercial nations of the world,
such as the United States, Germany, and the states forming the Latin
Union, should, in the first place, be consulted as to their readiness to
join with the United Kingdom in a conference, at which India and any of
the British colonies which may desire to attend shall be represented,
with a view to arrive, if possible, at a common agreement on the basis
above indicated."

Such a report was claimed as a victory for either side, but its doubtful
tenor only confirmed the rooted suspicion of the English administration
as regards any change of the currency system. And when, on the occasion
of the Paris Exhibition in 1889, a free International Monetary Congress
was held, as one of the numerous special congresses connected with the
celebration, Great Britain was not represented among the 194 members who
attended on the invitation of the organising committee. M. Magnin,
governor of the Bank of France, presided at the sittings, which covered
from the 11th to the 15th September. Like its predecessor, the
international conference, this congress closed without direct or
practical resolution. Putting out of view this congress as of a more
informal nature, a period of eleven years elapsed between the still only
prorogued conference of Paris of 1881 and the conference of Brussels in
1893. This--as yet the last--conference was summoned on the initiative
of the United States, but from the commencement a distinct difference of
tone and method made itself felt; the Government of the United States
recognising that some European countries might not be willing to adopt
the remedy which they would prefer, namely, "the establishment of some
fixity of value between gold and silver, and the free use of silver as a
coin metal, upon a ratio to gold to be fixed by an agreement between the
great commercial peoples of the world." The invitation to and purpose of
the conference were conveyed in quite general terms, namely thus, "For
the purpose of considering what measures, if any, could be taken to
increase the use of silver in the currency systems of nations."

[Sidenote: THE BRUSSELS CONFERENCE]

The invitation was accepted by all the most important states, and at the
first meeting, on 26th November 1892, the delegates of twenty
Governments were present, namely, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, Denmark,
France, Germany, Great Britain, British India, Greece, Italy, Mexico,
The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.

The proceedings were opened by M. Beernaert, President of the Council
and Finance Minister of Belgium. M. Montefiore Levi, senator, and
delegate of Belgium, was chosen as president, and his Excellency, M.
Edwin H. Terrell, Minister of the United States at Brussels, and one of
the delegates of the United States, was chosen vice-president.

At the second meeting the American delegates submitted a scheme for
international bimetallism, but, in conformity with the terms of the
invitation, at the same time expressed a hope that the powers
represented would consider and submit other plans for the enlarged use
of silver. Two such proposals they themselves suggested for
discussion--(1) the plan of M. Moritz Levy, proposed at the conference
of 1881, and (2) the plan proposed by the late Dr. A. Soetbeer. The main
design of both these proposals was to increase the use of silver, by
substituting silver coins or notes based on silver, for such small gold
coins and small notes based on gold as are at present in circulation.

At the same session the delegates of Germany, Austria, and Russia
explained that they were instructed not to express an opinion or to vote
upon any resolution. Roumania, Portugal, Turkey, and Greece not having
special instructions, felt themselves compelled to take up a similar
attitude. Finding that France and the States of the Latin Union were
apparently more disposed to criticism of, rather than to cordial
co-operation with, the objects of the conference, the delegates of the
United States did not press for a resolution on the wider question of
bimetallism, and the attention of the conference was accordingly fixed
on the subsidiary suggestions. To these latter, as above, was added on
the same day a third, made by Mr. Alfred de Rothschild, to the effect
that on condition of the United States continuing her purchases of 54
million oz. of silver yearly the different European powers should
combine to make certain yearly purchases, say to the extent of
£5,000,000 yearly; these purchases to be continued over a period of five
years, at a price not exceeding 43 pence per oz. On a rise of silver
above that price the purchases for the time being to be immediately
suspended.

In committee this latter proposal was thus modified--

1. The European states which agree, upon the basis of this proposal,
will buy in each year 30 million oz. of silver, on condition that the
United States agree to continue their present purchases, and that
unlimited free coinage be maintained in British India and Mexico.

2. The proportion of the purchases to be made by each country will be
determined by agreement.

3. The purchases will be made at the discretion of and in the manner
preferred by each Government.

4. These amounts of silver will be devoted in each country to the
monetary uses authorised by the legislation of that state, and the
silver will be either coined or made the guarantee for an issue of
ordinary or special notes, as Government may think fit.

5. The arrangement will be made for five years. The obligatory purchase
of silver will be suspended should the metal reach in the London market
a price determined by agreement between the Governments. The purchases
may be renewed, if the delegates of the different countries interested
should agree upon the fixing of a new limit of price. They should be
renewed in any case if the price falls below the original limit.

With regard to the Soetbeer plan it was abandoned in committee, while
the Levy plan was drawn up in the following terms:--

"1. The withdrawal from circulation within a period of ... of gold coins
containing a weight of less than 5.806 grms. of fine gold (20-franc
pieces).

"2. The withdrawal of notes of a less value than the coin of 20 francs
or its equivalent, an exception being made of notes representing a
deposit of silver."

The manner of adopting and recommending these schemes to the conference
from the committee was peculiar. The British delegate, Sir C. Fremantle,
declared that he could not entertain the "Levy" except in conjunction
with the "Rothschild" scheme, and while recommending the latter to the
conference for discussion, the states of the Latin Union declared that
even if passed, they could not recommend the plan to their Governments.

At the fourth session M. Boissevain declared that there were
insurmountable obstacles to its adoption by the Government of the
Netherlands. General Strachey said that unless it received more favour
than was indicated by the report, he would be unable to support it. Mr.
Allard, one of the Belgian delegates, declared that it was insufficient,
and Sir Rivers Wilson declared, on behalf of himself and Sir Charles
Fremantle, that recognising that this want of support would prevent them
from recommending the plan to their Government, they would refrain from
taking part in a detailed discussion of it, although they did not
consider it inconsistent with the monometallist opinions which they
held. Mr. M'Creary (delegate for the United States), then stated that he
did not consider M. de Rothschild's proposal, as it stood, equitable to
the United States, and therefore that he would be unable to support it.

[Sidenote: CLOSE OF THE BRUSSELS CONFERENCE]

In view of the various declarations, M. de Rothschild withdrew his plan,
and there was left before the conference only the Levy plan. This latter
was favourably regarded, but was radically insufficient for the
situation, and not considered important enough to receive really
vigorous support.

The course of the conference thereupon returned to the general
discussion of the bimetallic proposal of the United States. In this
discussion the attitude of reserve which the French delegates had
maintained was abandoned, and M. Tirard declared with the greatest
clearness that he could not advise his Government to open the French
Mints to the free coinage of silver, unless there was a general
agreement on the part of other nations to open their Mints also. Until,
therefore, there should be a decided change of opinion on the part of
Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Scandinavian States, and other
monometallic states, the question of returning to the free coinage of
silver must be looked upon as settled.

In view of such declarations the delegates of the United States declared
that they would not press for a vote upon the question of bimetallism.
And the conference closed with a formal adjournment, should the
Governments approve, to the 30th May 1893.

The close of the conference was a heavy blow to the bimetallic cause, as
illustrating so fully the impossibility of any arrangement. Germany,
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, declared clearly that no change would be
made on the gold basis of their currency. The delegate of Austria
Hungary was equally explicit in his statement that his Government had
every intention of abiding by the gold standard they were in the course
of adopting.

The decided lead of France was followed punctually by Switzerland,
Italy, Belgium, and Greece. The Netherlands were prepared to join a
bimetallic union, provided that Great Britain formed a part of it; and
Spain and Mexico were willing to adopt bimetallism, or other measures
which would have the effect of raising the price of silver. No
declaration was made on the behalf of Russia, though one of the
delegates, speaking personally, was an active supporter of the gold
standard. The Roumanian Government did not consider bimetallism a
practical possibility, and Turkey and Portugal expressed no opinion.

Practically, the United States stood alone in advocacy of bimetallism.
In addition to this fact, the situation was rendered much more trying
for her delegates by the fact that since their appointment the
presidential election had placed the Democratic party in power, and
great uncertainty prevailed as to the attitude and intentions of a new
President and Congress. "In these circumstances it soon became evident
that the delegates were anxious for an adjournment of the question to
give the new Government the opportunity of expressing their views, and
that the conference would adjourn without any practical result. But,
nevertheless, some very important statements and declarations were
elicited in the course of the debates. In the first place, in addition
to the distinct declarations on the part of some of the most important
European powers that they would not entertain bimetallism, the
representatives of the United States announced in very clear language
that at any moment their Government might be disinclined to continue
their purchases of silver, and that they were determined to protect
their stock of gold. The Indian delegates alluded to the possibility of
their Government finding itself under the necessity of closing its Mint
to the free coinage of silver."

[Sidenote: GOLD STANDARD FOR INDIA]

Already, before the calling of the Brussels Conference, it had been
recognised that, in case of failure to arrive at a bimetallic agreement,
it would be essential thus far to close the Indian Mint, and to attempt
the establishment of a gold standard in India. This impression, together
with a draft scheme for a gold currency, was conveyed in a minute of Sir
David Barbour's, addressed to the Secretary of State, 21st June 1892. As
the result of correspondence between the Secretary of State for India in
Council and the Government of India the British Government, on the 21st
October 1892, i.e. a month before the meeting of the Brussels
Conference, nominated a committee to consider the proposals submitted by
the Indian Government for stopping the free coinage of silver in India,
with a view to the introduction of a gold standard.

The committee consisted of--The Lord High Chancellor; The Right Hon.
Leonard H. Courtney, M.P.; Sir Thomas Henry Farrer, Bart.; Sir Reginald
Earle Welby, G.C.B.; Arthur Godley, Esq., C.B.; Lieutenant-General
Richard Strachey, C.S.I.; Bertram Wodehouse Currie, Esq.

A hope was at first expressed that the committee would be able to make
its report before the meeting of the conference at Brussels. But it was
not actually made until the 31st May 1893.


India.

The part which India has played in the currency history of the world has
been characteristic and uniform from the first. India is, and has been,
from the birth of international commerce, the receptacle or sink for the
precious metals of the civilised Western world. The fact that in so
being she has constituted herself the safety-valve of the world's
currencies is not confined to the present day merely. It is peculiarly
applicable to the present day, with our organisation of banking and
credit, which has concentrated the metallic reserves in certain burning
central spots, and built thereon a superstructure of credit transactions
so vast and in so delicately poised a manner that any undue addition to
the metallic reserve sends a shudder of excitement and speculation
through the whole, inducing over-trading and over-funding, and in the
end a crisis. Such is the structure of the world's commerce that India
provides an outlet or drain for any sudden crisis-bringing inflow of
precious metal, and preserves the equilibrium of our system. The fact is
patent to-day, because the nature of our credit and banking system is
understood. But in reality this function India has performed through
ages.

The influence she now exerts through impact with a highly delicate
credit system, she formerly exerted on a less uniform and delicate
system by the rougher influence of prices generally. The gain attending
the Eastern trade in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was not
measured by modern conceptions of dividends or trading margins. To the
European trader the intercourse was attended with a double gain,
commercial and financial--the latter really bimetallic in nature from
the higher ratio then prevailing between silver and gold in India.

To India it meant a perpetual balance of trade in her favour, if such a
phrase can be used of such a situation,--a continual inflow of precious
metal. Her capacity of absorption of metal seems as large and
unsatisfied as ever, and, on the assumption of an unaltered situation in
Europe and America, her function in the world's currency system still
remains--feasible and beneficent. It is the most difficult question
attending the modern currency crisis, whether such assumption of an
unaltered situation is permissible.

Further than this, as a simple matter of fact, the currency difficulty
with India at the present moment is purely governmental and commercial.
The Indian Government has yearly to remit a very large sum to this
country in discharge of its gold obligations. In 1873-74, before the
great fall in silver commenced, the amount remitted was £13,285,678,
which, at the rate of exchange of 1 rupee = 1s. 10.35d., meant
142,657,000 rupees. During the year 1892-3 the amount remitted was
£16,532,215, which, at the average rate of exchange in that year, 1s.
2.985d., required a payment of 264,784,150 rupees. If this could have
been remitted at the exchange of 1873-74, it would only have needed
177,519,200 rupees, making a difference of 87,274,950 rupees. The result
of this is to turn what would be a surplus of revenue into a large
deficit. At an estimated exchange of 1s. 4d. per rupee for the past
year, a surplus of revenue over expenditure was shown of 1,466,000
rupees. The exchange having fallen to an average of rather less than 1s.
3d., this surplus has been converted into an estimated deficit of
10,819,000 rupees. Notwithstanding the improvement of the revenue by
16,533,000 rupees over the budget estimate, the situation at the close
of 1892 was fraught with a double danger to the Indian Government. The
fall of silver--which had been such that during the year exchange could
scarcely be maintained at 1s. 2-5/8d. for the rupee by the refusal to
sell bills in India below that rate--might still proceed. And, secondly,
in case of failure attending the Brussels Conference, the United States
would be inevitably driven to abandon her single-handed attempt to keep
up the price of silver by her silver purchases. In that case an
unexampled fall of silver might be expected. The only practical solution
of the difficulty was the adoption of a gold standard for India, and in
order to do so at a workable rate for the rupee it would be necessary to
anticipate such further fall.

So much, in very brief, for the Government situation. For the
commercial,--the harassment of trade by fluctuations of exchange, the
check to investments, the handicapping of the Lancashire manufactures,
and so on,--all this ground is still strewn with the débris of debate
and difference. As far as the currency question, pure and simple, is
concerned--such, that is, as is conceived of throughout this book, viz.
metallic--it is almost incapable of presentation or realisation. Through
the extraordinary preference of the Indian for the precious metals as
metals or as a commodity, quite apart from currency use, the ordinary
action of such monetary laws as have been at work in Europe for
centuries is nullified--to how great an extent it is quite impossible to
estimate. The minting of silver has been such as might be expected under
the conditions of free minting of a cheapening metal--i.e. it has risen
on an average to the full amount of the net imports of silver. But,
conversely, there has been no such reactionary influence of such
mintings on the gold store of the country as would have taken place in
Europe. The importations of silver have gone hand in hand with a net
importation, not exportation, of gold, with no traceable evidence of
bimetallic action.

The establishment of the gold standard for India is, therefore,
primarily and in greatest part a governmental measure. As far as relates
to such purely scientific phenomena and considerations, as have governed
the European currencies for centuries, India still presents field for
little or for very questionable observation.[22]

TABLE OF THE SURPLUS OR NET IMPORTS OF THE PRECIOUS METALS INTO INDIA

  +---------+-----------+---------------+----------------+
  |  Year.  |   Gold.   |    Silver.    | Council Bills. |
  +---------+-----------+---------------+----------------+
  | 1835-6  |  £329,918 |  £1,611,896   |   £2,045,254   |
  | 1836-7  |   419,724 |   1,338,882   |    2,042,232   |
  | 1837-8  |   430,870 |   1,966,944   |    1,706,184   |
  | 1838-9  |   258,925 |   2,645,130   |    2,346,592   |
  | 1839-40 |   226,643 |   1,650,471   |    1,439,525   |
  | 1840-1  |   137,312 |   1,401,670   |    1,174,450   |
  | 1841-2  |   165,623 |   1,283,228   |    2,589,283   |
  | 1842-3  |   211,161 |   2,952,445   |    1,197,438   |
  | 1843-4  |   406,523 |   3,695,442   |    2,801,731   |
  | 1844-5  |   710,100 |   1,988,561   |    2,516,951   |
  | 1845-6  |   544,476 |     932,490   |    3,065,709   |
  | 1846-7  |   846,949 |   1,378,249   |    3,097,042   |
  | 1847-8  | 1,039,116 |  (_-491,191_) |    1,541,804   |
  | 1848-9  | 1,348,918 |     313,904   |    1,889,195   |
  | 1849-50 | 1,116,993 |   1,273,607   |    2,935,118   |
  | 1850-1  | 1,153,294 |   2,117,225   |    3,236,458   |
  | 1851-2  | 1,267,613 |   2,865,357   |    2,777,523   |
  | 1852-3  | 1,172,301 |   4,605,024   |    3,317,122   |
  | 1853-4  | 1,061,443 |   2,305,744   |    3,850,565   |
  | 1854-5  |   731,290 |      29,600   |    3,669,678   |
  | 1855-6  | 2,506,245 |   8,194,375   |    1,484,040   |
  | 1856-7  | 2,091,214 |  11,073,247   |    2,819,711   |
  | 1857-8  | 2,783,073 |  12,218,948   |      628,499   |
  | 1858-9  | 4,426,453 |   7,728,342   |       25,901   |
  | 1859-60 | 4,284,234 |  11,147,563   |        4,694   |
  | 1860-1  | 4,232,569 |   5,328,009   |          797   |
  | 1861-2  | 5,184,425 |   9,086,456   |    1,193,729   |
  | 1862-3  | 6,848,159 |  12,550,155   |    6,641,576   |
  | 1863-4  | 8,898,306 |  12,796,719   |    8,979,521   |
  | 1864-5  | 9,839,964 |  10,078,798   |    6,789,473   |
  | 1865-6  | 5,724,476 |  18,668,673   |    6,998,899   |
  | 1866-7  | 3,842,328 |   6,963,074   |    5,613,746   |
  | 1867-8  | 4,609,467 |   5,593,961   |    4,137,285   |
  | 1868-9  | 5,159,352 |   8,601,022   |    3,705,741   |
  | 1869-70 | 5,592,117 |   7,320,337   |    6,980,122   |
  | 1870-1  | 2,282,121 |     941,937   |    8,443,509   |
  | 1871-2  | 3,565,344 |   6,512,827   |   10,310,339   |
  | 1872-3  | 2,543,362 |     704,644   |   13,939,095   |
  | 1873-4  | 1,382,638 |   2,451,383   |   13,285,678   |
  | 1874-5  | 1,873,535 |   4,642,202   |   10,841,615   |
  +---------+-----------+---------------+----------------+

_NET_ IMPORT OF SILVER AND MINTING OF _NEW_ SILVER, 1870-92

  +-----------+---------------+---------------+
  |           |      Net      |      New      |
  |   Year.   |    Imports    |    Coinage    |
  |           |   (Rupees).   |   (Rupees).   |
  +-----------+---------------+---------------+
  |  1870-1   |    9,419,240  |   17,181,970  |
  |  1871-2   |   65,203,160  |   16,903,940  |
  |  1872-3   |    7,151,440  |   39,809,270  |
  |  1873-4   |   24,958,240  |   23,700,070  |
  |  1874-5   |   46,422,020  |   48,968,840  |
  |  1875-6   |   15,553,550  |   25,502,180  |
  |  1876-7   |   71,988,720  |   62,711,220  |
  |  1877-8   |  146,763,350  |  161,803,260  |
  |  1878-9   |   39,706,940  |   72,107,700  |
  |  1879-80  |   78,697,420  |  102,569,680  |
  |  1880-1   |   38,925,740  |   42,496,750  |
  |  1881-2   |   53,790,500  |   21,862,740  |
  |  1882-3   |   74,802,270  |   65,084,570  |
  |  1883-4   |   64,051,510  |   36,634,000  |
  |  1884-5   |   72,456,310  |   57,942,320  |
  |  1885-6   |  116,066,290  |  102,855,660  |
  |  1886-7   |   71,557,380  |   46,165,370  |
  |  1887-8   |   92,287,500  |  107,884,250  |
  |  1888-9   |   92,466,790  |   73,122,550  |
  |  1889-90  |  109,378,760  |   85,511,580  |
  |  1890-1   |  141,751,360  |  131,634,740  |
  |  1891-2   |   90,221,840  |   55,539,700  |
  |  1892-3   |  128,635,690  |  127,052,100  |
  |           +---------------+---------------+
  | Total of} |               |               |
  | 23 years} | 1,652,256,020 | 1,525,044,460 |
  +-----------+---------------+---------------+

NET IMPORT AND MINTING OF GOLD

  +---------+--------------------------+---------+
  |  Year.  |          Rupees.         | Rupees. |
  +---------+--------------------------+---------+
  | 1875-6  |        15,451,310        | 171,500 |
  | 1876-7  |         2,073,490        |   Nil   |
  | 1877-8  |         4,681,290        | 156,360 |
  | 1878-9  | (_Export of 8,961,730_)  |     850 |
  | 1879-80 |        17,505,040        | 147,300 |
  | 1880-1  |        36,551,990        | 133,550 |
  | 1881-2  |        48,439,840        | 339,700 |
  | 1882-3  |        49,308,710        | 174,950 |
  | 1883-4  |        54,625,050        |   Nil   |
  | 1884-5  |        46,719,360        | 129,650 |
  | 1885-6  |        27,629,350        | 225,850 |
  | 1886-7  |        21,770,650        |   Nil   |
  | 1887-8  |        29,924,810        |   Nil   |
  | 1888-9  |        28,139,340        | 226,090 |
  | 1889-90 |        46,153,030        | 230,500 |
  | 1890-1  |        56,361,720        |   Nil   |
  | 1891-2  |        24,137,920        | 248,010 |
  | 1892-3  | (_Export of 28,126,830_) |   ...   |
  +---------+--------------------------+---------+

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 15: The returns for the years 1825-29 give no separate figures
for gold and for silver, but give only the total of the two together.]

[Footnote 16: From 1865-1878--

  France    minted                 625,466,380 francs.
  Belgium      "                   350,497,720   "
  Italy        "                   359,059,820   "
  Switzerland  "                     7,978,250   "
                                 -------------
                                 1,343,000,000   "
                                 -------------

]

[Footnote 17: As far, that is, as relates to gold. So far as silver is
concerned, it was practically abrogated by the clauses for the
prohibition of silver coinage in 38 Geo. III. c. 59 (1798), and finally
repealed by the Act of 56 Geo. III. c. 68 (1816). See _postea_.]

[Footnote 18: Professor Laughlin brings out very strongly that even in
such action Hamilton shows no trace of the modern conception of
bimetallism, that his report expresses an emphatic preference for gold
over silver, and that his object in adopting bimetallism was, while
retaining silver, to leave a door open, if possible, for the
introduction of gold.--_History of Bimetallism in the United States_,
pp. 13, 14.]

[Footnote 19: By the law of 1837 the alloy for both gold and silver
coins was fixed at 1/10. The pure gold in the eagle, which by the Act of
1834 was fixed at 232 grs. (258 grs. gross for the piece), was thereby
changed to 232.2 grs. At the same time the pure metal content of the
silver dollar was maintained at 371-1/4 grs., the (gross) weight per
piece being changed to 412-1/2 grs.]

[Footnote 20: See the case more fully established in Laughlin's
_Bimetallism in the United States_, pp. 29, 57.]

[Footnote 21: Viz. of Philadelphia, New Orleans, Dahlonega, Charlotte,
San Francisco, and Carson City.]

[Footnote 22: On the subject of the history of the Indian Currency
System under the East India Co., in the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, see a very interesting communication made in the pages of the
_Nineteenth Century_ by Mr. H.D. Macleod (_Nineteenth Century_, November
1894, p. 777). The question of the system established by the Order in
Council of January 1841 (authorising officers in charge of public
treasuries to freely receive gold coins struck in conformity with the
provisions of Act xvii. of 1835, establishing the 15-rupee pieces),
which continued till its rescinding in December 1852, is discussed in
the evidence of Mr. T. Comber before the Royal Commission on Gold and
Silver (_Second Report of the Commission on Changes in the Relative
Values of the Precious Metals_, 1888, p. 27). For an excellent and
succinct history of the Indian currency system from the end of the 18th
century, see Robert Chalmers' _History of Currency and the British
Colonies_, p. 336.]




APPENDIX I

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF FLORENCE DURING THE DAYS OF HER COMMERCIAL
        ACTIVITY AND INDEPENDENCE


Throughout the history of independent Florence her gold coin type is
always the florin. In its first beginning her monetary system had
relation to that of the restored Empire. The _silver fiorino_ of which
the first mention occurs was equivalent to 12 denari, as in the
Charlemagne system. Presumably this would be equal to some hypothecated
_soldo_, and the multiple of it a hypothecated fiorino d'oro, gold
florin (= 20 soldi), would be equal to the lira or libra, or unit of
weight. This will explain how it is possible to have mention of gold
florins almost a century before the actual issuing of a real coin so
named. Such mention occurs in the monetary ordinances and schedules of
France as early as 1180. (See Preface, _supra_, p. xiii, also De Saulcy,
_Documents_, i. 115. Le Blanc was unable to explain this apparent
contradiction of history.)

What the particular Florentine weight unit or lira (libbra) was,
however, is uncertain. According to the researches of Neri (in
_Argelatus_, i. 157) the scheme of weights was--

                             Denari.   Grani.
  Silver florin         =      ...       38      23      26
  Lira (or 20 popolini) =       32       11      15      21

When it actually emerges, the gold florin has a weight of 53 (English)
grs., or 72 Florentine; which would give a mark of 6912 grs. Its
standard was of absolute fineness, 24 carats, a standard which was never
departed from through the whole of its history. Very little change, too,
was made in the weight, hardly more than 4-1/2 grs. in all (or 6-1/4 per
cent.).

It was issued at an equivalence of 20 soldi, which were represented by
20 silver florins, already known.

The variation of this coin with regard to the unit coin of lower
denomination will be found in the Table below.

There is a second variation of the gold florin, _apparently_ with regard
to itself, which has given rise to much misunderstanding, and requires
explanation. As the process of wear and tear and abrasion went on in the
coins, with lapse of time the custom grew of subdividing or
hypothecating a gold florin of ideally perfect weight and condition as
the standard for transactions. This became book or bank money, and the
actually circulating medium was rated to it at a certain discount. This
ideal florin is known as _fiorini di suggello_ or _sigillo_, florin of
the public seal, and there is a series of such denominations. The first
apparent adoption of such a method--which also emerges in the currency
history of Hamburg and Amsterdam--was in 1321, and the florins of that
date are styled "of the first sigello"; the second was in 1324, the
third in 1345, and so on. Between the years 1328 and 1462 there was a
series of eight, as follows:--

  1328    5 per cent. advantage.
  1345    3      "       "
  1347    5      "       "
  1402    5      "       "
  1402    1-1/4  "       "
  1442    4      "       "
  1461    7      "       "

Subsequently, by law of 30th May 1464, this various advantage was
transferred from the _fiorini di suggello_ to a new denomination,
_fiorini d'oro larghi_, with an advantage of 20 per cent. above the
_fiorini di suggello_; and once again, by the law of 14th October 1501,
the process was repeated. An advantage of 19 per cent. over the _fiorini
d'oro larghi_ was announced in favour of the newest denomination,
_fiorini d'oro larghi in oro_. The advantage of these last, therefore,
over the _fiorini di suggello_ of 1461 amounted to 39 per cent.

It appears quite clear that this advantage represents a differentiation,
not of good bank abstract florins from worn current gold florins, but of
the former from the actual current medium of payment, and that this
latter was _silver_.

The cause of the advantage was the depreciation of the silver
denomination, from the aggregate of which was formed the lira, in which
was expressed the value of the gold florin.[23]

For illustration:--

  In 1464--

    120 fiorini di suggello = 100 fiorini
      d'oro larghi at 4 lire 8 sol. 4 den.
      each                                = 530 lire.

    Therefore each fiorino d'oro largo
    ought to = 5 lire 6 sol., which by the
    tables of the time it actually did.

  Similarly, in 1501--

    100 fiorini larghi d'oro in oro = 119
      larghi di grossi at 5 lire 11 sol.
      4 den.                             = 660 lire.

    Therefore fiorino largo d'oro in oro
      should = 6 lire 12 sol. which it
      actually did.

The SILVER MONIES of Florence were based on the silver florin = 1/20 of
gold florin (= 38-1/2 grains).

From the time of the Mint Law of 1296, these silver coins are styled
_grossi_, and subsequently _soldi_, _grossi_, _Guelfi_, etc. etc.

The alloy gradually sank--

        Onza.        Denaro.

         11             18
         11             17
  (1280) 11             15
  (1314) 11             12

remaining at the last-named figure until the reopening of the Pisan Mint
in 1597.

As the gold rose in value by the process already indicated, and the idea
of the lira as 20 soldi = 1 gold florin, became inapplicable, the lira
came to be looked on as a fractional part of the gold piece or florin.
This usage grew up in Florence from the beginning of the twelfth
century, and so continued till the days of Cosimo I., who in 1534 coined
the first lira, i.e. an actual silver coin.

This imaginary lira of mediæval Florence was itself divided, like the
florin, into soldi and denari, similar aliquot parts. Hence the custom
of keeping Florentine accounts, (1) _a oro_, or (2) _a moneta di
piccioli_, the one in terms of the florin of gold, the other in terms of
the imaginary lira.

The confusion to which this led was due to the unstable nature of the
imaginary money, which from 1312 continually depreciates in value, as
compared with the actual hard florin money. In 1314, as some measure of
reform, it was ordained that the florin of gold should not equal more
nor less than 29 of the soldi of this lira, and that it should never
change from such course--the distinction of _moneta bianca_ and _nera_
being introduced for the purpose. The ceasing of the observation of this
regulation in the sixteenth century made way for every kind of
confusion.

For the explanation of the text in Part I., pp. 19-23, it need only be
added that 20 of these imaginary soldi formed the _lira a fiorino_
spoken of.

TABLE OF THE SILVER COINS STRUCK IN FLORENCE, 1252-1534.

  +---------+-----------------+---------------------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  |         |                 |      Standard.      | Weight    | Fine Silver | Tale per |   Tale per   | Value at   |
  |  Year.  |  Denomination.  +----------+----------+ of each   |   in each   |   Mark   |Mark issued to|   which    |
  |         |                 | Silver.  |  Alloy.  |  piece.   |    Piece.   |  minted. |the Merchant. |Circulated. |
  +---------+-----------------+----------+----------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------+
  |         |                 | Oz. Gr.  |  Oz. Gr. | Grains.   |  Grains.    |          |              |Soldi. Den. |
  |   1252  |Fiorino d'argento|   ---    |   ---    | 43-1/5    |    ---      | 160      |     ---      |  1     0   |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |(of the gold|
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |  florin.)  |
  |   1280  |       Do.       | 11   15  |  0    9  | 45-3/4    |  45-1/4     | 151      |     ---      |  1     8   |
  |   1296  |Soldi grossi     | 11   15  |  0    9  | 40-9/19   |  39-3/19    | 171      |   167        |  2     0   |
  |   1305  |Grossi popolini  | 11   12  |  0   12  | 40-9/19   |  38-3/4     | 171      |     ---      |  2     0   |
  |         |                 |(= Argento popolino.)|           |             |          |              |            |
  |   1314  |Guelfi del fiore | 11   12  |  0   12  | 41-5/8    |  39-7/8     | 166      |   163        |  2     6   |
  |         |(Half and quarter|          |          |           |             |          |              |            |
  |         |     of same.)   |          |          |           |             |          |              |            |
  |   1345  |Nuovi Guelfi     | 11   12  |  0   12  | 51-7/12   |  49-5/12    | 134      |   132        |  4     0   |
  |(Aug. 19)|                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |(of the     |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |  piccioli.)|
  |   1345  |Grossi Guelfi    | 11   12  |  0   12  | 52-4/11   |  50-2/11    | 132      |     ---      |  4     0   |
  |(Aug. 23)|                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |            |
  |   1345  |Grossi Guelfi    | 11   12  |  0   12  | 48-2/3    |  46-5/8     | 142      |   140        |  4     0   |
  |(Oct. 23)|                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |            |
  |   1347  |Guelfi grossi    | 11   12  |  0   12  | 59-1/13   |  56-8/13    | 117      |   111-2/3    |  5     0   |
  |   1368  |Popolini         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 23-1/25   |  22-2/25    | 300      |              |  2     0   |
  |   1390  |Grossi           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 56-8/41   |  53-35/41   | 123      |              |  5     6   |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |(piccioli.) |
  |   1402  |Grossi           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 52-4/11   |  50-2/11    | 132      |   130        |  5     6   |
  |   1448  |Grossi           | 11   12  |  0   12  |           |             |          |              |  5     4   |
  |   1460  |Grossoni         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 54        |  51-3/4     | 128      |   125-2/3    |  6     8   |
  |   1471  |Grossi           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 49-1/47   |  46-38/47   | 141      |   138        |  6     8   |
  |   1481  |Grossoni         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 47-1/49   |  45-3/49    | 147      |   143        |  6     8   |
  |   1489  |Grossi           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 47-1/49   |  45-3/49    | 147      |   144        |  6     8   |
  |   1503  |Grossoni         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 40-1/2    |  38-19/24   | 170-2/3  |   166-2/3    |  7     0   |
  |   1503  |Grossoni         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 71-72/345 |  68-76/145  | 96-2/3   |   94-1/3     |{10    0    |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{(bianchi.) |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{13    4    |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{(neri.)    |
  |   1504  |Carolino or      | 11   12  |  0   12  | 71-73/145 |  68-76/145  | 96-2/3   |   94-1/3     |  10    0   |
  |         |  barile         |          |          |           |             |          |              | (bianchi.) |
  |   1506  |Grossoni         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 39-165/173|  38-50/173  | 173      |   169        |  7     0   |
  |   1508  |Grossoni         | 11   12  |  0   12  | 39-201/347|  38-62/347  | 173-1/2  |   169        |  7     0   |
  |   1508  |Grossetti        | 11   12  |  0   12  | 28-268/731|  27-135/731 | 243-2/3  |   237-2/3    |{4     0    |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{(bianchi.) |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{5     0    |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{(neri.)    |
  |   1524  |Barili           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 68-1/4    |  65-13/32   | 101-1/4  |   99         |  13    4   |
  |         |(The half-barile and the teston (= 3 barili) in proportion.)     |          |              |            |
  |   1531  |Grossi           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 38        |  36-5/12    | 181-17/19|     ---      |  7     0   |
  |   1531  |Barili           | 11   12  |  0   12  | 70        |  67-1/12    | 98-46/35 |     ---      |{10    0    |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{(bianchi.) |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{13    4    |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |{(neri.)    |
  |   1531  |Quinto di Ducato | 11   12  |  0  12   | 152       |  145-2/3    | 45-9/19  |     ---      |  30    0   |
  |         |                 |          |          |           |             |          |              |(piccioli.) |
  +---------+-----------------+----------+----------+-----------+-------------+----------+--------------+------------+

TABLE OF THE GOLD COINS OF FLORENCE, 1252-1534.

(From _Zanetti_, i. 439.)

  +------+----------------------------+---------+---------+----------+-----------+
  |      |                            |         |         |   Tale   |   Value   |
  |Year. |       Denomination.        |Standard.| Weight. |    per   | at which  |
  |      |                            |         |         |   Mark.  |circulated.|
  +------+----------------------------+---------+---------+----------+-----------+
  |      |                            | Karati. | Grains. |          |Soldi. Den.|
  | 1252 | Fiorino d'oro              |    24   |    72   |    96    |  20    0  |
  | 1275 |     Do.                    |    24   |    72   |    96    |  30    0  |
  | 1282 |     Do.                    |    24   |    72   |    96    |  32    0  |
  | 1286 |     Do.                    |    24   |    72   |    96    |  36    0  |
  | 1296 |     Do.                    |    24   |    72   |    96    |  40    0  |
  | 1302 |     Do.                    |    24   |    72   |    96    |  51    0  |
  | 1321 | Fiorino of the first       |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   suggello (5 per cent.    |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   advantage)               |    24   |    69   |   100    |    ...    |
  | 1324 | Fiorino of the second      |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   surgely                  |    24   |  70-1/2 |  98-1/4  |  60    0  |
  | 1328 | Fiorino stretti            |    24   |  70-1/2 |  98-1/4  |  66    1  |
  | 1331 |     Do.                    |    24   |  70-1/2 |  98-1/4  |  60    0  |
  | 1345 | Fiorini of the third       |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   surgely (5 per cent.     |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   advantage)               |    24   |  70-1/2 |  98-1/4  |  62    0  |
  | 1347 |     Do.      do.           |    24   |  70-1/2 |  98-1/4  |  68    0  |
  | 1352 |     Do.      do.           |   ...   |   ...   |    ...   |  67    6  |
  | 1353 |     Do.      do.           |   ...   |   ...   |    ...   |  68    6  |
  | 1356 |     Do.      do.           |   ...   |   ...   |    ...   |  70    0  |
  | 1375 | Fiorino nuovo              |    24   |  71-3/5 |  96-2/5  |  70    0  |
  | 1378 |     Do.                    |   ...   |   ...   |    ...   |  68    0  |
  | 1380 | Fiorino nuovastro          |   ...   |   ...   |    ...   |  70    0  |
  | 1402 | Fiorino nuovo of the fifth |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   suggello (6-1/4 per cent.|         |         |          |           |
  |      |   advantage)               |    24   |    68   |101-11/117|  73    4  |
  | 1422 | Fiorino nuovissimo or      |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   largo di Galea           |    24   |  71-3/5 |  96-2/5  |  80    0  |
  | 1442 | Fiorino largo              |    24   |    72   |    96    |    ...    |
  |      | Fiorino of the sixth       |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   suggello (10 per cent.   |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   advantage)               |    24   |    72   |    96    |    ...    |
  |      | Fiorino stretto di Camera  |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   of the seventh suggello  |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   (7 per cent. advantage)  |    24   |  69-1/8 |   100    |    ...    |
  | 1448 | Fiorino of the eighth      |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   suggello (4 per cent.    |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   advantage)               |    24   |   ...   |    ...   |  85    0  |
  | 1460 | Fiorino of the ninth       |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   suggello (7 per cent.    |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   advantage)               |    24   |  71-6/7 |  96-1/3  |  86    8  |
  | 1462 | Fiorino (of Pisan weight)  |    24   |  71-6/7 |  96-1/2  |  87    0  |
  | 1464 | Fiorino largo (20 per      |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   cent. better than the    |         |         |          |           |
  |      |   fiorino di suggello)     |    24   |    72   |    96    | 106    0  |
  | 1471 |     Do.      do.           |    24   |    72   |    96    | 108    0  |
  | 1480 |     Do.      do.           |    24   |    72   |    96    | 111    0  |
  | 1485 |     Do.      do.           |    24   |    72   |    96    | 111    4  |
  | 1501 | Fiorino d'oro largo in oro |         |         |          | 140    0  |
  |      |   (19 per cent. advantage  |         |         |          | (neri.)   |
  |      |   on the fiorino largo)    |    24   |    72   |    96    | 111    4  |
  |      |                            |         |         |          | (grossi.) |
  | 1508 |     Do.      do.           |    24   |    72   |    96    | 142    0  |
  |      |                            |         |         |          |  (neri.)  |
  | 1531}| Ducato d'oro               |    24   |    72   |    96    | 150    8  |
  | 1534}|                            |         |         |          |(piccioli.)|
  +------+----------------------------+---------+---------+----------+-----------+

TABLE OF THE BILLON MONEY (MONETA NERA OR EROSA) STRUCK IN FLORENCE,
1300-1534.

  +-----------+-------------+---------------------+-----------+--------------+------------+-----------+--------------+
  |           |             |     Standard.       |Weight of  |Fine Silver   | Tale per   |Tale per   |  Value       |
  |   Year.   |Denomination.|                     |each Piece.|in each Piece.| Mark coined|Mark issued|  at which    |
  |           |             +---------------------+           |              |            | to the    |  Circulated. |
  |           |             | Silver.  |  Copper. |           |              |            | Merchant  |              |
  +-----------+-------------+----------+----------+-----------+--------------+------------+-----------+--------------+
  |           |             |Oz.   Gr. |Oz.   Gr. | Grains.   | Grains.      |            |           |    Denari    |
  |           |             |          |          |           |              |            |           |              |
  |  1316     |Fiorin da sei| 1     0  | 11     0 |   ---     |   ---        |  ---       |  ---      |      6       |
  |  1321[E]  |Fiorini neri | 1     0  | 11     0 | 12-4/5    | 1-1/15       |  540       |  ---      |      1       |
  |  1325     |Piccioli     | 1     0  | 11     0 | 12-4/5    | 1-1/15       |  540       |  444      |      1       |
  |  1332     |Quattrini    | 2     0  | 10     0 | 26-1/2    | 4-5/12       |  261       |  240      |      4       |
  |           |  lanajuoli  |          |          |           |              |            |           |              |
  |  1337     |Quattrini    | 2     0  | 10     0 | 21-45/327 | 3-11/24      |  327       |  301      |      4       |
  |(July 19)  |             |          |          |           |              |            |           |              |
  |  1337     |   Do.       | 2     0  | 10     0 | 21-3/4    | 3-5/8        |  318       |  297      |      4       |
  |(July 28)  |             |          |          |           |              |            |           |              |
  |  1366     |Piccioli neri| 1     0  | 11     0 |  8-1/4    |   2/3        |  840       |  660      |      1       |
  |  1371     |   Do.       | 0 23-1/2 | 11-1/2 0 |  8        |   5/8        |  864       |  708      |      1       |
  |           | Quattrini   | 2     0  | 10     0 | 18-5/12   | 3-1/12       |  375       |  370      |      4       |
  |  1417     |Piccioli neri| 1     0  | 11     0 |  6-78/83  |   7/12       |  996       |  ---      |      1       |
  |  1432     | Quattrini   | 2     0  | 10     0 | 18-5/12   | 3-1/12       |  375       |  ---      |      4       |
  |  1462     | Soldini     | 6     0  |  6     0 | 15        | 7-1/2        |  460       |  446      |     12       |
  |  1471     | Quattrini   | 2     0  | 10     0 | 26-42/87  | 4-5/12       |  261       |  240      |      4       |
  |           | Soldini     | 6     0  |  6     0 | 13-2/3    | 6-5/6        |  505       |  483      |     12       |
  |           |Piccioli neri| 1     0  | 11     0 |   ---     |  ---         |  ---       |  ---      |      1       |
  |  1472     | Quattrini   | 1    12  | 10    12 | 16-1/2    | 2-1/24       |  420       |  366      |      4       |
  |           | Piccioli    | 0     6  | 11    18 |  8        |   1/6        |  864       |  252      |      1       |
  |  1490     | Quattrini   | 2     0  | 10     0 | 16        | 2-2/3        |  432       |  ---      |      4       |
  |           |  bianchi[F] |          |          |           |              |            |           |              |
  |           | Quattrini   | 1     0  | 11     0 | 14-7/8    | 1-1/4        |  465       |  ---      |      4       |
  |  1509     |   Do.       | 1     0  | 11     0 | 16-5/12   | 1-1/3        |  420       |  ---      |      4       |
  |  1512     | Crazie      |   ---    |    ---   |   ---     |  ---         |  ---       |  ---      |              |
  +-----------+-------------+----------+----------+-----------+--------------+------------+-----------+--------------+

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 23: For a corroboration of this, see the texts of the laws of
1460 and 1470.

1460. "Veduta una legge del anno 1452, che provide che in qualunque
pagamento si avesse a fare, si potisse pagare, e cosi fosse accettato,
per ogni fiorino di suggello 4 lire 5 soldi delle monete di grossi
d'Ariento, per la quel cosa e seguito che i grossi sono scemati tanto di
peso che i fiorini larghi per ragguaglio di quelli, dove solevano essere
meglio comuneménte da fiorini 10 in 12 per cent., che i fiorini di
suggello sono iti a fiorini 22 per cent--"

1471. "Che i fiorini di suggello in moneta bianca o nera non abbiano
pregio firmo nè a grossoni, nè a quattrini ma vagliano quello e quanto
sara la sua commune valuta dì per dì e secondo saranno alla camera e
all' Arte del Comtis--"]

[Footnote E: Beginning of the distinction of white and dark monies
(moneta bianca and la nera).]

[Footnote F: Three of which equal one quattro de'ner.]




APPENDIX II

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF VENICE


The Venetian monetary system of history employed a double basis or
unit:--

1. The _lira di piccioli_, the principal system, and the one which
endured through the whole life of the Republic, from the tenth century
to the introduction of the decimal system in 1806.

2. The _lira di grossi_--an ideal system, i.e. money of accompt only,
and of importance for a much less extensive period. It originated in the
thirteenth century, and was abandoned by the end of the sixteenth.

The "lira" of the first of these systems is derived from the "libra" of
Charlemagne, and, like it, was divided into 20 soldi, each soldo being
subdivided into 12 denari.

For long the only coin actually minted was this denaro (_parvus_,
_parvulus_, _piccolo_ or _minuto_), a silver coin. The first of these
thus issued appertain entirely to the system of the Empire of
Charlemagne. They bear the name of Louis the Pious (814-40), and
approximate in weight to his pieces. The dismemberment of Charlemagne's
Empire is followed by a gap in the Venetian coinage, and the series
only recommences in the eleventh century. These latter still appertain
to the system of the revived Roman (Germanic) Empire, and bear the names
of Henry II. (1002-24), Conrad II. (1027-39), and Henry IV. (1056-1106).

From this latter date onwards the imperial monies cease at Venice, and
the series of Ducal monies--the monies of the republic of Venice--begin
with the Dogeship of Vitale II. (1156-72). From the same period there is
noticeable that deterioration in weight which marks all the systems of
mediæval Europe. The denari of Doge Sebastiano Ziani (1172-8) and of the
two succeeding Doges are scarcely one-quarter the weight of the
Charlemagne denarius.

This depreciation led, in the year 1200, to the issue of a piece of
higher denomination, namely, the _grosso_--still a silver coin, but
valued at 26 piccioli or denari; and for about seventy years the grosso
displaced the picciolo. About 1270, however, the coining of the picciolo
recommenced under Doge Lorenzo Tiepolo, but at a slightly reduced value,
28 piccioli being rated to the grosso, instead of 26 as in the year
1200. Up to the great recoinage of 1476 the grosso remains the main coin
of reference. Its gradual but incessant depreciation can be traced in
the table of silver coins given on p. 318.

Under the eleventh doge, Giovanni Dandolo (1280-89), the coining of gold
began in Venice. In 1284, the date of the first issue, the gold ducat or
sequin (zecchino) of Venice was valued at 18 grossi, giving a ratio of
gold to silver of 10.6. The subsequent changes of the ratio have
already been stated (see text, _supra_, p. 40). From 1282, 67 ducats
were coined from the Venetian mark. This number was increased in 1491 to
67-1/2, and in 1570 to 68-1/4. The course of the sequin throughout is
given in the table on p. 316. It was the monetary trouble which they
produced that led to the great recoinage accomplished under Doge Nicolo
Tron (1471-73) and his successors, Nicolo Marcello (1473-74) and Pietro
Mocenigo (1474-76).

From the date of this recoinage onwards the silver grosso was abolished
_as a coin_, and a new silver coin, the lira, valued at 20 soldi, was
instituted. This is the first appearance of a real and effective lira as
a coin. Hitherto the name had only been that of a weight. By the decree
of 1472, 36 of these lira were to be coined out of the mark of silver.

On account of the name of the doge this coin was known as the _Lira
Tron_ for centuries. In its turn it underwent a ceaseless depreciation
(see table on p. 318).

In the middle of the sixteenth century there was so much silver in the
Venetian Mint waiting to be coined for the merchants that the State,
finding it could only issue 35,000 pieces a month, which, in small
pieces of 442 soldi, would take a year to exhaust the stock, determined
for the ease and encouragement of the merchants to issue a large silver
piece, the _ducato d'argento_, 7-1/4 to the mark of silver by tale, and
rated at 124 soldi.

Under Doge Nicoló da Ponte (1578-85) this piece becomes the _scudo
d'argento_, which begins in 1578 with an equivalence of 7 lira.

  In 1578 the scudo was rated at  7 lira  0 soldi.
   " 1608       "       "         8  "    8   "
   " 1621       "       "         8  "   10   "
   " 1630       "       "         9  "    0   "
   " 1635       "       "         9  "    6   "
   " 1665       "       "         9  "   12   "
   " 1702       "       "        10  "    0   "
   " 1703       "       "        10  "   10   "
   " 1704       "       "        11  "    0   "
   " 1705       "       "        11  "    4   "
   " 1706       "       "        11  "    8   "
   " 1708       "       "        11  "   10   "
   " 1709       "       "        11  "   12   "
   " 1718       "       "        11  "   14   "
   " 1739       "       "        12  "    8   "

On this basis the monetary system of Venice continued till the seizing
of the Mint by the Democrats in 1797.

For several years, during which they held possession, they issued a coin
called _Tollero_, of the nominal value of 10 Venetian lire, i.e. 5.16
Italian lire, but really only equal to 4.99 of the latter.

In 1802 the Italian Republic was erected by Buonaparte. The monetary law
of the Republic, dated 30th April 1804, provided for the coining of a
national money on a unit or basis of the silver lira, of the weight
established by the law of 27th October 1803, namely, 4 deniers, and of
.9 standard.

The unit gold coin to be 1/125 of the new established livre in weight (=
8 deniers), and of .9 standard, to equal 31 lire.

In 1805 Napoleon declared himself King of Italy, but the change was not
followed by any radical revolution of the coinage system.

From 1806 the decimal system was introduced into Italy, and on the
reduction of the numerous independent monetary systems the Venetian lira
was computed at .5116 of the Italian, i.e. 51.16 centesimi.

As a matter of fact, however, the Venetian lira did not totally
thereupon disappear from use.

By decree of December 21, 1807, the ducat (zecchino) of 67-47/41
Venetian grs. was rated at 12.03 lire Italiane.

Under the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, which succeeded, the main Italian
monies were assimilated to those of Austria. The money of account was,
at Milan, the Austrian lira (= 100 centesimi = 20 Austrian soldi at 5
centesimi each).

There remains to be described the second and less important basis of the
Venetian system, that of the lira di grossi. It was throughout--i.e.
from the thirteenth century, when it originated, to the close of the
sixteenth, when it disappeared--an ideal system, i.e. of account only.

A supposititious lira di grossi was taken and divided into 40 soldi,
each soldo was subdivided into 12 denari, and each one of these denari
was equivalent to the grosso, the actual coin existing in the
system--already described.

The lira di grossi therefore maintained at first the same relativity to
the lira di piccioli that the actual grosso did to the actual picciolo,
namely, 26:1. This relation, however changed subsequently with the
depreciation of the actual grosso (the lira).

  In 1278 the ratio of the two was                      28:1
   " 1282      "          "                             32:1
   " 1343      "          "                             48:1
   " 1472, onwards to the discontinuance of the system  62:1

A curious feature about this system was that in its turn it subdivides.
In 1343 a double (hypothetical) grosso was adopted; one of 48 piccioli,
the other of 32, both of them subdivided into thirty-two parts as,
again, an ideal system.

In 1472, therefore, the Venetian silver system consisted of--

1. _Lira di piccioli_, an actual coin represented by the Troni, and
containing 128 grs. of silver, .9472 fine.

2. The ideal _lira di grossi_, then equivalent to 10 ducats, divided
into 20 ideal soldi, each equivalent to 1/2-ducat, each soldo again
subdivided in 12 grossi, the grosso being now no longer the actual coin
of that name but ideal, like the above multiples; and each grosso in its
turn subdivided into 32 parts, to which the name of _piccioli_ was
given, though as ideal as its multiple the grosso. For distinction's
sake probably, these ideal grossi and piccioli occur in history as
_grossi a oro_ and _piccioli a oro_.

TABLE OF THE GOLD DUCAT OR SEQUIN OF VENICE.

(According to Nicolo Papadopoli, _Sul Valore Delia Moneta Veneziana_, p.
33.)

  +------+----------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
  |      |                      |  Declared or Deduced |   Value in Modern   |
  | Date.|       Coin.          |   Value in Venetian  | Italian Lire of the |
  |      |                      |    Lira of History.  |    Venetian Lira    |
  |      |                      |                      |     of History.     |
  +------+----------------------+----------------------+---------------------+
  |      |                      |   Lire.     Soldi.   |  Lire.  Centesimi.  |
  | 1284 | Ducat = 18 grossi of |                      |                     |
  |      |         32 piccioli  |                      |                     |
  |      |         each         |     2          8     |    5       012      |
  | 1324 |   "   = 24 grossi.   |     3          2     |    3       883      |
  | 1350 |   "   = 96 soldi.    |     4         16     |    2       506      |
  | 1399 |   "   = 93   "       |     4         13     |    2       587      |
  | 1417 |   "   = 100  "       |     5          0     |    2       406      |
  | 1429 |         ...          |     4          4     |    2       313      |
  | 1443 |         ...          |     5         14     |    2       110      |
  | 1472 |         ...          |     6          4     |    1       940      |
  | 1517 |         ...          |     6         10     |    1       850      |
  | 1520 |         ...          |     6         16     |    1       769      |
  | 1529 |         ...          |     7         10     |    1       604      |
  | 1562 |         ...          |     8          0     |    1       504      |
  | 1573 |         ...          |     8         12     |    1       398      |
  | 1594 |         ...          |    10          0     |    1       203      |
  | 1608 |         ...          |    10         15     |    1       119      |
  | 1638 |         ...          |    15          0     |    0       802      |
  | 1643 |         ...          |    16          0     |    0       752      |
  | 1687 |         ...          |    17          0     |    0       707      |
  | 1739 |         ...          |    22          0     |    0       546      |
  +------+----------------------+----------------------+---------------------+

TABLE OF THE GOLD DUCAT OR SEQUIN OF VENICE.

(According To Vincenzo Padovan, _La Nummografia Venziana Documentato_,
pp. 135, 365.)

  +-----------------+--------------++-----------------+-------------+
  |                 |  Value of    ||                 |  Value of   |
  |   Date.         |  Ducat in    ||     Date.       |  Ducat in   |
  |-----------------+--------------++-----------------+-------------+
  |                 |Lire.  Soldi. ||                 |Lire.  Soldi.|
  |1284             |   3     0    ||1594 (October 12)|  10     0   |
  |1287             |   3     2    ||1601             |  10    12   |
  |1310             |   3     4    ||1605             |  10    14   |
  |1320             |   3     6    ||1608             |  10    15   |
  |1360             |   3    10    ||1633             |  14     0   |
  |1370             |   3    12    ||                 |  14    10   |
  |1377             |   3    13    ||1638, November 20|  15     0   |
  |1378             |   3    14    ||1643             |  16     0   |
  |1379             |   3    16    ||1687             |  17     0   |
  |1380             |   3    18    ||1697             |  17    10   |
  |1382             |   4     0    ||1698             |  17    15   |
  |1384             |   4     4    ||1699             |  18     0   |
  |1399, October 7  |   4    13    ||1701             |  18    10   |
  |1401             |   4    18    ||                 |  18    15   |
  |1417, November 11|   5     0    ||1702             |  19     0   |
  |1421             |   5     3    ||                 |  19     5   |
  |1429, July 29    |   5     4    ||                 |  19    10   |
  |1433             |   5    10    ||                 |  20     0   |
  |1443, January 23 |   5    14    ||1704             |  20     5   |
  |1472, March 29   |   6     4    ||1707             |  20     8   |
  |1517, October 16 |   6    10    ||1708             |  20    10   |
  |1518             |   6    14    ||                 |  20    15   |
  |1520             |   6    16    ||1711             |  21     5   |
  |1524             |   7     4    ||                 |  21    10   |
  |1529             |   7    10    ||1713             |  21    15   |
  |1533             |   7    18    ||1716             |  21    18   |
  |1562             |   8     0    ||Thenceforward to |             |
  |1573             |   8    12    ||the fall of the  |             |
  |                 |   8    16    ||Republic         |  22     0   |
  |1584             |   9     0    ||                 |             |
  |                 |   9    12    ||                 |             |
  +-----------------+--------------++-----------------+-------------+

TABLE OF THE SILVER COINAGE OF VENICE.

(From Papadopoli, _ubi supra_, with additions.)

  +----+-------------------------+------------+-----------+------+--------------+
  |    |                         | Value in   |           |      | Value of the |
  |    |                         | Lire of    | Weight of |      |Venetian Lira |
  |Year|    Coin.                |  Venice    |the Lira in|Stand-|in Lira of the|
  |    |                         |declared or | Venetian  | ard. |Modern Italian|
  |    |                         |calculated. |  Grains.  |      |Decimal System|
  |----+-------------------------+------------+-----------+------+--------------|
  |    |                         |Lire. Soldi.|           |      |              |
  |1200|Grosso instituted by     |            |           |      |              |
  |    | Enrico Dandolo; weight  |            |           |      |              |
  |    | in Venetian grains,     |            |           |      |              |
  |    | 42.1; value=26 piccioli;|            |           |      |              |
  |    | 9-6/16 grossi to a lira |  0    108  |  388.61   | .9652|   4.313      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1270|Grosso = 28 piccioli;    |            |           |      |              |
  |    | 8-16/28 grossi to a lira|  0    116  |  360.85   |  ... |   4.005      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1282|Grosso = 32 piccioli;    |            |           |      |              |
  |    | 7-1/2 grossi to a lira  |  0     13  |  315.75   |  ... |   3.504      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1350|Grosso = 48 piccioli;    |            |           |      |              |
  |    | 5 grossi to a lira      |  0      2  |  210.5    |  ... |   2.336      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1379|Weight of the grosso     |            |           |      |              |
  |    | reduced to 38.4 Venetian|            |           |      |              |
  |    | grains; 5 of these      |            |           |      |              |
  |    | grossi to a lira        |    ...     |  192.0    |  ... |   2.130      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1399|Weight of grosso reduced |            |           |      |              |
  |    | to 35.17 Venetian grains|    ...     |  175.85   |  ... |   1.951      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1429|New regulation; the      |            |           |      |              |
  |    | mark of silver to yield |            |           |      |              |
  |    | 31 lire of money        |  1      0  |  148.64   |  ... |   1.649      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1472|Lira (Tron), 36 to mark  |    ...     |  128.0    |  ... |   1.395      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1527|Lira (Mocenigo)          |  1      4  |  105.0    | .9479|   1.144      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1561|Institution of the silver|            |           |      |              |
  |    | ducat; weight=635.5586  |            |           |      |              |
  |    | Venetian grains;        |            |           |      |              |
  |    | 7-1/4 to a mark         |  6      4  |  102.51   |  ... |   1.117      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1578|Institution of the scudo |  7      0  |   87.86   |  ... |   0.957      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1608|Scudo raised to          |  8      8  |   73.21   |  ... |   0.798      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1630|  "      "               |  9      0  |   68.33   |  ... |   0.746      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1665|  "      "               |  9     12  |   63.96   |  ... |   0.697      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1704|  "      "               | 11      0  |   55.81   |  ... |   0.608      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1718|  "      "               | 11     14  |   52.47   |  ... |   0.573      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1739|  "      "               | 12      8  |   49.35   |  ... |   0.537      |
  |    |                         |            |           |      |              |
  |1797|Tollero of the Democrats;|            |           |      |              |
  |    | weight = 550            |            |           |      |              |
  |    | Venetian grains         | 10      0  |    55.0   |  ... |   0.522      |
  +----+-------------------------+------------+-----------+------+--------------+




APPENDIX III

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF SPAIN


The monetary system of Christian Spain dates from the Gothic invasions,
and differs from that of Germany, Italy, and France in being derived in
the first place from the Roman system without the intermediation of that
of Charlemagne.

Under the Goths the monetary basis was the Roman libra, subdivided
thus--

  1 libra = 8 onzas = 4608 grs.
  1 onza = 8 ochavas = 576 grs.
  1 ochava = 6 tomines = 72 grs.
  1 tomin = 3 quilates or siliqua = 12 grs.

The unit denomination was the sueldo de oro (gold sueldo) = 1/6 onza of
the fineness of 23-3/4 quilates (=.989 fine), corresponding exactly to
the Roman _aureus_ of the times of Julian.

The unit denomination of the silver money was twofold--(1) the silver
_sueldo_ (= 1/6 onza like the gold), and (2) the _denario_ (1/8 onza or
ochava). The silver coins were at first of 12 dineros fine, but
subsequently only _10.12_ (=.875 fine).

Of these two units, the latter, the silver denario was far the more
usual and frequent in use.

With one important change of name, and infinite change of incident and
detail, it was this system which obtained till the great reform of the
Spanish monetary system under Ferdinand and Isabella.

The change of name consists in the introduction of that of the
_maravedi_, which was adopted from the conquered Moors, and applied to
designate the sueldo d'oro from the time of the conquest of Toledo.

In a comprehensive way it may be said that the history of this word or
name, maravedi, sums up the monetary history of Spain. From being the
original gold coin of highest denomination, it came to be a silver coin,
then a billon coin of the very lowest denomination, as it is to-day. The
process of its degeneration is quite unexampled even in Europe. In
addition, also, to the confusion of idea produced by this depreciation
there is a further uncertainty, caused by the quite general use of the
word or name, i.e. not as the name of a particular coin or money series,
but perfectly generally for almost any and every coin--as synonymous, in
fact, with the simple word money itself.

Neglecting this latter question, however, as one of nomenclature merely,
the course of depreciation of the maravedi may be thus illustrated:--

Maravedi (Moorish coin), fine gold, about 56 grs. By the time of James
I. of Aragon, the contents in fine gold had sunk to 14 grs.

Having been still further reduced to 10 grs. under Alfonso the Wise, it
was made into a silver coin, as being too small to be expressed in gold.

Its depreciation in this latter form and through its third form of
billon money was as follows:--

  +-------+---------------------+--------------+
  |       | Number of Maravedis | Contents of  |
  | Date. |       to the        | Fine Silver, |
  |       |    Cologne Mark.    |   Grains.    |
  +-------+---------------------+--------------+
  | 1312  |         130         |     25.85    |
  | 1324  |         125         |     26.86    |
  | 1368  |         200         |     16.79    |
  | 1379  |         250         |     13.43    |
  | 1390  |         500         |      6.71    |
  | 1406  |        1000         |      3.35    |
  | 1454  |        2250         |      1.49    |
  | 1550  |        2210         |      1.52    |
  | 1808  |        5440         |      0.62    |
  +-------+---------------------+--------------+

To return. At the time of its adoption by the Christian powers of Spain,
the maravedi (or sueldo de oro) was equal to 1/6 onza of gold.

To this maravedi de oro was subsequently given the name of _Alfonsi_,
supposititiously from Alfonso VI., the first to issue them.

The first important change in this monetary system of Gothic
Spain--though one of detail rather than system--was effected by
Ferdinand II. of Leon, who, in 1157, coined the silver _leones_ of the
value of half the silver sueldo (= 12 dineros).

In 1222 S. Ferdinand introduced the _sueldo pepiones_.

  Sueldo de oro = 10 metales or mitgales, 1 metale = 18 pepiones.

But both these importations were suppressed by Alfonso X., the Wise, of
Castile.

In 1252 he coined his _maravedis blancos_, or _Burgaleses_, to replace
the sueldos pepiones.

   6 dineros = 1 sueldo,
  15 sueldos = 1 maravedi Burgalese.

This maravedi bore the ratio of 1: 6 to the old maravedi de oro.

This money (Burgalese) was subsequently known as _moneda viejo_,
_maravedis viejos_, or _moneda blanca_.

Six years after its introduction, however, Alfonso demonetised his own
Burgaleses to make room for his _maravedises negros_, or _prietos_, a
money of billon which lasted till the days of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Twenty-three years later Alfonso issued a second "white money" (1281),
so called as distinguished from the Burgaleses, mention of which recur.

To the "second white" (_blanco segundo_) was also given the (commoner)
name of new (_novenes_). It was issued at one-fourth the value of the
_prietos_. The relationship of the novenes to the prietos and to the
standard (now supposititious) gold maravedi is thus expressed:--

  15 dineros prietos = 1 maravedi,
  Old maravedi = 75 sueldos,
    [therefore] 1 prieto = 5 sueldos.
  Old maravedi = 60 maravedis novenes,
    [therefore] 1 prieto = 4 maravedis novenes.

Under Alfonso the Wise, therefore, the system was as follows:--

  10 dineros = 1 noveno,
   4 novenes = 1 maravedi de los prietos (= 5 sueldos of 8 dineros each).
  10 novenes = 1 maravedi de los Burgaleses.
  60    "    = 1 old maravedi.


These _novenes_, or _maravedis blancos segundos_, continued current
through the fourteenth century, and in the laws of John III. are spoken
of as "maravedises of our present currency," and as still = 1/10 of the
maravedises Burgaleses, which latter are spoken of as "maravedises of
good currency" (_maravedis de los buenos_).

But by the close of the fourteenth century, owing to the depreciation of
the currency, the novenes had come to be looked upon as of better
denomination than the then current coin, and are accordingly spoken of
as "old" (_viejos_) for distinction's sake.

The only material additions to this system of Alfonso the Wise were
briefly--

1. The _coronados_, an innovation of his successor, Sancho IV.
(1284-95), who, in 1286, introduced them as = 1 old dinero. They
subsequently appear as _cornados_.

In the Cortes of Toledo their relation to the novenes was thus
determined:--

  6 coronados = 10 novenes = 1 maravedi de moneda vieja (= Burgaleses).

2. The series of gold coins initiated by Alfonso XI. (1302-50).

It was in the reign of this latter King that the general movement of
adoption of gold coinage first touched Spain. The earliest gold coins
were Alfonso's _doblas_, subsequently known as _castellanos_. The weight
of this coin has been variously assigned as 48 to a mark or 50 or 51.

Taking the tale of 50 to the mark, the weight per piece would be 92-4/25
grms. (= 4.60090 grms.) of 23-3/4 quilates fine (= .989 fine).

Pedro I. made gold doblas of the weight of 90 grs., and this endured
till the days of John I., 1379-90, who preserved the same weight but
lowered the standard. Under Henry III. the standard of 23-3/4 quilates
was again restored. For the movement of the gold coins subsequent to
Ferdinand and Isabella, see the Table.

3. The silver _real_ first appears under Pedro I., 1350-69. It was
issued at a tale of 66 to a mark, and 11 dineros 4 grs. fine.

Under Henry II. of Castile, 1369-79, these reals undergo extraordinary
debasement, the standard being reduced to .279, .129, .060, and so on;
but a recovery took place under his successor, John I., 1379-90, who
returned to the standard of Pedro I., substituting for the debased real
his own vellon money, under the titles of _blancos_ and _Agnus Dei_, a
money known later as _blancas_ and _maravedises de moneda blanca_.

The restorer of the Spanish coinage was, however, not John so much as
his son, Henry III., 1390-1406. By his ordinance of 21st January 1391,
issued at the instance of the Cortes of Madrid, 1390, the blancos of
John I. were reduced in equivalence to 1 coronado. Gold coins were
restored to the tale and standard of Alfonso XI., and the silver real to
those of Pedro I.

The vellon money, however, of this reign--the blancos in
particular--present a confusion which has hitherto baffled the most
learned. It has been computed that one hundred and thirty-two monies of
various denominations circulated in Castile under this King.

In brief, the system from his day till the time of Ferdinand and
Isabella may be thus tabularly expressed:--

  +-----------+----------------+------------+--------++---------------------+-----------+--------++----------------+------------------+--------+
  |           |       GOLD     |  Value as  |Value in||        SILVER       |  Value as |Value in||     BILLON     |     Value as     |Value in|
  |  Reign.   |  Denomination. |   Issued.  |Reals.  ||     Denomination.   |   Issued. |  Reals.||  Denomination. |      Issued.     |Reals.  |
  +-----------+----------------+------------+--------++---------------------+-----------+--------++----------------+------------------+--------+
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |Henry III.}|Florin of       |21 maravedis|  Reals ||Silver Real          |3 maravedis|  Reals ||Meaja vieja     |1/60 of the       |  Reals |
  |1393      }|  Aragon        |   viejos   | 19.420 ||Half,   } In         |  viejos   |  2.775 || (ideal money)  |  maravedi viejo  |  0.15  |
  |1394-1406  |    "           |22    "     | 20.350 ||Quarter,} proportion |           |        ||Meaja nueva     |1/60 of maravedi  |  0.007 |
  |           |                |            |        ||Fifth,  }            |           |        || (ideal money)  |  nuevo           |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||In the course of     |           |        ||Dinero viejo    |1/10 of maravedi  |  0.092 |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |  viejo           |        |
  |           |Lower and higher denominations occur  ||this reign the real  |           |        ||  "    nuevo    |1/10 of maravedi  |  0.046 |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |  nuevo           |        |
  |           |  separately in 1393, 1398, and 1402  ||of silver was rated  |           |        ||Coronados viejos|1/6 of maravedi   |  0.154 |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |  nuevo           |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||rated variously at   |           |        ||    "     nuevos|1/6 of maravedi   |  0.077 |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |  nuevo           |        |
  |           |                |            |        || 7, 7-1/2, and 8 of  |           |        ||Agnus Dei       |1 coronado viejo  |  0.154 |
  |           |                |            |        || the maravedis nuevos|           |        ||Blanca (occurs }|1/4 maravedi viejo|  0.231 |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||  after 1440)  }|                  |        |
  |           |Ducados         |30 viejos   | 27.750 ||                     |           |        ||Cinquen         |1/12 real         |  0.231 |
  |           | (In the Kingdom|            |        ||                     |           |        ||Maravedi viejo  |1/3 real          |  0.925 |
  |           |  of Navarre)   |Many other and       ||                     |           |        ||   "     nuevo  |1/2 maravedi viejo|  0.462 |
  |           |                |  different          ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                |  denominations      ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           | Doblas         |35 viejos   | 32.375 ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  Castellanos   |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |(Doblas castellanos          |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |   de la Banda               |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           | Cruzados                    |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |   Cruzados de la            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |   Banda                     |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           | Doblas)                     |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                                      ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |    Many different denominations      ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  +-----------+----------------+------------+--------++---------------------+-----------+--------++----------------+------------------+--------+
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |John III. }|Florin          |22-1/2      | 22.662 ||Reals, 11 dineros    | As above  |As above||        As above with addition of           |
  |  1406-   }|                |   maravedis|        ||  4 grs. fine, 66 to |           |        ||Sueldos         |1/2 maravedi (ideal money) |
  |  1454    }|                |   viejos   |        ||  a mark             |           |        ||Ovulo           |1/8 sueldo (ideal money)   |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                           |
  |           |  Many other different denominations  ||                     |           |        ||                |                           |
  +-----------+----------------+------------+--------++---------------------+-----------+--------++----------------+------------------+--------+
  |John III. }|Doblas and      |35 maravedis|  Reals ||                     |           |        || Blanca vieja   |(As blanca above) |  Reals |
  |1406-1454 }|  coronas       | viejos     | 32.375 ||                     |           |        ||    "   nueva   |1/6 maravedi viejo|  0.154 |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        || Cornado        |1/2 blanca nueva  |  0.077 |
  |           |Many other and different denominations||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  | 1434      |Dobla de la     | 104 nuevos | 48.048 ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  Banda         | 100    "   | 46.2   ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  | 1442      |      "         |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |(19 quilates    |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  fine, 49 to   |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  a mark)       |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  +-----------+----------------+------------+--------++---------------------+-----------+--------++----------------+------------------+--------+
  |Henry IV. }|Florin of Aragon|20 maravedis| 18.220 ||Real of silver       |3 maravedis| 2.734  || Meaja vieja    | 1/10 of maravedi |        |
  |1454-74   }|(18 quilates    | viejos     |        ||                     |  viejos   |        ||                |  viejo           |  0.091 |
  |           |  fine)         |            |        ||                     |(Numerous  |        || Meaja nueva    |1/2 of viejo      |        |
  |           |56 other species|            |        ||                     |  multiples|        || Dinero viejo   |1/10 of maravedi  |        |
  |           |  of same, and  |            |        ||                     |   of it)  |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  of other, and |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |  viejo           |  0.091 |
  |           |  different     |            |        ||                     |           |        || Dinero nuevo   |1/2 of viejo      |        |
  |           |  denominations |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        || Agnus Dei     }|                  |        |
  | 1455      |Ducado          | 165    "   | 30.074 ||                     |           |        || Blanca        }|1/8 of maravedi   |  0.152 |
  |           |(23-3/4 quilates|            |        ||                     |           |        || Cornado viejo }|  viejo           |        |
  |           |  fine, 65-1/3  |            |        ||                     |           |        || Cornado nuevo  |1/2 of viejo      |        |
  |           |  to a mark),   |            |        ||                     |           |        || Cincuen       }|1/2 maravedi vieja|  0.457 |
  |           |  38 other      |            |        ||                     |           |        || Blanca        }|                  |        |
  |           |  species of    |            |        ||                     |           |        || Maravedi viejo |1/3 of real       |  0.911 |
  |           |  same, and of  |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  other and     |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  different     |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |  denominations |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |                |            |        ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |Doblas          | 150    "   | 27.340 ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |Castellanos     | 420    "   | 37.040 ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  |           |Enriquez        | 210    "   | 38.276 ||                     |           |        ||                |                  |        |
  +-----------+----------------+------------+--------++---------------------+-----------+--------++----------------+------------------+--------+

The reign of John II. (1406-54) marks a period of exceeding confusion,
coupled with inefficient attempts at legislative remedy. The disorder of
his reign was further increased under his successor, Henry IV.
(1454-74), years which represent the apogee of Spanish depreciation. By
grants of the right of private minting the six official Spanish Mints
were increased to not less than 150, with a resulting monetary disorder,
dearness of necessaries, and commercial panic which it would be
difficult to estimate. The gold monies varied in fineness from 23-1/2,
19, 18, 17, and so on, even to 7 quilates, and the same extraordinary
variations marked the silver monies. Of billon monies there were eight
distinct classes, representing a succession of fractional parts of the
silver real, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8, 1/12, 1/16, 1/22, 1/24, 1/58.

Taking, for the mere purpose of generalisation or average, the gold
_Enrique_ of this reign at a tale of 50 to a mark, 23-3/4 quilates fine,
and the silver real (= 30 maravedis de blancas) at a tale of 67 to a
mark, and standard of 11.4 fine, the ratio of gold to silver for the
reign would be 9.824:1.

The monetary situation which the advent of the Catholic kings, Ferdinand
and Isabella (1475-1506), was to alleviate and reform was the most
deplorable that Spain has ever seen. Not less than eleven ordinances of
reform were issued before the close of the century. For practical
purposes only the first and last of these require notice. By the Mint
indenture, issued on the 26th June 1475 to the Mint master of Seville,
the gold coinage was ordered on the following basis:--

     Excellentes (at a tale of 25 to a mark, 23-3/4 quilates fine, in
     value = to 2 castellanos).

And silver on the following basis:--

     Silver Reals (at a tale of 67 to a mark, 11 din. 4 grs. fine, in
     value equal to 30 maravedis).

First and chiefest importance, however, attaches to the ordinance of
1497, issued at Medino del Campo, and so named. By this ordinance all
the previous existing systems and monies were abrogated, and a new
system instituted which forms the starting-point for the monetary
history of that Spain which was to be the receiver and distributor of
the gold and silver of the New World.

The standard of gold was fixed at 23-3/4 quilates. The basis of the gold
coins was to be the _excellente de la Granada_, issued at an equivalence
of two of the antecedent excellentes, and at a tale of 65-1/3 to the
mark.

The system of the silver real was as in 1475, but it was issued at an
equivalence of 34 maravedis, at which it ever after remained.

The billon money was to consist of _blancas_ (7 grs. fine, and at a tale
of 192 to a mark).

  One excellente = 11 reals 1 maravedi = 375 maravedis.
                    1 real             "  34 maravedis.

The changes subsequently effected in this system may be presented in
skeleton form (see also accompanying Tables).

In 1523 the Cortes of Valladolid presented a petition referring to the
changed relation of the two metals, and asking for a recoining on a
different ratio. Its proposals were incorporated in the ordinance of
1537, when the scheme was as follows:--

  Gold        Standard,                22 quilates.
   "          Tale,                    68 to a mark.
              Value,                  350 maravedis.
  Silver      Left untouched.
  Billon      Standard increased to 7-1/2 granos.

Under Philip II., by the ordinance of 23rd November 1566, the
equivalence of the gold coins was increased a seventh, the silver monies
being again left untouched. The increase was partly arbitrary and
unprincipled, partly due to the normally prevailing depreciation of
silver.

Under Philip III. the intrinsic value or content of the gold monies was
decreased 1/10, silver being again left intact.

The innumerable calamities which overtook Spain under Philip IV.
(1621-65) and Charles II. (1665-1750) led to an immense introduction of
billon money, to so great an extent, indeed, that it fell to one-eighth
its previous value, thereby only complicating and increasing the evils.
The result was an increasing premium on good monies, coupled with the
usual disappearance of them. By the proclamation of 8th March 1625 it
was prohibited, on severest penalties, to carry such premium above 10
per cent.; by the succeeding proclamations of 30th April 1636 and 7th
September 1641 this limit was raised respectively to 25 per cent, and 50
per cent.

Philip IV. also instituted the first change in the silver system which
it underwent since the great reform of 1497.

The tale was increased from 67 to 83-3/4 per mark, the _real of eight_
being henceforth issued at an equivalence of 10 reals.

This change was equivalent to a reduction of 25 per cent. in the silver
monies.

Under Charles II. this corruption proceeded in an ascending scale until
1680, when the gold _doblon_ had arrived at an equivalence of 110 reals
of billon, and the _real of eight_ to 29 reals of billon.

By the law of 14th October 1686 an attempt was made to re-create and
reform the tottering system. The mark of silver (11 din. 4 grs. fine)
was to be coined at a tale of 84 pieces. The real of eight received a
new name, _Escudo de plata_, and was to issue at an equivalence of 10
reals of the new silver.

The effect of this apparent reform was to lower the weight of the silver
money 25 per cent., to incorporate the premium of 50 per cent. on the
billon money, and to institute or sanction a matter of four separate
monetary units:--

  1. The real of old silver = 1/67 mark.
  2. The real of new silver = 1/84 mark.
  3. The real of billon = 1/126 mark.
  4. The real of billon = 1/38 of the double escudo.

At the close of the reign the monetary system was as follows:--

                                  Silver Reals.
  Mark of fine gold,                 1408.94
       Of intrinsic value of         1363.15
       The seigniorage being           45.79

  Mark of fine silver,                 90.32
       Of intrinsic value of           88.11
       The seigniorage being            2.21

                                      Maravedis.
  Mark of copper,                         76
       Of intrinsic value of              68
       The seigniorage being               8

Philip V. was for many years prevented by the enormous expenditure
caused by the revolt of Don Carlos from reform of this system, which he
ultimately undertook and carried out. In 1707 he reduced the standard of
silver to 10 dineros, of a tale of 75 reals to the mark, creating the
money which is distinguished thenceforward by the name of _Plata
provincial_.

By the regulation of 9th June 1728 the series of _Plata nacional_ was
lowered to 11 dineros fine (= .917) and a tale of 68 reals.

Of more importance was the Mint regulation of 16th July 1730, by which--

                                       Reales de Plata
                                        Provincial.
  Mark of gold of 22 quilates fine
    was coined into                     1360
  Delivered to the importer             1280
                                        ----
  Seigniorage                             80 = 5.88 per cent.

  Mark of silver of 11 dineros fine
    coined into                           85
  Delivered to the importer               80
                                        ----
  Seigniorage                              5 = 5.88 per cent.

This ideal system could not be retained, as the billon money fell within
a short time a matter of 5-1/2 per cent. in relation to it. The latter
change was incorporated by the proclamation of 16th May 1737, which
fixed the silver _escudo_ of 10 reals (the old piece of 8 reals) at 170
cuartos, equivalent to the 20 reals of billon at which it continued to
be valued. By the subsequent Mint order of 22nd June 1742 the attempt
was made to bring the billon money into exact relationship with the gold
by the coining of gold pieces equal to 20 reals billon (_veintenes_)
struck at a tale of 128 per mark, and fineness of 21-3/4 quilates, in
place of the previously existing standard of 22 quilates.

These veintenes correspond to the escudos of 21-1/4 reals still to be
found in circulation.

No change of any importance was effected under the short reign of
Ferdinand VI. (1746-59), under whom the custom inaugurated by Philip V.
of expressing values in reals of billon rather than of silver (_plata
provincial_) still continued.

His successor, however, Charles III. (1759-88) effected profound
reforms. By the ordinance of 29th May 1772 he accomplished a complete
recoinage of the Spanish money. The standards he established were--

                                         Quilates.     Granos.
  Of gold Escudos (oro nacional)            21          2-1/2
     "    Veintenes (oro provincial)        21          1-1/2

                                          Dineros.     Granos.
  Of silver (plata nacional or gruesa)      10           20
     "      (plata provincial or menuda)     9           18

being a lowering per cent, of standard as follows:--

  Oro nacional       1.31
   "  provincial     2.84
  Plata nacional     1.59
   "   provincial    2.49

The bearing of this change on the question of the ratio at large in
Europe has been already referred to. It was again and still further for
the protection of gold that the seigniorage was increased to 7.48 per
cent. by the law of 17th July 1779. The later system established in 1786
(see Tables _postea_) has a similar bearing.

His son, Charles IV. (1789-1808), made no alteration in this latter
system of Charles III.

Under Ferdinand VII. (1808-32) currency was given (1813-1823) to French
gold and silver monies on a certain footing, and the seigniorage on the
coins was reduced. Both under Ferdinand, however, and under his
successor, Isabella II. (1832-61), this latter regulation proved
ineffectual in attracting merchants to bring the metals to the Mint to
be coined; and under the circumstances the circulation of French
Napoleons was considered a benefit. A profound alteration was projected
by the two laws of 1834; the first of which proposed to lower the
equivalence of the _real_ to 32 from 34 maravedis, and the standard of
silver to 10 dineros 12 granos (=.875), and the second, to prevent the
circulation of French money. This scheme was intentionally bimetallic.
It failed, however, of accomplishment, and the monetary system remained
as before up to 1847.

By the decree of 31st May 1847--(1) the decimal division of the real was
adopted; (2) the weight of the real was established at 25 granos and
standard at .900; (3) a new gold coin of 100 reals of the weight of
161-1/2 granos of the same alloy was introduced.

This system was of course a reproduction of that of France; but in the
following year it underwent slight alteration, as already related. By
the law of 1st January 1859 the French metrical system was adopted in
its entirety by Spain, and since 1st January 1876 Spain reckons in
pesetas (representing the French franc) and centesimos (representing the
French centime)--100 centesimos = 1 peseta. The new gold coins are
pieces of 5, 10, 20, and other multiples of the peseta. The peseta (5
grms. silver, .835 fine) is token money, but the 5-peseta pieces (25
grms. silver, .900 fine) are legal tender.

  5 pesetas = 1 duro ("hard dollar," "Spanish dollar," or piastre).
  1 duro    = 2 escudos.
  1 escudo  = 10 reals.
  1 real    = 34 maravedis.

TABLE OF THE GOLD COINS OF SPAIN FROM THE REFORMATION OF THE COINAGE IN
1476.

(From _Breve Reseña Historica Critica de la Moneda Española_, p. 93.)

  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+------------------+-------+-----------+----------+
  | Reign.    | Coins and          |Tale   |Standard.|    Mint Value    |Value  | Value of  |Value of  |
  |           | Ordinances.        |or     |         |     per Mark.    |of each| each      |each such |
  |           |                    |Number |         +--------+---------+Old    | successive|successive|
  |           |                    |of     |         | Bullion|Ordinance|Real   | particular|particular|
  |           |                    |Pieces |         | Value. |Value in |in the | Money     |Old Money |
  |           |                    |per    |         |        |Coin as  |Modern | named,    |in Reals  |
  |           |                    |Mark.  |         |        |issued.  |Money. | in Reals  |of To-day.|
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       | of the    |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       | Date of   |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       | Issue.    |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Ferdinand  | Mint Ordinance of  |       |Quilates.| Reals. | Reals.  |       |Reals.Mvds.|Reals     |
  |and        |Feb. 22, 1476,      |       |         |        |         |       |           |  (Vellon)|
  |Isabella.  |June 14, 1497--     |       | Granos. |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Excellentes        | 25   }|         |        |         |       | 28    28  | 121.91   |
  |           |   majores          |      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Medios excellenes }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                   }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Doblas            }| 50   }|         |        |         |       | 14    14  | 60.95    |
  |           |                   }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Castellanos       }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Excellentes de la }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   Granada         }|65-1/3}| 22  3   |  716.98| 720.22  | 4.185 |  7     7  | 46.67    |
  |           |                   }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Ducados           }|      }| (= .989)|        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Aguilas           }| 67   }|         |        |         |       | 10    25  | 45.48    |
  |           |   Florines        }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudos           }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                   }| 68   }|         |        |         |       | 10    29  | 41.82    |
  |           | Coronas           }|      }|         |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Charles V. |1537--              |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | New coining of     | 68    |  22  0  |  696.85| 700.0   | 3.991 | 10    10  | 41.09    |
  |           |   escudos          |       | (= .917)|        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Philip II. |Nov. 23, 1586--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | The escudo         |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   increased to 400 |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   maravedis.       | 68    |  22  0  |  766.40|   800.0 | 3.493 | 11    26  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Philip III.|1609--             }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | The escudo        }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   increased to    }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   440 maravedis   }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                   }| 68    |  22  0  |  847.09|   880.0 | 3.175 | 12    32  | 41.09    |
  |           |Dec. 13, 1612--    }|       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Castellanos of 22 }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   quilates at 576 }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   maravedis       }|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Philip IV. |Dec. 23, 1642--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudo increased   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   to 550 maravedis | 68    |  22  0  | 1058.86|  1100.0 | 2.540 | 22    17  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Jan. 12, 1643--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudo increased   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   to 612 maravedis | 68    |  22  0  | 1178.23|  1224.0 | 2.283 | 22    17  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Charles II.|Oct. 14 and Nov.    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   26, 1686--       |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudo increased   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   to 646 maravedis,|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   and castellano to|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   850 maravedis of |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   the new silver   | 68    |  22  0  | 1250.0 |  1292.0 | 2.163 | 38    17  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Philip V.  |March 17, 1719--    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Castellanos        |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   reduced to 714   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   maravedis        | 68    |  22  0  | 1050.0 |  1088.0 | 2.567 | 20    04  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Jan. 14 and 23, and |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   Feb. 8, 1726--   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudo increased   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   from 544 to 612  |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   maravedis        | 68    |  22  0  | 1181.25|  1224.0 | 2.282 | 33    10  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Sept. 2, 1728--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudo increased   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   to 680 maravedis | 68    |  22  0  | 1312.0 |  1360.0 | 2.054 | 37    22  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |July 16, 1730--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | New monetary scheme| 68    |  22  0  | 1280.0 |  1360.0 | 2.054 | 31    22  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         | Reals  |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |(Vellon)|         |       |           |          |
  |           |June 23 and 29,     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   1742--           |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Creation of        |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   Veintenes de oro |130-   |  21  3  | 2409.42|  2611.33| 1.069 | 20     0  | 21.38    |
  |           |                    | 56/100| (=.906) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Ferdinand  |Aug. 19 and Sept.   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |    VI.    |   16, 1755--       |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Increase of the    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   pastas de oro    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   from 118 to 119  |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   reales las tres  |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   ochavas.         |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudos            |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   (oro nacional)   | 68    |  22  O  | 2538.68|  2560.0 | 1.091 | 37    22  | 41.09    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.917) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Veintenes          |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   (oro provincial) |130-   |  21  3  | 2538.21|  2611.33| 1.069 | 20     0  | 21.38    |
  |           |                    | 56/100| (=.906) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Charles    |May 21 and 25,      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |   III.    |   1772--           |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | General reformation|       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   and lowering of  |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   the standard.    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Escudos            |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   (oro nacional)   | 68    | 21 2-1/2| 2495.18|  2520.0 | 1.076 | 37    17  | 40.38    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.901) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Veintenes          |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   (oro provincial) |130-   | 21 1-1/2| 2476.15|  2611.33| 1.039 | 20     0  | 20.78    |
  |           |                    | 56/100| (=.891) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |July 16, and        |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   Aug. 24, 1779--  |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | The doblon of 8    | 68    | 21 2-1/2| 2516.55|  2720.0 | 1.009 | 40     0  | 40.38    |
  |           |   escudos reduced  |       | (=.901) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   to 320 reals     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   (oro nacional)   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | The doblon of      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   8 escudos reduced|130-   |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   to 320 reals     | 56/100| 21 1-1/2| 2486.25|         |       |           |          |
  |           |   (oro provincial) |       | (=.891) |        |  2611.33| 1.039 | 20     0  | 20.78    |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |March 7, 1781--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oz. of bullion     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   increased to     | 68    | 21 2-1/2| 2642.2 |  2720.0 | 1.009 | 40     0  | 40.38    |
  |           |   336 reals        |       | (=.901) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Feb. 26 & June 5,   |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   1786--           | 68    |  21  0  | 2565.81|  2720.0 | 0.980 | 40     0  | 39.20    |
  |           | Lowering of        |       | (=.875) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   standard.        |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oro nacional.      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oro provincial     |131-   | 20 1-1/2| 2606.53|  2633.14| 0.982 | 20     0  | 19.65    |
  |           |                    | 23/35 | (=.849) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Fernando   |Oct. 19, 1821--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |  VII.     | Reform of the      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   rating.          |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oro nacional       | 68    | 21   0  | 2686.26|  2720.0 | 0.980 | 40     0  | 39.20    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.875) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oro provincial     |131-   | 20 1-1/2| 2606.53|  2633.14| 0.982 | 20     0  | 19.65    |
  |           |                    | 23/35 | (=.849) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Aug. 20, 1824--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Similar reform.    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oro nacional       | 68    | 21   0  | 2660.16|  2720.0 | 0.980 | 40     0  | 39.20    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.875) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Oro provincial     |131-   | 20 1-1/2| 2581.1 |  2633.14| 0.982 | 20     0  | 19.65    |
  |           |                    | 23/35 | (=.849) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+
  |Isabel II. |April 15, 1848--    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Reform of the      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   monetary system. |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |                    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Centenes           |27-6/10| 21 2-3/5| 2736.0 |  2760.0 | 0.993 | 100    0  | 99.30    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.900) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |May 17, 1850--      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Augmentation of    |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   the tale         | 28    | 21 2-3/5| 2736.0 |  2800.0 | 0.979 | 100    0  | 97.90    |
  |           |                    |       | (=.900) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Feb. 3, 1854--      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Reform of the      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   monetary system  |27-    | 21 2-3/5| 2716.20|  2743.0 | 1.0   | 100    0  | 100.0    |
  |           |                    | 43/100| (=.900) |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |Jan. 18, 1861--     |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           | Reform of the      |       |         |        |         |       |           |          |
  |           |   tariff           |27-    | 21 2-3/5| 2729.18|  2743.0 | 1.0   | 100    0  | 100.0    |
  |           |                    | 43/100| (=.900) |        |         |       |           |          |
  +-----------+--------------------+-------+---------+--------+---------+-------+-----------+----------+

TABLE OF THE SILVER COINS OF SPAIN FROM THE REFORMATION OF THE COINAGE
IN 1497.

  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |         |                  |      |         |Value of|Value of|Value of the|Equivalence|
  |  Reign. |   Denomination.  |Tale  |Standard.|the Mark|the Mark|Real as     |of the Old |
  |         |                  |(per  |         |by Mint |by Mint |Issued in   |Real with  |
  |         |                  |Mark).|         |Regula- |Regula- |Billon Reals|the Modern |
  |         |                  |      |         |tions in|tions in|of the Time.|Real.      |
  |         |                  |      |         |Bullion.|Coin as |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |Issued. |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |         |                  |Silver|Dineros. | Silver | Silver |Reals. Mvds.| Reals.    |
  |         |                  |Reals.|  Granos.| Reals. | Reals. |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |Ferdinand|June 2, 1497--    |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |and      | General reform of| 67.0 |  11  4  |  66.0  |  67.0  |   1     0  |   2.734   |
  |Isabella |   the Monies     |      | (=.930) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |Philip   |December 23,     }|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |  IV.    |   1642--        }|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |January 12,      }|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   1643--        }| 83.75|  11  4  |  81.0  |  83.75 |   3     0  |   2.186   |
  |         | Recoinage        |      | (= .930)|        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |Charles  |October 14, 1686--| 84.0 |  11  4  |  82.0  |  84.0  |   1    30  |   2.179   |
  |  II.    | Recoinage        |      | (=.930) |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |Philip V.|1706--            |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reales sencillos | 84.0 |  11  4  |  68.0  |  84.0  |   1    30  |   2.179   |
  |         |   of 4, 2, and 1 |      | (=.930) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |1707--            |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reales sencillos |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of 4, 2, and 1 |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   (and parts and | 75.0 |  10  0  |  60.82 |  75.0  |   1    30  |   2.187   |
  |         |   multiples)     |      | (=.834) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |July 15, 1709--   | 68.0 |  11  0  |  65.0  |  68.0  |   1    30  |   2.654   |
  |         | Reals of 8 and 4 |      | (=.917) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |February 8, 1719--|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Decrease of the  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   reals of 8 to  | 80.75|  11  0  |  77.18 |  80.75 |   1    30  |   2.234   |
  |         |   9-1/2          |      | (=.917) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |August 10, 1728-- |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reals (and parts)|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   plata          | 77.0 |  10  0  |  63.69 |  77.0  |   1    30  |   2.130   |
  |         |   provincial     |      | (=.834) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |September 8,      |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   1728--         |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Decrease of the  | 85.0 |  11  0  |  81.23 |  85.0  |   1    30  |   2.123   |
  |         |   real of 8 to 10|      | (=.917) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |July 16, 1730--   |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | New monetary     |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   regulation     |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   (plata         | 85.0 |  11  0  |  80.0  |  85.0  |   1    30  |   2.123   |
  |         |   nacional)      |      | (=.917) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |May 10, 1737--    |Reals |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Decrease of the  | of   |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   real of 8 to 20|Billon|         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   reals (1 real  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of silver = 1  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   real 30        |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   maravedis of   |85.170|  11  0  | 160.0  | 170.0  |   2     0  |   1.061   |
  |         |   billon)        |      | (=.917) |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  | Same    | Decrease of the  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  | date.   |   real of 8 to 20|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   reals (plata   |77.154|  10  0  | 145.45 | 154.0  |   2     0  |   1.065   |
  |         |   provincial)    |      | (=.834) |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |Charles  |May 21, 1772--    |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |  III.   | General reduction|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of the standard|170.0 |  10  20 | 157.59 | 170.0  |   1     0  |   1.045   |
  |         |   (plata         |      | (=.903) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   nacional)      |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | General reduction|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of the standard|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   (plata         |154.0 |  9   18 | 141.81 | 154.0  |   1     0  |   1.038   |
  |         |   provincial)    |      | (=.812) |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |Ferdinand|October 19, 1821--|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |  VII.   | Reform (plata    |170.0 | 10   20 | 164.67 | 170.0  |   1     0  |   1.045   |
  |         |   nacional)      |      | (=.903) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reform (plata    |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   provincial)    |154.0 |  9   18 | 150.30 | 154.0  |   1     0  |   1.038   |
  |         |                  |      | (=.812) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |August 21, 1821-- |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reform (plata    |170.0 | 10   20 | 163.47 | 170.0  |   1     0  |   1.045   |
  |         |   nacional)      |      | (=.903) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reform (plata    |154.0 |  9   18 | 147.07 | 154.0  |   1     0  |   1.038   |
  |         |   provincial)    |      | (=.812) |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+
  |Isabel   |April 15, 1848--  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |  II.    | General reform   |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of the monetary|175.0 | 10   19 | 172.80 | 175.0  | 100 cents. |   1.012   |
  |         |   system         |      | (=.900) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |October 14, 1849--|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reduction        |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of the tale of |176.25| 10   19 | 172.80 | 176.25 |  100    0  |   1.005   |
  |         |   silver         |      | (=.900) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |February 3, 1851--|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | General reform   |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |   of the monetary|177.20| 10   19 | 174.60 | 177.20 |  100    0  |   1.0     |
  |         |   system         |      | (=.900) |        |        |            |           |
  |         |                  |      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         |January 18, 1861--|      |         |        |        |            |           |
  |         | Reform of the    |177.20| 10   19 | 175.77 | 177.20 |  100    0  |   1.0     |
  |         |   tariff         |      | (=.900) |        |        |            |           |
  +---------+------------------+------+---------+--------+--------+------------+-----------+

TABLE OF THE BILLON MONEY OF SPAIN FROM THE REFORMATION OF THE COINAGE
IN 1497.

  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+
  |           |                     |                             |Tale  |           |                |Mint Value  |Bullion Value|
  |Reign.     |Denomination.        |Representative Value of      |(per  |Weight of  |Standard.       |of Each     |of Each      |
  |           |                     | each Money.                 |Mark.)|Each Piece.|                |Piece.      |Piece.       |
  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+
  |Ferdinand  |June 14, 1492--      |                             |      | Granos.   |Dineros. Granos.|Reals. Mdvs.|Reals. Mdvs. |
  |and        | Coining of blancas  |Half maravedi                | 192  | 24.0      |  0         7   |  2     28  |   2     3   |
  |Isabella.  |                     |                             |      |           |    (=.024)     |            |             |
  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+
  |Charles V. |May 23, 1552--       |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           | Lowering of the     |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           |   standard of billon|Half maravedi                | 192  | 24.0      |  0       5-1/2 |  2     28  |   1  24-5/8 |
  |           |                     |                             |      |           |    (=.019)     |            |             |
  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+
  |Philip II. |December 14, 1566--  |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           |                    {|Cuartillos of 8-1/2 maravedis|  80  | 57.6      |}               |            |             |
  |           | Vellon rico        {|Cuartos of 4 maravedis       | 170  | 27.10588  |} 2        14   | 20      0  |  17    8    |
  |           |                    {|Medios of 2 maravedis        | 340  | 13.55294  |}    (=.216)    |            |             |
  |           | Blancos             |Medio maravedi               | 220  | 20.94545  |  0         4   |  3      8  |   1  31-1/2 |
  |           |                     |                             |      |           |     (=.014)    |            |             |
  |           |1599--               |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           | (Pure copper)       |Cuartos of 4 maravedis       |  34  |135.52941  |}               |            |             |
  |           |                     |Ochavas of 2 maravedis       |  68  | 67.76470  |}  pure copper  |  4      0  |   1    0    |
  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+
  |Philip IV. |December 23, 1642--  |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           |                    {|Cuartillos of 8-1/2 maravedis|  80  | 57.6      |}               |            |             |
  |           | Vellon rico        {|Cuartos of 4 maravedis       | 170  | 27.10588  |} 2      14-1/2 | 20      0  |  12    5    |
  |           |                    {|Medios of 2 maravedis        | 340  | 13.55294  |}    (=.217)    |            |             |
  |           |October 29, 1660--   |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           | Issue of "Molino"   |Pieces of 16 maravedis       |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           |                     | (8, 4 and 2 in proportion)  | 51   | 90.35294  |  1         8   | 24      0  |   6    3    |
  |           |                     |                             |      |           |     (=.069)    |            |             |
  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+
  |Charles II.|May 22, 1680--       |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           | (This and succeeding|                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           |   issues are of pure|                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  |           |   copper)           |                             |      |           |                |            |             |
  +-----------+---------------------+-----------------------------+------+-----------+----------------+------------+-------------+




APPENDIX IV

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF THE NETHERLANDS


In its earliest known form the Netherlands monetary system reproduces
those features of the Carlovingian system which reappear alike in Italy,
France, and England.

The ideal Flemish pound was divided into 20 schellingen, the schelling
into 12 grooten.

This was entirely an ideal system; the actual coins being, at first, the
silver denarius, divided into obols. This ideal system of pounds,
schellings, and groots survived in Flanders and the Southern Netherlands
(now the kingdom of Belgium) long after it had been superseded in the
Northern Provinces (the United Netherlands) by another equally ideal
system, that of the gulden and stiver.

According to this latter system the Flemish pound was divided into 6
gulden, the gulden into 20 stivers. As between the two systems,
therefore, the Northern gulden was equal to 3-1/3 Southern schellings,
and the Northern stiver to 2 Southern groots.

The earliest mention of the stivers occurs in 1355, but it was a
considerable time before the new system displaced the old one in the
Northern Provinces, and the reckoning by schellings and groots as well
as, or alongside of, that by gulden and stivers occurs in Holland even
as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The weight system employed for the precious metals was as follows:--

  1 pound troy         =        2 marks.
  1 mark               =        8 oz.
  1 oz.                =       20 engels.
  1 engel              =       32 azen.

  So that 160 engels or 5120 azen made up the mark.

In reckoning the standard or alloy, the weight system was--

  For silver--1 mark  =  12 pfennige or deniers.
                 "    = 288 grs. (12 x 24).
  For gold--1 mark    =  24 carats.
                 "    = 288 grs. (24 x 12).

Although forming part of the Holy Roman Empire (being included in the
Burgundian Circle), the Mint system of the Empire has apparently never
obtained in the Netherlands. The Counts of Holland, from the days of
Floris II. and Jan I. (i.e. from 1256 onwards) have minted on their own
account, as have also the Counts of Flanders from a much more remote
date. The silver _deniers_ of the Counts of Flanders date from at least
the days of Count Arnold II. (964-989). The introduction of "la grosse
monnaie" (whence gros and groots), in imitation of the French money,
dates from the reign of Marguerite, Countess of Flanders (1244-1280), or
possibly earlier; and the gold coinage (_royaux_, in imitation of those
of Philip the Long of France, and _florins_, in imitation of those of
Florence) dates from Count Louis de Crécy (1322-1346).

The interest, however, attaching to the monies of the Counts of Flanders
and Holland up to the close of the fifteenth century is prevailingly
numismatic, as, in the absence of a continuous series of Mint
indentures, it is a matter of almost insuperable difficulty to construct
tables of the coins. The chief indications are contained in the tariffs
already referred to (_supra_, text, pp. 79-83), but their testimony
bears more expressly on exchange rates rather than upon Mint rate and
standard.

The table of the groot, according to this source, is as follows:--

                                Engel.  Azen.
  1336. 9-pfennige weight,        1       9
  1376. 4.16      "               2       4
  1388. 5         "               1      23
  1393. 5         "               1      20
  1422. 4         "               2      16
  1489. 5         "               1       5

The foundations of a national Mint, or monetary system for the
Netherlands, were first laid by the ordinance issued by the Emperor
Maximilian at Breda on the 14th December 1489.

According to this ordinance the gold _double florin_ was to be struck at
a tale of 44-3/4 to the mark Troy, of a fineness of 23-7/8 carats, and
issued at an equivalence of 80 gros.

The remaining gold coins were to comprise the _St. Andries florin_ = 40
groschen (and its half); while the silver coins were to comprise--

  Gros               =   1 gros.
  Pattart            =   2   "
  Double pattart     =   4   "
  Grand double       =   8   "

In great part this is to be regarded as an ideal or unrealised system.
The first effectual regulation of the silver coinage was made in the
ordinance of Charles V. of 22nd February 1542.

This ordinance prescribed the minting of the silver _carolus_, in
imitation of the Dutch thaler.

  Weight to be          14 engels, 30 azen.
  Standard to be        10 pfennige (= .853 fine).
      Equivalence to be 20 stivers.

The practical effect of this measure, therefore, was to introduce a coin
equal to, and therefore representative of, the hitherto fictitious or
merely ideal _gulden_.

The remaining tariffs of the succeeding hundred years or so, together
with the bimetallic experience of the Netherlands, have been already
briefly described in the text (_supra_, pp. 71, 77). On the declaration
of independence by the Northern Provinces, and the separation of the
United Netherlands from the Southern or Spanish Netherlands, which
succeeded, the monetary history of these two portions of the Low
Countries bifurcates.

We are here concerned only with that of the Northern or United or Dutch
Provinces, as being of more commercial interest in European history of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

By Article 12 of the Union, each of the seven United Provinces was bound
to conformity in the course or tariffing of its money, while left free
to determine the species and mere numismatic detail of the coins.

The various tariffs therefore, already described, contain the Mint law
as applied to the United Provinces; but it was not until 1606 that a
serious attempt at systematisation was made. By the great plakkaat of
21st March 1606, completed by that of 6th July 1610, a new and very full
tariff was imposed; an important regulation was made, declaring all
coins which lacked more than 1-1/2 engels over and above the remedy, to
be taken as bullion and not current as coin, and the indenture details
of the gold coins were fixed, as it proved, throughout the life of the
Republic.

The gold rijder and the gold ducat were prescribed as follows:--

              GOLD RIJDER.

  Weight (gross), 207.2 azen (= 9.95 grs.).
    "    (of fine gold), 187.77 azen (= 9.11 grs.).
  Standard, 22 carat (= .9167).
         (Equivalence = 10 fl. 2 st.).

              GOLD DUCAT.

  Weight (gross), 72-1/2 azen (= 3.494 grs.).
    "    (of fine gold), 71.43 azen (=3.432 grs.).
  Standard = 23 carat 8 grs. (= .9826).
         (Equivalence = 3 fl. 16 st.).

By Article 23 of this same ordinance of 1606, the further minting of
billon money was forbidden, and at the same time it was enacted, with
regard to the lower denominations of silver coins (schillings and
smaller pieces), that not more than one-tenth of any total settlement
should be tenderable in them, in case of sums exceeding 100 guldens.

The succeeding experience of the effect of these tariffs, involving, as
they did, the almost total disappearance of the great silver coins, even
already by the year 1638, led in 1659 to the institution of two new
silver coins--(1) the silver ducat, .868 fine, and containing 507 azen
fine silver; and (2) the silver rijder, .937 fine; and containing 634.75
azen fine silver.

By the plakkaat of 25th December 1681, the states of Holland and West
Friezland prescribed the minting of the gulden piece, thus at last
making the gulden, so long simply an ideal money or money of account, a
real coin, and laying the basis of a truer national currency system.

By subsequent proclamations and resolutions of the States-General of the
17th March 1694, and 31st December 1699, this was adopted for all the
United Provinces.

The single gulden piece was to be of the standard of 10 pf. 22-1/2 grs.,
and to contain 200 azen fine silver.

This coin remained the mint coin of the Dutch system, without any
further alteration of tariff, or any need of it till 1806.

With regard to the development of a specific law of tender, the
legislation of the United Provinces was peculiarly involved. The first
declaration of a wide nature was that of the 26th September 1686, which
reduced certain coins,--the silver ducat and two others--to the position
of trade money merely. This was repeated in the declaration of the
States-General of the 7th August 1691. The declaration of the 1st August
1749 ascribed a similarly restricted character, of trade money merely,
to all gold coins except the gold rijder and its half. These latter were
fixed at an equivalence of 14 and 7-florin respectively. The gold ducats
were not fixed, their course as trade money might fluctuate daily. They
might be taken freely by weight, and at values determined by the course
of trade.

The meaning of this provision can only be read in the light of the
experience of the preceding half century. Up to this date (1749) there
had existed, in theory, a silver standard with gold rated to it by each
succeeding tariff. The fall of silver throughout the seventeenth century
had acted adversely on gold, and for long the currency had consisted
almost entirely of silver. This fall received some slight check in the
earlier part of the eighteenth century, and the result was a reverse
tendency. Gold came back into circulation, and the full weighted silver
coins began to flow out and away. A bitter cry was accordingly raised in
1720 by the commercial community, and already in 1720 the Mint
authorities had proposed the adoption of the gold rijder as standard, in
order to stop the drain.

In 1749, however, the Mint officials felicitated themselves on the
non-adoption of this proposal, and prayed that the ducat should be
merely declared trade money (26th March 1749); and it was on this advice
that the plakkaat of 31st March 1749 passed. It proved insufficient to
prevent the export of silver, and on the 1st August following, the
States-General issued an order creating the gold rijder provisionally
the standard. The right of coining it was reserved to the State, so that
there was no standard in the modern sense.

The influence of this measure proved to be very slight, and 172
merchants of Amsterdam petitioned the States-General to declare the
tenderableness of the ducat again. The result of a further communication
from the Mint officials was the proclamation and ordinance of 1st May
1750, according to which only the gold rijder and half-rijder were
declared standard, and all other gold species only trade money.
Gradually, however, what the Government had been unable to effect by
legislation was accomplished by the mere force of a rise in gold or fall
in silver. The gold rijders began to disappear, the complaints as to the
disappearance of silver ceased, and the regulations of 1749 and 1750
were superseded. At the time of the French Revolution, therefore, the
silver standard was actually in force. Nominally the gold rijder was
still legal tender at 14 florins, but actually few specimens of it were
in circulation.

In 1798 the establishment of the Batavian Republic necessitated the
creation of a Batavian Mint, and on the 12th February 1800 the First
Chamber was called upon to consider the coins.

It was not, however, until the year 1806, after the Republic had been
superseded by the imposition of Louis Napoleon as King of Holland, that
an effectual system was enunciated. By the resolution of 15th December
1806, a double standard was adopted.


  GOLD STANDARD COINS.

  _Gold Penning_ of 20 francs, 18 to the mark.
       Alloy, 22 carats gold, 16 grs. silver.
       Weight, 8 engels 28-4/9 azen.
       Content of fine gold, 260-3/4 azen.

  STANDARD SILVER COINS.

  _Fifty-stuiver piece_--9-5953/17543 to the mark.
       Weight, 17 engels 4-7/32 azens.
       Standard, 10 pen. 22-3/4 grs.

  _Gulden_--23-6111/17543 to the mark.
       Weight, 6 engels 27-23/80 azens.

With the annihilation of the Napoleonic structure this scheme perished,
and the law of 28th September 1816 erected a system in which elements of
both those previously existing were combined.

The coinage was prescribed to consist of gold and silver standard
pieces, and gold and silver trade pieces.

The standard coins were--

  1. _The Silver Gulden_--
        Weight = 7 engels (= 10.766 grms.).
        Content of fine silver = 200 azen (= 9.613 grms.).
        Standard = .893.

This was to be the unit, and divided decimally.

  2. The gold piece of 10 _Gulden_ .900 fine.
        Weight 140 azen (6.729 grms.).

  TRADE COINS.

  1. _Silver Dukaat_--
        Weight 18 engels 8-2209/11200 azen (28.78 grs.).
        Standard, 10 pen. 10 grs. (= .868).

  2. _Silver Rijder_--
        Weight, 21 engels 5-59/80 azen (= 52.574 grs.).
        Standard, 11 pen. 5-3/4 grs. (= .937).

  3. _Gold Dukaat_--
        Weight, 2 engels 8-24/55 azen (= 3.494 grs.).
        Standard, 23 kr. 7 grs. (= .983).


The trade money was only minted for private accompt. The unit gulden and
the 3-gulden piece were also minted for private accompt, but the
divisional silver money, the copper money, and the gold standard
10-gulden piece were only to be minted on Government account.

By Article 15 of this law the franc was adopted in the Southern
provinces on a footing of

     1 franc = 47-1/4 carats.

     1 gulden = 2 francs 11-61/100 centimes.

Finally, by Article 18, the tender of copper was limited to 1 gulden,
and that of the smaller silver denomination to one-fifth of the amount
of settlement.

By the succeeding law of 22nd March 1839, the silver Netherland gulden
was prescribed to be of the weight of 10 wigtje's or grms., and .945
fine.

This prescription was retained as to the gulden in the more important
Act of 26th November 1847.

This Act definitely established the silver standard. The standard coins
were declared to be the gulden (and its half) and the rijksdaalder (=
2-1/2 guldens). The gold _William_ and the gold _dukaat_ were declared
to be trade money, and the minor or divisional silver coins (25 cents
and under) were fixed at a fineness of .645. The gold William was to
weigh 6.729 grms., .900 fine (content of pure gold, therefore, to be
6.056 grms.). The gold dukaat was to weigh 3.494 grms., .983 fine
(therefore to contain 3.4345 grms. fine gold).

The coinage of standard silver coins, and of gold trade coins, was left
free to individuals (Article 18). The trade money was expressly declared
to be no legal tender (_geen wettig betaalmiddel_, Article 20).

The tender of silver divisional coins was limited to 10 guldens, and
that of copper coins to 1 gulden.

This silver standard continued in force until 1872. In that year,
however, in consequence of the fall of silver, a Bill was passed to
suspend the coining of silver for private accompt. The Mint was closed
to its coinage, and for a time Holland had no metallic standard at all,
as gold was only merchandise or trade money. This state of things led
to the enactment of the law of 6th June 1875, which introduced the gold
standard, but under peculiar arrangements.

The standard coins were declared to be--_beside_, or in addition to, the
silver standard coins minted previously to the new law--the gold
10-gulden piece, .900 fine, containing 6.048 grs. fine gold (weight,
therefore, 6.720 grms.).

The minting of these latter was declared free to the individual, and the
minting of the gold Williams ordered to cease (Articles 5 and 6).

No further declaration was made as to tender, so that the standard is to
be regarded as a limping rather than a gold standard proper.

TABLE OF THE SILVER COINS OF THE NETHERLANDS.

From Mees, '_Geschiedenis van het bankwezen in Nederland,'_ with
additions from 1690.

  +-------------+--------------------+------------+---------------+-----------+-------------+---------------+
  |             |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |   Date of   |                    |            |               |           |             |   Weight of   |
  |    Law.     |  Name of Species.  |  Weight.   |   Standard.   | Weight of | Equivalence.| Metal Fine in |
  |             |                    |            |               |   Metal   |             |  the Gulden.  |
  |             |                    |            |               |   Fine.   |             |               |
  +-------------+--------------------+------------+---------------+-----------+-------------+---------------+
  |             |                    | Eng.  Az.  | Penn. Grein.  |    Az.    | Guil.   St. |      Az.      |
  |Feb. 22, 1542|Karolus gulden      |  14.30     |  9     23     |  396.674  |  1      0   |    396.674    |
  |June 4, 1567 |Bourgondrische or   |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  Kruisdaalder      |  19.1      | 10     16     |  541.333  |  1     12   |    338.333    |
  |Feb. 10, 1577|Staten daalder      |  20.0      |  8     22     |  475.555  |  1     12   |    297.222    |
  |Apr. 19, 1583|Nederland           |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  rijksdaalder      |  18.28     | 10     15     |  534.792  |  2      2   |    254.663    |
  |Aug. 4, 1586 |Nederland reaal     |  22.13     |  9     23     |  595.01   |  2     10   |    238.004    |
  |Mar. 21, 1606|Nederland           |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  rijksdaalder      |  18.28     | 10     12     |  528.5    |  2      7   |    224.894    |
  |     ''      |Leeuwendaalder      |  18.0      |  8     22     |  428.0    |  1     18   |    225.263    |
  |     ''      |10-stuiver piece    |   3.28     | 11      0     |  113.666  |  0     10   |    227.333    |
  |Tolerantie,} |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  | June 28,  } |Nederland           |            |               |           |             |               |
  |  1608     } |  rijksdaalder      |  18.28     | 10     12     |  528.5    |  2      8   |    220.208    |
  | Tariff,   } |Leeuwendaalder      |  18.0      |  8     22     |  428.0    |  1     18   |    225.263    |
  |  July 6,  } |10-stuiver piece    |   3.28     | 11      0     |  113.666  |  0     10   |    227.333    |
  |   1610    } |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |Sep. 26, 1615|Nederland           |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  rijksdaalder      |  18.28     | 10     12     |  528.5    |  2      8   |    220.208    |
  |     ''      |Leeuwendaalder      |  18.0      |  8     22     |  428.0    |  2      0   |    214.0      |
  |Feb. 13, 1619|Leeuwendaalder      |  18.0      |  8     22     |  428.0    |  2      0   |    214.0      |
  |July 21, 1622|Nederland           |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  rijksdaalder      |  18.28     | 10     12     |  528.5    |  2     10   |    211.4      |
  |Tolerantie,  |Leeuwendaalder      |  18.0      |  8     22     |  428.0    |  2      0   |    214.0      |
  |Oct. 9, 1638 |Nederland           |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  rijksdaalder      |  18.28     | 10     12     |  528.5    |  2     10   |    211.4      |
  |Mar. 6, 1645 |Dakaton of Brabant  |  21.7      | 11    6-1/2   |  637.741  |  3      3   |    202.458    |
  |     "       |Patacon (or         |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  kruisdaalder or   |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  kruisrijksdaalder)|  18.12     | 10     11     |  512.458  |  2     10   |    204.983    |
  |Aug. 11, 1659|Nederland silver    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  rijder            |  21.5.72   | 11      6     |  635.362  |  3      3   |    201.702    |
  |     "       |Nederland silver    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |             |  dukaat            |  18.8.2    | 10     10     |  507.118  |  2     10   |    202.847    |
  |Sept. 25,}   |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |  1681   }   |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |Dec. 22, }   |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |  1686   }   |3-gulden piece      |20.17-86/100| 11      0     |  603.038  |  3      0   |    201.013    |
  |Aug. 7,  }   |Gulden              | 6.27-46/100| 10     22-1/2 |  200.035  |  1      0   |    200.035    |
  |  1691   }   |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |March 17,}   |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  |  1694   }   |                    |            |               |           |             |               |
  +-------------+--------------------+------------+---------------+-----------+-------------+---------------+
  |1806 (Louis} |Gulden              | 6.27-23/20 |  10.22-3/4    |   ...     |     ...     |      ...      |
  | Napoleon) } |50-stuiver piece    |17.4-7/32   |  10.22-3/4    |   ...     |     ...     |      ...      |
  |Sep. 28, 1816|Gulden              |   7.0      |  0.893 fine   |  200 azen |     ...     |      ...      |
  |Nov. 26, 1847|Gulden              |  10 grms.  |  0.945 fine   |9.-450/1000|     ...     |      ...      |
  |             |                    |            |               |   grms.   |             |               |
  +-------------+--------------------+------------+---------------+-----------+-------------+---------------+


TABLE OF THE GOLD COINS OF THE NETHERLANDS.

(From Mees, as above, with additions.)

  +-------------+----------------+----------+-----------+---------+------------+-------------+
  |  Date of    |                |          |           |Weight of|            |Weight of    |
  |    Law.     |Name of Species.| Weight.  |Standard.  |  Metal  |Equivalence.|Metal fine in|
  |             |                |          |           |  Fine.  |            | the Gulden. |
  +-------------+----------------+----------+-----------+---------+------------+-------------+
  |             |                |Eng. Az.  |Kar. Grein.|  Az.    | Guil.  St. |    Az.      |
  |Dec. 14, 1489| Hungary dukaat |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  1      6  |  54.941     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Feb. 4, 1520 |   "       "    |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  1     18  |  37.591     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |July 11, 1548|   "       "    |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  2      1  |  34.841     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Feb. 7, 1573 |   "       "    |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  2     15  |  25.972     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Dec. 3, 1575 |   "       "    |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  3      0  |  23.808     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |May 7 and    |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  | 20, 1583    | Holland dukaat |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  3      5  |  21.976     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Aug. 4, 1586 |Nederland dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  3      8  |  21.007     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |April 2, 1603|    "       "   |2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  3     14  |  19.304     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Mar. 21, 1606|Nederland rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   |190.666  | 10      2  |  18.878     |
  |             |    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  3     16  |  18.796     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |July 6, 1610 |Nederland rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 10     12  |  17.987     |
  |             |    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   |  71.424 |  4      0  |  17.856     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Sept. 26,    |    "     rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 10     16  |  17.654     |
  | 1615        |    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   |  71.424 |  4      1  |  17.635     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Feb. 13, 1619|    "     rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 10     16  |  17.654     |
  |             |    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   |  71.424 |  4      2  |  17.42      |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |July 21, 1622|    "     rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 11      6  |  16.873     |
  |             |    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   | 71.424  |  4      5  |  16.805     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |Tolerantie, }|    "     rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 12      0  |  15.888     |
  |Oct. 9, 1638}|    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   |  71.424 |  4     10  |  15.872     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |March 6,    }|                |          |           |         |            |             |
  | 1645 and   }|    "     rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 12     12  |  15.132     |
  |Jan. 6,     }|    "     dukaat|2.8-24/35 | 23    7   |  71.424 |  4     15  |  15.037     |
  | 1653       }|                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |March 31,    |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  | 1749        |    "     rijder|  6.16    | 22    0   | 190.666 | 14   0     |  13.619     |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  +-------------+----------------+----------+-----------+---------+------------+-------------+
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |1806 (Louis }|                |          |{22 carat }| 8.4-3/4 | 10 francs  |     ...     |
  | Napoleon)  }|                |          |{    gold }|         |            |             |
  |             | Gold penning   | 8.28-4/9 |{16 grs.  }|         |            |             |
  |             |                |          |{  silver }|         |            |             |
  |             |                |          |           |         |            |             |
  |1816         | 10-gulden piece|  4.12    | 0.900 fine|   ...   |    ...     |     ...     |
  |1875         |    "      "    |6-720/1000| 0.900 fine|6.048    |    ...     |     ...     |
  |             |                |    grms. |           |fine gold|            |             |
  +-------------+----------------+----------+-----------+---------+------------+-------------+




APPENDIX V

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF GERMANY


The German Mint system inherited from that of Charlemagne the common
features noticed already in the case of Florence, the Netherlands, and
other countries, namely, the division of the silver libra into 20 solidi
(_schillingen_), and of the solidus into 12 denarii (_pfennige_), so
that 240 denarii = 1 libra. The solidus occurs (theoretically or in
accompt) in both gold and silver. The gold solidus of the German system
originally weighed less than the Frankish, which was 72 to the libra,
while the German was 80 to the libra.

The ratio of gold to silver was 12:1, so that theoretically 1 pound
silver = 1 oz. gold = 6-2/3 gold schilling.

In actual coins, 1 gold schilling = 3 silver schillingen = 36 pfennige.

Gradually this system was superseded by that of reckoning by the mark.
The particular mark which obtained widest acceptance was the Cologne
mark, which was thus subdivided--

  Cologne mark = 8 Oz.
               = 16 Loth.
               = 64 Quintlein.
               = 256 Pfennige.
               = 512 Heller.
               = 4352 Eschen or Grain.

For the purpose of standard of alloy the mark was differently
subdivided. Thus--

  Gold alloy weight--

    1 mark = 12 carats
           = 288 grs. (12 x 24).

  Silver alloy weight--

    1 mark = 16 loth
           = 288 grs. (16 x 18).

Subsequently, when the gold gulden began to be minted, and to displace
in reckoning the gold solidi (6-2/3 to the oz.), a third system of
reckoning by gulden, schillingen, and pfennige was adopted. But long
before this had become general, the downward course of the pfennige had
proceeded apace.

In 1255, in Swabia, the silver mark was minted into 660 pfennige; and in
1276, in Magdeburg, the mark of silver (15 loth fine) into 528 pfennige.

Originally heller and kreutzer were only alternative forms of the
pfennige, not subdivisions of it (heller = Hällische pfennige); but the
irregular course of depreciation established a difference in
character.[24]

In 1407, in the Bishopric of Würzburg, pfennige were minted at a tale
of 400 to the mark and 6 loth fine; Heller 544 to the mark and 4 loth
fine. Fifty years later, at Nürnberg, pfennige were being minted 512 to
the mark and 5-1/4 loth fine (= 1560-8/21 to the mark of fine silver),
and Heller at 704 to the mark and 3-1/2 loth fine (= 3218-2/7 to the
mark fine).

The course of depreciation proceeded from the unregulated, irresponsible
mintings of the small states, and from base financier craft. During the
fourteenth century it proceeded apace, in spite of the attempts at a
reform made by the Emperor Charles IV. In 1356 he prescribed the minting
of the mark of silver into 31 schillingen 4 heller (or 376 hellers), but
the ordinance remained ineffectual.

The depreciation against which it vainly strove was not confined to the
lower species, such as pfennige and heller. The close of the thirteenth
century had witnessed the introduction of a new large silver money,
which for a time stood by the side of the schilling, and then gradually
displaced it. The new coin--the _groschen_, minted in imitation of the
gros Tournois of France--made its first appearance in Bohemia in 1296,
when its tale was 63-1/2 to the mark, 15 loth fine. The same process of
depreciation at once began to affect it, and during the fourteenth
century the downward course of the coin was very rapid, especially in
Saxony (see Tables infra., and pp. 30, 97). With the commencement of a
gold coinage in the middle of the same century, a third element of
confusion was introduced, and quickly the same diversity of weight,
alloy, and type began to prevail as in the silver coinage (see Table of
the depreciation of the gold gulden, infra., and pp. 31, 98).

The Reichstag, which met at Nürnberg in 1438, found itself driven to
record, in simple terms, the right of everybody who could mint to do so
according to what standard of fineness and weight he pleased, "seeing
the impossibility of a common standard and weight."

The close of the century witnessed the introduction of the last of these
numerous confusing elements, but one which was to become of prime
importance in the history of German currency, namely, the _thaler_. In
its first form it was intended as the silver equivalent of the _gold
gulden_, being minted 8 to the mark (i.e. 1 oz. weight per piece), and
of fine (or 16 loth) silver. It received the name _gulden groschen_ when
first coined by Archduke Sigismund of Austria in 1484; but in the
sixteenth century, on account of its great manufacture in Bohemia, it
became known as the _Joachims thaler_ (or _Schlicken thaler_, or _Löwen
thaler_). The subsequent depreciation of the thaler, which came as a
matter of course, was very unequal in the different circles, being most
strongly marked in Saxony.

By the first of the Imperial Mint Ordinances, which will be spoken of
immediately, the weight of this piece was still retained at 1 oz., but
the standard was reduced to 15 loth fine. In 1549 the Elector Maurice
fixed the standard at 14 loth 8 grs. fine, while still retaining the
tale of 8 to the mark.

The second Imperial Mint Ordinance of 1551 was constructed as a double
basis--

     1. Of the gulden groschen (i.e. thaler) = 1 gold gulden = 72 kr.

     2. Of the gulden groschen (i.e. thaler) = 1 gold gulden = 60 kr.

The tale was altered from 8 to 7-1/2 to the mark, but the standard was
lowered still further to 14 loth 2 grs. fine (= 8-120/254 to the mark of
fine silver). But in the accompanying tariff the actual specie
thaler-piece was set at 22 groschen, or 66 kreutzers.

The third Imperial Mint Ordinance established an important difference
from this system. The actual thaler or silver gulden (= 72 kreutzers)
was ordered to be discontinued, and no more minted, and a different
basis adopted of silver Reichs guldens = 60 kreutzers, at a tale of
9-1/2 to the mark, 14 loth 16 grs. fine.

This intended exclusion of the thaler, however, proved quite
ineffectual. Protestations were raised against it, and in the Reichstag
at Augsburg the minting of the thaler was again authorised--8 to the
mark, 14 loth 4 grs. fine.

The immediately succeeding movement of the thaler is given in the text
(see Table, p. 103).

Further than, as above, it is out of the question in so brief a résumé
to specify the minuter confusions and conflicting variations of the
German monetary system at the opening of the sixteenth century. During
the course of that century three separate attempts were made to
establish an imperial system that should displace all minor ones, and
thus remedy the confusion.

The first attempt was made by Charles V. in his Imperial Mint Ordinance
issued at Esslingen on the 10th November 1524.

The basis of this ordinance was the mark of silver = 8 florins 10
schillings 8 heller, and the pieces ordained were--

     1. A silver piece = 1 Rhenish gold gulden, 8 to the mark, 15 loth
     fine (see the account of the thaler above).

     2. _Orth_, 32 to mark, 15 loth fine.

     3. _Zähender_ = 1/10 Rhenish gold gulden, 80 to mark, 15 loth fine.

     4. _Groschen_ = 1/21 Rhenish gold gulden, 12 loth fine, 136 to
     mark.

Besides these coins, the ordinance recognised temporarily a whole series
of then-current pfennige. Thus--

  Strasburg pfennige, · 126 to the gulden.
  Würtemberg  "       · 168     "
  Rappen      "       · 157-1/2 "
  Rhenish     "       · 210     "
  Saxon       "       · 252     "
  Räder       "       · 312     "

As explained in the text (p. 96), this ordinance came nowhere into
observance, and twenty-nine years later Charles V. issued his second
Imperial Ordinance at the Reichstag of Augsburg (1551).

The system then attempted to be instituted was based on a mark of fine
silver = 10 florins 12-1/2 kreutzers but in denomination a double system
was employed--

  1.   Gold gulden         = 60 kr.

  2. {Gold gulden    }     = 72 "
     {Gulden groschen}

     1. The Reichs gulden (= 1 gold gulden = 72 kreutzers) was
     prescribed thus--7-1/2 to the mark, 14 loth 2 grs. fine (see
     account of thaler, _supra_).

     2. The kreutzer-piece was prescribed--237 to the mark, 6 loth 1 gr.
     fine (= 626-3/4 to the mark of fine silver).

     3. The groschen (= 1/24 Reichs gulden)--94-1/2 to the mark, 7 loth
     5 grs. fine (= 207-99/131 to the mark of fine silver).

Accompanying these regulations, however, there was a tariff as before,
but more comprehensive, for the temporary recognition of a miscellaneous
mass of coins of the Rhine, the Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Higher
Saxony, Franconia, and the mark of Brandenburg. Thus--

  GROSCHEN.

  Reichs groschen, at 12 pfennige,            24 = 1 gulden, at 72 kreutzers.
  Groschen of Misnia and Franconia,
      at 12 pfennige,                     25-1/5 =     "              "
  Rhenish _albi_ and Netherland
    stuyvers, at 8 pfennige,                  28 =     "              "
  Lübeck schellingen,
      at 12 pfennige,                     28-4/5 =     "              "
  Groschen of the Mark,
      at 8 pfennige,                      38-2/5 =     "              "

  PFENNIGE.

  Of the Tyrol,                              300 = 1 gulden, at 60 kreutzers.
  Of Lübeck,                                 288 =     "              "
  Of the mark of Brandenburg,                256 =     "              "
  Of Saxony and Franconia,                   252 =     "              "
  Of Austria, 4 loth fine, 649 to the mark,  240 =     "              "
  Of Bavaria,                                210 =     "              "
  Of the Rhine,                          186-2/3 =     "              "
  Of Swabia,                                 180 =     "              "
  Of Würtemberg,                             168 =     "              "
  Rappen,                                    250 =     "              "
  Of Strasburg,                              120 =     "              "

This ordinance obtained no more vogue than its predecessor, the main
cause of its slighting being the dissatisfaction of the powers of Upper
and Lower Saxony at the tariffing of the thaler, which they declared to
be too low, and accordingly advanced (1555) to 24 groschen (= 32 Marien
groschen = 72 kreutzers).

The third Imperial Ordinance was issued at Augsburg on the 19th August
1559. Practically the same standard and basis was maintained as in the
preceding ordinance, the mark of fine silver being coined into 10
florins 13-1/2 kreutzers in the larger species.

But in the detail of these larger species an important difference was
established.

The silver gulden had hitherto been equal to the gold gulden. The actual
specie silver gulden in pieces of the time was nominally equivalent to
60 kreutzers. But since 1551 there had been minted a Reichs gulden in
specie equal to 72 kreutzers.

In order to mark the difference it was determined to coin in future only
silver gulden = 60 kreutzers, while the gold gulden was put at 75
kreutzers.

The specie authorised by this third Imperial Ordinance therefore were--

     1. Gold gulden, 72 to mark, 18-1/2-carat fine, to equal 75
     kreutzers.

     2. Silver Reichs gulden, 9-1/2 to the mark, 14 loth 16 grs. fine,
     to equal 60 kreutzers.

     3. Thaler, or 72 kreutzers silver gulden, to be discontinued.

     4. Kreutzer, to equal 1/80 gulden, 243-1/2 to the mark, 6 loth 4
     grs. fine (= 626-1/7 to the mark fine).

     5. Reichs groschen, to equal 1/24 gulden, 8 loth fine, 108-1/2 to
     the mark; and a few other species.

The lower denominations (pfennige and heller) were minted on the basis
of the mark = 11 florins 5 kreutzers.

Almost immediately, protestations were raised against this ordinance,
especially by the Lower Westphalian Circle, and it remained quite
inoperative. The succeeding Reichstag at Augsburg again authorised the
issue of the thaler (8 to the mark, 14 loth 4 grs. fine, so that the
fine mark = 10 florins 12 kreutzers).

As late as the Reichstag of Regensburg (1594) desultory attempts were
made to establish a uniform system, but all practical idea of it had
long ceased, and the regulation of Mint matters henceforth fell into
the separate jurisdiction of the various Circles. The Lower Circles went
their own way at their meetings at Cologne (1566, 1572, and 1582), as
did the Upper Circles in their separate meetings in 1564 and 1572 at
Nördlingen and Nürnberg.

At its meeting at Lüneburg in 1568 the Lower Saxon Circle adopted a
system not far removed from that of the third Imperial Mint Ordinance of
1559. The mark of fine silver was to be coined into 10 florins 43-11/67
kreutzers, and the thaler was fixed at 24 groschen (=72 kreutzers).

Underneath this separately concerted action of the Circles, however,
licence and disorder prevailed in the issue of smaller pieces of a
grossly depreciated nature, before which the good heavy silver species
disappeared, leaving the greatest confusion, together with a continual
rise in prices or fall in the standard. The imperial proclamations of
20th January and 24th September 1571 were of no avail against this
process, and by 1585 the mercantile rate had risen, thus--

  Philipps thaler       =        82 kr.
  Reichs thaler         =        74 "
  Gulden groschen       =        64 "

In 1596 the Imperial Commissioners at Frankfort provisionally recognised
as a tariff--

  Gold gulden                =        80 kr.
  Reichs thaler              =        72 "
  Gulden groschen or thaler  =        64 "

But later in the same year these authorities at Strasburg set the Reichs
thaler at 84 kreutzers (mark of fine silver = 12 fl. 36 kr.). As the
disorder of the _Kipper und Wipper Zeit_ broke over the Empire, in
consequence of the process of wilful depreciation, the Emperor made
several public attempts at its arrestation by letters addressed to the
various Circles separately (1601, 1603, and 1607). Meanwhile, the Reichs
thaler had risen to 90 kreutzers (mark of fine silver = 13-1/2 florins).

According to this valuation the gulden of 1551 of 72 kreutzers was set
at 94 kreutzers, and the gulden of 1559 of 60 kreutzers was set at 79
kreutzers.

It was on this latter basis (of the 60-kreutzer Reichs gulden of 1559 =
79 kreutzers) that was founded the later Misnian, Franconian, and
Kammer-Gerichts currencies of the eighteenth century, which did not
materially differ amongst themselves, thus--

  Misnian gulden    @ 31 groschen (= 78-2/3 kr.)
  Franconian gulden @ 20 batzen   (= 80 kr.)
  Kammer-Gerichts gulden           = 78 kr. 2-10/23 thalers.

In 1623 the Higher Circles adopted by their Mint determination the
following system:--

  Thaler      = 90 kr.
  Gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr.
  Ducat       = 2 fl. 20 "

In the smaller pieces the basis was the mark of fine silver = 16-florin
= 10-2/3 thaler.

For example--

  1/2-Batzen,       7 loth fine,       210 to the mark.
  Kreutzer,         5      "           300     "
  3-Heller piece,   3-1/2  "           560     "
  Pfennige,         3      "           720     "

To this system the Lower Circles acceded, in the same year 1623, after
an ineffectual attempt to enforce the interim standard of 1596, which
had set the Reichs thaler at 21 batzen or 84 kreutzers.

From this united action of the Upper and Lower Circles Saxony stood
apart, following quite a different course. While elsewhere the thaler
was raised, here they lowered it to its old equivalence of 24 groschen.
In actual practice, however, the step proved only half effective, as the
depreciated thaler was persistently minted. There resulted accordingly,
in Saxony, a double system of "good" and "bad" money, with a difference
of something like 25 per cent. between them. To increase the confusion
there was for a time a difference between the practice of Lower Saxony
and Electoral Saxony. The former, Lower Saxony, had in 1610 adopted the
following system:--

  Reichs thaler                 = 28 groschen.
  Reichs gulden thaler of 1559  = 24     "
  Philipps thaler               = 30-2/3 "
  Silver groschen, =  234 to the mark, 14 loth, 4 grs. fine.
    "    schillingen, 306     "
  (So that the mark of fine silver = 12 fl. 9 kr.)

Finding it impossible to maintain this system, they altered it in 1617,
and finally in 1622 conformed with Higher Saxony, setting the Reichs
thaler at 24 silver groschens.

As settled in this and the following year, the system of Electoral and
Lower Saxony was as follows:--

  Reichs thaler                   = 24 gulden groschen.
  Gulden thaler of 1559           = 21       "
  Philipps thaler and gold gulden = 30       "
  Ducat                           = 36       "

Contemporaneously (1623), the Brandenburg system was as follows:--

  Reichs thaler      =     24 good groschen.
  Gold gulden        =     27     "
  Ducat              =     38     "

Through the remaining period of the Thirty Years' War very little is on
record with regard to the German Mint system. The closing period of the
strife was marked by such complaints as to excess of depreciated small
specie as had prevailed in 1620, bringing with it a further enhancement
of the price of the larger silver specie. In 1665, accordingly, the
three Higher Circles, Franconia, Bavaria, and Swabia met together. They
found on a trial that the mark of fine silver was selling commercially
at from 14 florins 15 kreutzers to 14 florins 20 kreutzers, and that it
was impossible to mint the larger silver specie unless the Reichs thaler
were set at 96 kreutzers. This would raise the mark of fine silver to 14
florins 24 kreutzers. At the same time it was resolved to declare the
ducat at 3 florins (mark of fine gold = 203 florins 49 kreutzers, 3-31/71
pfennige), the ratio being accordingly changed from 15 to 14-1/8.

In 1667 this scheme was provisionally adopted _in comitiis_. From this
scheme Saxony and Brandenburg held off, maintaining that the advance of
the Reichs thaler was not sufficient. They accordingly, in the same
year, adopted the so-called _Zinnaische_ standard, setting the Reichs
thaler at 1 florin 45 kreutzers (105 kreutzers), equal to 18 good
groschens (mark of fine silver = 10-1/2 thalers, or 15 florins 45
kreutzers).

The enactment of this system gave rise to a new species of heavy silver
coins:--

  Guldener    =    2/3 thaler.
     "        =    60 kr.
     "        =    16 good groschen.
     "        =    32 schillingen.

Two years later, 1669, the three Higher Circles determined, as a measure
of protection to their gold, to alter the ratio, and for that purpose to
reduce the thaler from 96 to 90 kreutzers again, while leaving the ducat
= 3 florins, and the gold gulden = 2 florins 20 kreutzers.

  The mark of fine silver was thus  =   3 fl. 30 kr.
        "           gold     "      = 204  "
                  (Ratio = 15-1/9.)

The divisional coins were to be minted on a graduated and enhanced
standard. Thus--

  6-kr. and 4-kr. pieces (Batzen),  at 13 fl. 55 kr. to the mark fine.
  Groschen (3 kr.)                  at 14 fl. 10  "        "
  Kreutzer                          at 14 fl. 40  "        "
  Pfennige (3760 to the mark fine), at 15 fl. 43  "        "

There were thus three contemporary systems in Germany in 1670--

  1. Reichs thaler, at 90 kr., mark of fine silver at 13 fl. 30 kr.
  2.        "       at 96  "          "            at 14 fl. 24  "
  3.        "       at 105 "          "            at 15 fl. 45  "

The three Upper Circles, however, could not maintain their last enacted
order. In spite of its enactment, the Reichs thaler rose again to 96
kreutzers, and the ducat to 3 florins 12 kreutzers.

The confusion and general harm which resulted has been referred to in
the text (p. 199), and it is to be regarded simply as a stop-gap at any
cost that the measure proposed by the Three Circles of fixing the thaler
at 90 kreutzers was carried through the Reichstag of 1680.

From this system, however, the Emperor, with Bavaria and Salzburg, stood
apart, putting the Reichs thaler at 96 kreutzers; and ten years later,
1690, Saxony, Brandenburg, and Brunswick and Lüneburg established again
a distinct system--the well-known Leipzig standard.

By this system the Reichs thaler was set at 120 kreutzers or 2 florins
(mark of fine silver = 12 thalers 18 gulden).

In a few years this valuation of the thaler prevailed all over the
Empire. Sweden acceded to it in 1690, with Bremen and Pomerania, Mainz,
Treves, the Palatinate, and Frankfort, and three years later the Higher
Circles followed suite. Contemporaneously the gold gulden was advanced
to 2 florins 56 kreutzers.

Although the Emperor subsequently joined in the recognition of the
Leipzig standard, it did not remain effective in actual practice, and
while no further advance of the thaler was officially recognised, the
lower denominations were again depreciated by the Mint competition of
the various states, 10-kreutzer pieces being minted on a standard of
20-1/3 to 21-1/3 gulden to the mark fine. In 1736 the question of a
standard was again brought before the Reichstag; and on the 10th
September 1738 it was resolved to adopt the Leipzig standard for the
Empire, with the Reichs thaler = 2 florins, ducat = 4 florins, gold
gulden = 3 florins; while, for the divisional coins, a basis of fine
mark silver = 13-2/3 thaler was enacted.

This system, if it endured at all, did so only for a couple of years.
The outbreak of the war of the Austrian Succession brought with it a new
period of conflicting depreciations, and at the close Austria took a
decisive step. Without taking any measure to secure the co-operation of
the Circles, or any part of the Empire, the Emperor Francis I. adopted
the 20-gulden standard (the mark of fine silver = 13-1/3 Reichs thalers
= 20 guldens). It was at once adopted in Hungary and Bohemia, the
territories of Maria Theresa.

Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was the first
to adopt this Austrian standard, at Dresden in 1750, though with a very
slight variation (putting the mark of fine silver at 13-3/8 Reichs
thalers instead of 13-1/3). In 1753 Bavaria also acceded to the
20-gulden standard, after a brief attempt (1747-1753) at the erection of
a 24-gulden standard, and in the following year the Austrian system was
adopted by Brandenburg-Anspach, Bayreuth, Würzburg, and Nürnberg.

The Convention of Vienna (21st September 1753) which formally
established this Austrian or Convention standard (20-gulden system),
prescribed as follows:--

1. Gold--

     Mark of fine gold = 283 fl. 5 kr. 4-47/74 pf. Chief coin = Reichs
     ducat, 67 to the mark (Cologne mark), 23 kr. 8 grs. fine (=
     67-67/71 to the mark of fine gold), to = 4 fl. 10 kr.; the Holland
     and other ducats then current in Germany being tariffed at 4 fl.
     7-1/2 kr.

2. Silver--

     Mark of fine silver = 20 guldens for all manner of silver coins
     down to the groschen or 3-kreutzer piece (ratio of silver to gold
     1:14-11/21).

The silver coins authorised were--

     1. Thaler (specie or convention thaler = 2 fl.), 10 to the mark,
     13-1/3 loth fine.

     2. Gulden (or 1/2-specie thaler), 20 to the mark, 13-1/3 loth fine.

     3. 30-kreutzer piece (1/2-gulden or 1/4-specie thaler), 40 to the
     mark, 13-1/3 loth fine.

     4. 17-kreutzer piece, 70-10/17 to the mark, 8-2/3 loth fine (only
     for Austria).

     5. 7-kreutzer piece, 171-3/7 to the mark, 6-13/18 loth fine (only
     for Austria).

     6. 20-kreutzer piece, 60 to the mark, 9-1/3 loth fine.

     7. 10-kreutzer piece, 120 to the mark, 8 loth fine.

     8. Groschen or 3-kreutzer piece, 400 to the mark, 5-1/2 loth fine.

For the lowest denomination of divisional coins, half-groschen,
kreutzer, and pfennige, quite varying standards were permitted,
according to the piece or locality, namely, from 20-3/4 to 33 guldens to
the Koln mark.

For tolerated coin the following tariff was fixed:--

GOLD

  Bavarian maxd'or and double gold gulden = 6 fl. 8 kr.
  Bavarian carolus or 3-gold gulden piece = 9 fl. 12 kr.
  Kremnitz ducat     }
  Florentine gigliati} = 4 fl. 12 kr.
  Venetian zecchino  }

     All other gold coins to be taken as bullion at a value of 280 fl.
     for the Cologne mark of fine gold. All silver species of other
     states below the value of 1/2 florin forbidden.

Such was the Convention System or Standard, which, by the accession of
the Electoral Palatinate, and of Salzburg might be practically regarded
as the Imperial system.

This Convention system, and these Convention or specie thaler and other
coins, remained the Mint system of Austria until modern times.

The changes which were made in the Austrian system by the Vienna
Convention of 1857 have been already detailed (see text, pp. 209-12).

Ten years later Austria withdrew from this monetary treaty (in
accordance with the terms of the treaty of Berlin, 13th June 1867), with
the intention of acceding to the contemplated French currency treaty of
31st July 1867. She ceased the coining of German gold crowns and
half-crowns, and instead minted 4 and 1-ducat pieces. From 1870 onwards
she coined, in conjunction with Hungary, 8 and 4-florin gold pieces, the
former 77-1/2 to the pound, .900 fine.

By a decree of 6th November 1870, the 8-florin gold piece was tariffed
at 8.10 florin. At this it was made legal tender, on the basis of the
French ratio of 15-1/2; but it was practically nothing more than
commercial money, like the preceding _crowns_ and _half-crowns_ of the
convention of 1857. The standard of Austria remained nominally the
silver florin of the convention of 1857, although in actual practice the
currency was paper. In March 1879 the Austrian and Hungarian Mints were
closed to the coinage of silver on private account, preparatory to a
reorganisation of the Austrian monetary system on a gold basis. This
reform was decided on in 1892, and briefly prescribed as follows:--

The monetary unit is the krone or crown = 2 florins; but to be minted in
10 and 20-crown pieces, 1 kilogramme pure gold = 3280 crowns, .900 fine.
The crown is divided into 100 hellers.

For the purpose of basing the new system on gold, a ratio between the
old silver and the new gold standard of 1:18.22 was adopted, the
existing florin being declared = 2 francs 10 cents.

Silver is fractional money only, the old florins passing as 2 crowns.


South Germany.

From the Convention or 20-gulden system (the old Austrian system) sprang
the accompanying system, the 24-gulden standard, which was nothing but
the 20-gulden or Austrian standard under another name. Very soon after
the establishment of the Convention standard, the Elector of Bavaria
perceived or concluded that the continuance of that standard in his
dominions would produce disorders so long as the other circles did not
accede to the convention. He accordingly arrested the execution of the
convention in his territories, and adopted a provisional arrangement. At
the end, however, of a long correspondence with the Austrian state
(Maria Theresa), an agreement was made that he should conform his coins
in standard and weight to the convention system, but should be permitted
to tariff them at one-fifth higher rate, putting i.e. the specie thaler
not at 2 florins but at 2 florins 24 kr., and so on (the mark of silver
being consequently worth 24 guldens, instead of, as in the Austrian or
Convention system, 20 guldens).

This was the origin of the 24-gulden standard, which gradually spread
over the whole of South Germany, with the exception of Austria. The
three Upper Circles acceded in 1761, Salzburg in 1765, and in the
following year the Rhenish powers, Mainz, Treves, the Palatinate,
Hesse-Darmstadt, and Frankfort.

From this 24-gulden standard sprang towards the close of the eighteenth
century a later development, due to the circulation of the kronen thaler
or Brabant thaler, which, from 1755 onwards, Austria minted for her
Netherland possessions. The Rhenish provinces drove this piece above its
Mint rate, setting it at 2 florins 42 kreutzers, although in the
24-gulden standard its value was only 2 florins 38-10/19 kreutzers. This
implied a standard of 24-6/11 guldens to the mark of fine silver, and
gradually, about the beginning of the present century, Bavaria,
Würtemberg, and Nassau minted convention thalers on the same footing.
Baden, Hesse, and Saxe-Coburg followed suit in their minting of kronen
thalers until, by the Mint Convention of the South German states in
1837, the new standard (the 24-1/2-gulden standard) was formally
recognised as the South German standard. In this convention Austria had
no part.

The standard here detailed, the 24-1/2-gulden or South German standard,
was assimilated to the Prussian system in the Dresden Convention, 1838
(see text, p. 205), and in that connection remained intact until the
developments of modern times detailed in the text, p. 215.


Prussia.

The Prussian monetary system, as a separate identity, took its rise in
that same period which witnessed the independent action of Austria,
above detailed. Its builder was Frederick the Great, who, for this
purpose, called in the advice of a Dutch merchant, Philip Graumann. It
is to this latter that is due the introduction in 1750 of the 21-gulden
or 14-thaler standard, otherwise known as the Graumann standard.

     Thaler = 10-1/2 to the mark, 12 loth fine (mark of fine silver
     therefore = 14 thalers or 21 guldens).

     Thaler = 24 groschens = 288 pfennige (24 × 12).

     Groschen and 1/2-groschen minted as divisional coins (= 1/24 and
     1/48 thaler) of billon.

After the temporary debasement during the Seven Years' War, the Graumann
standard was re-established in 1764, but with two differences.

1. The minting of 1/2 and 1/4-thaler pieces of 12 loth silver was
ordered to cease from 1766, and to be replaced from 1764 by--

  1/3 thaler, 10-2/3 loth, 28 to the mark }
  1/6    "     8-1/3   "   43-3/4    "    } 14-thaler standard.
  1/12   "     6       "   63        "    }

2. The billon divisional money (minted primarily for the Provincial
States of Prussia) was greatly increased in the amount of its issue, but
depreciated in standard on a varying scale according to the districts
intended, Silesia, Cleves, etc., reaching in some cases even to an
18-thaler standard. Up to 1772 there was issued in these depreciated
single and double-groschen pieces an amount equal to 8,979,189 thalers.
Subsequently, the standard of divisional money was reduced to 21
thalers, and at this rate, up to the death of Frederick in 1786, there
were issued in 6-pfennige and other pieces 12,586,863 thalers' worth.
From this time onward, up to the decrying of this depreciated divisional
money at the peace of Tilsit, there was minted a matter of 29,628,807
thaler worth.

The total, therefore, was 42,215,670 thalers; the pure silver content of
which was only 28,243,780 thalers.

By the publicandum of 4th May 1808, and the edict of 13th December 1811,
the value of this mass was reduced, the coins being set at from
two-thirds to four-sevenths of their normal value, so that--

  42 groschens       }
                     } = 1 good thaler.
  52-1/2 " (Bohemia) }

but it was not till the law of 30th September 1821 that a recoinage
could be accomplished.

The provisions of this law of 1821 were as follows:--

1. Gold--

     Friedrichs d'or as hitherto, viz. 35 to the mark = 5 thalers.

4. Silver--

     Prussian thaler as before, 10-1/2 to the mark gross (= 14 to the
     mark fine).

     7. Thaler to be subdivided into 30 groschens 12 pfennige; the
     latter tenderable only up to 1/6 thaler.

     8. Silver groschen = 106-2/3 to the mark, 2/9 silver (= 16 thalers
     to the mark fine).

By the law of 1821, this standard came into operation in 1626, and it
remained the standard for Prussia and her provinces until the
developments in modern times, specified in the text, p. 215.

At the convention of Dresden, 30th July 1838, the Prussian 14-thaler or
21-gulden standard was adopted, along with the South German or
24-1/2-gulden standard as the standard of the German Zollverein.

Subsequent to that date the Prussian system was adopted by Hanover,
Brunswick, Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, Waldeck, Lippe, etc.

  PRUSSIAN MINTINGS FROM THE REFORM OF 1809 TO THE END OF 1836.

  Thaler pieces                   70,850,560
  1/6 "    "                      16,942,307
                                  ----------   87,792,867
  Full-weighted silver previously in currency  95,709,282
                                              -----------
  Total of full-weighted silver               183,502,149
                                              ===========

  One-third pieces, minted 1809-11                237,151
  Billon divisional money, minted 1821-36       2,949,760
                                              -----------
                             Thalers          186,689,060

Withdrawn since 1809-36--

  1/5-thaler pieces            319,522 thalers
  1/12  "       "              135,504    "
  1/15  "       "              428,256    "
                               -------            883,282
                                              -----------
                                              185,805,778
                                              ===========

The gold coinage had, in Prussia, little relativity to the silver.

From 1750 this state minted double, single, and half-pistoles, under the
name, Friedrichs d'or, on the basis of 35 to the mark, 21-3/4 carats
fine, for the single piece.

From 1770 the standard was lowered to 21-2/3 carats, and at this it was
confirmed by the law of September 1821.

The ascertained mintings of these were as follows:--

  1764-86      29,599,482-1/2 thalers.
  1787-1808    26,515,490        "
  1809-36      13,922,960        "

But long before 1840 almost the whole of this amount had disappeared or
been melted down.

In state payments the Friedrich d'or was taken at 5 thalers, but in
ordinary commerce up to 1783 they were taken at 5-1/4 thalers, a tariff
which gradually rose to 5-1/3 and 5-1/2 thalers. The purchases of gold
which the Bank of England made in 1816, in order to its resumption of
cash payments, drove the pistole or Friedrich d'or up to 5-3/4 thalers,
and it was not for ten years that it fell back to 5-2/3 thalers.

Although paid by Government at this latter, and so continued till the
Mint Convention of 1853, it was only as a mercantile commodity. The only
legal standard and tender in Prussia was silver (the silver thaler), to
which gold was varyingly ratable, according to market fluctuations.

The Prussian system thus described remained in force until the Vienna
coinage treaty of 24th January 1857, the details of which have been
already stated in the text. The resolutions of that treaty were adopted
by the Prussian Mint law of 4th May 1857, as follows:--

1. The Prussian pound of 500 grms., decimally divided, is substituted
for the previous standard of 233.865 grms.

2-6. The thaler continues the regular silver coin of the country--

Thirty thalers to the pound of pure silver, .900 fine.

Thus the 30-thaler standard to take the place of the old 14-thaler
standard, but the two to be treated as the same.

The thaler to be coinable as a convention thaler or Vereins thaler;
thaler to be subdivided into 30 groschens, at 12 pfennige.

7-8. Divisional coin limited in tender to 1/6 thaler as before, and both
minted on a 34-1/2-thaler standard.

11. Gold commercial coins shall be coined under the names of "crown" and
"half-crown," in the form and with the attribution of confederation
coins, viz.--

  1. Crown, 1/50 of a pound of fine gold (.900 fine).
  2. Half-crown, 1/100     "               "

These coins shall be the special gold coins of the country, and other
gold pieces shall not henceforth be coined.

14. The silver value of the gold coinage shall be entirely fixed by the
relation of the supply to the demand, and no one is bound to take gold
in the place of the legal silver value of the country.

16. Our Finance Minister is empowered to settle the price at which the
crown and the half-crown shall be taken into our pay offices.

The established rate, as well as the permission to receive crowns and
half-crowns instead of silver coins in our offices, may at any time be
revoked or restricted by the publication of a proclamation by our
Finance Minister.

19. Our Minister of State is also authorised to fix the value above
which foreign gold and silver coins must not be offered or given in
payment in ordinary transactions.

The subsequent course of events and the existing Prussian (Imperial
German) system have been already specified (see text, p. 215).


Hamburg.

The origin of the common Mint standard of Lübeck and Hamburg was the
division of the mark into 16 schillingen, and each schilling into 12
pfennige. The metal mark and the Mint mark soon parted company, and by
the time of the treaty of 1255 the two states agreed to mint the mark of
fine silver into 38 schillingen 10 pfennige (= 2 marks 6 schillingen 10
pfennige).

The Wendish standard was established by the adoption in 1325 of the
Hamburg-Lübeck treaty by Wismar and Lüneburg.

In 1433 this Wendish standard adopted the Cologne mark as its weight
basis.

COURSE OF DEPRECIATION OF THE STANDARD.

                                                 Mks. Sch. Pf.
  1226--The mark of fine silver coined into       2     2   0
  1255        "            "         "            2     9   5
  1293        "            "         "            2     9   8
  1305        "            "         "            2    15   5
  1325        "            "         "            3     0   9
  1353        "            "         "            3    10  11
  1375        "            "         "            4     3   0
  1398        "            "         "            4    15   2
  1403        "            "         "            5     1  11
  1411        "            "         "            5    12   5
  1430        "            "         "            8     8   0
  1450        "            "         "            9    12   2
  1461        "            "         "           11     8  10
  1506        "            "         "           12     8   0

The Mint Union of the Wendish states continued until the beginning of
the seventeenth century, when it expired unperceived. The experience of
Hamburg in the _Kipper und Wipper Zeit_, with its resultant
establishment of the Hamburg Bank, has been already referred to.

In 1667 Hamburg freely joined the _Zinnaische_ standard, according to
which the mark of fine silver was coined into 10-1/2 thalers (= 31
marks 8 schillingen, _Hamburger courant_). She, however, hesitated to
follow the German system in its change over to the Leipzig standard in
1690, and after an interim period of weltering disorder, during which
the standard varied from 30 marks to 34 marks 8 schillingen per mark
fine of silver, the State adopted in 1725 the so-called Lübeck standard
(1 mark fine = 34 marks), as the Hamburger courant.

This standard had existed in Holstein from 1693. In 1788 and 1789 long
and serious debates were held in Hamburg on the question of the
substitution of a lighter (or lower) standard. And seventy years later a
change in such direction had practically effected itself, although not
legislatively recognised. By 1850 the actual currency of the state
consisted mostly of silver coins of the Prussian (or 14-thaler)
standard, circulating at an equivalence of 1 thaler = 2-1/2 marks
Hamburger courant (= 40 schillingen), an equivalence implying a standard
of 35 marks courant to the mark of fine silver.

Legally, however, the 34-marks standard remained in force until the
coalescence of the free state of Hamburg with the new imperial German
system in our own days.

The question of the agio of the _Hamburg banco_ system belongs rather to
the history of banking.


German Standards: Silver.

In brief résumé, the historic standards of the German monetary system
have been as follows:--Nos. 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 representing the
systems in existence at the time of the projection of the great currency
reform of 1871:--

1. Old imperial standard of 1559, based on the Reichs Münz ordnung of
Ferdinand I., mark of fine silver = 8 thalers. Altered in 1622, so that
9 thalers 2 grs. = 1 mark fine silver.

2. The _Zinnaische_ standard, agreed upon by Saxony and Brandenburg at
Zinna, 1667, 1 mark fine silver = 10-1/2 thaler = 15-3/4 guldens.

3. Leipzig standard or Torgau standard (see text, p. 200), mark fine
silver = 18 gulden.

4. The Prussian standard, 14 thalers or 21 guldens = 1 mark fine silver
(see above, p. 379).

5. Convention standard or Austrian standard, mark fine silver = 20
gulden (see above, p. 375).

6. The 24-gulden standard or new imperial standard of 1766 (see above,
p. 377), 1 mark fine silver = 24 guldens.

7. The 24-1/2, or South German standard (see above, p. 378), 1 mark fine
silver = 24-1/2 guldens.

8. The kronen-thaler standard, existing more or less between 1808 and
1837 in such of the states of the South as had adopted the minting of
the Brabant or crown thaler-piece, 9.18 to a mark fine, and issued at 2
guldens 42 kreutzers, representing a 24-4/5-gulden standard. It was this
system which called into being the 24-1/2-gulden standard, by the
evolution of which it was itself completely superseded.

9. Wechselzahlung, or Wechselgeld, the bank reckoning system of
Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 20-4/55 guldens = 13-21/55 thalers = 1 mark fine
silver. The standard was, therefore, 4/11 lighter than the 20-gulden or
convention standard.

10. The Augsburg girogeld, a system which existed till 1st July 1845,
and in which the exchange with Amsterdam and Hamburg was expressed. Mark
of fine silver = 15-95/127 gulden giro (100 gulden giro = 127 gulden of
the convention standard). This system was displaced by the introduction
of the 24-1/2-gulden standard.

11. The Lübeck courant (or Hamburg courant, as described above), the
mark of fine silver = 11-1/3 thaler, or 34 marks.

12. Hamburg banco, the system of reckoning of the Hamburg Bank. From
1790 the bank reckoned the mark of fine silver = 9-5/24 thaler-banco, or
27-5/8 mark-banco. The issue rate was, however, 9-1/4 thaler, or 27-3/4
mark-banco, the slight premium simply covering the expenses of the bank.
In 1846 this difference was abolished, the mark of fine silver both for
receipt and disbursement being reckoned at 27-3/4 marks (27 marks 12
schillings). The Hamburg banco was, therefore, appreciated above the
Hamburg courant by a matter of 22.5225 per cent.

13. The Schleswig-Holstein courant, mark of fine silver = 11-9/16
thaler, or 34-11/16 marks.


Gold Standards.

1. Imperial or ducat standard. The Imperial Mint Ordinance of 1559
contains the first mention of the ducat in German legislation,
prescribing it 67 to the mark, 23-1/2-carat fine. Subsequently the
standard varied slightly. Austria minted them 23 carat 8 grs. for
herself (_kaiserlichen_), at 23 carat 9 grs. for Hungary (_kremnitzer_).
The other German states approximated between a 23-carat 6 grs. and a
23-carat 8 grs. standard. Baden struck ducats 22 carat 6 grs. fine,
63.697 to the mark.

2. The _Pistole_ standard (_Friedrichs d'or_, _August d'or_, _Wilhelms
d'or_, _Carls d'or_, or generally, _Louis d'or_), mostly in the Northern
States of Denmark, mostly 35-1/6 to the mark, 21-1/2 carats fine, though
with considerable variations (e.g. the Saxon _august d'or_, 35 to the
mark, 21 carats 8 grs. fine. In Bremen this was the legal currency, the
_louis d'or_ being taken at 5 thalers at 72 groot, each groot at 5
schwaren). For a considerable period, far into the present century, the
merchants of Mecklenburg, Hanover, and Brunswick kept their accounts in
gold pistoles (= 5 thalers). Prussia (as above, p. 382) fixed the
pistole at 5-2/3 thalers, but elsewhere it had a varying (mercantile)
equivalence.

3. The gold gulden standard. The last of the three Imperial Mint
Ordinances (1559) prescribed gold gulden 72 to the mark, 18-1/2 carat
fine. They continued to be coined in Southern German states and in
Hanover up to the middle of the eighteenth century.

TABLE OF THE GOLD COINS OF GERMANY--GULDEN, DUCAT, AND FRIEDRICHS D'OR.

  +--------------------+---------+---------------------+---------------------+
  |                    |  Tale   |                     | Value of the Piece  |
  |                    | to the  |                     |   as expressed in   |
  |       Year.        | Cologne |      Standard.      |     Coin of the     |
  |                    |  Mark.  |                     | 20-Florin Standard. |
  +--------------------+---------+---------------------+---------------------+
  |                    |         |   Kar. Grs.         | Fl. Kr.    Pfge.    |
  |1252--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Florentine florin  |         |                     |                     |
  |  or gold gulden    |         |                     |                     |
  |  (64 to the        |         |                     |                     |
  |  Florence mark)    | 44-3/8  |    24   0           |  6  22  3-405/2911  |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1371--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden of     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Cune, Archbishop  |         |                     |                     |
  |  of Treves,        |         |                     |                     |
  |  Wenceslaus of     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Bohemia           |   66    |    23   0           |  4   6  2-434/781   |
  |                    |         |(and 1   0 of silver)|                     |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1386 and 1399--     |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden of the |         |                     |                     |
  |  Rhenish Princes.  |         |                     |                     |
  |  Adopted by Rupert |         |                     |                     |
  |  II. in 1402       |   66    |    22   6           |  4   1  1-85/781    |
  |                    |         |(and 1   6 of silver)|                     |
  |1409--              |         |                     |                     |
  | The gulden of the  |         |                     |                     |
  |  three Spiritual   |         |                     |                     |
  |  Electors (adopted |         |                     |                     |
  |  in the same year  |         |                     |                     |
  |  by the Netherlands|         |                     |                     |
  |  at Speyer, and by |         |                     |                     |
  |  the States of the |         |                     |                     |
  |  Empire at Cologne)|   66    |    22   0           |  3  55  3-517/721   |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1419--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold Gulden of     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Elector Frederick |         |                     |                     |
  |  of Brandenburg (66|         |                     |                     |
  |  to the Nürnberg   |         |                     |                     |
  |  mark)             | 64-1/2  |    19   0           |  3  28  1-2851/3053 |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1422--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden of     |         |                     |                     |
  |  King Sigismund (68|         |                     |                     |
  |  to the Nürnberg   |         |                     |                     |
  |  mark)             | 66-1/2  |    22   6           |  3  59  1-8049/3052 |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1428 and 1429--     |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden of     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Emperor Sigismund |         |                     |                     |
  |  (confirmed at     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Frankfort and     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Nürnberg, 1433,   |         |                     |                     |
  |  1438, and 1442)   |   68    |    19   0           |  3  17  3-18/1207   |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1438--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden of the |         |                     |                     |
  |  Elector of Mainz, |   67    |    19   0           |  3  20  2-3886/4757 |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1442--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden of     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Emperor Frederick |         |                     |                     |
  |  IV.               |   72    |    19   0           |  3   6  3-14/213    |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1477--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden as     |         |                     |                     |
  |  adopted by        |         |                     |                     |
  |  agreement of      |         |                     |                     |
  |  several Electoral |         |                     |                     |
  |  Princes at        | {68-2/3 |    19   0           |  3  15  3-2421/7313 |
  |  Frankfort         | {69-1/3 |    18  10           |  3  12  0-3669/3692 |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1495 and 1497--     |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden as     |         |                     |                     |
  |  adopted at Worms, |         |                     |                     |
  |  and in 1498 at    |         |                     |                     |
  |  Lindau and        |         |                     |                     |
  |  Freiburg          | 71-1/3  |    18   6           |  3   3  2-3104/15194|
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1506--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden as by  |         |                     |                     |
  |  treaty between    |         |                     |                     |
  |  Bamberg, Würzburg,|         |                     |                     |
  |  and Brandenburg   | 71-1/3  |    18   6           |  3   6  0-132/7597  |
  |                    |         |(and 3   6 of silver)|                     |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1509--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden        |         |                     |                     |
  |  adopted by the    |         |                     |                     |
  |  Reichstag at      |         |                     |                     |
  |  Frankfort         | 71-1/3  |    18   6           |  3   6  1-3185/7597 |
  |                    |         |(and 4   0 of silver)|                     |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1524--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden as     |         |                     |                     |
  |  determined by the |         |                     |                     |
  |  Imperial Mint     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Ordinance of      |         |                     |                     |
  |  Charles V. at     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Esslingen         |   89    |    22   0           |  2  54  3-5019/6319 |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1551--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden as     |         |                     |                     |
  |  determined by the |         |                     |                     |
  |  Imperial Mint     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Ordinance of      |         |                     |                     |
  |  Charles V. at     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Augsburg          | 71-1/3  |    18   6           |  3   6  0-3682/7597 |
  |                    |         |(and 3   8 of silver)|                     |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |1559--              |         |                     |                     |
  | Gold gulden as     |         |                     |                     |
  |  determined by the |         |                     |                     |
  |  Imperial Mint     |         |                     |                     |
  |  Ordinance of      |         |                     |                     |
  |  Ferdinand I.      |   72    |    18   6           |  3   4  1-2267/3834 |
  |                    |         |(and 3   8 of silver)|                     |
  |                    |         |                     |                     |
  |Gold ducat (ibid.)  |   67    |     23-2/3          | (10 = 1 fl. 44 kr.) |
  +--------------------+---------+---------------------+---------------------+

TABLE OF THE GOLD GULDEN AND DUCAT--_continued._

From 1559 the Tale and Standard remained legally unaltered; the only
variations being thenceforward in equivalence or tariff, thus--

  Fair of 1585    Set the Rhenish gold gulden and Philipps thaler at 82 kr.
  1596            Imperial Commissioners at Frankfort set the gold gulden
                    at 80 kr.
  About 1600      Gulden of 1551, of 72 kr., set at 94 kr.
       "             "      1559, "  60  "    "     79 "
  1602, April 10  Brandenburg ducat set at 2 fl.
        "         Philipps thaler and Reichs gold gulden set at 20 batzen.
                  {Franconia}
  1601 and 1602   {Bavaria } ducat, 67 to Cologne mark, 23 carats 8 grs.
                  {Swabia  }
  1604            _Ibid._ (_Münz Probations Tag_), gold gulden, 72 to Cologne mark,
                        18 carats 6 grs. fine.
  1623, July 31   Mint Edict of John George, Duke of Saxony, Rhenish gold
                   gulden set at 1 gulden 6 good groschen.
  1623            Higher Circles gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr.
   "                   "         ducat       = 2  "  20 "
   "  August 23   Würtemberg gold gulden     = 1 fl. 44 kr.
   "     "             "          ducat      = 2  "  20 "
   "     "   29   Archduke Leopold of Austria set the gold gulden at 1 fl. 52 kr.
   "     "                "         "             "   ducat          2 "   30 "
   "  October 19  Strasburg gold gulden = 1 fl. 52 kr.
   "      "          "      ducat       = 2  "  30"
   "              Electoral Saxony, Philipps or gold gulden = 30 groschen.
   "                      "         ducat                   = 36    "
   "              Brandenburg gold gulden = 27 groschen.
   "                   "      ducat       = 38    "
   " October 23   Frankfort gold gulden = 1 fl. 44 kr.
   "     "           "      ducat       = 2  "  24"
   "              Lower Saxony gold gulden = 26-2/3 groschen (= 1 fl. 40 kr.).
  1624            Three Circles (Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia)
                                          gold gulden = 1 fl. 50 kr.
   "                  "           " "     ducat       = 2  "  30"
  1637                "           " "     gold gulden tolerated at 2 fl.
   "                  "           " "     ducat            "       3 "
          (But to be reduced respectively to 1-1/2 fl. and 2 fl. 24 kr.)
  1659            Three Circles gold gulden = 2 fl. 10 kr.
   "                    "       ducat       = 3 "
  1665                  "       (Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia) ducat = 3 fl.
  1669            Three Circles ducat       = 3 fl.
   "                  "        gold gulden  = 2 fl. 20 kr.
  1690            In consequence of Leipzig standard, gold gulden = 2 fl. 56 kr.
   "                    "         "          "       ducat        = 4 fl.
  1695            Austrian ducat        = 4 fl.
  1736}              "      gold gulden = 3  "
  1738}              "      ducat       = 4  " (but circulating at 4 fl. 15 kr.).
  1748               "      ducat = 4 fl. 10 kr.
  1751, May 2        "      Imperial ducat = 4 fl. 10   kr.
   "      "          "      Kremnitz  "    = 4  "  12    "
   "      "          "      Other     "    = 4  "  7-1/2 "
  1771, March 23, Austria (Imperial Patent) Kremnitz ducat = 4 gulden 18 kr.
   "       "      Imperial, Bavaria, Salzburg          "   = 4    "   16 "
   "       "      Holland and others                   "   = 4    "   14 "
  1783, Sept. 1,  Kremnitz ducat and zecchini              = 4    "   22 "
   "       "      Imperial   "                             = 4    "   20 "
   "       "      Holland    "                             = 4    "   18 "
  1786, Jan. 12,  Imperial                     ducat       = 4    "   30 "
   "       "      Kremnitz Bavarian Salzburg     "         = 4    "   20 "
   "       "      Holland                        "         = 4    "   18 "
                     (This equivalence of 4 fl. 30 kr. remained till the
                    Vienna Convention (at 67 to the Koln mark, 23-2/3
                    fine = 4-1/2 gulden, ratio = 1:15-102/355 (15.2873)),
                    the ratio prescribed by the Edict of the Emperor
                    Joseph II., of 12th January 1786.)
  1756            Souverain, or souverain d'or (originally Netherlands),
                    minted in Vienna Mint, 22 carat 3/4 gr., 42.091 to
                    mark gross (45.874 fine) = 6 gulden 11 kr. 1 pf.
  1786, Jan. 12,  Souverain, or souverain d'or = 6 gulden, 40 kr. (makes
                    a ratio of 15.2923).
  1750            Prussian Friedrichs d'or, 35 to mark, 21-3/4 carat fine
                    (= 261 grs. of fine gold to the piece).
  1770            Prussian Friedrichs d'or, 35 to mark, 21-2/3 carat
                    fine (= 260 grs. fine gold to the piece).
                     (Confirmed by law of 30th Sept. 1821.)
  1857            Vienna Convention trade money (see p. 210).
  1871            10-mark piece, 139-1/2 to the German pound, .900 fine.

TABLE OF THE THALER.

     1555, Brunswick, Luneberg, Hanover, etc.--Thaler = 32 Marien
     groschen = 24 silver groschen.

     1558, Saxony Mint Ordinance (renewing previous ordinances in spite
     of the Imperial Ordinance)--Thaler or gulden thaler, 14 loth 8
     grs. fine, 8 to mark (= 8-56/65 to mark fine) = to 24 groschen:
     mark fine therefore equal to 10 fl. 38 kr.

     1559, Imperial Ordinance--forbidden.

     1566, Reichstag of Augsburg--again authorised; 14 loth 4 grs., 8 to
     the mark fine; equal 72 kr.; mark fine therefore = 9 thalers 68 kr.
     (10 fl. 12 kr.).

     1585, Frankfort Fair--Philipps thaler = 82 kr.

     1596, Imperial Commissioners at Frankfort--Philipps thaler
     provisionally set at 72 kr.

     Same year, December 1596, Imperial Commissioners at
     Strasburg--Reichs thaler = 84 kr. (or 21 batzen), according to
     which mark of fine silver = 12 fl. 36 kr.

     Beginning of seventeenth century (Imperial letters)--Reichs thaler
     recognised at 90 kr. as highest limit.

     1603 (Higher Circles)--Reichs thaler recognised at 90 kr.

     Electoral Saxony--Reichs thaler = 24 good groschen.

     1610, Lower Saxony--Reichs thaler = 28 good groschen; Philipps
     thaler, 30-1/3 good groschen (mark fine silver = 12 fl. 9 kr.).

     1617, Lower Saxony--Reichs thaler = 30 silver groschen.

     1665 (Three Circles, 1667 _in comitiis_)--Reichs thaler = 96 kr.
     (fine mark = 14 fl. 24 kr.).

     1667, Saxony and Brandenburg (Zinnaische Fuss)--Reichs thaler = 1
     fl. 45 kr. = 28 good groschen (fine mark = 15-3/4 fl.).

     1669 (Three Circles)--Reichs thaler reduced to 90 kr. (fine mark =
     13 fl. 30 kr.).

     1680 (the Three Circles carried it _in comitiis_)--Reichs thaler
     reduced to 90 kr. (fine mark = 13 fl. 30 kr.).

     1681, Emperor at Salzburg set the Reichs thaler = 96 kr.

     1690 (Leipzig Mint, for Saxony, Brandenburg, Brunswick,
     Luneburg)--Mark fine = 12 thalers = 18 fl.; Reichs thaler = 2 fl.
     (120 kr.).

     1691, rejected by Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen, who stuck to Reichs
     thaler = 24 groschen, or 48 schillingen, or 90 kreutzers, or 3
     marks (to be reduced to this by three drops).

     1750, Prussia--Frederick V. 14-thaler, or 21-gulden fuss (14
     thalers to the mark fine), thaler = 24 groschen, 1 groschen = 12
     pfennige.

     1821, Thaler = 30 groschen.

     1857, " = 30 to the pound of pure silver, .900 fine.

     1871, " = 3 marks (see p. 216).

TABLE OF THE GROSCHEN.

  +---------------------------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                                 |  Tale to the  |   Standard.   |
  |                                 | Cologne Mark. |               |
  +---------------------------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                                 |               |  Loth.  Grs.  |
  |1226--                           |               |               |
  | The Gros Tournois minted at     |               |               |
  |  Tours in France (58 to the     |               |               |
  |  troy mark)                     |    55-1/10    |   15     6    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1296--                           |               |               |
  | Groschen of Bohemia and Meissen |    63-1/2     |   15     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1324--                           |               |               |
  | Groschen of Meissen             |    64-1/2     |   15     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1341--                           |               |               |
  | Groschen of Bohemia             |    78         |   10     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1350--                           |               |               |
  | Meissen                         |    91         |   14     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1364--                           |               |               |
  | Bohemia                         |    74-1/2     |    9     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1378--                           |               |               |
  | Bohemian groschen, as by the    |               |               |
  |  Constitution of Charles IV.    |               |               |
  |  and Wenceslaus                 |    70         |   14     1    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1380--                           |               |               |
  | Meissen                         |    72         |   13     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1407--                           |               |               |
  | Würzburg (74 to the Würzburg    |               |               |
  |  mark)                          |    72-40/131  |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1444--                           |               |               |
  | Saxony and Meissen              |    88         |    7    13    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1444--                           |  {160         |   16     0    |
  | Frederick II. of Saxony (four   |  {120         |   12     0    |
  |  kinds of groschen)             |  {104         |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1484--                           |               |               |
  | Archduke Sigismund of Austria   |               |               |
  |  (8 gulden groschen to the      |               |               |
  |  Vienna mark)                   |     6-206/307 |   16     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1490--                           |               |               |
  | Schwart groschen                |   103         |    5     0    |
  | Large groschen of Hesse         |   112         |    6     0    |
  | Hamburg                         |   104         |    9    15    |
  | Lübeck                          |   107         |    9    13    |
  | Bohemia                         |    84         |    6    12    |
  |  (18 other species concurrent.) |               |               |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1524--                           |               |               |
  | Imperial Mint Ordinance of      |               |               |
  |  Charles V.                     |   136         |   12     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1551--                           |               |               |
  | Imperial Mint Ordinance of      |               |               |
  |  Charles V. (16 contemporary    |  { 94-1/2     |    7     5    |
  |  species.)                      |  {100         |    7     6    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1559--                           |               |               |
  | Imperial Mint Ordinance of      |               |               |
  |  Ferdinand I.--Reichs groschen  |   108-1/2     |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1572--                           |               |               |
  | Lower Saxony--Silver groschen   |   108-1/2     |    8     0    |
  |      "        Marien groschen   |   155-1/2     |    7    11    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1573--                           |               |               |
  | Brandenburg                     |   108         |    8     3-1/2|
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1610--                           |               |               |
  | Lower Saxony                    |   116         |   14     4    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1617--                           |               |               |
  | Lower Saxony                    |   144         |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1622--                           |               |               |
  | Higher and Lower Saxony         |   108-1/2     |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1667--                           |               |               |
  | Brunswick and Luneberg--        |               |               |
  |  Good groschen                  |   160         |   10     0    |
  |  Marien groschen                |   192         |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1669--                           |               |               |
  | The Three Circles (Franconia,   |               |               |
  |  Bavaria, and Swabia)           |   141-2/3     |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1680--                           |               |               |
  | The Three Circles (Franconia,   |               |               |
  |  Bavaria, and Swabia)           |   141         |    8     0    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1690--                           |               |               |
  | Leipzig standard--Good groschen |   150         |    8     0    |
  |         "       Marien groschen |   162-1/2     |    5    14    |
  |                                 |               |               |
  |1738--                           |               |               |
  | As adopted _in comitiis_--      |               |               |
  |  Groschen                       |   125         |    6     2    |
  |  Imperial groschen              |   134-49/64   |    5    13-1/4|
  |  Marien groschen                |   171         |    6     0    |
  +---------------------------------+---------------+---------------+

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 24: Heller were first minted in 1228 at Halle, but by the year
1420 they had sunk to the equivalence of a half-pfennige. Of the origin
of the kreutzer less is known, as few, if any, records of it occur
before its minting in the Tyrol in 1490. Its subsequent variation in
different parts of Germany, and at different times, it is almost
impossible to give account of.]




APPENDIX VI

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF FRANCE


The metric system on which the French Mint was worked throughout the
period treated of in this work up to the Revolution was as follows:--

  1 mark =    8 oz.
    "    =   64 gros. (8 × 8).
    "    =  192 dens. (64 × 3).
    "    = 4608 grs. (192 × 24).

An alternative subdivision of the ounce was as follows:--

  1 oz. =  20 esterlings.
    "   = 320 mailles (20 × 16).
    "   = 640 felins (320 × 2).

For the alloy or standard the mark was thus subdivided:--

     For gold mark = 24 carats each subdivided into 32 parts. " silver "
     = 12 dens. each subdivided into 24 grms.

In France fine gold was only refined to 23-26/32 carats, and fine silver
11 deniers 18 grs. In calculation the absolute fineness of 24 carats and
12 deniers must be used.

The system of reckoning was as follows:--

  1 livre = 20 sols.
  1 sol.  = 12 den.
  1 den.  =  2 oboles.
  1 obole =  2 pites.
  1 pite  =  2 semipites.

The reckoning by livres, sols., deniers was derived from the Frankish
kings. For a time the system of reckoning by the mark threatened to
replace it, but in 1313 it was again authorised by Philippe le Bel.

The origin of the difference between the livres Tournois and the livres
Parisis is to be sought in the feudal Mint franchises of the barons. At
one time there was a difference between the two systems of 25 per cent.,
the barons who had the right of minting preferring to do so at Tours, or
according to the Tours weight, which was the more depreciated of the
two, while at Paris the French kings attempted to keep up a tradition of
a better weight standard.[25]

The distinction of livres Tournois and livres Parisis was maintained
until the days of Louis XIV., when (1667) it was abolished, and the
reckoning by a single livre, sol., denier, was established. (For the
intermediate experiment of Henry III. see text p. 87.)[26]

The monetary system of Charlemagne was the precursor and source of the
chief currency systems of mediæval and modern Europe, with the exception
of Spain. It was itself an imitation of the system of the Eastern
Empire.

Its basis was the _libra_ or pound, which occurs in two forms--(1) the
gold pound, (2) the silver pound. Under the first race of the French
kings the monetary divisions of the former were--

1. The gold solidus, a name which gave birth to the Spanish and Italian
soldo and the French sol. (_sou_).

2. The third of the gold solidus (Triens or Tremissis).

Of the latter the aliquot parts were--

  1. The silver solidus.
  2. 1/3      "         (Tremissis).
  3. The denarius.

  1 gold solidus = 3-1/3 silver solidi = 40 denarii.
                   1          "        = 12    "

Under the system of the Eastern Empire the gold solidus had weighed
85-1/3 grs. and under the Merovingian Kings 70-1/2 grs. Under the rule
of the Second House a considerable alteration took place. Charlemagne
adopted for the basis of his system the East Frank or Rhenish libra,
which was one-fourth heavier than the Roman libra adopted by the
Merovings. His denarius accordingly weighed 32 grs. If ideally
constructed the system, as far as silver is concerned, would be this--

                   12 denarii = 1 solidus.
                   20 solidi  = 1 libra.
  32 × 20 × 12 = 7680 grs.    = 1 libra.

As far as the more precious metal is concerned, the gold solidus was, as
a matter of fact, hardly to be met with under the second race. But,
theoretically, it was still considered equal to 40 denarii.

  40 × 32 = 1280 grs.
  1280/12 = 106.6 grs. for the gold solidus.

But there are some actually met with containing 132 grs.

_Sols d'or_ as a reminiscence of the first and second race are said to
have still lingered in use at the commencement of the third race of
kings. Under Philip I. they occur as _francs d'or_ and _florins d'or_.
In speaking of this latter term in the account of Florentine money
(Appendix I. _supra_, p. 301), it has been pointed out as possible that
it is merely the name for an ideal money, not an actual coin. (See
however, preface, p. xiii.)

The actual reinstitution of gold monies in France has been already dealt
with (text, p. 10). Of the species of the gold monies it would be almost
an impossibility to speak.

Putting aside the disputed florin d'or, the first authenticated type of
the gold monies was the _aignel d'or_ or _denier d'or a l'aignel_, so
called from the lamb (agneau = aignel), stamped on it. Under St. Louis,
to whom it is first assigned, it weighed 3 deniers 5 grs., was of fine
gold and worth 12 sols. 6 deniers Tournois.

Philippe le Bel, Louis Huttin, Philippe le Long, and Charles le Bel
maintained this coin at the same weight and standard. Those of King John
were of the same standard or fineness, but were slightly heavier,
weighing 3 deniers 16 grs. Under Charles VI. and Charles VII. both
weight and fineness were considerably reduced. Under the various names
of _agnels d'or_, _moutons d'or à la grande laine_, _moutons d'or à la
petite laine_, this species had currency in France for nearly two
hundred years. The imitations of it in surrounding countries were almost
numberless.

_Royal_ (for the origin of the piece, see text, p. 10). Philippe le Bel
minted _petits royaux d'or fin_, 70 to the mark and with an equivalence
of 11 sols. Parisis. Gros royaux were the double of the petits royaux.
Charles le Bel and Philippe de Valois struck royaux 58 to the mark. King
John struck royaux or _deniers d'or au Roial_ 66 and 69 to the mark,
Charles V. 63 to the mark, and Charles VI. 64 and 70 to the mark.

_Masses_ or _chaises_ (_cadieres_, _Royaux durs_), were coined by
Philippe le Bel, 22-carat fine and 5 deniers 12 grs. the piece. The
_chaises d'or_ of his successor varied greatly from these. Philippe de
Valois coined them of fine gold, and 3 deniers 16 grs. the piece, and
Charles VI. of fine gold 4 deniers 18 grs. the piece. Under Charles VII.
the standard was reduced to 16 carats and the weight to 2 deniers 29
grs.

Of other early gold species it is sufficient to mention--

  _Reines_,          coined by Philippe le Bel.
  _Florin George_,      "      Philippe de Valois.
  _Parisis d'or_,           32-2/5 to mark = 20 sols. Parisis.
  _Lion_                    50 to the mark.
  _Pavillon_                48      "
  _Couronne_                45      "
  _Ange or angelot_         33-2/5  "
  _Denier d'or à l'écu_     54      "

The last of these species (_deniers d'or à l'écu_) continued to be
minted, and had wide currency through the reign of John up to their
cessation in 1354. There was, however, great variation in the standard
from fine gold to 23, 22-3/4, 21, and even 18 carats.

The reign of John was marked, 1361, by the commencement of the coining
of the important _franc d'or_ of fine gold, 63 to the mark = 20 sols. or
1 livre.

Its standard (of fine gold) was maintained under Charles V. and until
Charles VII., but under the latter monarch the weight was reduced (to a
tale of 80 to the mark).

_Fleurs de lis d'or_ (or _Florins d'or aux fleurs de lis_) were first
minted in 1365 by Charles V. They were of fine gold, and weighed exactly
1 gros. Being equivalent to the franc (i.e. equal to 1 livre or 20
sols.), it received the same name, being styled _Franc à pied_ to
distinguish it from the _Franc d'or_ proper, which was styled _Franc à
cheval_.

_Saluts_ were first minted by Charles VI. in 1421 of fine gold, and of
the same weight as the _francs à cheval_, but equal to 25 sols.

_Couronnes_ or _écus à la couronne_ were first coined by Charles VI. in
1384 of fine gold, weighing 3 deniers 4 grs. (i.e. 64 to the mark), and
equal 22 sols.

This was the most celebrated gold coin of mediæval France. It lasted
down to the time of the louis d'or, and was in high repute all over
Europe.

Under Charles VI. and Charles VII. numerous changes were made in this
piece both in weight and standard. At one time, under Charles VI., the
standard fell as low as 16 carats. In 1436, however, they were again
made of fine gold, but 70 to the mark, and issued at an equivalence of
25 sols. In 1455 they were issued 23-1/8 carats fine, 71 to the mark,
and = 27 sols. the piece.

In 1473 Louis XI. issued them 72 to the mark; but two years later he
began the issue of _écus d'or au soleil_ (_crowns of the sun_), of the
same fineness as the couronne, but slightly heavier (70 to the mark).

From the days of Charles VIII. the _crown of the sun_ (_écus d'or au
soleil_, also called _écus au porc-epi_) took the place of older crowns.
Under Francis I. they were generally 23 carats fine and 71-1/6 to the
mark, under Charles IX. 23 carats fine and 72-1/2 to the mark. At this
latter they remained till the days of Louis XIV. The change of
equivalence must be followed in the accompanying tables.

From the old _écus à la couronne_ must be distinguished the _écus
heaumes_, which were issued in small quantities under Charles VI.,
generally 48 to the mark and 22 carats fine.

_Henris d'or_ occur only under Henry II., 23 carats fine, 2 deniers 20
grs. weight, and issued at an equivalence of 50 sols.

_Louis d'or_ (see text, p. 91), first issued in 1640 under Louis XIII.
in imitation of the Spanish standard; 22 carats fine, 36-1/4 to the
mark, and = 10 livres. Standard and weight remained unchanged until
1709. See tables below for subsequent change.

_Lis d'or_ have merely a transitory importance. They were issued in 1656
and shortly after, but almost immediately discontinued; 23-1/4 carats
fine, 3 deniers 3-1/2 grs. the piece (60-1/2 to the mark) = 7 livres (to
be distinguished as a third type from the _fleurs de lys d'or_ of King
John, and the separate _fleur de lys d'or_ of Charles V.).


Silver Coins.

The silver deniers of the first royal race of France averaged 21 grs. in
weight. Under the second race a much heavier system was adopted, those
of Charlemagne weighing 28 grs., and those of Charles the Bold 32 grs.
At the commencement of the third race they were still of fine silver,
and weighed about 23 or 24 grs. The process of diminution by alloy and
in weight began under Philippe I. For the question of the existence of a
silver solidus, see Le Blanc, Introduction, p. xii. If they ever existed
their place as a large silver specie was at an early date taken by that
of the _gros Tournois_ (called also _gros deniers d'argent_, _gros
deniers blancs_, and _sols d'argent_), attributed to S. Louis; 11
deniers 12 grs. fine, 7 grs. weight (58 to the mark), and issued at an
equivalence of 12 deniers or 1 sol.

In the commencement, therefore, of this piece the gros Tournois was
synonymous with the sol. Tournois. With the degeneration of the
standard, however, the coin (the gros) parted company from the sol.,
which remained as a system of reckoning.

Up to the time of Philippe de Valois this money continued of
undiminished weight and standard, and of the greatest celebrity. When
that prince, in 1343, returned to good money after a period of
debasement, he coined the gros Tournois 60 to a mark, of fine silver,
and at an equivalence of 15 deniers Tournois. For its subsequent course,
see tables infra.. It is noticeable that while in weight and value the
gros Tournois was frequently changed, in fineness no diminution was
made.

_Parisis d'argent_, issued only by Philippe de Valois (of fine silver, 4
deniers in weight = 15 deniers Tournois or 1 sol. Parisis).

_Testoons_ are to be regarded as the successors of the gros Tournois.
They were first issued by Louis XII. in 1513; 11 deniers 18 grs. fine,
7 deniers 12-1/3 grs. weight, and = 10 sols. This species continued
until its interdiction by Henry III. in 1575, who replaced them in that
year by.

_Francs d'argent_, 10 deniers 10-10/23 grs. fine, 11 deniers 1 grain
weight (or 17-1/4 to the mark), and = 20 sols. This piece continued
until the days of Louis XIII.

_Quart d'écus_, also issued by Henry III., 11 deniers fine, 7 deniers
12-1/2 grs. weight, and = 15 sols. (i.e. a quarter the value of the écu
d'or, then set at 60 sols.). This piece endured till 1646.

_Louis d'argent_, issued by Louis XIII. (see p. 402, _Louis d'or_), 11
deniers fine, 21 deniers 8 grs. weight for the écus blancs. This money
continued till the Revolution.

_Lis d'argent_, issued for a few months in 1656, 11 deniers 12 grs.
fine, 6 deniers 5 grs. weight, and = 20 sols.

_Franc_, modern (see text, p. 176).

The history of the French monetary system has been briefly told in the
text, pp. 10, 31-40, 83-95, 167-197. The tables of the present Appendix
afford particular information as to the course of the above-mentioned
coins, down to the last great change in the French system. They bring
out also, in strong relief, the numerous and arbitrary and excessive
debasements which that system underwent in the Middle Ages. The
particular episode of the eighteenth-century depreciation, which
followed upon the erection of the system of John Law, may be, in brief,
more appropriately sketched here than in the text.

The third of the three great recoinages of 1689, 1693, and 1703 had left
the louis d'or tariffed at an equivalence of 15 livres, and the louis
d'argent at 4 livres. By the end of 1708 these figures had sunk to 12
livres 15 sols. and 3 livres 8 sols. respectively. By the decree of
April 1709 quite a different standard was adopted. The louis d'or was
minted 32 to the mark, 22 carats fine, and = 16 livres 10 sols., while
the louis d'argent was minted 8 to the mark, 11 deniers fine, and = 4
livres 8 sols. In the month of May 1709 a second edict raised these
equivalences to 20 livres and 5 livres respectively. The sufferings of
French commerce under this extraordinary tariff led to its annulling by
the decree of 30th September 1713, by which a reduction of equivalence
was made to 14 livres and 3 livres 10 sols. respectively. In December of
the same year a reformation was again attempted. The new species were of
the same content and fineness as the old, but were tariffed at 20 livres
for the louis d'or, and 5 livres for the louis d'argent, while the
unreformed specie were tariffed at 16 livres and 4 livres respectively.
Three years later began the period of the monetary disorder of the
minority of Louis XV. In November 1716 a new louis d'or was issued, 20
to the mark, 22 carats fine. In May 1718 again a new issue took
place--louis d'or 25 to the mark, 22 carats; louis d'argent 10 to the
mark, 11 deniers fine.

There were thus, at the time, four different louis d'or in existence,
namely:--

  The old louis d'or                  36-1/4 to the mark.
  The old louis d'or of 1709}         30       "     "
        "        "      1715}
        "        "      1716          20       "     "
        "        "      1718          25       "     "

And similarly three kinds of louis d'argents or écus:--

  The old louis d'argent             9 to the mark.
  The old louis d'argent of 1709}
      "      "       "      1715}    8   "     "
      "      "       "      1718    10   "     "

On the 25th July 1719 the Compagnie des Indes obtained the profit and
farm of the French Mint for a term of nine years. The first outcome of
their activity was the issue of the following tariff:--

                              Livres.    Sols.    Deniers.
  Écu of 1718                    5        13         4
  Louis d'argent of 1709         7         1         8
  Old louis d'or                34         0         0
  Old louis d'or of 1709        28         6         8

In the same year (1719, the first of their lease) this corporation
further issued quite new species, namely, Quinzains d'or = 15 livres,
and livres d'argent = 1/6-écu (both being cut at a tale of 65-5/11 to
the mark). On the 5th March 1720 all the species were raised 41-3/11 per
cent., the louis d'or of 1709 thus rising to an equivalence of 40
livres, and the louis d'argent of the same issue to 10 livres. On the
11th March 1720 the use of the gold specie was forbidden, and a
recoinage determined on. These regulations, however, were not carried
out, and by July the louis d'or had risen to 60 livres (= 1963-7/17
livres to the mark of fine gold), and the louis d'argent to 15 livres (=
130-10/11 livres to the mark of fine silver). The same enhancement
prevailed in the divisional coin, and the confusion endured till the end
of 1720. In September the louis d'or had fallen to 45 livres (=
1472-8/11 livres to the mark of fine gold), and the louis d'argent to
11 livres 5 sols. (= 98-2/11 livres to the mark of fine silver). At the
same time (September) a new fabrication of species, according to the
standard of 1718, was undertaken. Louis d'or, 25 to the mark, to issue
at 54 livres; louis d'argent (or 1/3-écu), 30 to the mark, to issue at 3
livres. But from the 24th October a gradual diminution in this tariff
was prescribed, and from the 1st of January 1721 these coins were to
circulate respectively at 45 livres and 2 livres 10 sols. From the same
date the louis d'or of 1709 was to circulate for 22 livres 10 sols., and
the louis d'argent of 1709 for 5 livres 12 sols. 6 deniers.

On the 5th January 1721 the contract for coinage held by the Compagnie
des Indes was annulled, and an intermediate attempt at reform was made
in 1723, when the louis d'or was minted at 37-1/2 to the mark = 27
livres, and the louis d'argent at 10-3/8 to the mark = 6 livres 18 sols.
The downward course of the specie set strongly in, and by 1726 they had
fallen to 12 livres and 3 livres respectively. This facilitated the
great reform and recoinage of 1726 (see text, p. 169). This recoinage
was carried out on the basis of the edict of 1709--

  Louis d'or, 30 to the mark = 20 livres.
  Louis d'argent, 8 to the mark = 5 livres.

By the edict of May of the same year their equivalence was raised 20 per
cent.--the louis d'or to 24 livres, the louis d'argent to 6 livres.

TABLE OF THE FRENCH GOLD COINS.

(_Up to 1689, from Le Blanc; 1690 onwards, continued from various
sources._)

  +----------------------+-------------+--------------+------------+------+----------+
  |                      |Price of Mark|              |            | Tale |          |
  |      Date.           |of Gold.     |  Species.    | Standard.  | per  |  Value.  |
  |                      +-------------+              |            | Mark.+----------+
  |                      |(L=Liv.      |              |            |      | (S=Sol.  |
  |                      | S=Sol.      |              |            |      |  D=Den.) |
  |                      | D=Den.)     |              |            |      |          |
  +----------------------+-------------+--------------+------------+------+----------+
  |                      |Liv.Sol. Den.|              |            |      |  S. D.   |
  |1226 (S. Louis)       |    ...      | Agnel        |Fine gold   |59-1/6|  12  6   |
  |1295 (Philippe le Bel)|    ...      | Gros royal   |    ...     |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1305                  | 44   0     0| Petit royal  |Fine gold[G]|70    |  13  9   |
  |1308, April 16        | 44   0     0| Chaise       |    ...     |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1310, August 12       | 49  10     0| Masse        | 22 carat   |34-1/2|  30  0   |
  |1310, January 22      | 55  11     9| Agnelet      | Fine gold  |59-1/6|  20  0   |
  |1312, August 24       | 55  10     4|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |  15  0   |
  |1314 (Louis Huttin),  |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      August 25       |   ...       |   ...        |    ...     |  ... |  20  0   |
  |1314, November 29     | 55  10     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1315, May 6           |   ...       | Agnelet      | Fine gold  |59-1/6|  20  0   |
  |  "   January 15      | 45   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |  15  0   |
  |1316 (Philippe le     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |     le Long), Easter | 38   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |  12  6   |
  |      December 8      | 55  10     0| Agnelet      | Fine gold  |59-1/6|  20  0   |
  |1321 (Charles le Bel),|             |              |            |      |          |
  |      February 20     | 58   0     0| Agnel[H]     |     "      |59-1/6|  20  0   |
  |1322, October 15      | 53   6     9|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |  18  9   |
  |1325, February 16     | 67  10     0| Royal double | Fine gold  | 58   |  25  0   |
  |1329 (Philippe        |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      de Valois),     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      Dec. 26         |    ...      | Parisis      |     "      |33-2/5|  37  6   |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Royal double |     "      | 58   |  22  6   |
  |1330, April 8 (poste  |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      monnaie)        | 41  13     0| Parisis      |     "      |33-2/5|  25  0   |
  |                      |    ...      | Royal double |    ...     |  ... |  15  0   |
  |                      |    ...      | Agnel        |    ...     |  ... |  14  7   |
  |1331, January 9       | 39   0     0| Royal        |    ...     |  ... |  22  6   |
  |1332, April 19        |    ...      |   ...        |    ...     |  ... |  15  0   |
  |                      |             |              |            |      |(Tournois)|
  |1336, February 1      | 50   0     0| Écu          | Fine gold  | 54   |  20  0   |
  |1338, November 14     | 58   0     0| Lion         |     "      | 50   |  25  0   |
  |1339, May 25          | 61  10     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   June 14         | 66   0     0| Pavillon     | Fine gold  | 48   |  30  0   |
  |  "   August 10       | 69   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   June 20         | 71   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   February 7      | 82   0     0| Couronne     | Fine gold  | 45   |  40  0   |
  |  "   February 15     | 86   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1340, April 16        | 96   0     0| Double       | Fine gold  | 36   |  60  0   |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Simple       |     "      | 72   |  30  0   |
  |  "   May 27          |100   0     0| Doubles      | 23 carat   | 30   |  60  0   |
  |  "   October 7       |108   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   January 31      |114  14     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   February 7      |115   0     0| Anges        |Fine gold   |33-2/5|  75  0   |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Demi anges   |    ...     |67-1/3|   ...    |
  |1341, August 23       |130   0     0| Anges        |Fine gold   |38-1/3|  75  0   |
  |1341, January 19      |136   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1342, June 28         |168   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  42  |  85  0   |
  |1342, September 16    |171   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1342, April 10        |117   0     0| Écu          |Fine gold   |  54  |   ...    |
  |1343, September 22    |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  45  0   |
  |      (Forte monnaie) | 43   6     8|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  16  8   |
  |1344, March 27        | 44   3     9|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1346, July 17         | 50   0     0| Chaises      |Fine gold   |  52  |  20  0   |
  |1346, February 24     | 72   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1346, March 4         |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  30  0   |
  |1347, April 6         | 75   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1347, April 14        | 44   3     4| Écu          |Fine gold   |  54  |  16  8   |
  |1347, September 27    | 75   0     0| Chaises      |Fine gold   |  52  |  30  0   |
  |1347, January 11      | 51  10     0| Écu          |23 carat    |  54  |  18  9   |
  |1348, August 30       |    ...      |    ...       |22-3/4 carat|  ... |  20  0   |
  |1348, March 12        | 51  15     3|    ...       |22 carat    |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1349, May 23          | 52   1     6|    ...       |21 carat    |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1349, December 5      | 53   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1350, April 22        |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  20  0   |
  |1350, September 1     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (John I.)       | 53  18     9| Écu          |21 carat    |  54  |  18  9   |
  |1351, June 20         | 54  17     6|    ...       |20-1/2 carat|  ... |   ...    |
  |1351, July 23         |    ...      |    ...       |20 carat    |  ... |   ...    |
  |1351, August 18       | 96   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1351, August 20       |    ...      | Fleur de Lys |Fine gold   |  50  |  40  0   |
  |1351, September 17    | 56   5     0| Écu          |20 carat    |  54  |  18  9   |
  |1351, September 24    | 58   2     6|    ...       |18 carat    |  ... |   ...    |
  |1351, November 20     | 60   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1351, February 3      |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  15  0   |
  |1352, April 21        | 60  18     9|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1352, May 18          |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  20  0   |
  |1352, January 18      | 60  17     6|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1352, February 3      |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  37  6   |
  |1353, May 1           |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  40  0   |
  |1353, October 26      |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) | 62  16     4|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  15  0   |
  |1354, November 24     | 60   0     0| Moutons      |Fine gold   |  52  |  25  0   |
  |1355, June 3          | 61   5     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  ...     |
  |1355, June 19         | 62  10     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  ...     |
  |1355, January 3       |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) |    ...      | Moutons      |    ...     |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1356, November 25     |    ...      | Moutons      |    ...     |  ... |  30  0   |
  |  "   January 25      | 63   2     6|    "         |    ...     |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1357, June 15         |    ...      |Petits moutons|Fine gold   |  104 |  12  6   |
  |1358, August 31       | 78  15     0| Royal        |    "       |   66 |  25  0   |
  |  "   April 20        | 80  12     6|   "          |    "       |   69 |  25  0   |
  |1359, March 31        |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) |    ...      |   "          |    ...     |  ... |  40  0   |
  |1360, January 12      |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) | 60   0     0| Franc        |Fine gold   |   63 |  20  0   |
  |1361, April 23        | 60   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1363, July 29         | 61   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1364 (Charles V.),    |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      May 3           | 62   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1364, August 5        |    ...      | Royal        |Fine gold   |   63 |  20  0   |
  |  "   September 10    |    ...      | Franc        |    "       |   63 |  20  0   |
  |1365, May 5           | 62  10     0| Fleur de Lis |    "       |   64 |  20  0   |
  |1381, (Charles VI.),  |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      April 25        | 60  10     0|   "          |    "       |   64 |  20  0   |
  |1384, March 18        | 65  10     0| Écu à la     |    ...     |   60 |  22  0   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |1386, August 31       | 66   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1387, February 28     | 66  10     0|   ...        |    ...     |61-1/3|  22  6   |
  |1391, April 8         | 67   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1392,   "   1         | 67  10     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1394, September 5     | 68   5     0|   ...        |    ...     |  62  |  22  6   |
  |1405, August 8        | 68  15     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1407, February 11     | 68   5     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1411, November 7      | 70   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  64  |  22  6   |
  |  "   February 12     |    ...      |   ...        |23-11/28    |  ... |   ...    |
  |                      |             |              |  carat     |      |          |
  |  "   March 5         | 70  15     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1414, September 6     | 72   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1417, May 17          | 92   0     0| Moutons      |23 carat    |  96  |  20  0   |
  |  "   October 21      | 96   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "      "    28      |    ...      |   ...        |22 carat    |  96  |  20  0   |
  |  "   December 9      | 92   0     0| Écu heaume   |    "       |  48  |  40  0   |
  |1418, July 2          | 94   0     0|   ...        |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   March 7         |150   0     0| Écu à la     |23 carat    |  64  |  50  0   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |1419, June 18         |144   0     0| Moutons      |    ...     |  96  |  30  0   |
  |  "   October 24      |    ...      | Chaises      |Fine gold   |  40  |  80  0   |
  |                      |             |  or doubles  |            |      |          |
  |  "   February 26     |171  13     4| Écu à la     |    ...     |  67  |  50  0   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Moutons      |    ...     |  ... |  26  8   |
  |                      |             |              |            |      |   Par.   |
  |1420, October 27      |    ...      | Doubles      |22-1/4 carat|  40  |  80  0   |
  |1421 (forte monnaie), |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      April 26        | 72   0     0| Écu à la     |Fine gold   |   66 |  22  6   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |  "   November 8      | 76   5     0| Saluts       |    "       |   63 |  25  0   |
  |1422 (Charles VII.),  |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      January 20      |    ...      | Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |22-1/2 carat|   64 |  25  0   |
  |1423, May 22          | 84   0     0|    ...       |Fine gold   |   68 |  25  0   |
  |  "   January 28      |    ...      | Moutons      |22 carat    |   96 |  20  0   |
  |  "   February 8      |    ...      | Franc à      |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   cheval     |Fine gold   |   80 |  20  0   |
  |  "   July 1          | 79   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1424, August 23       |    ...      | Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |23 carat    |   67 |  22  6   |
  |  "   September 2     | 87   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |   70 |  25  0   |
  |  "   November 3      |    ...      | Moutons      |22 carat    |   96 |  15  0   |
  |1425, October 3       |    ...      | Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |23   "      |   64 |  25  0   |
  |  "   January 12      | 87  10     0|    ...       |    ...     |   70 |   ...    |
  |1426, August 27       |105   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   September 11    |108   0     0|    ...       |22 carat    |   70 |  30  0   |
  |  "   October 12      |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |   72 |   ...    |
  |  "   January 9       | 90   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   January 17      |    ...      |    ...       |23 carat    |   67 |  22  6   |
  |  "   March 19        |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1427, May 27          | 72   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |  20  0   |
  |  "   July 19         |    ...      |    ...       |21 carat    |   72 |  25  0   |
  |  "   August 28       | 90   0     0|    ...       |22   "      |   70 |  25  0   |
  |  "   October 15      |    ...      | Moutons      |20   "      |   96 |  15  0   |
  |  "   November 20     | 80   0     0| Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |20   "      |   70 |  20  0   |
  |  "   February 21     | 92  10     0|    ...       |21   "      |  ... |  20  0   |
  |1428, July 31         | 97  10     0|    ...       |20   "      |  ... |  25  0   |
  |  "   October 26      |    ...      | Moutons      |19   "      |   96 |  15  0   |
  |  "   April           | 88   0     0| Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |18   "      |   70 |  20  0   |
  |  "   March 2         |105   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |  ... |   ...    |
  |1429, June 17         |    ...      |    ...       |16 carat    |  ... |  25  0   |
  |  "   November 14     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (forte monnaie) | 77  10     0| Royal        |Fine gold   |   64 |  25  0   |
  |1429, December 7      |    ...      | Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |22 carat    |67-1/2|  22  6   |
  |1430, July 7          | 97   0     0| Chaises      |16   "      |   68 |  20  0   |
  |  "   November 9      |    ...      | Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |22   "      |   64 |  22  6   |
  |1431, May 30          | 77  10     0| Royal        |Fine gold   |   64 |  25  0   |
  |  "   September 27    |102   0     0|    ...       |    ...     |   70 |  30  0   |
  |  "   February 9      |    ...      |    ...       |    ...     |   64 |  25  0   |
  |  "   March 24        | 88  11    10| Écu à la     |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |20 carat    |67-1/2|  22  6   |
  |1432, January 16      | 78  15     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   December 31     |    ...      | Royal        |Fine gold   |   64 |  25  0   |
  |1435, October 14      |103  10     0| Écu à la     |    "       |   70 |  30  0   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |  "   February 21     | 86   5     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  25  0   |
  |1437, September 1     | 87  10     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   November 22     | 92  10     0|    ...       |21 carat    |   70 |  25  0   |
  |1438, April 30        | 86   5     0|    ...       |Fine gold   |   70 |  25  0   |
  |1443, November 19     | 87   3     6|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1444, December 17     | 87  10     0|    ...       |23-1/4 carat|   70 |  25  0   |
  |1445, September 24    | 88   7     6|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1446, June 1          | 88   2     6| Écu à la     |23-3/4 carat|70-1/2|  25  0   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |  "   January 21      | 97  15     0|    ...       |23-1/2  "   |  ... |  27  6   |
  |1447, July 27         | 97   5 7-1/2|    ...       |23-1/4  "   |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   October 27      | 97  15     0|    ...       |23-1/2  "   |  ... |   ...    |
  |1450, June 15         | 99   0     0|    ...       |23-1/8  "   |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   February 3      | 99   5     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1454, May 18          | 99  10     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1456, June 26         |100   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |   71 |   ...    |
  |1472 (Louis XI.),     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      March 12        |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  28  4   |
  |1473, June 18         |103   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   January 8       |110   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |   72 |  30  3   |
  |1475, November 2      |118  10     0| Écu au soleil|23-1/8 carat|   70 |  33  0   |
  |1487 (Charles VII.),  |    ...      | Écu à la     |   ...      |  ... |  35  0   |
  |      July 30         |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Écu au soleil|   ...      |  ... |  36  3   |
  |1488, April 24        |130   3     4|     ...      |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1497 (Louis XII.),    |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      April 7         |130   3     4| Écu au soleil|   ...      |  ... |  36  3   |
  |1507, November 24     |    ...      | Écu au porc  |   ...      |  ... |  36  3   |
  |                      |             |   épi        |            |      |          |
  |1514 (Francis I.),    |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      January 1       |    ...      | Écu au soleil|   ...      |  ... |  36  3   |
  |1516, November 27     |    ...      |     "        |   ...      |  ... |  40  0   |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Écu à la     |   ...      |  ... |  39  0   |
  |                      |             |   couronne   |            |      |          |
  |1517, May 25          |    ...      | Écu au soleil|   ...      |  ... |  36  3   |
  |1519, June 10         |147   0     0|     ...      |22-7/8 carat|71-1/2|  40  0   |
  |  "   August 18       |    ...      |     ...      |23       "  |71-1/6|  40  0   |
  |1532, March 5         |    ...      |     ...      |   ...      |  ... |  45  0   |
  |1539, February 24     |    ...      | Écu à la     |23 carat    |71-1/6|  45  0   |
  |                      |             |   salemand   |            |      |          |
  |1540, May 18          |165   7     6| Écu à la     |   ...      |  ... |  45  0   |
  |                      |             |   croisette  |            |      |          |
  |1549 (Henry II.),     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      January 23      |172   0     0| Henris       |23 carat    |   67 |  50  0   |
  |1561, (Charles IX.),  |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      August 30       |185   0     0| Écu au soleil|23 carat    |72-1/2|  50  0   |
  |1569, November 23     |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  53  0   |
  |1570, August 30       |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  54  0   |
  |1572, July 1          |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  52  0   |
  |1573, June 9          |200   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  54  0   |
  |1574 (Henry III.)     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      September 22    |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  58  0   |
  |1575, June 17         |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  60  0   |
  |  "   May 31          |222   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  60  0   |
  |  "   June 15         |222   0     0| Écu au soleil|23 carat    |72-1/2|  65  0   |
  |  "   November 20     |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  60  0   |
  |1602 (Henry IV.),     |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      September       |240  10     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  65  0   |
  |1615 (Louis XIII.),   |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      February 5      |278   6     6|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  75  0   |
  |1630, February        |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  80  0   |
  |1631, August          |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  83  0   |
  |1633, July            |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  86  0   |
  |1636, March 5         |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... |  94  0   |
  |  "   May 8           |320   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |  "   June 28         |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... | 104  0   |
  |  "   September 22    |384   0     0|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1640, April 3         |    ...      | Louis d'or   |22 carat    |36-1/4| 200  0   |
  |1652 (Louis XIV.),    |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      April 4         |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... | 220  0   |
  |1655, December 23     |    ...      | Louis d'or   |23-1/4 carat|60-1/2| 140  0   |
  |1662, July 7          |423  10    11|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1679, April 10        |437  9  8-1/2|    ...       |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1686, July 29         |437      7  5| Louis d'or   |   ...      |  ... | 230  0   |
  |1687, October 27      |447      7  2|    ...       |   ...      |  ... | 225  0   |
  |                      | (Pite)      |              |            |      |          |
  |1689, December 10     |    ...      |    ...       |   ...      |  ... | 232  0   |
  |                      |    ...      | Écu d'or     |   ...      |  ... | 120  0   |
  |1693                  |514-1/11  0 0| Louis d'or   |   ...      |  ... | 260  0   |
  |1703                  |584-1/4   0 0|    "         |   ...      |  ... | 300  0   |
  |1708                  |    ...      |     "        |   ...      |  ... | 255  0   |
  |1709, April           |576       0 0|     "        |22 carat    |   32 | 330  0   |
  |  "   May             |654-6/11  0 0|   "          |   ...      |   30 | 400  0   |
  |1713, September 30    |    ...      |     "        |   ...      |  ... | 280  0   |
  |  "   December        |    ...      |     "        |   ...      |  ... | 400  0   |
  |1716, November        |    ...      |    ...       |22 carat    |   22 |   ...    |
  |1718, May             |    ...      | Louis d'or   |     "      |   25 |   ...    |
  |1719, July 25         |927-3/11  0 0|   "          |   ...      |  ... | 680  0   |
  |      ...             |1008 15 0    |Quinzains d'or|   ...      |  ... | 300  0   |
  |1720, March 5         |    ...      | Louis d'or   |   ...      |  ... | 800  0   |
  |                      |             |   (of 1709)  |            |      |          |
  |1720, March 11        |1963-7/11 0 0| Louis d'or   |   ...      |  ... |1200  0   |
  |  "   September       |1472-8/11 0 0|    "         |   ...      |  ... | 900  0   |
  |      ...             |    ...      |    "         |   ...      |   25 |1000  0   |
  |1721, January 1       |    ...      |    "         |   ...      |  ... | 900  0   |
  |1723                  |    ...      |    "         |   ...      |37-1/2| 540  0   |
  |1726                  |    ...      |    "         |   ...      |  ... | 240  0   |
  |  "   (Recoinage)     | 678     15 0|    "         |22 carat    |   30 | 400  0   |
  |  "   May             | 740      9 1|    "         |Raised 20   |  ... | 480  0   |
  |                      |             |              |  per cent  |      |          |
  |      ...             |    ...      | Écu          |   ...      |  ... | 120  0   |
  |1785, October 30      |             |              |            |      |          |
  |      (recoinage)     | 828     12 0| Louis d'or   |22 carat    |   32 | 480  0   |
  |1803, March 28        |3444-4/9     | 40 and       |Issue price |  ... |   ...    |
  |                      |  francs per |   20-franc   |  being     |      |          |
  |                      |  kilog.     |   pieces     |  3434-4/9  |      |          |
  |                      |  fine = 3100|              |  per kilog.|      |          |
  |                      |  fcs. per   |              |  and 3091  |      |          |
  |                      |  kilog.     |              |  per kilog.|      |          |
  |                      |  9/10 fine. |              |  9/10 fine.|      |          |
  |1830 November 8       |    ...      | 100 and      |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |                      |             |   10-franc   |            |      |          |
  |                      |             |   pieces     |            |      |          |
  |1850                  |    ...      |10-franc piece|   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |1835, February 25     |Mint change  |   ...        |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |                      |  = 6 francs |              |            |      |          |
  |                      |  per kilog. |              |            |      |          |
  |  "   June 30         |Issue price  |   ...        |   ...      |  ... |   ...    |
  |                      |of kilog. of |              |            |      |          |
  |                      |fine gold    |              |            |      |          |
  |                      |altered from |              |            |      |          |
  |                      |3434-4/9 fcs.|              |            |      |          |
  |                      |to 3437-7/9  |              |            |      |          |
  |                      |fcs.         |              |            |      |          |
  +----------------------+-------------+--------------+------------+------+----------+

[Footnote G: See De Saulcy, _Documents_, i. 73, where it is stated that
the fineness of these pieces was occasionally below 20 carats.]

[Footnote H: 1 Edward III. 4496 florins of the lamb worth 3s. 10-1/2d. a
piece = £871, 2s. sterling (Exchequer Q.R. Ancient Miscellanea, 624/3.
Expenses of Adam, bishop of Worcester, going to Rome).]

TABLE OF FRENCH SILVER COINS.

(_From the same sources, extended as above, p. 408._)

  +----------------------+----------+---------------+-----------+---------+---------+
  |Date.                 |Price of  |   Name of     | Alloy.    |  Tale   | Value.  |
  |                      |Mark of   |   Species.    |           |per Mark.|         |
  |                      |Silver.   |               |           |         |         |
  +----------------------+----------+---------------+-----------+---------+---------+
  |                      |Liv.  Den.|               | Den.  Grs.|         |Sol. Den.|
  |                      |   Sol.   |               |           |         |         |
  |1144                  | 0  40  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1158                  | 0  53  4 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1207                  | 0  50  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1222                  | 0  50  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1226                  | 0  54  7 |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   |   58    |  0  12  |
  |1283                  | 0  54  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1285                  | 0  54  6 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1293                  | 0  61  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1295                  |   ...    |Petits Tournois|   9  12   |  116    |  0   6  |
  |1296, May 20          | 3   8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1297, July 4          | 3  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1298, May 25          | 3  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1299, June 7          | 3  18  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1302, April 23        | 4   8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   February 2      | 5   4  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1303, August 15       | 6   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1304, May 7           | 6   5  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   June 25         | 6  14  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   September 8     | 6  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   December 13     | 7   5  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   March 1         | 7  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1305, April 18        | 8  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1306, October 1       | 2  15  6 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |1308, April 16        | 2  19  0 |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   |   58    |  0  12  |
  |1310, January 20      | 3   7  6 |Bourgeois Forte|   6   0   |  189    |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1311, July 8          | 3 5 1-1/2|Bourgeois      |   6   0   |  378    |  0   1  |
  |                      |          |  Singles      |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1313, June            |   ...    |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |  0   1  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "   September 19    | 2  14  7 |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   |   58    |  0  12  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |         |
  |        ...           |   ...    |Denier Tournois|   3  18   |  220    |  0   1  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |         |
  |        ...           |   ...    |Denier Parisis |   4  12   |  221    |  0   1  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1314, November 29     | 2   4  7 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1315, May 6           |   ...    |Denier Parisis |   4  12   |  221    |  0   1  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |  "   January 15      | 2   4  0 |Denier Tournois|   3  18   |  220    |  0   1  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |1317, March 1         | 3   7  6 |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   | 59-1/6  |  1   3  |
  |        ...           |   ...    |Denier Parisis |   4  12   |  282    |  0   1  |
  |1321, February 20     | 3   7  6 |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   | 59-1/6  |  1   3  |
  |1322, October 15      | 3   8  9 |Denier Parisis |   3  18   |  218    |   ...   |
  |  "  March 2          | 4   0  0 |Obole Blanche  |  10   0   |  118    |  0   6  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1326, July 24         | 4  10  0 |   ...         |   9   0   |  135    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  " January 20        | 5   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1327,  "   8          | 5   8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1328, November 7      | 5  11  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1329, December 26     | 4   4  0 |Gros Tournois  |    ...    |  ...    |  1   6  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |1330, April 8         | 2  18  0 |   "           |  11  12   |   60    |  1   0  |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |        ...           |   ...    |Gros Parisis   |  11  12   |   48    |  1   0  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1331, January 9       | 2  17  6 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1333, June 12         | 2  15  6 |Denier Parisis |   4   4   | 138-1/2 |   ...   |
  |1336, February 13     | 3  12  6 |Gros à la      |  10  16   |   96    |  1  10  |
  |                      |          |  Couronne     |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |1338, November 14     | 4  12  0 |    "          |   8   0   |   96    |  0  10  |
  |  "  January 3        | 5   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1339, August 19       | 5   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  " February 5        | 6  15  0 |   ...         |   7   0   |  105    |  0  10  |
  |  "   April 6         |   ...    |   ...         |   6   0   |  108    |  0  10  |
  |1340, August 1        | 7   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  " December 4        | 7  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  " January 27        | 8  14  0 |Gros à la Fleur|   6   0   |   84    |  1   3  |
  |                      |          |  de Lis       |           |         |         |
  |  " February 8        | 9   4  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    "     13       | 9  12  0 |   ...         |   6   0   |   95    |  1   3  |
  |1342, June 30         |12  10  0 |   ...         |   6   0   |  120    |  1   3  |
  |  " September 7       |13   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1343, April 9         |13  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "  September 22     | 9  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |        ...           |   ...    |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   |   60    |  3   9  |
  |  " October 26        | 3   4  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |  1   3  |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |1344, February 16     | 3   8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1345, April 9         | 3  10  6 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1346, July 17         | 4  10  0 |Double Parisis |   3  18   |  180    |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1346, January 27      | 5   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    February 24    | 6  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    March 3        |   ...    |   ...         |   3   0   |  216    |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |1347, July 21         | 7  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    January 11     | 4  16  0 |Double Tournois|   3   8   | 183-1/3 |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |1348, August 31       | 5   0  0 |   ...         |   3  1-1/3| 183-1/3 |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    December 31    | 6   0  0 |   ...         |   2  12   |  200    |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |1349, May 12          | 6  13  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    August 7       | 6  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    December 5     | 7   7  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    January 20     | 7  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1350, April 23        | 5   0  0 |Double Parisis |   3  12   |  168    |  0   2  |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |  "    August 23      | 5   5  0 |   "           |   2   8   |  168    |  0   2  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |  "    October 26     | 5  12  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    February 5     | 6   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    March 6        | 6   8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1351, May 17          | 6  18  0 |Blancs         |   4  12   |  144    |  0   6  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |  "    June 23        | 7   8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    August 18      | 8  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    September 12   |10   0  0 |Blancs         |   4   0   |  144    |  0   6  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |   (Par.)|
  |  "    October 10     |10  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    December 16    |11   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    January 25     |12   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    February 4     |14  12  0 |Gros Tour.     |   4   8   | 87-1/4  |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |  Blancs       |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    March 27       | 5   6  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |1352, June 2          |   ...    |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    July 24        | 6   2  0 |   ...         |   4   0   |  100    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    August 16      | 6  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    October 24     | 6  18  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    November 25    | 8   0  0 |   ...         |   4   0   |  120    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    December 31    | 9   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    February 6     |10   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1353, April 22        |12   0  0 |   ...         |   3  12   |  140    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    July 30        |12  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1353, August 2        |13  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    October 26     | 4  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |  "    November 27    |   ...    |   ...         |   3  8-4/5|   65    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    February 5     | 5   7  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "       "     17    | 5  17  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1354, April 26        | 6  15  0 |   ...         |    ...    |   96    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    May 28         | 9  12  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |  120    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |               |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    July 5         |10  12  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    September 7    |12   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    November 24    | 4   4  0 |Blanc à la     |   3   8   |   80    |  0   5  |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |  Couronne     |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    January 23     | 4  16  0 |   ...         |   2  12   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    April 4        | 5   6  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |  120    |   ...   |
  |1355, May 20          | 6  10  0 |   ...         |   2  12   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    July 6         | 7  10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "     "   17        |10   0  0 |Blancs à la    |   3   9   |   72    |  1   3  |
  |                      |          |  Couronne     |           |         |  (Tour.)|
  |  "    August 22      |   ...    |   ...         |   3   0   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    August 26      |11   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    September 28   |12  10  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |   80    |   ...   |
  |  "    October 9      |14   0  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |  100    |   ...   |
  |  "    November 10    |16   0  0 |   ...         |   2  12   |  100    |   ...   |
  |  "    December 15    |18   0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    January 3      | 5   5  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |  "    January 5      |   ...    |Blanc à la     |   8   0   |   96    |  0  10  |
  |                      |          |  Couronne     |           |         |         |
  |  "       "    16     |   ...    |Blanc à la     |   4   0   |   60    |  0   8  |
  |                      |          |  Fleur de Lis |           |         |         |
  |1356, August 3        |6   10  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |   90    |   ...   |
  |  "    September 19   |7    5  0 |   ...         |   3   0   | 112-1/2 |   ...   |
  |  "    October 28     |8   17  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    November 23    |7    8  0 |Gros           |   6   0   |   80    |  1   0  |
  |  "       "     28    |7    8  0 |Gros Blancs    |   4   0   |   80    |  1   0  |
  |  "    February 7     |   ...    |   ...         |   3   0   | 112-1/2 |  1   0  |
  |  "    March 26       |6   10  0 |Gros à la      |   5   0   |   70    |  0  10  |
  |                      |          |  Couronne     |           |         |         |
  |1357, January 23      |8   10  0 |Blanc à la     |   4   0   |   60    |  1   3  |
  |                      |          |  Fleur de Lis |           |         |         |
  |1358, May 9           |10   0  0 |   ...         |   3   8   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "    July 1         |12   0  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |   64    |   ...   |
  |  "    August 8       |13  10  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |   96    |   ...   |
  |1358, August 30       | 6  15  0 |Blancs à la    |   4   0   | 53-1/3  | 1    0  |
  |                      |          |  Couronne     |           |         |         |
  |  "    November 13    | 7   0  0 |               |           |   75    |         |
  |  "         "   22    | 8   0  0 |               |   3   0   |   75    |         |
  |  "    December 3     | 8  12  0 |               |           |         |         |
  |  "         "   9     | 9  10  0 |               |           |         |         |
  |  "    February 22    | 7   0  0 |               |   3   0   |   90    | 0    6  |
  |  "         "   27    |          |               |   3   0   |  100    |         |
  |1359, April 20        | 7  10  0 |               |   3   0   |  120    |         |
  |  "     May 28        |11  10  0 |               |   2  12   |  150    |         |
  |                      |          |Gros Blancs    |   3   0   |   72    | 1    3  |
  |  "     June 5        | 9   0  0 |Blancs aux     |   3  12   |   70    | 1    3  |
  |                      |          |  trois Fleurs |           |         |         |
  |                      |          |  de Lis       |           |         |         |
  |  "     June 12       |          |               |   3   0   |         |         |
  |  "     July 9        |          |               |           |         |         |
  |  "       "  12       |          |               |   2  15   |         |         |
  |  "       "  31       |16   4  0 |               |   2  12   |   80    |         |
  |  "    September 18   |22  13  0 |               |   2   6   |   90    |         |
  |  "     October 5     |          |               |           | 112-1/2 |         |
  |  "       "      22   |29   8  0 |               |   2   0   |  120    |         |
  |  "     November 27   |12   0  0 |Gros à         |   4   0   |   48    | 2    6  |
  |                      |          |  l'estoile    |           |         |         |
  |  "     December 5    |15   0  0 |               |   3   0   |         |         |
  |  "       "      19   |18   9  0 |               |           |         |         |
  |  "       "      31   |23  12  6 |               |           |         |         |
  |  "     January 2     |24  12  6 |               |   2  12   |   60    |         |
  |  "       "     22    |34  12  6 |               |   2   0   |   72    |         |
  |  "    February 17    |          |               |           |   80    |         |
  |  "       "     27    |53  17  6 |               |           |  100    |         |
  |  "     March 4       |77  16  0 |               |   1  12   |  100    |         |
  |  "       "  21       |102  0  0 |               |           |  125    |         |
  |  "       "  31       |11   0  0 |Gros           |   4   0   |   64    |         |
  |                      |          |Blancs         |           |         |         |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |1360, April 27        |          |               |   3   0   |         |         |
  |  "     May 4         |          |               |   2  12   |         |         |
  |  "      "  26        |          |               |   2   0   |         |         |
  |  "     June 2        | 7   0  0 |Blancs à la    |   2   0   |   64    | 0    6  |
  |                      |          |  Fleur de Lis |           |         |         |
  |  "       "  27       |          |               |           |   80    | 0  7-1/2|
  |  "       "  28       | 9   0  0 |               |   1  12   |   80    |         |
  |  "       "  29       |10  10  0 |               |           |         |         |
  |  "     August 7      |15   0  0 |               |           |  100    |         |
  |  "       "    18     |17   0  0 |               |           |  120    |         |
  |  "       "    22     |18  10  0 |               |           |         |         |
  |  "    September 7    | 7   0  0 |Blanc à la     |   4   0   |   66    | 0   10  |
  |                      |          |  couronne     |           |         |         |
  |1360, October 22      |   ...    |   ...         |   2  12   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   November 13     |  8  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "       "    19     |  9  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   January 12      |  5  8  0 |Blanc à la     |   4  12   |   54    |  0  10  |
  |                      |          | fleur de lis  |           |         |         |
  |1361, April 3         |  5  0  0 |Gros Tournois  |  11  12   |   84    |  1   3  |
  |  (forte monnaie)     |          |               |           |         |         |
  |1364, May 3           |  5  0  0 |Gros d'argent  |  11  12   |   84    |  1   3  |
  |1365, May 2           |  5  5  0 |Blanc          |   4   0   |   96    |  0   5  |
  |1370, June 19         |  5 15  0 |Gros d'argent  |  11 3-1/4 |   96    |  1   3  |
  |1372, August 9        |  5 16  0 |   ...         |  11  17   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1374,   "    12       |   ...    |   ...         |  11   6   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1378,   "    19       |   ...    |   ...         |  11  17   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1381, April 16        |  5  8  0 |Gros d'argent  |  11   6   |   96    |  1   3  |
  |  "   August 15       |  5 16  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1384, March 22        |   ...    |Blanc à l'écu  |   6   0   |   75    |  0  10  |
  |1386, October 31      |   ...    |   ...         |   5  12   | 74-1/2  |   ...   |
  |1389,    "    30      |  5 18  0 |   ...         |   5  12   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   July 4          |  6  3  9 |   ...         |   5  12   |  ...    |  1   0  |
  |1391, April 8         |  6  5  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1399, November 27     |  6  8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1401, July 26         |   ...    |Gros           |   9   0   |   81    |  1   3  |
  |1405,   "   6         |  6 12  6 |Blanc à l'écu  |   5   6   | 76-1/2  |  0  10  |
  |1411, November 5      |  6 15  0 |   ...         |   5   0   |   80    |   ...   |
  |1413, July 12         |  7  0  0 |Gros d'argent  |  11  16   | 84-7/12 |  1   8  |
  |1414, June 26         |  7  2  0 |Blanc à l'écu  |   5   0   |   80    |  0  10  |
  |1417, May 17          |  8  0  0 |Gros           |   8   0   |   80    |  1   8  |
  |  "   October 21      |  9  0  0 |   ...         |   5   8   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1418, May 28          |  9 10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   January 19      | 10  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   March           | 14  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "     "   7         | 16 10  0 |   ...         |   3   8   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1419, February 17     |   ...    |Blanc          |   2   0   |  168    |  0   5  |
  |1420, April 9         | 18  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   May 8           | 26  0  0 |Gros           |   2  12   |  100    |  1   8  |
  |  "   February 11     |   ...    |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1421, April 26        |  7  0  0 |Gros d'argent  |  11  12   | 86-1/4  |  1   8  |
  |1422, October 30      |  7 10  0 |Blanc          |   4  12   |   90    |  0  10  |
  |1423, December 31     |  7  0  0 |   ...         |   5   0   |   80    |   ...   |
  |  "   March 10        |   ...    |   ...         |   6   0   |   90    |   ...   |
  |1424,   "   17        |   ...    |Blanc          |   5   0   |   80    |  0  10  |
  |1425, June 9          |  6  5  0 |Gros           |   8   0   |   90    |  1   0  |
  |1425, August 17       |  7  0  0 | Blanc         |   4   0   |  128    |  0   5  |
  |  "   January 23      |  7 10  0 | Grand Blanc   |   9   0   |   96    |  1   3  |
  |  "   March 16        |  7  5  0 | Blanc         |   5   0   |   80    |  0  10  |
  |1426, May 28          |  8 10  0 |   ...         |   4   0   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   August 20       |  9 10  0 |   ...         |   3   8   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   November 19     | 11  0  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |   81    |   ...   |
  |  "   January 11      |  7  0  0 |   ...         |   4  12   |   72    |   ...   |
  |1427, August 26       |  8  0  0 |   ...         |   4   0   |   80    |   ...   |
  |  "   October 4       |  8 10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1428, July 31         | 11  0  0 |   ...         |   3   0   |   81    |   ...   |
  |  "   January 24      | 13 10  0 |   ...         |   2   8   |   84    |   ...   |
  |  "   March 2         | 15  0  0 |   ...         |   2   0   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1429, May 4           |   ...    |   ...         |   1  18   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   June 10         | 20  0  0 |   ...         |   1  12   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   November 5      |  7  0  0 |   ...         |   5   0   |   80    |  0   8  |
  |      (forte monnaie) |          |               |           |         |         |
  |  "   January 16      |  7  0  0 |   ...         |   5   0   |   80    |  0  10  |
  |1430, December 22     |  6 15  0 | Gros          |  11  12   | 120-3/4 |  1   3  |
  |1431, January 9       |  7  5  0 | Blancs        |   5   0   |   80    |  0  10  |
  |1432, April 11        |  9  6  1 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   August 22       |  9 10  2 | Gros          |   4  18   |   68    |  1   2  |
  |  "   September 29    |  9 16  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   January 16      |  7  5  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1434, May 28          |   ...    | Petit blanc   |   4   0   |  128    |  0   5  |
  |1435, September 22    |  9  0  0 | Blanc         |   4   0   |   80    |  0  10  |
  |  "   February 21     |  7  0  0 |   ...         |   5   0   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1436, May 24          |   ...    | Blanc à l'écu |   5   0   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   April 21        |  7  8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1437, November 27     |  9  0  0 |   ...         |   3   8   |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   April 3         |  7 10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1440                  |  7  8  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1441                  |  7 10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1447, July 7          |  8  0  0 | Blanc à l'écu |   4  21   | 82-3/4  |  0  10  |
  |  "     "  27         |  8 10  0 | Gros d'argent |  11  15   |   68    |  2   6  |
  |        ...           |  7 10  0 | Blanc         |   5   0   |   90    |  0  10  |
  |1456, June 26         |  8 10  0 |    "          |   4  12   |   81    |  0  10  |
  |        ...           |  8 15  0 | Gros d'argent |  11  12   |   69    |  2   6  |
  |1465, July            |   ...    |   ...         |    ...    | 69-5/6  |         |
  |        ...           |  8 10  0 | Blanc         |   4  12   |   81    |  0  10  |
  |1473, January 8       | 10  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |   86    |  0  11  |
  |        ...           |   ...    | Gros d'argent |  11  12   |   69    |  2   9  |
  |1475, November 2      |   ...    |Blanc au soleil|   4  12   | 78-1/2  |  1   0  |
  |1488, April 24        | 11  0  0 |Blanc au soleil|   4  12   | 78-1/2  |  1   1  |
  |1497,   "   7         | 11  0  0 |Blanc à la     |   4  12   |   86    |  1   0  |
  |                      |          |  couronne     |           |         |         |
  |1513,   "   6         | 12 10  0 |Testoons       |  11  18   | 25-1/2  | 10   0  |
  |1514, January 1       | 11  0  0 |Blancs         |   4  12   |   86    |  1   0  |
  |  "   February 17     | 12 15  0 |Testoons       |  11  18   | 25-1/2  | 10   0  |
  |1519, June 10         | 12 10  0 |Blancs à la    |   4   6   | 92-1/2  |  1   0  |
  |                      |          |  couronne     |           |         |         |
  |1521, September 20    | 13  5  0 |Testoons       |  11   6   | 25-1/2  | 10   0  |
  |1532, March 1         |   ...    |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    | 10   6  |
  |1539, February 24     | 12 10  0 |Blanc à la     |   4   6   | 92-1/2  |  1   0  |
  |                      |          |  Salemand     |           |         |         |
  |1540, May 18          | 14  0  0 |Testoons       |    ...    |  ...    | 10   8  |
  |1541,  "  4           |   ...    |Douzains à     |   3  16   | 91-1/4  |  1   0  |
  |                      |          |  la croisette |           |         |         |
  |1547, March 31        |   ...    |Douzains       |    ...    | 91-1/2  |  1   0  |
  |1549, October 25      | 14 10  0 |Testoons       |    ...    |  ...    | 11   0  |
  |  "   January 23      | 15  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    | 11   4  |
  |1550, April 20        | 14  5  0 |Douzains       |   3  12   | 93-1/2  |  1   0  |
  |1561, August 30       | 15 15  0 |Testoons       | 10 18-3/4 | 25-1/2  | 12   0  |
  |1572, June 13         |   ...    |Douzains       |   3  12   |  102    |  1   0  |
  |1573,   "  9          | 17  0  0 |Testoons       |    ...    |  ...    | 13   0  |
  |1575,   "  17         |   ...    |    "          |    ...    |  ...    | 14   6  |
  |  "   May 31          | 19  0  0 |Francs         |10 10-10/23| 17-1/4  | 20   0  |
  |  "   "               | 17 15  0 |Douzains       |   3   0   |  102    |  1   0  |
  |1577, June 15         |   ...    |Testoons       |    ...    |  ...    | 16   0  |
  |  "   November 20     |   ...    |    "          |    ...    |  ...    | 14   6  |
  |1580, October 17      | 19  0  0 |Quart d'écu    |  11   0   | 25-1/3  | 15   0  |
  |1602, September       | 20  5  4 |    "          |    ...    |  ...    | 16   0  |
  |  "       "           |   ...    |Franc          |    ...    |  ...    | 21   4  |
  |  "       "           |   ...    |Testoons       |    ...    |  ...    | 15   0  |
  |1636, May 8           | 23 10  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |  "   June 28         |   ...    |Franc          |    ...    |  ...    | 27   0  |
  |  "   September 22    | 25  0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1641, November 18     | 26 10  0 |Louis          |  11   0   | 8-11/12 | 60   0  |
  |                      |          | d'argent      |           |         |         |
  |1652, April 4         |   ...    |    "          |    ...    |  ...    | 66   0  |
  |1655, December 23     |   ...    |    "          |  11  12   | 30-1/2  | 20   0  |
  |1679, April 10        | 29 11  0 |    "          |    ...    |  ...    | 60   0  |
  |1689, December 10     |   ...    |    "          |    ...    |  ...    | 62   0  |
  |  "       "           |   ...    |Recoinage      |    ...    |  ...    | 66   0  |
  |                      |          | new species   |           |         |         |
  |                      |          | of Louis      |           |         |         |
  |                      |          | d'argent      |           |         |         |
  |1693,     "           | 33 16  0 |Louis          |    ...    |  ...    | 68   0  |
  |                      |          | d'argent      |           |         |         |
  |1703, December 10     |38-10/11  |               |           |         |         |
  |                      |     0  0 |Louis d'argent |    ...    |  ...    | 80   0  |
  |1709, April           | 38  8  0 |    "          |  11   0   |    8    | 88   0  |
  |  "   May             |43-7/11   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      |     0  0 |    "          |    ...    |         |100   0  |
  |1713, September 30    |   ...    |    "          |    ...    |         | 70   0  |
  |1718, May             |   ...    |Louis d'argent |           |         |         |
  |                      |          |  or écu       |  11   0   |   10    | 80   0  |
  |1719, July 25         |61-9/11   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      |     0  0 |   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |113   4  |
  |  "                   |69-1/8    |               |           |         |         |
  |                      |     0  0 |Livres d'argent|    ...    | 65-5/11 |   ...   |
  |1720, September       |98-2/11   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      |     0  0 |Louis d'argent |    ...    |  ...    |235   0  |
  |        ...           |   ...    |    "          |(=1/4 écu) |   30    | 60   0  |
  |1721, January 1       |   ...    |    "          |( "     ") |  ...    | 50   0  |
  |1723,                 |   ...    |    "          |    ...    | 10-3/8  |138   0  |
  |1726,                 | 46 18  0 |    "          |    ...    |    8    |100   0  |
  |1726, May             | 51  3  3 |    "          |    ...    |  ...    |120   0  |
  |1785                  |Silver    |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | coins    |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | unaltered|   ...         |    ...    |  ...    |   ...   |
  |1803                  |Kilog.    | Franc         |   .900    |    5    |   ...   |
  |                      | fine     |               |           | grms.   |         |
  |                      | silver   |               |           | wght.   |         |
  |                      | =222-2/8 |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | Francs   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | (218-8/9 |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | Francs   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | being    |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | returned |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | to the   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | importer)|               |           |         |         |
  |1835, June 30         |Kilog.    |    "          |     "     |  ...    |   ...   |
  |                      | fine     |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | silver   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | =222-2/9 |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | Francs   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | (220     |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | Francs   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | being    |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | returned |               |           |         |         |
  |                      | to the   |               |           |         |         |
  |                      |importer.)|               |           |         |         |
  |1865, Latin Union     |   ...    |   ...         |Pieces     |         |         |
  |                      |          |               | under 5   |         |         |
  |                      |          |               | Francs    |         |         |
  |                      |          |               | reduced to|         |         |
  |                      |          |               | .835 fine |         |         |
  +----------------------+----------+---------------+-----------+---------+---------+

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 25: "En 1359 année de grandes secousses dans le prix du marc
d'argent le public adopte comme unité l'écu d'or qui n'a pas varié."
Vicomte D'Avenel, _Histoire de la propriété, etc._, i. p. 54.]

[Footnote 26: For an account of the remaining species of _livres_, all
differing in value, and amounting to at least twenty in number, _la
livre de Provins_, _du Mans_, _de Bretagne_, _Languedoc_, _Dauphiné_,
_Bourgogne_, _la livre Augevin_, etc. etc., see Vicomte D'Avenel,
_Histoire de la propriété, etc._, i. 37-39, 482-494.]




GENERAL INDEX


  A.

  Act of George III., 235.

    "    1834, United States, 257.

  Adams, John Quincy, 253, 258.

  Aislabie, Mr., 228.

  Alfonso X., The Wise, 321.

  Allard, Mr., 290.

  Anne, Queen, 277.

  Antwerp, position of, in the 17th century, 62.

  Arbitrage, 17th century, 73.

  Augsburg girogeld, 387.

  Austria, monetary system of, 376.

  Austrian standard, or Convention standard, 374, 386.


  B.

  Bacon, Sir Francis, 134.

  Balfour, Right Hon. A.J., 284.

  Bank of France, table of reserves, 186.

  Batavian Republic, 352.

  Barbour, Sir D., 284, 293.

  Barrett, Mr., 147.

  Bavaria, 374.

  Bavarian, Louis the, 7.

  Bayreuth, 374.

  Beernaert, M., 287.

  Bel, Charles le, 400.

    "  Philippe le, 10, 12, 399.

  Binney, Mr., 259.

  Birch, J.W., 283.

  Bland, Mr., 261, 279.

  Bland, Bill, 279, 283.

  Bogy, Mr., 279.

  Boissevain, M., 290.

  Bold, Charles the, 402.

  Brandenburg-Anspach, 374.

    "         Frederick William of, 199.

  Bremen, 373.

  Brunswick, 381.

  Brussels conference, 286.

  Byzantium, monetary system of, 2.


  C.

  Calhoun, Mr., 259.

  Calonne, XV., 172.

  Calvert, 142.

  Cambreleng, Mr., 258.

  Carleton, Mr., 140.

  Caswall, Mr., 228.

  Chambers, Mr., 259.

  Chaplin, H., 284.

  Charlemagne, monetary system of, 2, 397.

  Charles I. of Spain, 109.

    "     I. of England, 133, 146.

    "     II. of England, 219, 223.

    "     II. of Spain, 329.

    "     III. of Spain, 332.

    "     IV. of Spain, 332.

    "     V. of Germany, 96, 364.

    "     VI. of France, 399, 400, 401, 402.

    "     VII. of France, 399, 400, 401.

    "     VIII. of France, 39, 401.

    "     IX. of France, 84, 402.

  Clay, Mr., 259.

  Clowney, Mr., 258.

  Cologne, Bimetallic conference of, 282.

  Commission on the depreciation of silver, 1876, 279.

  Compagnie des Indes, 406.

  Conference (see International) of 1878 279; of 1881, 281.

  Convention of Dresden, 380.

    "        "  Vienna, 374.

    "        standard, or Austrian standard, 386.

  Courtney, Leon. H., 283, 294.

  Course of monetary depreciation, 1300-1500, 15.

  Crawford, Secretary, 254.

  Crusades, effect of, on currency, 3, 5.

  Currie, Bertram Wodehouse, 294.


  D.

  Dandolo, Giovanni, 4.

  Denmark, 277.

  Depreciation of standard, general causes of, preface xii.

  Discounts in modern system, function of, 165.

  Ducat, or Imperial standard, 387.

  Dunham, Mr., 260.


  E.

  Edward III.'s changes of ratio, 45.

    "    VI., 121, 124.

  Elizabeth, 129, 130, 132.

  Emperor Sigismund, 27.

  England, Act of 1798, 239.

    "        "    1816, 243.

    "      agitation of 1611, 137.

    "      bank restriction, 241.

    "      coinage of 1527, 118.

    "        "     Act of 1870, 243.

    "      crisis of 1622, 141.

    "      currency measures of 1544, 121.

    "      effects of the ratio of 1698, 227.

    "      Elizabeth's final revision, 131.

    "        "         recoinage, 129.

    "      export in 1690, 223.

    "      first coining of gold in, 11.

    "      indenture of 1344, 42.

    "        "          1346, 44.

    "        "          1353, 45.

    "        "          1414, 55.

    "        "          1460-1470, 58.

    "        "          1670, 221.

    "      in 1378, 49.

    "      measures of 1619, 139.

    "      mintings and movements of metals, 1855-1894, 244.

    "      monetary history of, 1300-1500, 41;
             1500-1600, 113;
             1660-1894, 219.

    "      monetary inquiry of 1381, 51.

    "        "      troubles of Henry VI., 57.

    "      proclamation of 1661, 220.

    "      recoinage of, 1414, 55;
             1696, 225;
             1774, 235.

    "      Sir Isaac Newton's report, 1717, 229.

    "      Sir Robert Stone on the Mint, 151.

    "      situation in 1638, 149.

    "      state of the coinage in 1774, 253.

    "      Tudor debasement, 123.

  Ewing, Mr., 258.


  F.

  Farrer, Lord, 283, 294.

  Ferdinand, 99, 101.

    "        and Isabella, 322, 324, 327.

    "        II., 321.

    "        VI., 331.

    "        VII., 332.

  Flanders, commencement of gold coinage, 10.

  Florence, monetary history of, in the 14th century, 18;
    1500-1660, 93.

    "       monetary system of, 301.

  France, action of the states general in 1420, 27.

    "     commencement of gold coinage in, 9.

    "     course of ratio, 1660-1894, 179.

    "     currency debasement in, 32.

    "     mint inquiry of 1575, 85.

    "     monetary history of, 1286-1500, 31;
                               1500-1660, 83;
                               1600-1894, 167.

    "     monetary system of, 396.

    "     recoinage of, 1689, 167.

    "       "           1693, 168.

    "       "           1709, 168.

    "     reform of, 1577, 87.

    "       "        1640, 91.

    "       "        1726, 169.

    "       "        1785, 171.

    "       "        1803, 177.

  Francis I., 201, 402.

  Franconian currency, 369.

  Frankfort, 373, 378.

  Frederick Augustus, 374.

    "       I., 203.

    "       IV., 27.

    "       the Great, 378.

  Free trade in the precious metals, 163.

  Fremantle, Sir C.W., 283, 290.


  G.

  Gallatin, 258.

  Gaudin, M., 176.

  George III., 231.

  Germany, attempts at reform, 1860-70, 213.

    "      commencement of gold coinage in, 6.

    "      conference of Munich, 1837, 205.

    "      gold standards, 387.

    "      Leipzig standard, 200.

    "      monetary history, 14th and 15th centuries, 25;
                             1500-1600, 95;
                             1660-1894, 197, 360.

    "      new Imperial system, 1871, 215.

    "      standards, silver, 385.

    "      the convention standard, 201.

    "       "  Dresden convention, 1838, 207.

    "       "  Vienna conference, 1857, 209.

    "       "  Zinnaische standard, 199.

    "      24-gulden standard, 202.

    "      24-1/2-gulden standard, 202.

  Gillet, Mr., 258.

  Godley, Arthur, C.B., 294.

  Gold gulden standard, 388.

    "  reintroduction of coinage of, 1.

  Gorham, Mr., 259.

  Goschen, Rt. Hon. J.G., 279, 280.

  Graumann, Philip, 378.

    "       standard, 379.

  Gresham, Sir Thomas, 73.

  Grell, Jacob, 8.

  Groesbeck, 279.


  H.

  Hacket, Mr., 117.

  Hamburg banco, 387.

    "     bank, establishment of, 105.

    "     monetary history of, 383.

  Hamilton, Alexander, XV. 251.

  Hanover, 381.

  Harrison, President, 263.

  Heath, Sir Robert, 142.

  Henry II. of Castile, 84, 324.

    "   III. of England, 4, 21.

    "   III. of France, 85, 88, 89, 236, 404.

    "   III. of Spain, 324.

    "   IV. of France, 89, 90.

    "   VII. of England, 59.

    "   VIII. of England, 121, 129.

  Herschell, Lord, 283, 294.

  Hesse-Darmstadt, 378.

  Higher Circles (Germany), 373.

  Holland in 1872, 271.

  Houldsworth. Sir W.H., 284.


  I.

  Imperial, or ducat standard, 387.

  India, 294.

    "    closing of the mints, 293.

    "    statistics of metals and minting, 299.

  Ingham, Secretary, 256.

  International conferences (see Conferences), 275.

    "           monetary congress, 285.

  Isabella and Ferdinand, 322, 324, 327.

  Italian republics (see Florence and Venice), gold coinage of, 4-5.

    "       "        trade of, 3.


  J.

  James I. of England, 133, 145.

    "   II. of England, 223.

  Jefferson, 248.

  John, king of France, 45, 400.

  John II. of Spain, 327.

    "  III. of Spain, 323.

  Jones, Mr., 279.


  K.

  Kammer-Gerichts currencies, 369.

  "Kipper und Wipper Zeit," 102, 369.

  Knight, Mr., 259.

  Kronen-thaler standard, 386.


  L.

  Lamond, Miss, 129.

  Latin union, the, 191.

  Law, John, 169.

    "        system of, 404.

  Le Blanc, 89, 92.

  Legal tender, law of, 350.

  Legislation of 1873-74, United States, 261.

  Leipzig standard, 373, 386.

  Levi, M. Montefiore, 287.

  Levy, Moritz, 287.

  Lippe, 381.

  Liverpool, Lord, 233, 239, 242.

  Locke, John, 140, 225, 226.

  Louis VII. of France, 9.

    "   IX. of France, 9.

    "   XI. of France, 59.

    "   XII. of France, 403.

    "   XIII. of France, 404.

    "   XV. of France, 405.

  Louis Huttin, 399.

  Lowndes, Mr., 256.

  Lübeck, 383.

    "     courant, 387.

    "     mint, 7.

  Lubbock, Sir John, 283.

  Lüneburg, 384.


  M.

  Maddison, Sir Ralph, 148.

  Magnin, M., 286.

  Mainz, 373, 378.

  Malet, Lord, 284.

  Marcello, Nicolo, 312.

  Maria Theresa, 374.

  Maurice, Elector, 363.

  Maximilian, Emperor, 347.

  McKim, Mr., 258.

  M'Creary, Mr., 290.

  Mecklenburg, 381.

  Mint laws, wide effect of, 157.

  Mirabeau, preface xv.

  Misnian currency, 369.

  Mocenigo, Pietro, 312.

  Modern monetary system, evolution of the, 161.

  Montague, Sir Samuel, 284.

  Moors, 1.

  Morris, Robert, preface xv. 247.


  N.

  Netherlands in 1816, 269.

    "         the monetary system of the, 268, 272, 278, 345. See
                "Plakkaats."

  Newton, Sir Isaac, preface xv. 229, 231.

  Norway, 277.

  Nürnberg, 368, 374.


  O.

  Oldenburg, 381.

  Old Imperial standard of 1559, 386.

  Ordinances, first Imperial mint, 96, 363.

    "         second Imperial mint, 99, 363.

    "         third Imperial mint, 99, 364, 366.


  P.

  Palatinate, 373, 375, 378.

  Palmer, Andrew, 151.

  Parieu, De., 276.

  Paris, conference of, 1867, 276.

    "        "          1878, 280.

    "        "          1881, 281.

    "     congress of, 1889, 286.

  Philip Augustus of France, 9.

    "    I. of France, 399.

    "    II. of Spain, 110, 329.

    "    III. of Spain, 111, 329.

    "    IV. of Spain, 111, 329.

    "    V. of Spain, 330.

  Philippe le Long, 399.

  Pistole standard, 388.

  "Plakkaats" of the Netherlands, 66, 71, 74.

  Pomerania, 373.

  Ponte, Nicolo da, 312.

  Porter, Alexander, 259.

  Portugal, monetary history of, 1688-1854, 273.

  Precious metals, production of, 1550-1660, 65;
                                  1660-1893, 155.

  Prussian monetary system, 203, 378.

    "      standard, 386.


  R.

  Ratio between gold and silver in Europe, 1300-1500, 40;
                                           1500-1669, 69;
                                           1669-1894, 157.

  Ratio, different rate of, coexisting, 16.

    "    Hamilton's statement of 1791, 251.

    "    in 1360, 49.

    "    methods of calculation of, preface xiv.

  Reichstag of Augsburg, 365, 367.

    "       "  Regensburg, 367.

  Rogers, Mr., 151.

  Rothschild, Lord Alfred de, 288, 291.

  Royal commission of 1868, 277.

    "   commission on the precious metals, 283.

  Rupert of Germany, 11, 26.


  S.

  Salisbury, Earl of, 134, 136.

  Salzburg, 375, 377.

  Scandinavian States, 278.

  Schleswig-Holstein courant, 387.

  Seigniorage in France and England abolished, 162, 163, 220.

  Selden, Mr., 259.

  Silsbee, Mr., 259.

  Silver, course of modern depreciation, 277.

    "     sources of supply of 1300-1500, 14.

  Soetbeer Dr. A., xiv. xv. 287, 289.

  Southard, Mr., 259.

  South German system, 377, 378, 386.

  Spain, first coinage of gold in, 11.

    "    monetary history of, 23, 106.

    "    monetary system of, 319.

  Spanish Netherlands, 348.

  Sprague, Mr., 259.

  Strachey, Lieut.-Gen. Richard, C.S.I., 294.

  Sweden, 277, 373.


  T.

  Terrell, E.H., 287.

  Tirard, M., 291.

  Treves, 373.

  Tron, Nicolo, 312.

  Twenty-four-gulden standard, 377, 386.

    "         and half-gulden standard, 378, 386.


  U.

  United Provinces, 348.

    "    States Bland and Sherman Acts, 263.

    "      "    currency, history of, 246.

    "      "    gold export of 1820, 255.

    "      "    Hamilton's report, 1791, 251.

    "      "    mint coinages, 265.

    "      "    Morris's scheme, 1782, 247.

    "      "    movement of the precious metals, 266.

    "      "    ordinances of 1786, 250.

    "      "    report of 1785, 249.

    "      "      "       1817, 253.

    "      "    scheme of 1792, 253.

  Upper circles (Germany), 377.


  V.

  Valois, Philippe de, 35, 403.

  Venice, gold coinage of, 5.

    "     the monetary system of, 310.

  Vienna, convention of 1857, 376.

    "     first international conference of 1867, 275.


  W.

  Waldeck, 381.

  Webster, M., 259.

  Wechselgeld, or Wechselzahlung, 386.

  Welby, Sir R. Earle, G.C.B., 294.

  Wendish states, 384.

  White, C.H., 257, 258.

  Wilde, Mr., 259.

  Willard, Mr., 279.

  William I. of Holland and Belgium, 269.

    "     III. of England, 222, 225.

  Wilson, Sir Rivers, 290.

  Windam, Secretary, 263.

  Wismar, 384.

  Wolsey's mint policy, 115.

  Würzburg, 374.


  Z.

  Zinnaische standard, 371, 386.




INDEX OF COINS


  A.

  Agnelet, 408.

  Agnels d'or, 399.

  Agnus dei, 324, 325, 326.

  Aguilas, 334.

  Aignel d'or, or Denier d'or a l'aignel, 399.

  Albus, 100. (See Rhenish.)

  Andries florin, 347.

  Ange or Angelot, 400, 409.

  Angel, 58, 113, 120, 131, 139, 408.

  Angellets, 117.

  Angelot or Ange, 400.

  Aragon. (See Florin.)

  Augustale, 4.

  August d'or, 388.


  B.

  Barile (or Carolino), 307.

  Batzen, 369, 372.

  Bavarian carolus or 3-gulden piece, (gold) 375.

    "      max d'or, 375.

  Blanc, 420, 421. (See Grand, Gros, Obole, Petit.)

  Blanc à la couronne, 417, 418, 419, 422.

    "   à la Fleur de lis, 418, 419, 420.

    "   à la Galema, 422.

    "   à l'écu, 420.

    "   au soleil, 421, 422.

    "   aux trois Fleurs de lis, 419.

  Blanca, 324, 326, 328, 344.

    "    vieja, 325.

  Blanco segundo, 322.

  Blancos, 324, 344.

  Bourgeois, 415.

  Brabant thaler or Kronen thaler, 202, 376.

  Burgaleses, or Maravedis Blancos, 322.

  Burgundian gulden, 82.

  Burgundy nobles, 56.

  Byzants, 2.


  C.

  Cadières, 400.

  Cardacues (see Quart d'écu), 148.

  Carls d'or or Louis d'or, 388.

  Carolino (or Barile), 307.

  Carolus, 115, 348, 356, 375.

  Castellanos, 323, 325, 334, 335, 336. (See Doblas, Oro.)

  Centenes, 339.

  Chaise d'or, 35.

  Chaises or masses, 400, 408, 409, 410, 411. (See Double.)

  Convention thaler, 201, 378.

  Cornado, 325.

    "     viejo, 325, 326.

    "     nuevo, 325, 326.

  Coronados, 323.

  Coronas, 109, 325, 334.

  Couronne, 400, 401, 408. (See Blanc, Écu, Crown, Gros.)

  Crazie, 309.

  Croiseth. (See Douzains, Écu.)

  Crown (see French crowns), 113, 231, 243, 376, 383.

    "   of the Rose, 216.

    "   of the Sun, 109, 116, 117, 119, 401.

    "   or Brabant thaler, 202.

    "   thaler, 202.

  Cruzados, 326.

    "       de la Banda, 326.


  D.

  Denarii (pfennige), 360.

  Denarius, 2.

  Denaro, 319.

  Denier d'or à l'aignel or Aignel d'or, 399.

    "    d'or à l'écu, 400.

    "    d'or aux Fleurs de lis, 35.

    "    Parisis, 415, 416, 417.

    "    Tournois, 415.

  Deniers (silver), 346. (See Gros.)

  Dinero nuevo, 325, 326.

    "    viejo, 325, 326.

  Doblas, 323, 325, 326, 334.

    "    (Castellanos) de la Banda, 24, 325, 326.

  Doblon, 329, 338.

  Dollar (see Piece of Eight, Rixdollar, Daalder, Spanish, Staten), 149,
    221, 222, 238, 247, 248, 250, 251, 253, 260, 262.

  Double (see Grand) carolus, 115.

    "    florin, 347.

    "    gold gulden, 375.

    "    Parisis, 417.

    "    Pattart, 347.

    "    Tournois, 417.

  Doubles or chaises, 410.

  Douzains, 86, 170, 422.

    "      à la croisette, 422.

  Drittelthaler, 213.

  Ducados, 325, 326, 334.

  Ducat (see Hungary, Holland, Nederland, Imperial, Silver, Spanish), 101,
    116, 117, 120, 271, 311, 349, 350, 351, 369, 370, 371, 374, 390, 391,
    392.

    "   (Kremnitz), 387.

    "   (see Zecchino, or Sequin), 314, 316, 317.

    "   (silver) 318.

  Ducato d'argento, 312.

    "    d'oro, 308.

  Dukaat, 353, 354, 358.

  Dukaton of Brabant, 357.

  Duro, 333.


  E.

  Eagle, 253.

  Écu (see Blanc, Escudos, Scudo, Florin), 86, 88, 90, 92, 406, 408, 409,
    414, 423.

    "  à la couronne, 401, 402, 410, 411, 412.

    "  à la croisette, 412.

    "  au porc-épi, 402, 412.

    "  au soleil, 84, 412, 413.

    "  blancs, 167.

    "  heaumes, 402, 410.

    "  (silver), 169.

  Écu d'or, 37, 85, 413. (See Denier.)

    " au soleil, 401, 402.

  Eight-florin (gold), 376.

  English crown, 247.

    "     rose nobles, 81.

    "     sovereigns, 81.

  Enrique, 325, 327.

  Escudos, 109, 331, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338.

    "     de plata, 330. (See Scudo, Écu.)

  Esterlings, 41.

  Excellentes, 327. (See Medios.)

    "         de la Granada, 328, 334.

    "         majores, 334.

  Fifty-stuiver piece, 352, 357.

  Fiorino d'argento, 306. (See Florin, Lira, Silver.)

    "     da sei, 309.

    "     d'oro, 308.

    "     d'oro largo, 303, 304.

    "     d'oro largo in oro, 303, 304, 308.

    "     di suggello, 302, 304.

    "     neri, 309.

    "     nuovastro, 308.

    "     nuovissimo or Largo di Galea, 308.

    "     nuovo, 308.

    "     of the first suggello, 308.

    "     of the second suggello, 308.

    "     of the fifth suggello, 308.

    "     of the sixth suggello, 308.

    "     of the eighth suggello, 308.

    "     of the ninth suggello, 308.

    "     of the Pisan weight, 308.

    "     stretto, 308.

    "     stretto di Camera of the seventh suggello, 308.

  Five-franc (silver), 174, 192, 194, 195.

    "        thaler pieces, 204.

  Fleur de lys, or Florins d'or aux Fleurs de lis, 401, 409, 410. (See
    Blanc, Denier, Gros.)

    "   de lys of Charles V., 402.

    "   de lys of King John, 402.

  Florences, 9. (See Florin.)

  Florentine florin, 389. (See Florin.)

    "        gigliati, 375.

  Florin (see Double, Petit, Fiorino, Oro, S. Andries, Florences), 3, 269,
    302, 326, 334, 347, 377.

    "    d'Aragon, 325, 326.

    "    de écu, 411.

    "    d'or, 9, 26, 299.

    "     "   aux Fleur de lis, or Fleurs de lis d'or, 401.

    "    George, 400.

    "    of eight. (See Eight-florin.)

  Forty-franc (gold), 175, 176.

  Four-florin gold pieces, 376.

    "         penny piece (silver), 146.

  Franc (see Five-franc), 174, 176, 192, 194, 195, 353, 404, 410, 414, 422,
    423.

    "   à cheval, 401, 411.

    "   à pied, 401.

    "   d'argent, 404.

    "   d'oro, 36, 399, 400, 401.

  French crowns, 66, 80.

  Friedrichs d'or, 204, 380, 381, 382, 388, 392.


  G.

  Galema (see Blanc), 422.

  Genoviva, 4.

  George. (See Florin.)

  German gold guldens, 79.

  Gigliati, 375. (See Florentine.)

  Gold crowns, 376.

    "  ducat, 390, 391.

    "  dukaat, 353.

    "  florin, 302.

    "  gulden (Rheinische gulden), 31, 98, 363, 365, 367, 368, 369, 371,
         389, 390, 391. (See Gulden.)

    "  penning, 359.

  Grand blanc, 421.

    "   double, 347.

  Groat, 113, 117, 118, 119.

  Groots, 345, 347.

  Gros (see Royal, Blanc, Deniers, Couronne, Groschen, Groat, Grossi), 347,
    418, 420, 421.

    "  à la couronne, 416, 418.

    "  à la Fleur de lis, 416.

    "  à la l'estoile, 419.

    "  blancs, 418, 419.

    "  d'argent, 37, 420, 421.

    "  deniers blancs, 403.

    "  deniers d'argent, 403.

    "  royaux, 400, 408.

    "  royaux d'or, 10.

    "  Tournois, 28, 403, 415, 416, 417, 420.

  Groschen (see Gros, Gulden, Marien, Reichs, Silver), 28, 30, 97, 363, 364,
    365, 366, 372, 375, 379, 380, 394, 395.

    "      of the mark, 366.

    "      of Misnia and Franconia, 366.

  Grosseti, 307.

  Grossi, 20, 304, 306, 307, 311, 312, 318. (See Lira, Gros.)

    "     à oro, 315.

    "     popolini, 306.

  Grossoni, 306, 307.

  Gueldres. (See Riders.)

  Guelfi, 304.

    "    del fiore, 19, 306.

    "    grossi, 22, 306.

    "    nuovi, 20, 306.

  Guillaumes d'or, 271.

  Guinea, 135, 231, 247.

  Gulden (see Burgundian, Double, Gold gulden, Karolus, Misnia, Reichs,
    Rhenish, Silver, Three-gulden), 7, 15, 27, 96, 99, 101, 345, 348, 350,
    352, 353, 354, 357, 361, 362, 367, 369, 375, 392.

    "    groschen, 363, 365, 368.

  Guldener, 372.


  H.

  Half-crown, 232, 243, 383.

    "         dollar, 259.

  Hard dollar, 333.

  Heaumes. (See Écu.)

  Heller, 361, 362.

  Henris, 412.

    "     d'or, 402.

  Holland dukaat, 358, 374.

  Hungary ducat, 358.


  I.

  Imperial ducat, 392.


  J.

  Joachims thaler or Schlicken or Löwen thaler, 363.


  K.

  Kammer Gerichts gulden, 369.

  Karolus gulden, 356.

  Kremnitz ducat, 375, 387, 392.

  Kreutzers, 99, 361, 364, 365, 367, 369, 372, 375.

  Kronen thaler or Brabant thaler, 378.

  Kruisdaalder or Patacon, 356, 357.


  L.

  Laubthalers, 202.

  Leeuwendaalder, 356, 357.

  Leones, 321.

  L'estoile. (See Gros.)

  Lion, 408.

  Lira, 305, 310, 312, 313, 314, 318, 400.

    "   à fiorino, 305.

    "   di grossi, 314, 315.

    "   di piccioli, 315.

    "   (Florentine), 301.

    "   Tron, 312.

  Lis d'argent, 92, 404.

    "  d'or, 93, 402.

  Livres d'argent, 406, 423.

  Louis d'argent, 167, 168, 169, 404, 406, 407, 422, 423.

    "   d'or, 91, 92, 93, 167, 168, 169, 172, 227, 402, 405, 406, 407, 413,
          414.

    "   d'or or Carls d'or, 388.

  Löwen thaler or Joachims thaler or Schlicken thaler, 363.

  Luxembourgs, 44.


  M.

  Maravedis, 15, 320, 321.

    "       blancos or Burgaleses, 322.

    "       blancos segundos, 323.

    "       de los buenos, 323.

    "       de moneda blanca, 324.

    "       negros or prietos, 322.

    "       nuevo, 326.

    "       viejos or moneda blanca, 322, 323, 325.

  Marien groschen, 102, 366.

  Max d'or, 375.

  Masses or chaises, 400, 408.

  Meaja. (See Moneda.)

  Medios excellentes, 334.

  Metales or mitgales, 321.

  Milreis, 273.

  Minuto, 310.

  Misnian gulden, 369.

  Mitgales or metales, 321.

  Molino, 344.

  Moneda blanca or Maravedis blancas viejos, 322. (See Blanca.)

    "    meaja nueva, 325, 326.

    "    vieja, 322, 325, 326.

  Moneta bianca nera, 305.

    "    nera, 305.

  Mouton, 36, 409, 410, 411. (See Petit.)

    "    d'or, 10.

    "    d'or à la grand laine, 399.

    "    d'or à la petite laine, 399.


  N.

  Nederland dukaat, 357, 358, 359.

    "       reaal, 356.

    "       rijder, 357, 358, 359.

    "       rijksdaalder, 356, 357.

  Netherland stuyvers, 366.

  Nobles, 48, 53, 55, 57. (See Rose Nobels, Burgundian.)

  Novenes, 322, 323.

  Nuovi Guelfi, 20, 306.


  O.

  Obole blanche, 416.

  Oro dobla castellana, 23.

    " florines, 10.

    " gran modulo, 23.

  Orth, 365.


  P.

  Parisis, 400, 408. (See Denier, double.)

    "      d'argent, 403.

  Parvulus, 310.

  Parvus, 310.

  Pastas de oro, 337.

  Patacon or Kruisdaalder, 357.

  Pattart, 347. (See Double.)

  Pavilion, 400, 408.

  Penny, 2, 4, 113.

  Penning (gold), 352, 359.

  Pesetas, 333.

  Petit blanc, 421.

    "   deniers tournois, 37.

    "   florins, 42.

    "   moutons, 410.

    "   royaux, 10, 400, 408.

    "   royaux d'or, 9.

    "   royaux d'or fin, 399.

    "   tournois, 415.

  Pfennige, 362, 365, 366, 369, 372, 375.

  Philipps thaler, 101, 368, 370.

  Philippus rijder, 82.

  Piastre, 333.

  Piccioli, 309, 310, 311, 315. (See Lira.)

    "       à oro, 315.

    "       neri, 309.

  Piece of eight (see real and dollar), 148, 221, 222, 246.

  Pistole, 87, 131, 203, 227, 381, 382, 388. (See Spanish, Louis d'or,
    Friedrichs d'or.)

  Pistolets, 148.

  Popolini, 306. (See Grossi.)

  Porc-épi. (See Écu.)

  Pound, 113, 345.

  Prietos or Maravedises negros, 322.

  Prussian thaler, 203, 380.


  Q.

  Quart d'écu, 404, 422. (See Cardacues.)

  Quattrini, 309.

    "        bianchi. 309.

    "        lanajuoli, 309.

    "        neri, 94.

  Quinto di ducato, 307.

  Quinzains, 406.

    "        d'or, 413.


  R.

  Real (see Nederland, Royal, Ryal), 87, 95, 115, 324, 325, 327, 333.

    "  au lion, 10.

    "  of eight, 131, 143, 329, 341, 342, 344. (See Piece of Eight.)

    "  sencillo, 340, 341.

    "  (silver), 326, 328.

  Reichs gulden, 367. (See Gulden.)

    "    gulden thaler, 370.

    "    groschen (see Groschen), 365, 366, 367.

    "    thaler (see Thaler), 101, 103, 199, 200, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372,
           374.

  Reines, 400.

  Rhenish gulden (see Gold Gulden), 31.

  Rhenish albi, 366.

  Riders Gelderns, 119. (See Rijder.)

  Rijder, 349, 352. (See Nederland, Philippus, Rider, Silver.)

  Rijksdaalder, 83, 354. (See Nederland.)

  Rixdollars, 148. (See Rijksdaalder.)

  Rose nobel, 113. (See Nobel.)

  Royal, 399, 410, 411, 412. (See Gros, Petit, Reines, Real, Ryal.)

    "    double, 408.

  Royaux durs, 400.

    "    or Denier d'or au Roiel, 346, 400.

  Rupee, 295.

  Ryals, 142, 143. (See Real.)


  S.

  Saint Andries florin, 347.

  Saluts, 401, 411.

  Schellings, 345.

  Schlicken thaler or Joachim thaler or Löwen thaler, 363.

  Schillingen (solidi), 360, 361, 362. (See Silver.)

  Scudo, 318. (See Écu.)

    "    d'argento, 313.

  Sequin (see Ducat, Zecchino), 311, 312, 316, 317.

  Seven-kreutzer piece, 375.

  Seventeen-kreutzer piece, 375.

  Shilling, 113, 138, 142, 144, 145, 231, 243.

    "       of esterlings, 55.

  Sigillo. (See Fiorino.)

  Silver dukaat, 353.

    "    fiorino, 301, 304.

    "    groschen, 102, 380.

    "    gulden or thaler, 364.

    "    rijder, 353.

    "    schillingen,

  Six-livre thalers, 202.

  Sixpence, 144, 145, 231, 243.

  Soldi, 301, 304. (See Solidi.)

    "    grossi, 306.

    "    (schillingen), 360.

  Soleil. (See Écu, Couronne.)

  Solidus, 398. (See Soldi, Schelling Sol, Sueldo.)

  Sols, 170. (See Solidi, Sueldo.)

    "   d'argent, 403.

    "   d'or, 399.

  Souverain, 392.

  Sovereign, 113, 117, 131.

  Spanish dollar, 333.

    "     ducats, 79.

    "     pistole, 80.

  Specie or Convention thaler, 102, 201.

  Staten daalder, 356.

  Sterlings, 48.

  Stiver, 345. (See Nederland.)

  Stretti. (See Fiorino.)

  Sueldo, 319. (See Solidus.)

    "     de oro, 321.

    "     pepiones, 321, 322.

  Suggello. (See Fiorino.)


  T.

  Ten-gulden piece, 353, 355, 359.

  Ten-stiver piece, 356.

  Ten-thaler piece, 204.

  Testoons, 84, 121, 130, 307, 403, 422.

  Thaler (see Silver gulden, Joachims thaler, Kronen thaler, Laubthalers,
    Prussian, Philipps, Reichs thaler, Silver, Six-livre, Vereins thaler),
    83, 106, 363, 364, 367, 369, 370, 371, 373, 375, 377, 379, 381, 382,
    392.

  Three-gulden piece or Bavarian carolus, 357, 375.

  Three-heller piece, 369.

  Threepenny piece (silver), 146.

  Thirty-deniers, 170.

  Thirty-kreutzer piece, 375.

  Tollero, 313, 318.

  Tournois, 397. (See Denier, Double, Gros, Petit.)

  Tremissis or triens, 398.

  Tron. (See Lira.)

  Twenty-franc (gold), 175, 176.

  Twenty-kreutzer piece, 375.

  Twenty-shilling piece, 149.

  Two-franc, 190.

  Twopenny piece (silver), 146.


  U.

  Unite, 113, 134.


  V.

  Veintenes, 331.

    "        de oro, 337.

  Vellon rico, 344.

  Vereinsmunze, 206.

  Vereins thaler, 216, 372.

  Viejos, 323. (See Maravedi.)


  W.

  Wilhelms d'or, 388.

  William, 354.


  Z.

  Zähender, 365.

  Zecchino (see Ducat, Sequin), 4, 311, 314, 375.




[Transcriber's Notes:

There are many possible inaccuracies in the non-English references in this
    book. The non-English portions are left as printed, unless noted below.

The following errors in the original text were corrected:

Some fractions, such as 67-47/41 on page 314 have a numerator larger
    than the denominator. Even though these are most likely incorrect,
    they are left as in the original as there is no way to confirm what
    they should be.

Page XIX, Preface: "Dei Münzen der deutschen" corrected to "Die Münzen der
    deutschen"

Page XXX, Table of Contents, Chapter III: "recoinage of, 1696, 222;"
    corrected to "recoinage of 1696, 222;"

Page 5, Chapter 1: "in order to the supply of the Italian mints" corrected
    to "in order to supply the Italian mints"

Page 7, Chapter 1: "the Archbishop of Cologne the Duke of Brabant"
    corrected to "the Archbishop of Cologne, the Duke of Brabant"

Page 8, Chapter 1: "50 marks 2 oz. 3-1/2 aug." corrected to "50 marks 2
    oz. 3-1/2 ang."

Page 79, Chapter 2, in the table "German Gold Guldens:" "1591" corrected
    to "1581" to match right hand column and date sequence.

Page 87, Chapter 2: "Spanish and Portugese gold ducats" corrected to
    "Spanish and Portuguese gold ducats"

Page 89, Chapter 2: "the celebrated declaration of 1577, i.e 60 sols."
    corrected to "the celebrated declaration of 1577, i.e. 60 sols."

Page 141, Chapter 2: "The merchant-adventurers were appealed to to buy up these
    stocks, but they were unable." corrected to "The
    merchant-adventurers were appealed to, to buy up these stocks, but they
    were unable."

Page 155, Chapter 3, in untitled table: second occurrence of "1841-1850"
    corrected to "1851-1855" to match sequence in table.

Page 169, Chapter 3: "a value of 20 livres; and of silver ecus at 8-3/10
    to the" corrected to "a value of 20 livres; and of silver écus at
    8-3/10 to the" as écus has the accent on every other occurrence.

Page 176, Chapter 3: "It is on the same conideration" corrected to "It
    is on the same consideration"

Page 184, Chapter 3: Table header "Silver. (Francs)." corrected to
    "Silver (Francs)." to match format in other headers and other
    tables.

Page 198, Chapter 3: "--Franconia, Bavaria, and Suabia--" corrected to
    "--Franconia, Bavaria, and Swabia--"

Page 206, Chapter 3: "Schwanzburg-Rudolstadt (Unterherrschaft)"
    corrected to "Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (Unterherrschaft)"

Page 207, Chapter 3: "each state to give an account of its mintings,"
    corrected to "each state to give an account of its mintings."

Page 219, Chapter 3: heading "England" corrected to "England." to match
    other headers.

Page 233, Chapter 3: "On this occassion I addressed a letter to a noble
    Lord," corrected to "On this occasion I addressed a letter to a
    noble Lord,"

Page 246, Chapter 3: "the ounce of silver was declared worth 6s. 8d"
    corrected to "the ounce of silver was declared worth 6s. 8d."

Page 251, Chapter 3: "that gold was extremely over-valued in the United"
    corrected to "that gold was extremely overvalued in the United" as
    all other occurrences of overvalued are not hyphenated.

Page 287, Chapter 3: "by substituting silver coin or notes based on
    silver" corrected to "by substituting silver coins or notes based on
    silver"

Page 294, Chapter 3: "history of the world has been characterstic and
    uniform" corrected to "history of the world has been characteristic
    and uniform"

Pages 325 appears to be a continuation of the table on page 326. These
    pages reversed by transcriber.

Page 326, Appendix III: "Cornados viejos" corrected to "Coronados
    viejos"

Page 353, Appendix IV: "1 gulden 2 francs 11-61/100 centimes." corrected
    to "1 gulden = 2 francs 11-61/100 centimes."

Page 364, Appendix V: "The third Imperial Mint Ordinance established an
    important difference from this system," corrected to "The third
    Imperial Mint Ordinance established an important difference from
    this system."

Page 369, Appendix V:

  "Pfennige     3      "           720""
  corrected to
  "Pfennige,     3      "           720""

Page 393, Appendix V: The following 2 dates were a best guess based on
    the text. The dates were obviously incorrect.

"1855, Frankfort Fair--Philipps thaler = 82 kr." corrected to "1585,
    Frankfort Fair--Philipps thaler = 82 kr."

"1623 (Higher Circles)--Reichs thaler recognised at 90 kr." corrected to
    "1603 (Higher Circles)--Reichs thaler recognised at 90 kr."

Page 404, Appendix VI: "15 sols (i.e. a quarter the value of the écu
    d'or, then set at 60 sols)" corrected to "15 sols. (i.e. a quarter
    the value of the écu d'or, then set at 60 sols.)"

Page 407, Appendix VI: "1626 they had fallen to 12 livres and 3 livres
    respectively." corrected to "1726 they had fallen to 12 livres and 3
    livres respectively."

Page 408, Appendix VI: "1329 (Philipp de Valois), Dec. 26" corrected to
    "1329 (Philippe de Valois), Dec. 26"

Page 411, Appendix VI: "Écu á la" corrected to "Écu à la" under 1425 and
    1427

Page 412, Appendix VI: "1487 (Charles VII.)" corrected to "1487 (Charles
    VII.),"

Page 425, General Index: "Calonne XV., 172." corrected to "Calonne, XV.,
    172."

"Chambers, Mr., 259." corrected to "Chambres, Mr., 259."

Page 427, General Index: "Freemantle, Sir C.W., 283, 290." corrected to
    "Fremantle, Sir C.W., 283, 290."

Page 431, Index of Coins: "Angelets, 117." corrected to "Angellets, 117."

"à l'ecu, 420." corrected to "à l'écu, 420." as l'écu is accented on page
    420.

Page 432, Index of Coins: "Dukaton of Brabant, 357" spelled "Dakaton of
    Brabant" on page 357. Don't know which is correct. Both left as
    printed.

Header starting F was added.

"di sugello, 302, 304." corrected to "di suggello, 302, 304."

Page 433, Index of Coins: "Florens d'or aux Fleurs de lis" corrected to
    "Florins d'or aux Fleurs de lis"

"Gigliali, 375. (See Florentine.)" corrected to "Gigliati, 375. (See
    Florentine.)"

"Grosseti, 307." spelled as "Grossetti" on page 307. Don't know which is
    correct, both left as printed.

Page 434, Index of Coins: "Joachims thaler or Schlicken o Löwen thaler,
    363." correct to "Joachims thaler or Schlicken or Löwen thaler,
    363."

Page 435, Index of Coins: "Nobles, 48, 53, 55, 57. (See Rose Nobels,
    Burgundian.)" corrected to "Nobles, 48, 53, 55, 57. (See Rose
    Nobles, Burgundian.)"

Page 436, Index of Coins: "Riders Gelderns, 119. (See Rijder.)" Gelderns
    spelled as "Gelderus" on page 119. Don't know which is correct, both
    left as printed.

"of esterlings, 55." ditto mark added to represent Shilling


]