OBSERVATIONS ON COINAGE, AND OUR PRESENT BY N. A. NICHOLSON, M. A., TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD. Second Edition, REVISED AND ENLARGED. A∙BO "But even money is liable to the same objection as other commodities, for LONDON: TRÜBNER & CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW. STHE OBSERVATIONS ON COINAGE, AND OUR PRESENT MONETARY SYSTEM, ETC., ETC. A STANDARD of value which is subject to no variation does not exist. Gold and silver have been chosen as standards of value, or measures by which we are to measure the value of all other commodities, not because they do not vary in value, but because they vary less in value than any other commodities do. The quantity of metal in a piece of gold is found by weighing it by troy weight. 24 grains = 1 dwt. 20 dwts. = 1 oz. 12 ounces = 1 lb. troy. The quality of the metal contained in the piece is found by a process called assaying, and is reported by British assayers in different grades of quality called carats. Fine gold, that is gold as pure as it can be obtained, is called 24 carat gold 22 carat gold, or gold of which part consists of alloy, is called standard gold. Grades of quality expressed in carats: Our assayers take no notice of any fractions below of a carat grain-that is to say, they recognise no grade of quality less than of a carat grain. The 18 assay reports in England are, therefore, almost always a little below the actual fineness of the metal. French assays are made on the principle of representing fine gold by 1,000 parts, called Millièmes. Standard gold is gold containing a tenth part of alloy or 900 parts fine gold. The French assayers report to т exact, while our assayers go only to of a carat grain, or 7s part exact, because 768 is just contained 7 times in 5,760 grains, equal to 24 carats, or one pound troy. [ 8 Since 1816, gold has been chosen as the standard of value in Great Britain, and much care is taken to secure a proper gold coinage. Any one may bring gold to the Mint to be coined, provided it be not less than £10,000 in value, and that it has been first assayed by the Mint assayer, and obtained his certificate; and the Mint is bound to return in coin to the last grain exactly the weight of standard metal which it has received without any charge being made to the bearer. Since 1837, no private individuals have availed themselves of this privilege, and the Bank of England alone sends gold to the Mint to be coined. The Bank buys gold with its own bank-notes, but will buy none which has not been previously assayed by one of the six assayers employed by itself. It gives £3 17s. 9d. per ounce for all the standard gold brought to it for sale, whatever be the quantity, reserving 1d. on each ounce, £3 17s. 10 d. being the exact legal price at the Mint. What is called the Mint price is merely a declara tion of the weight of metal of a fixed purity which the law requires to be in our gold coin; it ought to be called the Mint division rather than the Mint price. For instance, 40 pounds troy of 22 carat gold are divided into 1,869 stamped ingots of a certain shape, which we call sovereigns; whatever be the value of the gold, whether it rises or whether it falls, the number of sovereigns into which this particular quantity of standard gold is divided will remain the same, and it makes no difference whether the Royal Mint, which performs the division, is at Sydney or in London. The Bank assayer, when he has assayed the gold, reports to an eighth of a carat grain, leaving out any smaller fractions to the loss of the seller, who gets so much less for his gold from the Bank. The Mint is not bound to return coin for bullion in less than twenty days. The working is divided into journeys; each journey consists of 15 pounds troy weight (£701) of coined gold, or 60 pounds troy weight of coined silver (£198). The reason why private individuals do not have gold coined on their own own account seems to be that the loss by the delay in the coinage exceeds the loss on selling to the Bank of England. There is an admixture of one-twelfth of alloy in the English gold coinage; this proportion is considered to amalgamate better with the gold in cooling than the French proportion of one-tenth, and to produce in consequence a more durable kind of coin. sovereign contains 113 A grains of fine gold, it weighs 133 grains full weight, but a deficiency of grain 623 623 11 is tolerated in circulation; that is, if a sovereign does not weigh 122 grains, it is considered light. |