Some Considerations of the Lowering of Interest [42]
Stamp and Denomination of a greater, may be done two ways. 1. By raising one Species of your Money. 2. By raising all your Silver Coin at once, proportionably; which is the thing I suppos'd, now propos'd.
1. The raising of one Species of your Coin, beyond its intrinsick Value, is done by Coining any one Species, (which in account bears such a proportion to the other Species of your Coin) with less Silver in it, than is required by that value it bears in your Money. For Example, A Crown with us goes for 60 Pence, a Shilling for 12 Pence, a Tester for 6 Pence, and a Groat for 4 Pence: And accordingly, the proportion of Silver in each of them, ought to be at 60. 12. 6. and 4. Now, if in the Mint there should be Coin'd Groats, or Testers, that being of the same Alloy with our other Money, had but Two thirds of the Weight, that those Species are Coin'd at now; or else, being of the same Weight, were so alloy'd as to have One third of the Silver required by the present Standard chang'd into Copper; and should thus, by Law, be made Current; (the rest of your Silver Money being kept to the present Standard in Weight and Fineness) 'tis plain, those Species would be raised One third part; that passing for 6 d which had but the Silver of 4 d in it; and would be all one as if a Groat should by Law be made Current for 6 d; and every 6 d in payment pass for 9 d. This is truly raising these Species: But is no more in effect, than if the Mint should Coin clip'd Money. And has, besides the Cheat that is put, by such base or light Money, on every particular Man, that receives it, that he wants One third of that real value which the Publick ought to secure him, in the Money, it obliges him to receive as Lawful and Current; It has, I say, this great and unavoidable inconvenience to the Publick, That, besides the opportunities it gives to Domestick Coiners to Cheat you with lawful Money, it puts it into the Hands of Foreigners to fetch away your Money without any Commodities for it. For if they find that Two-Penny weight of Silver, marked with a certain Impression, shall here in England be equivalent to 3 d weight mark'd with another Impression; they will not fail to stamp Pieces of that Fashion; and so Importing that base and low Coin, will, here in England, receive 3 d. for 2 d., and quickly carry away your Silver in exchange for Copper, or barely the charge of Coynage. This is unavoidable in all Countries where any one Species of their Money is disproportionate in its intrinsick Value, (i.e. in its due proportion of Silver to the rest of the Money of that Country) an inconvenience so certainly attending the allowance of any base Species of Money to be Current, that the King of France could not avoid it, with all his watchfulness. For though, by Edict, he made his 4 Sols Pieces, (whereof 15 were to pass for a French Crown, though 20 of them had not so much Silver in them, as was in a French Crown Piece) pass in the Inland parts of his kingdom, 15 for a Crown in all Payments; yet he durst not make them Current in his Sea-port Towns, for fear, that should give an opportunity to their Importation. But yet this Caution served not the turn. They were still Imported; and, by this means, a great loss and damage brought upon his Country. So that he was forced to cry them down, and sink them to near their intrinsick Value. Whereby a great many particular Men, who had quantities of that Species in their Hands, lost a great part of their Estates; and every one that had any, lost proportionably by it. If we had Groats or Six-Pences Current by Law, amongst us, that wanted One third of the Silver which they now have by the Standard, to make them of equal Value to our other Species of Money; who can imagine, that our Neigbours would not presently pour in quantities of such Money upon us, to the great loss and prejudice of the kingdom? The quantity of Silver that is in each Piece or Species of Coin, being that, which makes its real and intrinsick Value, the due proportions of Silver ought to be kept in each Species, according to
1. The raising of one Species of your Coin, beyond its intrinsick Value, is done by Coining any one Species, (which in account bears such a proportion to the other Species of your Coin) with less Silver in it, than is required by that value it bears in your Money. For Example, A Crown with us goes for 60 Pence, a Shilling for 12 Pence, a Tester for 6 Pence, and a Groat for 4 Pence: And accordingly, the proportion of Silver in each of them, ought to be at 60. 12. 6. and 4. Now, if in the Mint there should be Coin'd Groats, or Testers, that being of the same Alloy with our other Money, had but Two thirds of the Weight, that those Species are Coin'd at now; or else, being of the same Weight, were so alloy'd as to have One third of the Silver required by the present Standard chang'd into Copper; and should thus, by Law, be made Current; (the rest of your Silver Money being kept to the present Standard in Weight and Fineness) 'tis plain, those Species would be raised One third part; that passing for 6 d which had but the Silver of 4 d in it; and would be all one as if a Groat should by Law be made Current for 6 d; and every 6 d in payment pass for 9 d. This is truly raising these Species: But is no more in effect, than if the Mint should Coin clip'd Money. And has, besides the Cheat that is put, by such base or light Money, on every particular Man, that receives it, that he wants One third of that real value which the Publick ought to secure him, in the Money, it obliges him to receive as Lawful and Current; It has, I say, this great and unavoidable inconvenience to the Publick, That, besides the opportunities it gives to Domestick Coiners to Cheat you with lawful Money, it puts it into the Hands of Foreigners to fetch away your Money without any Commodities for it. For if they find that Two-Penny weight of Silver, marked with a certain Impression, shall here in England be equivalent to 3 d weight mark'd with another Impression; they will not fail to stamp Pieces of that Fashion; and so Importing that base and low Coin, will, here in England, receive 3 d. for 2 d., and quickly carry away your Silver in exchange for Copper, or barely the charge of Coynage. This is unavoidable in all Countries where any one Species of their Money is disproportionate in its intrinsick Value, (i.e. in its due proportion of Silver to the rest of the Money of that Country) an inconvenience so certainly attending the allowance of any base Species of Money to be Current, that the King of France could not avoid it, with all his watchfulness. For though, by Edict, he made his 4 Sols Pieces, (whereof 15 were to pass for a French Crown, though 20 of them had not so much Silver in them, as was in a French Crown Piece) pass in the Inland parts of his kingdom, 15 for a Crown in all Payments; yet he durst not make them Current in his Sea-port Towns, for fear, that should give an opportunity to their Importation. But yet this Caution served not the turn. They were still Imported; and, by this means, a great loss and damage brought upon his Country. So that he was forced to cry them down, and sink them to near their intrinsick Value. Whereby a great many particular Men, who had quantities of that Species in their Hands, lost a great part of their Estates; and every one that had any, lost proportionably by it. If we had Groats or Six-Pences Current by Law, amongst us, that wanted One third of the Silver which they now have by the Standard, to make them of equal Value to our other Species of Money; who can imagine, that our Neigbours would not presently pour in quantities of such Money upon us, to the great loss and prejudice of the kingdom? The quantity of Silver that is in each Piece or Species of Coin, being that, which makes its real and intrinsick Value, the due proportions of Silver ought to be kept in each Species, according to