The Press.
London, England, 1856-11-29 00:00:00

DECIMAL COINAGE.

THE question of a decimal system of coinage
has again been brought before the public by a
paper by Mr. DE MortoAN in the " Companion
to Knight's Almanac." The conclusions of
our reviewer on that paper will be found
among our literary notices, but it may be
convenient here to recapitulate the leading
points, that we may see how the question
stands.

The plan advocated by Mr. DR MORGAN is the
pound and mil scheme, the pound being taken
as the unit of account, divisible into tenths
(florins), hundredths (by a coin to be adopted
equivalent to a cent), and thousandths (far-
things, or mils). To decimalise our coinage
according to this plan would only require a
royal proclamation, reducing the value of the
copper coinage by four per cent., making 121 d.
change for a shilling, instead of 121, as at
present. The sovereign would then represent
1,000 farthings instead of 960, and the ele-
ments of a decimal system of money would
at once be established. The copper coinage
would remain as at present. The halfpenny
would still be two farthings, or mils, and the
penny four farthings, or mils.
Practically, however, some change in the
coinage would be necessary, and for this
reason. In every system of money it is desi-
rable that each coin should be readily ex-
changeable into other kinds of coin ; as gold
into smaller pieces •f gold and into silver,
and silver into smaller pieces of silver and
into copper. This is the first requisite of
every kind of coinage.
But with the proposed alteration, making
the shilling consist of 121 d., the fourpenny
piece, which is the third of a shilling, would
not be exchangeable into copper money, as we
have no third of a halfpenny, and the three-
penny piece would not be exchangeable for a
like reason, as we have no fourth of a half-
penny. Six pennies and a farthing in copper
money would also be inconvenient change for
a sixpence.
To remedy these inconveniences it would
be desirable in the first place to add to our
copper coinage a piece of five farthings, or
mils, the character of the coin being distinct
from that of the present penny to avoid confu
sion. Our copper coinage would then con-
sist of pieces of one farthing (or mil), of two
farthings (the halfpenny), of four farthings
(the penny)—all as at present, without altera-
tion ; with the addition of a piece of five
farthings.
With respect to the silver coinage, it would
be necessary to withdraw the threepenny and
fourpenny pieces, and it might be expedient to
withdraw the sixpences also. The crown is
an inconvenient coin, scarcely in circulation
at the present time, and the half-crown is not
wanted, as it is so near the florin. Those five
silver coins might all be withdrawn. In place
of them might be substituted pieces of ten
farthings (which might be conveniently
termed cents), and pieces of twenty farthings.
With these alterations the decimal system
would be complete. As regards the coins
themselves, they would be quite as convenient
as those at present in use, and they would be
fewer in number.

We should have in copper coinage pieces of
one, two, four, and five farthings (or mils).

SATURDAY,

We should have in silver, pieces of one cent
(ten farthings, or twopence-halfpenny), of two
cents (fivepence), of five cents (the shilling),
and ten cents (the florin).
The gold coinage would be unaltered ; the
half-sovereign would be five hundred farthings,
or fifty cents, or ten shillings. The sovereign,
as at present, twice as much. The whole of
these coins—gold, silver, and copper—would
be exchangeable into coins of their own
metal, and be exchangeable into coins of
the other metals, and this exehangeableness
would be facilitated by the simplicity of the
numbers, ten and five, to be represented by
the new coins. The new silver coinage would
be not only more systematic, but more con-
venient than the present coinage, and it would
consist of four pieces only instead of six
Even the Vice President of the Board of
Trade might, by severe exercise of such facul-
ties as God has gifted him with, understand
a system which permits him to exchange a
sovereign, the highest unit of account, into as
many parts as he pleases of the farthing. the
lowest unit, varying from two parts (half-
sovereigns) to thousandth parts (farthings).
Suppose he wants to apportion this sovereign
into 167 parts for one thing ; into 249 parts
for another; into 271 parts for something
else; and into 313 parts for a fourth purpose.
With the proposed coinage he would get, for
the first sum, one florin, one five-cent (a
shilling) and one one-cent piece, a five-
farthing (or mil) piece, and a halfpenny—in all
five coins; for the second sum, two florins,
two two-cent pieces, a five-farthing piece, and
a penny—in all six coins ; for the third sum,
two florins, three two-cents, and a farthing—
in all six coins; for the fourth sum, three
florins, one cent, and a halfpenny—in all five
coins. The apportionment would then stand
expressed in coins thus :
Parts of a pound gating. Florins. Cents. Farthings or mile.

_
ior •• • • 1 •• • • 6 •• • • _7
249••••2•• . • 4 • • • • 9
271 .... 2 .... 7 .... 1
313 •• • • 3 .... 1 .... 3

1,000 10
The ten florins being the equivalent of one
pound. Now, let the Right Honourable Vice
President of the Board of Trade attempt to
work out this or any similar apportionment by
means of the existing coinage : and if he
shows that it can be done as easily, and as
completely, we shall be willing to admit that
one of his after-dinner speeches is far superior
to any demonstration in the " Principia."
The only difficulty in the way of the pro-
posed change would be that caused by the
depreciation in the copper coinage to the
extent of four per cent., a depreciation fully
warranted, however, by the high value which
the copper coinage at present bears, as com-
pared with the coinage in silver and gold. All
the' arrangements connected with the penny
would soon adjust themselves to the new
standard, more especially if Government were
to set an example of liberality by allowing the
postage stamps, and some other Government
duties reckoned in pence, to fall four per cent.,
in accordance with the reduced standard. In
other cases, as in railway fares, when pence
rose to shillings, 12-0. would be counted ; and
general traders would have the option of
keeping commodities sold at a penny still at
that sum, or of raising them to the five-farth-
ing or half-cent piece.
No change of the kind ever can be wholly
exempt from difficulty, but it is peculiarly the
characteristic of an advancing civilisation to
make some present sacrifice of convenience
for the sake of permanent) future convenience.
In this respect we act with convenience as
with capital. We make a round outlay at
once to insure a certain provision in future.
The question with social changes, as with
commercial undertakings, must be,—Will they
pay?
Whether the proposed decimal system will
pay, whether the future convenience will re-
compense the inconvenience which must be
paid to secure it, is a point for the community
at large to consider. If the system we have
explained cannot be brought into use, no
other system has a chance of adoption, for no
other can be effected so easily, and with such
flight alteration. The assoclition for securing
a decimal system would, in our opinion, act

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