The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1810-08-14 00:00:00

nearly
told, 1
Of sliver.
yesrs bet
for India

For
prier
•ud
of rob',
awsunii
of gol.
C.....
think

exchau
prices ..
and comm
by one w'
of Hi
by au
s legal
'
dity
or lei,*
tity of
fold
a 14-Ps
cult toga
th.to
termer
thus it I
P") its i
geodes
gold
stem k.
bring i
not be
nishe4l
change
gold -
lowsuce

or otherwise
the -

In nor

io our

a dinlinmtion-

or diet
portir
gold

price
plea . ,t is, will met eletdune,
prices of all cossisadisilte mini& 114nerey wee
of pad ►tself will reasons lowaßored, 'bat doe rift,
of all °dim commodities will fall. Tint dais is est
the present state of things is 'bomber* sessifest ;
the prices of all cc.mroodities have rises, end geld
appears to have risen to its g►ics Only in onimasson
with them. If this common effect is to be ascribed
to oue and the same cause, that cause can owl; be
found in the state of the currency of this circuitry.
Your Committee think it proper to state ati I
more specifically, what appear to them to be the
principles which govern the relative prices of gold
is Bullion and rid in coin, as welt as of paper
eirmifating to its place and eschangable for it.
They cannot introduce this subject swore properly,
Boma by adverting to thc.e tainrie paiumples and
notations, on which a coinage issuing from the
King's Mint is founded.

The object is, to secure to the people a standard
of a determinate value, by athisiug • stamp, seder
the Rot at authority. to pieces of gold. which are '
thus certified to be sf • green weight mud tweasers.
Gold in Bullion is the standard to which the Legis-
lature has intended that the coin should be con-
formed, and with which it should he idestilled as
much as possible. And if that intention of the
Legislature were completely fulfilled.. the reined
gold would bear precisely the same price is ea-
change for all other coaimodties, as it *mild haws
borne had it costumed in the shape of Minim but
it is subject to some small fluctuations.
First, there is some expense incurred in convert-
ing Bullion into coin. They who seed Bullion to
be coined, and it is allowed to any one to mewl it.
though they are charged with a• seigsainage. inter
It len of iotereet by the detection of their gold in
the Mint. This loss limy hitherto have smoeuted
to about IL per cent. het it is to be presumed that
the improvements of the system of the new Mist

will cause the debrittioo at; I consequent loss to be
much smaller. 'fins IL per cent. bus formed the
limit, or nearly the limit, to the passible nee of the
value of coin above that of Rollin° for to suppose
that coin could, through any ranee. advance tom+
above tins bunk. would be to assume that there
was a la gh profit on a transaction. in which there
is no risk. and every one has au opportunity of
engaging.
The too following circmustances conjoined.
vomit for the depression of the Coln below the pima
of bullion, and wall sheer what must hsve been the
limit to its extent before 1797. the period of the
suspension of the cash payments of the Honk of
England. First. the cons. after it had become
current, was gradually diminished in weight by
use, and therefore if melted would produce a less
quantity of bullion. Tbe average chismiution of
weight of the present current gold coin below Out
of the mine coin when fresh from the Maul, appests
by the evidence to be nearly ii. per cent. Tina
evil, in more ancient times. was
greet. It WWI particularly felt in r
His present Majesty's reign. and

atino of the gold coin in 1773. lii
fully 'pucka ogs;fit, not only by I
term of er►ry wilful det►r,onhon
bat al.° by the regula, ion of

- . .
•
'.-,-;••-•.-•!••--*t •
41110
! f '
tyre-
rate! SIXPEXCE-HALFPIIIHNIN
_ .•
y correalsoridell to that of the morket price of
Cannot to any degree be ascribed to a scarcity
ire. The importetions of silver have of late
been unusually large, while the usual drain
,din and China Mai. been Stopped.
r all these reasons. your Committee would be
led to think, that those who 'ascribe the high
of gold to an uourss.l demand for that *ringer-
s c.msequent scarcity, asoilie facts as certain
there is oo evidence. But filen if these
options were proved, to arcritie the high price
aid its this country to its scarcity, seems to your
Litter to involve a isoiscoaceptioo, which they
t it important to explain.
this country, gold is itself the measure of all
augeahk value, the scale to which alt money
ss are referred. It is so, not only by the wage
commercial halsits el the countsv. Intl
',elation of law, ever liner the ket of the Wit
lie present Majesty (dually rendered rweuctual
o Act of the 3wth year or the rcio) disallnwrti
r 1 tender in sliver a: tale ill the twin of 251-
'1
being thus Our measure of pliers. • Ca u3CIO-
- sail to hr dear or chew 3i-cording es mole
• girl 4 is given in exchange fa • given guan-
o(' that commodity ; beta given quantity of
itself will Deter he exchanged for is greedy/Gt.
• quantity of Fold tot the mine standard fbas
. At particular times it fury be couvenient. id
cusge fur gold in a particular coin, to give more
an espial quantity of other gold ; bast this dtf
,lee can never exceed a certain small limit : and
it has happened that the Batik, while liable to
its notes in specie, has nutter particular enter.
vies been put to the necessity of purchasing
1 at a Ina. in order to keep lap or to repair its
k. But geoerally speaking, the price cif gold,
ig itself measured and expressed in gold, can-
be rsised or lowered by as increased or dial's..
lied demand for it. An ounce of gold will ex.
sage for neither more i:Or less than an ounce of
it of the same fineness, except so far as an al-
lute is to be mode, if the ease ounce is coined .
otherwise manufactured and the other is Dot. for -
expense of that coinage or manufacture. As
lee of standard Gold Bullion will not fetch totem •
or market than 31. 17a. 1 Old.. unless :"1. 17.. 100.
our *cilia Currency is equivalent to Isle than aD
ice or gold. An increase or diminution in the
nand for gold, or, what comes to the saute thing,
'ruination or increase in the general istpirq
d, will, nO doubt. have a material titre ogee ..
snoopy prices of all other articles. An ilia
a.ed demand for gold, and* consequent reared,'
that article, will make it more valuable is pro-
lion to all other articles; the same guaranty of
d will purchase • greater quantity of soy other
cle titan it did before : in other words, the real
re of gold, or the quantity of commodities
en iu exchange for is, will n.t, awl the aleinty '
eta of all commodities saran; thevaeway price
gold itself will remain unaltered, 'but the pewee t.
all other colninnehties 0111 fall. That this is not

occasionally eer♦
ao easily pored of
led to the telorßi.
But it is now care.
• the legal po..ith-
n of she gold coin.
the 3:atute, t►at
•