The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-17 00:00:00

* Flour is usually sold in Melbourne by the ton of 2,000
lb., instead of 2,240 lb., as in the United Kingdom. If
reckoned by the ton of 2,000 lb., the price is respectively
16/. and 22/. 10s.

" An acre of land in the neighbourhood of the towns of
Geelong and Melbourne, which was not worth more than
251. in 1850, is now worth at least 1,0001. Houses, or
rather cottages of four rooms, rented at 241. in 1850, are
now lot at 2001. per annum.
" The rich gold washings in Brazil, as well as the earlier
mines of other territories in the New World, had an im-
portant effect upon the commerce of the globe, although
during the first 57 years of the Brazilian gold washings,
the greatest annual produce never exceeded 1,088,9251.
(namely, in the year ending the let of August, 1754), and
which does not amount to one-tenth of the gold obtained
in Australia in the second year of its discovery. It is true
that a produce of 12,000,0001. sterling in the present day
will not have the same effect upon the currency as the
same quantity would have in 1754, in consequence of the
vastly greater quantity of coined money now circulating.
But ifit were true, as it is stated in soma estimates, that
is only 150,000,000/. of gold coin in existence, a
yearly produce of 12,000,000/. from one country would
have an immediate and greateffect
be little upon commerce. There
can, however.
of 15000,01 doubt that the above estimated
quantity
fouls far within the reality. It will
be seen by one of the tables (No. III.) that the
amount of gold coined in three countries, and in 50 years
merely, was 176,596,A.,1
,-0 ~ and is exclusive of the coinage
of many other countries, such as Russia, Spain and its
colonies, where the amount of gold coined is well known
then to have been very great. If,
deducting the wear and tear, and raPalfalv'en gt
to its
(after
f r
of being the fusion of coin of one State in order
sterling,i and silver
coin in
re-
coined in another) the
,poooresei.nt
. for both metals,
at
circulation at 400,
600,000,0001., instead of 400,000,0001
conclude that the same proportion of gold to silver existedna
in 1754, but that the total amount in those days could
not possibly exceed 300,000,0001. ; now, 1,088,925/. of
Brazilian gold would represent an action upon 112,000,0001.
o
f coined gold, while at the present day it is 12,400,000/.
Australian upon , 400 000, 000/. coined gold. The result of
mes as great
the as the f ormer,
the latter, instead of being,
ii ti
reat as effect of the
ought only to be 3.6 times as g
Brazilian gold, supposing .
there was now no eaterg die-
ercial transactions than existed
placement of coin in comm obable yield of
about 100 years ago. If we add the p r
6661
21 OD under tho
California for this year—
namely, , , ~
same conditions the effect must be 6.3 times as great as
that felt during the last century.
" The produce of the goldfields of Australia for the year
ending Deceniber 20th, 1851, appears to have been 284,000 1

prioceefoorf 3thLielOiede.d,
iiesge2qoutahl
of
oz., which, at the Minrodt
1,102,825/4 and the p u year,
tes99otspecTiheeaset
December, 3,194,135
e3b,l24oo,ld3esdoooeza,
froeleuatlhetoshilp2m,
Sydney, Melbourne, and Geelong, after making a.owancwhiche
for trans-shipments, and adding thereto 167,792 o ~
have been taken overland to Adelaide. Althoug'l 3/. 17s.
104 d. per oz., is much above the price in Sydney and Mel-
bourne, yet the quality of the Victoria gold is consider-
ably better than standard--in fact a good deal of it aver-
ages as high as 4.4 per cent., or 38 carat grains, letter than
standard, and worth 4/. ls. 3id. per ounce in London. The
whole has on that account been valued at the mint price.
" The great question follows—Will the goldfields of
Australia produce as much gold in the next 12 months as
they have done during the last 12 months ? Now, after
much inquiry among the golddiggers and consideration of
the subject, the conclusion is inevitable that, although there
may not be such instances of individual success as have been
observed this year, yet the aggregate produce of 1853 is
likely to be much more than that Of 1852. It is evident how-
ever, that Forest Creek and Bendigo will require for the fu-
ture more skill to be applied to the extraction of the gold to
make them yield the large quantities of 1852. On the
other hand, at new diggings elsewhere, such as the Ovens,
oven the same skill only as has been exercised at Mount
Alexander will very soon show a larger produce of gold
than that obtained in the corresponding months of this
year, 1852. And when it is remembered that a gold com-
pany in England working a Brazilian mine cleared last year
upwards of 40,0001., although their gold-stone did. not yield
them quite half an ounce of gold per ton of rock, we may
conclude that, if the same amount of skill and capital were
applied to the very rich gold rocks of this country, there is
but little probability of the great produce of Australia in
1852 falling of for some years to come. In support of the
above general statement relative to the increase of gold in
1853, it may be mentioned here that the escort from the
diggings in the week ending Saturday, December 28, 1851,
only brought to Geelong and Melbourne 10,851 oz., while
the escorts from the same diggings brought to Geelong and
Melbourne in the week ending Friday, December 31, 1852,
30,995 oz., and the escort from the new diggings at the
Ovens was on the way to Melbourne with 13,400 z., and
there was as much more ready to be taken by another
escort to Sydney.
TABLE 11.
- -

" The following is a short table of the annual produce of
gold and silver in the years 1801, 1840, and the estimated
produce for 1852 :
Gold.
*lBOl 1-1840 1-1852
Eastern Continent ... £250,523 £2,245,802 £17,752,732
Western ditto ..... 2,361,776 1,301,560 22,041,666

£2,612,369 £3,547,362 £39,794,398
Silver.
*lBOl -14840 ±1852
Eastern Continent £657,683 £1,204,396 £1,605,024
Western ditto 6,928,252 5,261,619 7,622,814

£7,585,935 £6,465,925 £9,227,835
Total Annual Prodnce of Gold and Silver.
*lBOl tlB4O t 1852
Gold £2,612,369 £3,547,362 £39,794,398
Silver

£10,198,304 £10,013,287 £49,022,235
* Exclusive of Africa, China, and Japan.
i Including Africa, but excluding China aad Japan.
Gold. Silver. Gold. Silver.
In 1801 .. l9 tons avoirdupois to 856 tons, or 11b. to 451 b.
1840 27 ~ 714 „ 11b. to 261 b.
1852... 286 1, 1,019 „ 11b. to 31b.
- -

Subjoined is the estimated annual produce of the pre-
cious metals in tons, and the proportion of gold to the
silver in the years 1801, 1840, and. 1852 :
_

" The annual consumption of the precious metals in the
arts is supposed to be 6,500,0001., of which at one time
1,454,0001. might be estimated to consist of gold, but it is,
now probably, 2,300,0001. of gold, the rest—namely,
3,500,00001.—being silver. Yet, the above estimated con-
sumption of gold must be considered as allowing for a large
increase, inasmuch as the annual produce of gold between
the years 1801 and 1840 never amounted to 4,000,000/ ,
and, in fact, appears by the foregoing table to have been
under 3,000,0001. in 1801, when the mines were even then
supposed to be doing well. Deducting, however, 3,000,0001.
from the estimated produce of gold for this year—namely,
39,794,3981., leaves no less than 36,794,3981. to be converted
into coin. As the total circulation of gold coin in Great
Britain and Ireland in the year 1780 was reckoned by the
Mint authorities at 26,003,1351., the present annual pro-
duce of gold thus exceeds the circulation of those days by
10,791,2631. And on comparing 36,794,3981. with the table
of the coinage of the United Kingdom, we find that it is up-
wards of one-sixth of the entire gold coinage of the -United
Kingdom in the period of 247 years ending with December
1850. Such an increase in the production of gold cannot
fail to produce in the old country results akin in some re-
spects, and widely different in others, to those which every
one in Victoria has witnessed in the last twelve months.
Of this, however, there cannot be the slightest doubt that
the great mass of the people of Britain will derive immense
benefit from the new gold fields of America and Australia.
" The following table (No. 3) shows the amount of gold
and silver coin required in three of the principal States of
the world in the 50 years ending 1850. It is divided into
four periods for the sake of showing the immense increase
in the gold coinage consequent upon the rich discoveries of
gold in Russia, California, and Australia. The first period
exhibits the total amount, together with the average
yearly coinage of gold and silver required in the first
40 years of this century, or till the Russian gold washings
became decidedly important, that is to say, in the year
1840, when they began to yield upwards of 21,8751 b. troy
yearly of purely gold, that quantity being equivalent to
1,115,0371. The second period contains the amount coined,
and likewise the yearly average of both metals, in the seven
years ending with December, 1847, this date being a few
months before the discovery of the rich deposits of gold in
California. The third period shows the amount coined,
and also the average of the yearly coinage of both metals,
since the Californian discovery, namely, for the years 1848,
1849, and 1850.' The fourth period gives, as near as can
be ascertained, the gold coinage in 1851 and part of 1852,
when gold was found abundantly in Australia :

TABLE M.
FIRST PERIOD.
Gold coined in the 40 years ending 1840.

Total Amount, Yearly Average,
United Kingdom
United States 5,647,321 141,183
France (about)

£113,499,945 £,827,497
Silver coined in the 40 years ending 1840.

Taal Amount. —Yearly Average,
United Kingdom .... ....... £11,202,104 £280,052
United States 11,203,215 280,080
France (about)

£147,907,319 £3,697,632
Gold and silver coined in the 40 years ending 1840.

Total Amount. Yearly Average.
'United Kingdom £75,620,565 ... £1,890,514
'United States 16,850,543 ... 441,263
168,964,146 ... 4,223,353
France

£261,405,254 £6,535,130
SECOND PERIOD.
Gold coined in the seven years ending 1847.
(See note.) Total Amount. Yearly Average,
United Kingdom £30,264,929 ... £4,232,561
United States 8.158,316 ... 1,165,188
France (about)

£41,923,245 £5,897,747
Silver coined in the seven years ending 1847.
Total Amount. Yearly Average
United Kingdom £2,572,631 ... £367,518
United States
France (about) 8,600,000 ... 1,228,571

£14,586,572 £2,083,794
Gold and silver coined in the seven years ending 1847

--- ___ ___
Total Amount. • Yearly—Average
United Kingdom £32,837,560 ... £4,691,080
United States 11.572,257 ... 1,653,179
France... 12,100,000 ... 1,728,571

£56,509,817 £8,072,830
THIRD PERIOD.
Gold coined in the three years ending 1850.
Coined per Coined per Coined per Total
In annum in annum in annum Amount
the the United the United in in the three Yearly
year icingdom. States. France. Countries. Average.
1848...2,451,999 786,565 1,234,472 4,473,036 1,491,012
1849 ..2,177,955 1,875,158 1,082,382 5,137,497 1,712,499
1850...1,491,836 6,662,854 3,407,691 11,562,382 3,854,127

6,121,790 9,324,577 5,726,526 21,172,912 7,057,638
Silver coined in the three years ending 1850.
Coined per Coined per Coined per Total
annum in annum in annum Amount
In the the United the United in in the three Yearly
Year Kingdom. States. France. Countries. Average.
2 £
1848...35,442 425,010 3,902,613 4,363,065 1,454,355
1849 119,592 440,614 8,261,916 8,822,152 2,940,717
1850 129,096 388,770 3,458,336 3,972,205 1,324,068

284,130 1,254,394 15,622,895 17,161,422 5,720,474
Gold and Silver coined in the three years ending 1850.

Total Amount.
£8,836,101
13,959,647
15,538 586

Yearly Average.
£2,945,367
4,853,215
5,176,195

£38,333,334 £12,777,718
Gold coined in the United Kingdom• in the 50 years
ending 1850.

Yearly
Average.

In the Ist period of 40 years, end-
ing 1840 X 64,418,461 £1,610,461
In tho 2d period of 7 years, ending
1847 30,264,929 4,232,561
In the 3d period of 3 years, ending
--1850 6,121,790 2,040,596

£100,805,180
Silver coined in the United Kingdom in the 50 years
ending 1850.

Yearly
Average,

In the Ist period of 40 years, end- .„--
ing 1840 £11,203,215 £280,052
In the 2d period of 7 years, ending
1847 3,413.941 364,518
In the 3d period of 3 years ending
1850 1,251,394 94,710

£15;871,550
Gold coined in the United States in the 50 years ending

1850

Yearly
Average

In the Ist period of 40 years, end-
ing 1840 £5,647,328 £141,183
In the 2d period of 7 years, ending
1847.
In the 3d period of 3 years, ending
1850. 9,324,577 3,108,192

£23,130,221
Silver coined in the United States in the 50 years ending

1850.

Yearly
Average.

In the Ist period of 40 years, end-
ing 1840 ....... .. . .. 211,203,215 £280,080
In the 2d period of iyears, ending
1847
3 413 941 487,705
„
In the 3d period of 3 years, endinglBso
1,254,394 . 418,131

215,871,550

Note.—The great increase in the gold coinage in the
United Kingdom in he seven years ending 1847 was partly
caused by the calling in of all the light gold coins, of which
2,779,0000 z., equal to 101 ton troy, or 85 tons avoirdupois,
valued at 31. 17s. Hai per ounce, = 10,829,7311., were de-
livered by the Bank of England to the Mint between the Ist
of January, 1842, and the sth of February, 1844. Deducting
the 10,820,7311. fr3m the 30,264,9291. coined in those seven
years, leaves 19,444,1981. for gold bars or foreign coin,
which, being divided by seven, is equal to an average yearly
coinage of 2,777,7421. of other gold than light British coin.
In the East Indies the gold coinage in the seven years
ending the Ist of May, 1847, was 161,8681., or an average
yearly coinage of 23,1251., while the coinage of silver in the
same time was 14,086,9591., equal to a yearly coinage of
2,012,4221. It appears, therefore, that both metals were
coined in British India in the seven years ending the Ist of
May, 1847, to the extent of 2,035,5471. per annum ; but it is
much to be regretted that the accounts of the East India
mints for the.years 1848, 1849, and 1850, have not yet been
published, as some useful information would be derived from
them relative to the very peculiar state of the money market
during the last few years.