The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-24 00:00:00

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During the discussion that has for so long a time engrossed
the attention of the public on the subject of the gold coin-
age, there has been no subject more warmly taken up than
the advantage which it was asserted certain tradesmen took
by giving as little for the light sovereign as possible. The
reference to the law against the refusal of sovereigns of full
weight by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was treated of
at some length yesterday as a caution against a certain spe-
cies of fraud which it was said had not been uncommon,
especially on Saturday nights, when the working classes
made their purchases on the receipt of their wages, and
found themselves at the mercy of the small shopkeepers.
This is a fraud, for which, as we have seen, the law provides
a remedy ; but when the sovereigns are actually light, it is
not so easy to see what protection a working man has against
an extortionate tradesman, who knows that he wants to
make his purchases immediately, and within a certin margin
can almost take a light sovereign at his own valuation. When
so great a temptation to extortion with impunity has existed.
there can be no doubt that it has frequently been practised.
At the same time, the case of the trading community, show-
ing that a demand made for a deficiency has sometimes been
wrongly considered extortionate, ought in justice to be made
known, and therefore the following letter is inserted :

"TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
" Sir,—The debates in parliament, and the statements of
the press, with regard to light gold, are calculated to mislead
the public, and disparage the trading community very unfairly,
by making it appear that they claim au undue allowance in
cases of deficiency.
" Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in treating this
Part of the subject, seemed to forget, or to wish others to
forget, that a sovereign of full weight, according to the re-
cent proclamation, is only worth, intrinsically a minute frac-
tion less than 19s 101 d ; so that when it ceases to preponde-
rate, when it fails to draw the beam downwards, it loses
above lid in value, besides the actual deficiency in weight ;
and as the deficiency of a single sovereign cannot be calcu-
lated at less than a grain, value 2d, it follows that 3d is the
very least that can be allowed, instead of the very most, as
stated by the Chancellor.
" As for the subdivisions of a grain—halves, quarters, and
eights—it is a mockery to talk of such things to ordinary
folks ; such scientific nicities are far too subtle to be practi-
cable in the avocations of any common tradesman. The
moisture arising from a butcher's handling of meat, the glu-
tinous nature of almost everything a grocer touches, the
least dust of flour in a baker's shop, and so forth, would alone
be sufficicht to defeat such critical investigations, even if
every man were an adept at them, which, however, never can
be the case.
" The following scale, Sir, will be found practically cor-
rect, and therefore, I hope, generally useful:—
" If a sovereign or half-sovereign be wanting not exceed-
ing 1 grain, the loss will be 21d.
"6 If more thank grain, and not exceeding 1 grain, the loss
will be 31d.
" If more than 1 grain, and not exceeding 11 grain, the
loss will be 41d.
" If more than 11 grain, and not exceeding 2 grains, the
loss will be 51d.
" If more than 2 grains, and not exceeding 21 grains, the
loss will be 61d.
And so on, adding a penny for every subsequent half grain,
always remembering, however, that although I have ad-
mitted half grains into my scale to prevent cavil, no such
thing exists in ordinary business ; and when a piece of money
will not turn the beam with one grain, a tradesman, to be
safe, must deduct two.
" I am, Sir, your humble servant,
" GEORGE MOORE.

" Warren-street, June 21."
In consequence of the allusion made by the Right Hon,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons
to the illegality of refusing a sovereign or half-sovereign of
the due weight, as fixed by the proclamation of May, 1821,
and by her Majesty's Royal proclamation of the 3d of June
inst., viz., 4 dwts. 21 grains per sovereign, and 2 dwts. 131,
grains the half-sovereign, and the penalty incurred by so
doing, a number of publicans and shopkeepers in different
parts of the metropolis have taken the timely hint. The
iabouring classes have been most grossly imposed upon by
dealers of every description since the issuing of the procla-
mation, charging them Is. to ls. Gd. discount in the sove-
reign, and Gd. to 9d. in the half-sovereign, under the pre-
tence that they were light. So great has been the competi-
tion among the bullion-dealers and Jews, that many now
offer to take light sovereigns at 19s. 9d. if more than 10 are
changed at a time. This has been the means of inducing a
great number of persons to take their gold to the dealers
sooner than to the Bank of England, which will not
take less sums than £2O. In consequence of the impo-
sitions practised by speculators on the ignorance of the
working classes as to the real weight that the gold
ought to be, and making use of weights and scales not
stamped, the Master of the Mint has deemed it necessary to
issue the following notice to prevent this nefarious system :
" Caution to the Public.—Money Weights.—Whereas, by
act of Parliament of the 14th of George 111., cap. 22, enti-
tled An Act for Regulating and Ascertaining the Weights
to be made use of in Weighing the Gold and Silver Coin of
the Kingdom,' it was amongst other things enacted, that
from and after the 31st of December, 1774, all weights to be
made use of for weighing the gold and silver coin of the realm
shall be regulated by the standard weights lodged in the cus-
tody of the officer appointed by His Majesty for the stampe
-
ing of weights at the Royal Mint, and stamped with th
stamp or mark approved of by the Master of the Mint, and
from and after the said 31st of December, 1774, no other
weights but such as shall be just and true according to
the weights with and by which they are hereby directed
to be compared and ascertained, and shall be marked in
manner beforementioned, shall be reputed or accepted in
law to be true or of any effect for determining the weight
of the gold or silver coin of the realm, and that all persons
counterfeiting or selling any such counterfeit weights, or who
shall wilfully increase or diminish any weight after it has been
stamped or marked in manner before directed, subjects him-
self to a penalty of £5O, or, in default of payment, to three
months' imprisonment. Pocket balances, intended to ascer-
tain the weight of coin, which are constructed so as to be
used without weights, stamped as before-mentioned, cannot
be considered in law of any effect in determining the weight
of coin; neither can any person legally refuse coin as light
except it is determined so by the aforesaid legal weights. All
money weights stamped as appointed by the master of the
mint, have on one side his Majesty's crest (a crown sur-
mounted by a lion), with the words Royal Mint,' and the
date 1821 ; and on the other side the current weight of the
denomination of coin." The demand for silver at the Bank
for the last week has been greater than ever known, and it is
with difficulty the public can procure it.