The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-02-08
THE MONEY STANDARDS IN EARLY
DAYS.

The failure Of the Bank of Florence
evokes curious recollectCns. The Oldest
banking institutions in Europe bare that
name, being a successor to the firm of Bardi
& Peruzza, which failed through the In
ability OF unwilingness of Edward Ill OF
England to repay 100000 forlns which lie
had borrowed of the bank. This was In
the middle of the fourteenth century. AT
that time, and for several centuries after
ward, Florence was the center of the bank
ing world, and its banking institutions,
which were numerous, were proverbially
solid. 1t had been found difficult to carry
on business with a currency which was
constantly fuctuating in consequence OF
the habit of mOnarchs of debasing the stand
ard when they wanted money; an appeal
was made to the Siguorla of Florence to
establish q coinage that could be trusted
The republic agreed; gold coin weighing
one drachm or sixty grains OF gold, twenty
four carats fine, was coined at The tloren-
tine mint and passed current everywhere
under the name OF n form. 1t was uni
versally known that the honor Of Florence
was pledged to keep it up to the standard;
in consequence mercantile bargains all over
the world were made in FlOrentine horins;
though the Florentines themselves kept
their accounts in lire, sodi and denari.
from which the English borrowed their
G. :, d.
1t was this form which provoked the first
controversy on record over mOnometailism.
and if we had newspapers Of that day we
should doubtless find that there was
Florentine Senator Hill who made speeches,
as the euttlefsh emits fluid. to hide his
position, and Senator Stewart. who, at an
age when most msn seek repose, found no
seat so comfortable as the top rail OF
fence When the FlOrentine form was
first coined eight Of them weighed an ounce
OF $50 grains; and form was supposed to
be exactly equal in value to the original
silver Ira, which weighed pound. Then
a pound of silver was worth sixty grains OF
gold. This relation between the two metals
was soon disturbed by the fluctuations in
the supply of silver and by the propensity
of petty potentates TO coin lire OF less than
standard weight A hundred years after
the Florentine form was first coined form
was equal in value to four lire. About the
same time. in Japan, the silver ounce was
equal in value to the gold ounce. In the
small States of Italy and Germany Ira
was coined in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries when was Oniy WORTH hhlI OF
one-third of the Flo.entine Ira; it was not
only deficient in weight but was alleged
with tin and other substances. About the
same time Edward III of England coined
shillings, twenty-five of which were equal
TO a pound of silver.
OF late years Italy has put her coinage
on sound basis. Before the unifcaton
under Victor Emmanuel each State had its
own coinage, and Italy was full OF 'uncur-
rent money" The Bourbons of Naples
vera always suspected of issuing quantity
Of debased scudi and lire when they wanted
little money for household expenses; and
the Roman baroccho passed into proverb.
II any permanent trouble arises now, 1t
viii not come from the coinage. But the
debt of Italy is far too large for the pro-
ductive resources of the country. and the
sum spent annually on the army and navy
for mere ostentation is preprOsterous.
When the house of Savoy. under the guid-
ance of Cavour, subjected all Italy TO its
control, its first aim was to get into good
society. For this purpose it spent a large
sum of money, without shadow OF an ex-
cuse 10 taking a hand in tie Crlmean war :;
aud more recently it allowed Bismarck to
beguile it into Joining the Driebund. Its
admission into the select circle Of first-class
nations is coming high.