The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-04-26
FRENCH COINAGE OF SILVER.

The Latin nations of Europe have
always been looked TO in The fight for
silver coinage. as the leader and
stnuuch promoter, in the use of silver
for money, For good many years
past, tho Latin Union has. however,
had little to say or to do on the silver
question. and the coinage of silver,
has by agreement, been limited. But
France has always maintained the sill
yer standard within it's own domains,
quietly and on a comparatively local
and limited scale. Now, however,
France is about to enter upon greatly
increased coinage Of silver. more than
trcbling her silver mintagc. the par
ticulars Of which are given III recent
number Of Financial America as fol
lows:
For some time expectations have hcen
held that the French Mint's purchases
OF silver would bc largely Increased ow-
ing 10 the decision Of the countries In
the Latin Union reached two years ago.
10 enlarge the circulation per capita 1t
now appears. from foreign adVices, that
the prospect Is for mlntInS OF silver
coins Tor tbe current year Which VIII be
the largest on record In France; The
Paris correspondent OF the Lohdon
that the Mint will turn out no less than
cI 100000 worth OF silver change before
the end OF the year, Hitherto the largest
amount reached was c96O,000 last year,
but the average for the last decade has
not been much above c 1000 This is
partly due 10 the recall OF coins dated
from lS6% to 1870. The withdrawal has
hcen carried on Systematically without
the PRONUNCIATION OF any law (thc coins
SIN being legal tcndor), so that silver
change bcuring the Republican design of
LA Semcuse" Of the cngraver Roty,
which was comparatively rare even six
or seven Years ago, now quite predomi-
mates III France,
The statement, OF the amount OF silver
coined does not include the figures for
the five franc piece, commonly known
as the piece de cent sous. By the terms
of the International convention. which
regulates the Latin Monetary Union. IL
piece and Its equivalents In the currency
q Italy: Belgium. Switzerland. and
Greece, shall have international currency
on condition that none of the contracting
States increases its stock OF such coins.
AS consequence no French five franc
pieces bear a later date than 1875, all
though some Of those In circula ton arouse
the curiosity, and even suspicion, Of for
eign visitors by their brand-new appear
ancc. These. as matter OF fact. have
been recently mnted. with the old date.
W Itpbdte ffIIdl amounts ol NDrfl INt
franc pieces withdrawn from circulation.
and thereby obey the stipulations OF The
agreement.
II may be remarked in passing that the
variety OF coinage used in France Is puz- =
zling even to experienced tradcspeople.
Napolcons are still in the majority
among gold pieces (although strangely
enough they are stilI more commonly
called Louisl. but the gold pieces OF %
francs OF Belgium and Switzerland tho
20-llre coin Of Italy, and the gold coins
OF Russia Hungary. and Greece also cr-
culate. and are legal tender. Many peo-
pie. however. arc unable TO decipher the
coins inscribed with Savonic chara ters.
and confusion, and sometimes serious in
convenience, follows. A similar dlfdcul-
" with smaller silver coins OF the Second
Empire, on which the head OF Napoleon
III. is not crowned with the laurel
wreath, stu obtains, although not so fre =
puently as ten years ago,
The official returns Of the French Mint
for 1910 have not yet appeared In any
United States Government publication.
The Director Of the Mint. however. gives
the following valuation OF tile coinage
by France I'm the last six years