The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1923-01-25
BRITISH SILVER COINS
DECREASE IN F|NENESS
WHY CHANGE WAS MADE AND
ITS EFFECT UPON SILVER
SITUATION.

A correspondent of the Engineering
and Mining Journal Press asks the
following question: would it be ask
ing too much if you could inform me
how much pure silver in proportion
to the amount Of alloy, England is
putting into her coins at the present
time. Also TO what extent she is us
ing silver at present. Is there any
difference in the amount of alloy she
is using now and the amount she used
before the WARP What made the
change necessary"
These questions can best be answer
ed by giving little bit of recent cur
rency history of Great Britain. The
extraordinarily high price of silver in
1919 and the early part of 1920 threat
ener to drive every subsidiary silver
currency in the world, excepting that
of the silver standard countries, out
of circulation. because the various sill
yer coins of the world, from the Am
erican dollar to the Indian rupee
were either worth more as bullion
than as coins or were in great dan
ger of becoming so. The result of
such conditions would be to prevent
the customary circulation of silver
coins and their minting only at a
heavy loss. Alarmed at this situation,
many nations took steps to safeguard
their currencies. The simplest meth
cd of doing this was to decrease the
silver content of the minor coinage,
and action. to that effect was taken by
several countries and was contemplat-
ed at the time by the representatives
OF the United States government.
Cause of Reduction.
A bill to reduce the fineness of Brit.
ish silver coinage was passed in Feb
ruary, 1920. Previously the chancel
lor of the exchequer had stated that
the change was necessary owing to
the unusually high price of silver bull
lion, which had tended to drive the
subsidiary coinage out of circulation
into the melting pot Despite a rapid
and heavy decline in silver during
the remaining months of 1920, the law
was put into effect and for the first
time since the reign of Queen Eliza
beth the fineness of British silver
coins was altered. The reduction low
cred the fineness from 1925 to 500, or
about 46 per cent. In view of the nat
ural conservation of the British this
radical change was startling in its
.suddenness and many persons hoped
that the British government would
give up taking the step. particularly
as every indication then pointed to
lower silver prices. Regardless of the
possibility of a continued fall in price
however, the change was made.
The effect of this large drop in the
silver content of British currency is
to increase greatly the quantity of
silver available for minting purposes
Addition to World Supply.
London bullion brokers estimated
last year that 40 million ounces of sill
yer metal would likely be added to the
worlds supply from this step of the
British government This estimate
was based on the assumption that the
coins minted before 1901 were no
longer in existence, and that up to the
close of 1919 the net issue by the
royal mint amounted to e37O95, 9O5
If all this coin returned to the mint
there would be a surplus of 57,330,O35
fine ounces. The report went on to
state that it is, of course, most I'M
likely that this reflux can take place
in entirety. A certain quantity must
have been exported TO British colon
les and elsewhere, some must have
been lost or destroyed, and a consid-
srable part of that remaining must be
boarded in such a fashion that it will
lot again be in evidence for a gener-
alton or so. Other nations in reduc-
ng the fineness of their currency |
lave contributed to the stock of avail
lble bullion. The situation is an ex-
,ellent illustration of the effect of err
attic and widely fluctuating prices in
he silver market Of tine world.
New Coin Unpopular.
At the present time silver coins
RELY circulate in the British isles. It l.
vas reported soon after the new coins +
f 500 fneness began to circulate
hat they did not meet with much ia
or among the populace. The chief /,
ELECTIONS had to do with the poor ap-
earance of the coins fater they had
cen circulated short while Their
right color was quickly lost and they
ecame unpleasant to the touch. They Z
lso possessed a metallic ring ordin- K
rily associated with spurious coins.
However, no attempt has been made
, return to the older grade of fine
ess. In 1921, the last year for winch '
e have complete statistics, the Brit
III government minted domestic sill {
er coinage, 500 fine to the value of
II. 104. S46.