Copy of a pamphlet [not by Newton] entitled 'Reasons for new-Coyning our Money so as to increase and preserve it, And for paying the Publick Debts'
Reasons for new-Coyning our Money,
so as to increase and preserve it, And for
paying the PublickDebts.
The present Grievances under which we labour are, The great want of Silver-Coyn to carry on Trade, and the heaving Debts, occasion'd by the late War.
It is needless to spend much time to prove, That there is a great scarcity of Silver-Coyn among us, most of our Merchants, and all our Tradesmen feel it; and any person may soo be satisfy'd of the truth hereof, by sending even into the heart of the City to get a few Guineas exchang'd for Silver, though it is much worse in Out-parts; he that now can get a small Bill paid in Silver, esteems it a much greater favour, than a few years ago; he accounted it to be paid a large summe in Gold.
The Reasons of this great scarcity of our Silver-Coyn among us, Notwithstanding all that has been formerly coyn'd in our several Mints, are these following.
We undervalue Silver in the Mint, both with respect to our selves at home, and our neighbours abroad
As to our selves, The Goldsmiths give 5s: 3d an ounce for that very silver, for which the Mint gives but 5s: 2d, The consequences of this are, No Silver goes to the Mint to be coyn'd, And that which has already been Coyn'd at a very great Expence to the Nation, is either carry'd abroad in specie, or melted down at home, to be refined, made coarser, wrought up, or exported in Ingots. Being a penny an Ounce cheaper than the very same Silver can be had any other way; A Refiner formerly thought a farthing an Ounce a sufficient profit in Melting Silver, It must needs therefore be a very great temptation to the Melting down our Silver-Coyn, when he that do's it now, gets a penny an Ounce by it, and sometimes more; And thus it has been, ever since the incouragement ceas'd for carrying Silver to the Mint to be coyn'd. And this Mischief will continue as long as we have any Money left among us, by the melting down of which, such a profit can be made.
As to our Neighbours, it is as plain, That they draw away our Silver from us, Not so much by our putting no value upon the Coynage, As by our making it of less value by coyning; For, before it is coyn'd, it is worth 5s: 3d an Ounce, when coyn'd, it is worth but 5s: 2d, and as soon as ever the Kings Image is defaced in the Melting-pot, it is worth 5s: 3d again.
Of this weakness of our's, Our Neighbours have long made a very great advantage to themselves, Who have abundance of Silver and a flourishing-Trade, which we are distress'd extreamly, by the avarice of some particular persons, who have indeed got great Estates to themselves, out of the ruins of the Publick, by melting down or exporting our Silver-Coyn.
It is much easyer to get English Silver-Coyn in Holland, than in England; Our Crowns and half Crowns are carry'd over thither, notwithstanding our Laws. Because they go for more there, than they will here, and because the Mints there give a profit to all that bring them thither; Whereas, they that carry Silver to our Mint to be coyn'd must lose a penny by every ounce they carry.
None of the Dutch-Money is ever melted down or brought over hither, unless it be by meer accident. Not because of any Law that forbids Melting or exporting it, But, because every one that do's it, knows he loses by so doing.
Our English-Money being seldom weigh'd & (it it appear to be Standard, & coyn'd in the Tower) never suspected, The Iews in Holland have fall'n into the way of washing it, whereby they make to themselves a profit of near 7 per Cent, and return our Money to us so much lighter, though as fair to the Eye as ever it was, notwithstanding the Letters on the Edges; And 'tis very probable, There e're long they will wash away four times as much, if a speedy stop be not put to that pernicious practice. The Clippers formerly when they foudn we would bear our Hammer'd-Money a little clipt, they (doubtless) went over with it again, And though the Dutch-Money is only hammer'd, & very easy to be wash'd or Clipt, Yet, it do's not appear to be in the least diminished, otherwise than by the ordinary wear thereof, The reasons of it's being so spared, are it's coarseness, & it's being sorted, & taken by weight, when receiv'd in any considerable summe.
The Remedys proposed are, To put a value upon our Coynage, to make it an advantage to every one that brings Bullion or Foreign-Coyn to the Mint, and to render it a loss to him that shall melt down, diminish, or Export our Coyn.
If a Bill for this purpose passes, Every one will bring or send Bullion, Wrought-Plate or Foreign-Coyn to the Mint, while there is a profit to be made that way, & when it is once coyn'd, No man in his Wits will melt it down, wash or export it when he knows he shall lose by so doing; There will then be no need of any Law to forbid it, Every Man's Interest being the best security for it's preservation.
It is proposed, that the Money be made of a coarser Alloy than the present standard, about 12 per Cent. That about 2 per Cent thereof be allow'd to him or her that brings Gold or Silver to the Mint; 2 per Cent to defray the charge of Coynage, And the other 8 per Cent towards paying off the Publick-Debts, which will soon ease the subject in the present Taxes, Customs and Excise, reduce the rate of Interest and make Trade flourish.
Here it will be objected, That if we make our Money coarser, Goods will rise in proportion, That is to say, If we put but ii pennyworth of Silver in a Shilling, no Merchant or Tradesman will give us any more than ii pennyworth of Goods for that piece, which we shall then call a Shilling; Or, which is the same thing, Every one that parts with his Goods, will see to it, That he has the intrinsick value thereof in Money.
To this it is answer'd, That as to his Majesty's own subjects, The same Authority that raises the value of our Money on account of the Coynage, in order to increase & preserve it among us, may also if they see it necessary, forbid under very severe Penaltys the advanceing the price of Goods on that account, But it is absolutely necessary to set bounds to the prices of Gold & Silver in Bullion, & in foreign-Coyn brought among us, So that they shall never be so high aas the same Gold & Silver in our Coyn, and though by such a Law, A value will be put on the Workmanship, And Money will be plentyfull, yet other Gold and Silver will remain a Commodity still, & the value of all Goods will naturally rise or fall in proportion to the plenty or scarcity of such Goods, and the Demands there are for them.
If this Objection intends only the subjects of his Majesty, There is nothing at all in it, Because they must take the Coyn as the Law directs, and we find nobody raises the value of their Goods, though they are paid in our Copper Coyn, which is not half the intrinsick value of our Silver, or in six pences that are not so valuable as our Crowns and half Crowns, But, we find a considerable value is put on the Coynage in all other Countreys, particularly in Holland, where the greatest part of their Currant Money is above 16 per Cent worse than our's, and yet it will purchase (within one per Cent) aas much as our's, and quite as much as the best of their own Current Money, And yet, nobody sets a price on his Goods in Holland according to the intrinsick value of the Money he is to be paid in; you may purchase there One hundred ounces of the very finest Silver in Bullion; with 84 Ounces of fine-Silver in their Money; as appears by an exact Assay made at the Tower of London, by one that has been several Months in Holland to look into this affair; And yet there appears as little Counterfeit Coyn in Holland as in England, By this Means the Dutch (and the rest of the Northern-States) draw away our Money more than that of any other Nation, Because all others put a value on the Coynage, Whereas we on the contrary, by our present management, make our Silver less valuable by coyning it, And that has made it (for many years past) so advantageous to the Dutch &ca: to melt down our Money, and recoyn it in their own Mints, And that they have effectually secured from ever returning to us again by making it go for more at home, than it will abroad.
But it will be said, That Foreigners will not take our Money according to the value we put upon it, if we raise it.
To this it is answer'd, That if our Money be rais'd in it's value on account of the Coynage (which indeed no Foreigner will have any regard to) It is the very thing we aim at; Foreigners having for many years past, taken so much of our Coyn, is one of the principal Reasons that we have so little of it left, And it is to be hoped, it will not be thought any disadvantage to us, when a Foreigner carrys away our Goods, & leaves our Money behind him, which is the very case in Holland, and other Countreys, where any considerable value is put on the Coynage; No wise man will bring away Dutch-Money, by which he must lose 16 per Cent, when he can lay out the Money he receives in Holland, in Goods; though by those Goods ('tis probable) he can make but two per Cent; Or, he can there get forreign-Coyn for his Dutch-Money, for about One per Cent loss to him.
But, the mighty Objection remains, And that is, Exchange will rise hereby, And the Merchant that sells Goods abroad for England, will raise the price of his Good{s} in proportion to the advance of our Coyn, because he will have no regard to what new names we give our Money; If he sells us now four hundred Ounces of coarse Silver for a hundred pound Sterling, If in a hundred pound of our new Coyn, we shall have but ninety pounds worth of Silver, then he will tell us, he must have 111li: 2s: 2d in our new Coyn; and so, if we lose the Ballance of Trade, our Money must go abroad, notwithstanding this advance of our Coyn.
Answer: Supposing the Premises to be true, yet the conclusion is wrong, Because, that Foreign-Merchant that has a hundred and eleven pounds two shillings & 2 here by a Bill of Exchange for his 400 Ounces of Foreign-Silver, will order it to be laid out here; For, he knows it will purchase 111li: 2s: 2d worth of Goods here, But, if he carrys it abroad, it will pass for no more than One hundred pounds, Because Our money when sent into another Countrey, is then Foreign, And no Nation will take it abroad for any more than it's intrinsick value, They will have no regard to the Workmanship we bestow on it if it be never so costly, However, to prevent any alteration or puzzle of this nature, the Bill may provide Bullion of the very same value with the Money which we now have, to pay all foreign Bills of Exchange, and that without any change or trouble to the Merchant.
The great scarcity of our Silver-Coyn is not only the occasion of the badness of Trade (for the Consumer is not so free to lay out his money when he has but little, as when he has a plenty,) But this scarcity of Money is also a ruin to the Merchant & Trader, who is hereby obliged to give above six times the Credit that is given in Holland, and other places where Money is plentifull; We give here generally 9, 10 & 12 Months Credit, whereas in Holland they give but six Weeks or twoo Months, And we may easily from hence see, one of the chief Reasons why there are so many Bankrupts and ruin'd Familys here, & so few there, And how it comes to pass That the Dutch can undersell us even in our own Product & Manufactures.
About Seven Months ago, a very great Man discoursing on the scarcity of our Silver-Coyn, said, if we would have patience, There would soon be Silver enough come from the West-Indies, It would be worth while to enquire, how much of that which lately came from thence, has been sent to our Mint, And what Silver has been imported for 15 Year's past, and how much of it has been coyn'd at the Tower, It is to be fear'd, there will be found little or none.
<588r>To the alteration of our Coyn, it has been Objected, That by the Act for the Vnion of the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland Anno Regni quinto Annæ Reginæ, It was enacted that from and after the Vnion, The Coyn shall be of the same standard and value throughout the Vnited Kingdom, as then in England, And a Mint shall be continued in Scotland under the same rules as the Mint in England, and the present Officers of the Mint continued, And therefore no alteration can be made in our Coyn, without breaking the Vnion.
To this is its answer'd, That it is certain, there is such a Clause, But 'tis as certain, that no more could be intended thereby, than that the standard and value of the Money of England and Scotland shall be always the same, For, that very clause, After having said that, says Subject to such Regulations & Alterations, as her Majesty, her heirs or successors, or the Parliament of Great-Britain, shall think fit;
And indeed were the Standard of our Coyn so fixt by the Vnion, That it could not be alter'd, even by a British-Parliament, we might soon happen to be in very distress'd circumstances indeed; For, if any of our Neighbours should have a mind to ruin us, by drawing away our Gold-Coyn, as others have done our Silver, they have no more to do, but to make their Mints considerably the best Market for Gold, And we shall soon miss our Guineas, as much as we now miss our Crowns and Half Crowns, And then all manner of business would be at a full-stop for want of Money to carry it on.
It is said, a Proposal will be made to the House, to lower the price of our Guineas, in order to bring Silver to the Mint.
If that Project be well consider'd, It will be found, not altogether insufficient, but of very dangerous consequences, and must doubtless be opposed by every one, that has any regard to the true interest of his King and Countrey.
Nothing is more evident, Than that all sorts of Goods will find their way to the best Market.
That it is not in the power of the Parliament of Great-Britain to alter the prices of Gold & Silver in Foreign-Markets, though they may do it in their own.
That while we put no value upon the Coinage, Money is no more than a Commodity.
What when we undervalue Gold or Silver in our Coyn, by rating it lower than it is in Bullion (as it is already in our Silver) It it a good Commodity to the Melters & exporters. But not one ounce will be brought to the Mint by any person whatever, that can help it, and that knows what he do's.
That the price of Gold in Bullion here of 22 Karrats fine, is a very small matter under 4li an Ounce to the Seller, and as much above 4li. to the Buyer, And that it is but very little less in Holland.
That the lowering the price of Guineas, will make it an advantage to everybody to melt down, and export them as they do now our Silver-Coyn, For, so much as Gold or Silver in our Coyn is lower than either our own or our Neighbours Market, so much as the difference is, so much every one will get, by melting down or exporting our Money, For instance, Silver in our Coyn is a penny less at home, & 2d. less abroad than Bullion, & so much is got by melting or exporting it. Therefore we are so far from having it brought to the Mint, that we cannot keep that we have; And if we lower Guineas to 21s, then, he that melts them, or exports them, may get 2d an ounce by so doing; but that will not bring one ounce of Silver to our Mints, Because there will still be but 5s. 2d an ounce given for it, and the Markets at home and abroad, will remain as they now are; And can we imagine, any wise man will bring Silver to the Mint, to lose a penny by every ounce he brings, There can be no other reason given why we have Gold voluntarily brought to our Mints, & no Silver, But that the Merchant gains by the one, & loses by the other, & if Guineas are lower'd, he will gain by neither, and then the Mints must stand still.
The lowering the price of Guineas, will not only make them find their way to a better Market, But be a very great loss to his Majesty, to the Bank, and to every one that has Guineas who took them all at 21s & 6d, & expects to pay them away so; & if they are lower'd, abundance of private men that lose so much of their property, will make themselves whole immediately by melting or exporting them, & it will become a very profitable Trade, to those who regard nothing but their own private advantage, as long as there are any Guineas to Melt or export.
