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Observations on Mr P's Reply
1 On the Argument against Paper Credit taken from the Course of the
Coynage
Mr P (pag 1, 2see 2, 3, 4, 6, 7tTo shew theat decrease of the Coynage has decreased since the rise &
growth of paper credit Mr P. (sec. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7) justifies his assertions that there were Coyned in
silver Communibus Annis about 400000linAnnum from 1640 to 1660,
200000linnAnnum and from 1660 to 1680 & less then 80000linAnnum from
1680 to 1695 These Assertions I disputed not, Except that I affirmed the
400000linnAnnum to be not in silver alone but in gold & silver together.
But I represented that from this decrease of the silver Coynage nothing
could be argued against Paper Credit, & that for these two reasons.
First because Mr. P considers not the whole Coynage of
both Gold & Silver together wchwhich makes our wealth but that of silver
alone For the Coynage of silver from 1640 to 1660 was much
greater then that of gold and now it is much less and this alteration of
the proportion arises not from Paper Credit but from the growing Exportation
of great quantities of silver to the Indies while our gold stays at home,
by reason orour Merchants finding that silver is a better Commodity in the Indies then gold
Secondly because the decrease of the Coynage from 1640 to 1695
was not uniform, as it should seem by Mr P.'s way of arguingrepresentation but had
severall periods of increasing and decreasing according to the vicissitudes
of Peace and war abroad all wchwhich ought to be distinguished and Considered
severally before any thing can be concluded from the Course of the
Coynage. For if the increase & coynage in the reign of K.King Cha. & K.King IJames II increased wthwith paper credit when according to his
recconing it should have decreased, if at other times the decrease of the Coynage arose from
other Causes then Paper credit, then we must not ascribe it yethe increase to paper credit + the decrease not to Paper
credit but to those other causes, & so the argument from the Course of the
Coynage against Paper Credit will vanish. A ForNow the Course of the Coynage
answered to the vicissitudes of Peace and war abroatd after this manner
The Silver Coynage in the latter half of QQueen Elizabeths reign
(after she had recoyned the base money of her Predecessors) & in the first five
years of King IJames was Communibus annis about 70 or 80 thousand pounds
ꝑper AnnAnnum. Then upon a Cessation of arms between the Dutch & Spaniards it fell
suddenly to less then 40 thousand pounds ꝑper AnnAnnum. Afterwards upon renewing yethe
warr & makeing a Peace between England and Spain 1629 it grew greater
then Eever and continued so till yethe end of the warr 1648 the Silver Coynage
being about 440000linnannum and that of both gold and silver together above
600000linnAnnum. Then upon the conclusion of peace between Spain & Holland it fell again & became but yethe 8th or 10th part of what it
was before and continued so for yethe next 18 year being scarce 70000linAnnum
till the Enacting of the Coynage Duty 1666 by wchwhich & yethe flourishing of trade
in yethe Peacefull reigns of Charles II & IJames II & the quick dispatch of business
by Paper Credit, Notwithstanding orour disadvantageous trade wthwith France it
Encreased till it became about 680000linAnnum. And then by the late
war with France & the Consequent decay of Paper Credit and trade
it decreased again Exceedingly. This agreement between yethe Encrease &
decrease of the Coynage and the state of the Nation in respect of peace &
war abroad shews that yethe Coynage has Principally depended on that state. And
if Paper Credit hath had any Effect upon the Coynage it has promoted
it because both increased together till 1690 and afterwards both decreased
together by yethe late French warr
By the ordinary Course of trade yethe Coynage of Gold and
Silver in the last 17 years of yethe reign of KKing IJames yethe 1st scarce Exceeded 40
or 50 thousand pounds ꝑper AnnAnnum. In the reign of KKing Charles yethe 1st it increased
to an Exceeding great height not by the ordinary Course of trade but by our
being in peace while our Neighbours were in war and supplyed themselves
with provisions from England for carrying on that war. aAfter 16487 when
that was ceased and trade returned to its ordinary Course the Coynage
(without recconing the recoyning of the Harp and Cross money) became but
about 68000linAnnum one year with another till the rise and growth of
paper Credit and yethe enacting of yethe Coynage duty 1667 and then in the space of 23 years more
by the Encouragement of that Act and the Encrease of Trade occasioned
by the quick dispatch of business by Paper Credit, the Coynage grew ten
times greater then it was before And therefore Mr P. in his first Paper
seems to have set the argument in a wrong light when he represented
that the Coynage had decreased ever since the rise and growth of Paper
Credit For he there Considers the Coynage of Silver alone and lessens it in yethe reign of K.King Cha. II & K.King Iac. II by
taking a medium between that wchwhich preceded the French warr and ytthat wchwhich was
in the warrin the present reign, whereas if he had considered yethe whole Coynage of both gold
and silver and distinguished between times of Peace and warr, he would
have found the argument from the Coynage to lye altogether in favour of paper
Credit and of yethe Coynage duty Act as I represented in my former paper, the coynage by means of paper Credit & the Coynage Act growing tennthen ever it was before
by the ordinary course of trade, untill the late French warr put a stop to it
But Mr P.But Mr P. (pagsect 18, 19) replysrepresents that if the Coynage Act had tended as
much to yethe securing and keeping of orour Coyn in yethe Nation as it did to Encourage
Coynage the advantage I ascribe to that Act would have been wthwithout Contradiction
but it is well known that yethe success has been otherwise, much of the Coyn
having been melted down and Exported so that the little time of its circulation
scarce made amends for yethe charge of Coynage & yethe Act it self incourageing yethe
Coynage of Gold severall times over and yethe Merchant to Coyn in the dead months
of Exportation wtwhat he intended to Export soon after so that there may be a have been a
great Coynage without any Addition to orour stock. To all wchwhich I answer that trade
like a river wears its self channells from wchwhich afterwards it Cannot easily be diverted That yethe
designe of yethe Coynage Act was to derive yethe Channel of Gold and Silver through yethe English Mint & ytthat if it had
had ytthat Effect in a notable manner as appears by the large coynage, & ytthat this Act was not designed to prevent yethe Melting or Exporting
617
of our moneys and therefore is not to be blamed for not preventing it & that
the quantities of milled monies melted or Exported haveth been nothing near
so great as Mr. P. seems to represent
For as for Guineas there could not be above a third part of them
weighty enough for the cutting trade and all Importers did not cull but many weighty Guineas of K.King Cha. & K.King IJames are still being notwithstanding their being lightned by wearing.. In
my former paper I recconed about th part culled out from melting. If I should say a fifth part yet the residue remaineing in the Nation in the year 1690 would be above five Millions. And so large a stock of Guineas is Confirmed by the plentifull appearance they made when they were at 30s apiece. And that this culling trade may be no more objected against the Coynage Act, tis now stoptceased by the exatct sizing of the monies.
The Milled silver monies of K.King Charles & KKing IJames is at prresent about an 8th. part of the whole Silver coyn (as I find by Examining severall parcells) and therefore in the time of yethe Recoynage of the hammered monies when they first mixed with those moniesnew & old milled monies first mixed, amounted to about a Million. If in the six years preceding the recoynage there wasere about three Millions of silver monies Exported (for so I recconed in my former Paper or if there were 4 or 6 millions Mr P. & I believe Mr P. will readily allow a much greater summ) and if the better half of this was milled money, that being the weightiest, then there was above a million & an half of milled money exported in those six years & thence in the beginning of the year 1690 there was above two Millions and an half of milled silver monies in the nation which added to the five Millions of Gold makes above seaven millions and an half of Gold and Silver monies coyned in the first 23 years of the Coynage Act and remaining in the Nation till the year 1690 besides what was melted down and recoyned or Exported. And tho we should abate a million of this summm (which I see no reason to do) yet the remainder would be so great aan Addition to our stock as abundantly makes good the argument from the Coynage in favour of the Coynage Act & Paper credit.
Yet Mr. P. (pag. 6sect. 13) upon my observing that the Coynage of both gold and silver fell very much soon after the beginning of yethe late warr, represents it as a thing well known that we had coyned but little silver (excepting what came from the wreck) for some years before. And therefore to set right this matter and put it out of dispute that yethe coynage of silver was large as well as that of gold till the beginning of that war, I have subjoyned the Mint accompt of yethe silver Coynage for every four years intercedingfrom the the Recoynage of the Harp and Cross money andtill the late Recoynage of the old hammered money.
There were coyned in the Tower in silver milled monies
li
s
d
From Mar. 31 1664 to Decem. 21 1667
196305.
13.
10
From Dec. 31 1667 to Decem. 21 1671
425856.
12.
11
From Dec. 31 1671 to Decem. 21 1675
625860.
19.
01
From Dec. 31 1675 to Decem. 21 1679
1044235.
09.
01
From Dec 21 1679 to Dec: 21 1683
549620.
14.
00
From Dec 21 1683 to Dec 21 1687
458877.
14.
11
{
From Dec 21 1687 to Dec 21 1688
76230.
14.
01
From Dec 21 1688 to Dec 21 1689
96572.
19.
01
Total coyned in yethe 26 yeares before yethe French war
3473561.
17:
00
Coyned
from Dec 21 1689 to Dec 21 1690
1994.
11.
10
From Dec 21 1690 to Dec 21 1691
3730.
13.
10
From Dec 21 1691 to Dec 21 1695
13658.
11.
07
Total Coyned in yethe first six years of the war
19383.
17.
03
By this Accompt it appears there was coyned in the 22 years of the Coynage Act from Dec 21 1667 when the Coynage Act began to operate, to Dec 21 1689, the summ of 3277256. 3. 2 wchwhich abating by EstimaconEstimation about half a Million for yethe wreck (for I have now forgot how much the wreck was vallued at) is after yethe rate of 126000li ꝑper AnnAnnum one year with another. And this Coynage notwithstanding the growing exportation of silver to the Indies held without any Considerable abatement till yethe beginning of yethe French war & there fell at oncein one year to two or three thousand pounds ꝑper AnnAnnum wchwhich is less then the 20th part of what it was at the beggining of that war before. And Or to speak more truly, the coynage wchwhich arose from over ballance of trade ceased that year. For the 3 or 4 thousand pounds prper anannum coyned afterwards were not imported by the Merchant but bought wthwith yethe Coynage Duty by the MrMaster of the Mint.
I have heard it represented that in China Gold is esteemed worth about 10 times itits weight in Silver and that in a parcell of Gold of about 10 or 12 pound weight brought from China last summer the profit was about 60 ꝑper Cent. But if wthwith Mr P. (sect 11) we say that yethe profit of Exporting silver to the Indies is but 25 ꝑper Cent more then ytthat of Exporting Gold, tis a sufficient Encouragement to the Merchant to Export Silver rather then Gold and yet the surplus of their large Exportations made a Coynage of Silver
I do not say that orour coynage of gold has sensibly increased by the exportation of silver to purchase it, as Mr P. (sect 11) seems to understand me. I know but of one parcel of Gold of about 10 or 12 poudn weight wchwhich has been brought hither from TheBut rest has I say that there have been large exportations of silver
of above 120000 ꝑper AnnAnnum wchwhich is more then double to what it had ever been by the ordinary Course of Trade before yethe growth of Paper Credit and Enacting of the Coynage duty. in the least seaven years of KKing IJames the I the silver Coynage amounted to 102981li. 9s. 8d. wchwhich is after the rate of about 15000li ꝑper AnnAnnum In the 19 years from yethe death of KKing Charles I to the end of the first year off the Coynage Act Dec 231 1667 it amounted to 922945li besides the 100000li for Dunkirk and this is after yethe rate of almost 50000li ꝑper annannum But in the next 22 years by yethe joynt operation of yethe Coynage Act and Paper Credit it amounted on year with another to above 170000li ꝑper annannum wchwhich great encrease shewes that yethe Mint Accompts wchwhich Mr P. in his first paper principally appeals to against paper Credit makes highly for that credit as well in the coynage of Silver as in that of Gold, notwithstanding that the Indies wasdid swepep away yethe greatest part of orour silver Bullion