Nothing is sacred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not
even the pound sterling. He intimated to the House of Commons, on Friday week, that he was inclined to reduce the bullion in the sove-
reign from l 231 to 122; grains, retaining the one grain saved, or 2d. in the pound, as seignorage. He did not make any proposition, but he expressed a wish that during therecess there should be some discussion of the subject. Ilia argument was that the sovereign, costing as much as it does now, would be just as valuable as it is now, which, as regards internal circulation, is true. But in inter- national business the private dealer would surely lose the two- pence in the pound, unless we can get an international coinage, upon which point, as we have pointed out elsewhere, Mr. Lowe appears to have made a mistake. A very heavy international coinage, say, a bar coin worth £100, might easily be introduced, and would in many ways facilitate business, but the perfect equality of the small gold coins will require a change in the entire currency of all countries, where it is not already based on the same system.
