DECIMAL CURRENCY.
iTo THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR." 1 SIE,—In the Spectator of 9th November you say, in a note to a letter on "A Universal Money," that a decimal system with the pound sterling as the unit would be a great obstacle to the internationalisation of money. I do not think any other unit than the pound will ever be practicable, and I wish to point out that we are at present very near to the internationalisation of money with France, which means with a great part of Europe. The weight of the sovereign is about twopence more than that of 25 francs in gold ; the exact difference is 222 pence, or as nearly as possible twopence and two-ninths. I would propose to reduce its weight to that of 25 francs exactly, and to charge the odd 222 pence to the person bringing gold to be coined; and, as this would be much in excess of the actual expenses of the Mint, to keep the excess as a fund out of which to replace worn coins with coins of full weight. Were the sovereign thus made the exact equivalent of 25 francs, four shillings would be the exact equivalent of five francs, and every French coin, and every British coin down to the sixpence, would be easily and exactly expressible in the money of the other nation.
I submitted these views, in more detail, to the Dublin Statistical Society last December, and my communication has been printed in its Journal.—I am, Sir. &e.
[Mr. Murphy should read Mr. Bagehot's pamphlet. The objections to his scheme are stated there very forcibly, and appear to us final.—En. Spectator.]
Previous page
