Bible Encyclopedias
Money

7. Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals in their Economic Aspects

In considering various monetary questions it is essential to have some acquaintance with the economic aspects of the production of gold and silver. The first point to which attention may be directed is the field over which production extends. At one time or other these two metals have been found in every continent. Asia Minor in early times possessed its goldfields, or rather auriferous sands. Ceylon also undoubtedly contained gold-mines. China and India both produced silver to a considerable extent. Egyptian remains show that gold was commonly known in that country, probably procured from Nubia and Abyssinia. On the opposite side of Africa, too, the name of Gold Coast shows that that metal was thence exported. The mines of Laurium in Attica were a source of supply to the Athenians, and were worked as a state monopoly. At an earlier date the Babylonian and Assyrian empires had each accumulated large stores of gold. The Phoenician importations of gold from the Red Sea coasts (Ophir) are known from Scripture. The Persian kings from the time of Darius levied tribute on all their provinces - in gold from India, in silver from the remaining districts, the larger part of which was stored up in the royal treasuries. This tendency of despotic rulers to accumulate treasure had all through ancient history important effects on the economic structure of society. At present it is quite natural to assume that the materials of money are distributed by means of international trade, and tend to keep at an equal level all the world over - an assumption which is in general well grounded, though an important exception exists. Ancient history presents a widely different set of forces in operation. Gold and silver were produced by slaves under the pressure of fear, and were drawn towards the ruling parts of the great empires; in a word, war, not commerce, was the distributing agency. From this condition of affairs it is easy to see that, whatever may be the reasons for assigning to cost of production a potent influence over the value of money in modern times (and grounds have been already advanced for the belief that its influence has been exaggerated), no such reasons then existed. The production of the precious metals was carried on in similar manner to the great buildings and other works of those periods, on non-economic grounds, and therefore produced quite different effects. The whole history of the Persian monarchy to its overthrow by Alexander (330 B.C.) shows that the hoarded mass of the precious metals continued constantly to increase. On the capture of Persepolis by the Grecian army an enormous treasure was found there, some estimates placing it as high as 120,000 talents of gold and silver (£27,600,000). All the temples, too, were receptacles for the precious metals, so that the stock accumulated at about 300 B.C. must have been very great. The only causes which tended to diminish the store were the losses arising from wars, when the various treasuries were liable to be plundered and their contents dispersed. There was therefore a more unequal distribution of the material of money than at present. The growth of the Roman dominion led to important results, since under their rule the Spanish mines were developed and became a leading source of supply. The great masses of treasure set towards Rome, so that it became the monetary centre of the world. The overthrow of the republican government and the peace which followed also affected the conditions of production. The inefficiency of the Roman administration made it advantageous to let out the mines to farmers, who worked them in a wasteful and improvident manner, while the supply of slaves was reduced, thus depriving the lessees of their principal agency for carrying on production. The result was a continuous decline in the store of money. W. Jacob has made an attempt to estimate the amount at the death of Augustus (A.D. 14), and arrives at the conclusion that it was £358,000,000. (Precious Metals, i. 225.) Without placing much value on this necessarily conjectural estimate, it is safe to assume that this period marked the highest point of accumulation.

The succeeding centuries exhibit a steady decline, though it is of course impossible to attach any value to even the most carefully guarded numerical estimates. The phenomenon which has since so often attracted notice - the drain of the precious metals to the East - began at this time, and was a subject of complaint by the Roman writers, while the stock of gold and silver being thrown into general circulation suffered from abrasion, and was more likely to be lost than when stored up in the royal treasure-houses and temples. These causes tended to depress the scale of prices, while the barbarian invasions produced a strong effect on the supply by drawing off the mining population and damaging the various erections used for working the mines. The conjectural estimate is that about A.D. 800 the total supply had been reduced to £33,000,000 (or about oneeleventh of what it had been at the death of Augustus). A new period in the history of gold and silver production may be fixed at this date. The Moors, now firmly established in Spain, began to reopen the mines in that.country which had been allowed to fall into disuse. Other European mines also were opened, notably those of Saxony and the Harz Mountains, as well as the Austrian mines - the chief medieval sources of supply. The international system of currency, based on the pound of silver as a unit, which was introduced by Charlemagne, must have tended to economize the wear of the metals. We may therefore conclude that from this date (A.D. 800) the supply was sufficient to counteract the loss by wear and exportation, and accordingly regard the metallic supply as fixed in amount until the next change in the conditions of production, which was the result of the discovery of America. Though 1492 is the date of the first landing, yet for some time no important additions were made to the supply of money. The conquest of Mexico (1519) gave opportunities of working the silver-mines of that country, while the first mines of Chile and Peru were almost simultaneously discovered, and in 1545 those of Potosi were laid open. From this latter date we may regard the American supply as an influential factor in causing a continuous increase in the stock of money. The annual addition to the store of money has been estimated as £2,100,000 for the period from 1545 to 1600. At this date the Brazilian supply began. The course of distribution of these fresh masses of the precious metals deserves some notice. The flow of the new supplies was first towards Spain and Portugal, whence they passed to the larger commercial centres of the other European countries, the effect being that prices were raised in and about the chief towns, while the value of money in the country districts remained unaltered. The additions to the supply of both gold and silver during the two centuries1600-1800continued to be very considerable; but, if Adam Smith's view be correct, the full effect on prices was produced by 1640, and the increased amount of money was from that time counterbalanced by the wider extension of trade. At the commencement of the 19th century the annual production of gold had been estimated as being from £2,500,000 to £3,000,000. The year 1809 seems to mark an epoch in the production of these metals, since the outbreak of the revolts of the various Spanish dependencies in South America tended to check the usual supply from those countries, and a marked increase in the value of money was the consequence. During the period 1809-1849 the value of gold and silver rose to about two and a half times its former level, notwithstanding fresh discoveries in Asiatic Russia, which became considerable from 1823. The annual yield in 1849 was estimated at £8,000,000. The next important date for our present purpose is the year 1848, when the Californian mines were opened, while in 1851 the Australian discoveries took place. By these events an enormous mass of gold was added to the world's supply. The most careful estimates fix the addition during the years1851-1871at£50o,000,000, or an amount nearly equal to the former stock in existence. The problems raised by this phenomenon have received careful study. The main features of interest may be briefly summed up. (1) The additional supply was almost entirely of gold, thus tending to produce a distinction between the two principal monetary metals and an alteration in the currency of bimetallic countries. Under this influence France, from being a silverusing, became a gold-using country. (2) The contemporaneous development of the continental railway systems, and the partial adoption of free trade, with the consequent facilities for freer circulation of commodities, led to the course of distribution being different from that of the 16th century. The more backward districts were the principal gainers, and a more general equalization of prices combined with a slight elevation in value was the outcome. (3) The increased supply of gold rendered a general currency reform possible, and made the use of a gold monometallic standard appear feasible. The movements for currency reform, as will be seen, all arose after these discoveries. (4) The change in the value of money, which may for the period1849-1869be fixed at 20%, enabled a general increase of wages to be carried out, thus improving the condition of the classes living on manual labour. It may be added that the difficulty of tracing the effects of this great addition to the money stock is a most striking proof of the complexity of modern economic development. (5) The last point to be noticed is the very small influence exercised on the value of silver by the new gold. The gold price of silver in London rose only from 594 d. per oz. to 622d. per oz. - i.e. between 4 and 5%. Hardly had the gold discoveries of1848-1851ceased to produce a decided effect when new silver mines of unusual fertility came into working. During the period immediately succeeding the gold discoveries the production of silver remained at an annual amount of from £8,000,000 to £9,000,000. This amount suddenly, about 1870, increased to £15,000,000, and remained at that amount for the next five years. More than half of the supply came from new mines opened in Nevada. This increased supply was accompanied by a marked depreciation in the gold price of silver, though the prices of commodities in countries having a silver standard did not rise. The disturbances resulting from the combined effect of the new silver and the diminution in the annual output of gold which began about 1870 and continued for nearly twenty years were the cause of much controversy and led to the propounding of novel monetary theories. Bimetallism came into prominence; and the modes of relieving trade depression caused by the fall in prices were keenly discussed. Before any monetary adjustment took place the situation again changed in consequence of a renewal of the Australian gold production, soon followed by the great gold discoveries in South Africa. The annual output of gold, which had fallen below £20,000,000, in 1884 rose rapidly to £60,000,000, and in 1908 reached the prodigious figure of over £80,000,000, with the prospect of still larger yields in the near future. By this change the difficulties that had led to the agitations for " free silver " in the United States, and for " international bimetallism " in Europe and in India were removed, showing the close connexion between the production of the precious metals and the economic, especially the monetary, policy of all periods.

The modes of consumption of the precious metals - under which their use is included - are of equal importance with those of their production. Classed roughly, they come under three heads, viz. (1) their use as merchandise, (2) their use as money, (3) the " drain" to the East. With regard to the first, though precise data are not available, it may be said with some confidence that the demand for personal use tends, after society has made some progress, to decline in strength. The desire for adornment is not a keen one with most civilized persons; and, so far as it exists, is gratified in other ways than by using silver or gold. For purposes of manufacture their use is large and increasing. The second head is that with which we are principally concerned. It is evidently connected with the need for metallic currency; and this again depends on the level of prices and the monetary organization, including in the latter the banking system. Currency requirements still form the largest part of the demand for the precious metals. Under the third head a remarkable exception to the tendency towards the equal diffusion of the precious metals is presented. For nearly two thousand years the movement of silver from west to east has been noticed. Humboldt has made the ingenious remark that the course of these metals is in the opposite direction to that of civilization, and history supports his view. During the middle ages the chief Eastern products used in Europe were luxuries, such as silk and spices, and silver was sent from Europe to pay for them. Eastern trade increased, owing to the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, and the flow of silver became greater. Special circumstances have from time to time influenced the movement. Thus, the new supplies of gold in the middle of the last century caused by their action on the bi-metallic currencies of Europe an acceleration in the flow, the amount exported between1851-1862reaching filo,000,000. To this drain of silver a more recent one of gold has been added. India takes year by year a considerable amount of gold bars, which may in the future have a monetary use, but up to the present appear to be hoarded or used for ornament. With the complete reconstruction of Eastern currencies that now seems probable there may come a decided change in the character of the demand. Another influencing condition is also undergoing change; the tendency to fix prices on a customary basis is bound to yield to the pressure of competition. The inevitable result will be to make the price level alter with each influx of money, and thus to limit the demand for bullion through the action of the exchanges.

One of the technical features of the production of the precious metals should be noted, in consequence of its economic effect. Gold has more frequently been found near the surface; silver is usually obtained by deep mining. It follows that the amount of the former metal produced depends more on accidental circumstances, in contrast to that of silver, which is affected by the standard of mining skill. The mines of Nevada were exceptional in their possessing both metals and in nearly equal value. The gold-mines of South Africa have come to be worked at deep levels and therefore are technically in the same class as silver ones. In fact, there is a pronounced tendency all the world over towards the system of capitalistic working.

8. Review of the History of Some Important Currencies. - Monetary theory requires to be elucidated by the constant reference to history; just as in turn the history of currency has to be interpreted by the aid of general principles. Each country has its peculiar problems, which call for special treatment; though at the same time there is no way of avoiding the operation of those economic conditions and forces that are to be found in all countries. The first decisive fact that emerges from the vast material presented by the history of money is the tendency at most periods towards deterioration. In the time of purely metallic currency debasement is the most serious danger; when representative money has come into being extravagant issues of paper are chosen as the readiest way of evading the limits of a sound currency. It is perhaps too extreme to say that monetary history is altogether made up of accounts of debasements and over-issues. The truth is better expressed in the proposition that there has been a constant struggle between the influences that make for deterioration and those that give support to the maintenance of a good currency condition. There is also the cheering circumstance that in spite of much popular ignorance there has on the whole been a steady improvement in the treatment of monetary systems. Expert knowledge has more effect in the later than in the earlier periods. The crude expedients of the Tudors would not be tolerated in modern England. There is much fuller recognition of the danger of over-issue in paper money; and this is accompanied by greater care in the treatment of credit institutions in their relation to the modern media of circulation. It is also noteworthy that mere popular agitation has lost a great deal of its power, as shown in the failure of both the " soft money " and the " free silver " movements in the United States. On the other hand the tendency to accept scientific methods is illustrated in the treatment of the Indian currency question.

Greek Currencies

As already noticed the political conditions of Greek life supplied a varied field for monetary experiments. Unfortunately the details are very incompletely known, and the subject of Hellenic money has not been sufficiently studied from the economic side. Certain broad facts are prominent. The Athenian use of silver as the standard substance, coupled with the later employment of gold to serve for an extra or commercial currency, is a characteristic feature. The alteration of the standard by Solon appears in the light of an exceptional revolutionary expedient. It amounted to the creation. of a new standard unit - the Attic - which was imitated by other states, e.g. Corinth. Only one doubtful instance of debasement can be found in the subsequent history of Athens. This honesty in respect to the monetary standard seems on the whole to have prevailed in the Greek states. Some despots, as Dionysius, issued adulterated coins, but these were isolated cases. The use of gold and silver in an amalgam, known as electrum, was an admissible device; it, however, had the evil effect of suggesting the use of poorer alloys.

Roman Money

The history of money in Rome is rather different. Beginning with copper, the currency was changed into a double standard one by the introduction of silver (269 B.C.). Gold came in for commercial use with the extension of the Roman dominions, and copper was reduced to a token coinage. In the stress of the Punic Wars debasement was one of the financial devices of the magistrates. The conquest of the Greek territories brought about the regulation of their currencies. Silver was prescribed as the money substance. The establishment of the empire led to the definite concentration of the right of coining in the sovereign; though concessions were made in various localities, where the smaller coinages were allowed to continue. But the principal interest of the money of the Roman Empire is due to the remarkable way in which it illustrates the tendency of despotic and bureaucratic rule to lower the condition of good administration. A long course of debasement is the characteristic aspect of the currency system. " Under the empire," we are told, " the history of the silver coinage is one of melancholy debasement. The most extensive frauds in connexion with money were perpetrated by the Romans." The gold aureus, which in the time of Augustus was one forty-fifth of a pound, was under Constantine only one seventy-second of a pound. The alloy in the silver coins gradually rose to three-fourths of the weight. Plated coins came into extensive use. The practice of debasement was in accordance with the theories of the jurists, who seem to have regarded money as simply the creature of the state, i.e. the personal ruler.

Medieval Money

After the overthrow of the Western Empire, though the invaders were in the condition of what has been called " natural economy," the state in which money has not come into being, they soon were disposed to carry on the Roman tradition, and their rulers adopted some form of silver currency. With the temporary revival of the empire under Charlemagne there comes the effort to found a general standard money on the basis of the silver pound. From this new starting-point it is possible to trace the course of some of the leading currency systems of Europe. For purposes of illustration it will be sufficient to sketch the movements in England and France, which are typical of the general course of monetary development. The systems of these countries are moreover remarkable (1) in the contrasts that they present to each other, and (2) in the widespread influence that they have exercised on the monetary arrangements of other nations.

English Monetary History

The English currency begins with the pound of silver (troy weight) as the standard unit, subdivided into 20 shillings, each containing 12 pennies. The only coin at first in use was the silver penny. This system, in force before the Conquest, is the direct descendant of the Carlovingian system, and it continued without change until about 1276, when a slight depreciation was introduced by coining the pound into 243 pennies, instead of the original 240. This was the first of a series of changes, generally in the direction of lowering the weight of the coin. Two periods are remarkable for the operation of this tendency, viz. (1) the reign of Edward I., when the silver was debased by 20% in the period 1344-1351; and (2) the close of the reign of Henry VIII. and that of Edward VI., 1543-1552. In this short space of ten years the expedient of degrading the quality of the coinage by bringing the alloy up to three-fourths of the mass was practised for the only time in English history. The substitution of the pound troy for the Tower pound in 1527 was accompanied by a lowering in weight which far exceeded the gain from the higher weight of the new pound (5760 instead of 5400 grains). The reformation of the silver coinage under Elizabeth (1560), and its definite settlement in 1601 on the basis of coining 62 shillings from the pound troy also deserve mention. Turning to the gold currency, we find some gold pennies issued in 1257, probably in imitation of the issue of the Italian cities, which were due to the opening of eastern trade and the example of the Greek Empire, which had ..always retained its gold currency. The regular series of English gold coins begins in 1343, when Edward III. ordered the coinage of florins - the title is significant - at 50 to the Tower pound. The " noble " soon followed. The " sovereign " was first issued in 1489. But gold was treated as a commercial money, to be used as subsidiary to the standard silver. Its value was therefore varied from time to time to meet the difficulty that local bimetallism is certain to cause, in consequence of the undervaluing of one or other metal. During the 17th century the most noticeable monetary events are: the proposals for depreciation, of which the most remarkable was that of W. Lowndes (1652-1724), for lowering the standard by some 25%; the introduction of the guinea as the leading gold coin, and the frequent readjustment of the values of the two metals by proclamation. The great recoinage of 1696, carried out on the principles advocated by Locke, reformed the silver currency. In the 18th century the establishment of the guinea at 21s. by Newton's advice made the adoption of gold as the standard inevitable, since it was overvalued in an appreciable degree. The position of gold as the practical standard is clearly recognized by Adam Smith (1776) and is regarded as settled by Ricardo (1809). The full legal establishment of the present metallic currency took place in 1816, when the guinea made way for the present pound or " sovereign," and silver was formally reduced to the level of a token coinage, being slightly lowered by the coinage of the pound of silver into 66 shillings. Thus, by a course of development extending over 700 years, the English currency has been transformed from a crude silver standard system into one resting on gold, but employing both silver and representative money for the greater part of the actual work.

French Money: its Development

Though the monetary system of Charlemagne soon disappeared in Germany and Italy, it con tinued in the part of his empire that became France. The extreme confusion of the time of his successors enabled the feudal lords to claim the right of coinage. No less than 150 seigneurs are said to have exercised this power at the accession of the first Capet. With the growth of the royal authority the freedom of private coining was restricted, in order to reserve to the Crown the profitable right of seigniorage. Unfortunately the legitimate profit from this source was not sufficient to satisfy the wants of the royal treasury. Therefore French monetary history is marked by a long series of debasements, extending from the time of Philip I. to that of Louis XV. (1060-1774). In sharp contrast to English policy the tampering with the currency was persistent, so that Louis IX. was looked on as quite exceptional. " In later days his management of the royal mint was always appealed to as the equitable standard for the observance of his successors." Yet in his time the livre had been debased to less than one-fourth of its primitive level. The Hundred Years' War presented the occasion for still further degradation. At the accession of Louis XI. (1461) the livre had been brought down to one-fifteenth of its original value. The 16th century is equally an age of depreciation, no less than nineteen occurring between 1497 and 1602. Again, in contrast to the English system, the absolute monarchy continued the process of debasing the standard under Louis XIV., and the livre was only one-half what it had been under Henri IV. At the Revolution the decline had proceeded so far that the livre had been reduced to one seventy-eighth of its primitive value. The new spirit of reform produced an entire change. The franc was substituted for the livre at the equation: 80 francs, 81 livres. In fact, until the establishment of constitutional government the French people had to depend on popular violence to procure any temporary reform in their currency. Since the Revolution the course of development has been essentially orderly and regular. All through the time of the ancien regime silver was the principal money and the standard, as the use of the word " argent " as a synonym for money shows. Just as England got a gold currency by overvaluing gold, so did France get a silver one by overvaluing silver. Indeed, it may be said that the different ratios chosen by the two countries necessarily caused a reciprocal drain, affording a good example of the action of local bimetallic systems with different ratios between the two metals. A further result from the comparison of the systems of England and France is the greater maturity of the former. England gained an honest currency before France; she led the way in the adoption of the gold standard, while in her treatment of representative money she has held as decided a priority. The difference in economic conditions in the nations in part explains the contrast. There is no doubt that in both cases a high degree of development has been reached. Finally, it should be remarked, that as England has worked out in practice the system of " composite legal tender," so has France, with its monetary allies, been the first to show effectively the operation of the " limping standard " (etalon boiteux). Each nation has thus supplied a type, which recent monetary changes give evidence of having been used as the pattern for other less advanced countries.

9. Some General Questions respecting the Constitution of Money. - The consideration of the history of currency systems naturally suggests the general problems that the more advanced countries have had to encounter. Of these, some may be described as formal, i.e. they relate to the arrangement and the definition of coinage and standards. Others are in essence issues of principle involving the most complicated theoretical doctrines, on which there is even yet sharp differences of opinion between competent students of economics. In some instances an intermediate class may be found, e.g. the question of subdivision of the coins does raise some difficult matters of application; though it clearly belongs of right to the group of formal questions. But the distinction is a valid one. Whether a country should adopt the " gold standard " or prefer a " bimetallic " standard is obviously very different from the elementary points about units and the different classes of coins. We will therefore begin by noticing some of the characteristics that are found in all modern currencies and some of which are implied in the idea of money. Thus it is true that every currency system must be based on a standard unit of value which consists of a "fixed quantity of some concrete substance defined by reference to the units of weight or space." The English unit, for example, is the pound, which consists of a definite quantity of gold (123.27447 grs. standard fineness) while the French unit is the franc (composed of 5 grammes of silver nine-tenths fine). It is not necessary, though it is usually the case, that there shall be a coin corresponding to the standard unit, all that is needed is that the current coins shall be multiples or submultiples of the unit, or at the least easily reducible to it. The Portuguese rei is too small to be coined, and the pound of silver that formed the unit of the early English and French currencies was too large. Quite distinct from both the actual coins and the unit of value is the money of account, though in practice it is usually identical with one of them. In Russia in early times the rouble was an imaginary money of account not coined, while the copper copeck was the unit of value. Connected with the distinction between the coins and the unit is the highly important one between standard and token money, the former being of full power for discharging debts, and in the case of most systems only of equal value to the metal out of which it is made, while the latter is rated at a nominal value higher than that of its material. The silver and copper coinage in England and the smaller coins in the Latin union are only tokens; in the case of English silver coins, the cost value is less than 40% of the nominal one. The French tokens are made of inferior fineness (835 per 1000) to the full tender silver. Two restrictions are applied to token issues: (1) they are only legally available to discharge small debts - in England silver is limited to the payment of 40s.; (2) they can be coined only by the permission of the state. Thus in England the Bank of England is the state agent for the silver coinage. The limitations are evidently required to prevent the expulsion of standard money, and to avoid the flooding of the circulation with coinage that is not needed for the purpose of the limited exchanges to which it is confined. Intermediate between standard and token currency are those forms of coinage that are free from the first limitation, but restricted by the second. They have this further point of resemblance to tokens in that their nominal value is higher than that of their material - the French 5-franc pieces and the Indian rupees are prominent examples. Similarly, the analogy between representative money and token money is deserving of attention, and suggests the desirability of the latter being regarded as in some respects a fiduciary issue, for which the issuing authority incurs responsibility.

A class of considerations already referred to (§ 5) requires explicit notice here, viz. the influence of popular sentiment on the character and forms of a country's currency. The fact that money has to circulate amongst all classes of society makes it indispensable that it should be suited to the wants and even the prejudices of the users. Many curious instances of preferences for particular coins or special forms of paper money can be given. The Austrian Maria Theresa dollar of 1780 is a favourite on the African coasts and has been frequently reissued for use there. Reasons of convenience and of security combine with sentiment; as in the determined rejection of the U.S. " greenbacks " by the inhabitants of California during the inconvertibility of that currency. Recognition of the desires and tastes of the community is almost essential in carrying out any monetary reform. It is only by building on the habits and customs that have become established that improvements in the monetary system can be effectively completed. Not only is this careful observance of the disposition of the mass of society expedient; there is still greater need for taking account of the methods and interests of those sections of the business world that deal specially with money. A currency change that was bitterly opposed by the banking interest would certainly be difficult to introduce in either England or the United States; traders have great influence as to the forms of money that they will accept and facilitate the use of. In another aspect the study of the interest of dealers in the arrangement of the monetary system presents itself. One of the features that caused much surprise in the infancy of economic study was the disappearance of good coins from the circulation, while inferior ones remained in use indefinitely. To the first observers there seemed to be something perverse in the preference apparently shown towards debased or worn coins. In business transactions inferior articles are taken only at a lower price. The explanation is easily understood, when furnished; it consists in stating the difference between a commodity which is sought for its use, and money which is taken as merely a medium of exchange. Provided that coin is not too bad for further circulation it will be accepted without difficulty. Still less will there be any trouble if the difference is only in the relative value of two metals, such as silver and gold. The great majority of any population will give and take money without particularly observing it. It is enough if the coin conforms to the usual type. There exists, however, in all mercantile communities a class of dealers in money, who make a profit by selecting the best coins for exportation, or if two metals are in concurrent use, the coins of that metal which is undervalued in the proportion fixed. In the case of inconvertible paper issues the withdrawal is also for the purpose of hoarding to secure the profit expected when there is a high premium on bullion. The action of self-interest under these conditions produces an effect which has been briefly formulated in the statement " that bad money tends to drive out good money." The proposition has been styled " Gresham's Law " (q.v.). Abundant illustrations of its working are available. The establishment of the English gold currency and the French silver one in the 18th century, already mentioned (§ 8), is an effective one. Quite as good is the transition of France from the silver to the gold currency form after the great gold discoveries of the middle of the 19th centur y. In truth it may be said that most of the monetary transitions have been due to the operation of the force indicated in Gresham's Law. The importance of the law lies in the warning that it gives against the attempt to reform a degraded currency by the issue of better money. Such " operations of the mint are," in Adam Smith's. judgment, " somewhat like the web of Penelope." The caution holds equally in respect to the reform of a depreciated paper currency or to an effort to force an undervalued metal into circulation. The success of so many monetary reforms in the last forty years. has been in great measure due to the better appreciation of the working of the principle. Its aid can also be obtained by setting up the suitable conditions; while it can be counteracted through the use of the principle of limitation, so clearly expounded by Ricardo. Some of the constituent parts of the French and American currencies rest altogether on the maintenance of an overvalued coinage, along with one of higher value by the limitation of the quantity of the former to the amount that can be employed without expelling the remaining part of the circulating medium from monetary use.

Another part of the structure of any currency is the scale on which its accounts, and by consequence the degrees of its coins, are arranged. The pound, the shilling, and the penny in the older English system represented so many grades in the subdivision of value. All other currencies have the same need for divisions. The simplest scale would be what is called the " binary "; in which each coin is the half of the next higher, and double the one immediately below it. Most actual systems have series of coins on the binary scale. The penny, the halfpenny, the farthing; the 4s. piece, the florin, the shilling, the sixpence, the threepenny; at a higher level the sovereign, the half-sovereign, the crown, the halfcrown, are English examples. The Latin and Scandinavian unions, as also Germany and the United States, have several binary coinage: series. But no country adopts a purely binary scale. England in part retains the old " duodecimal " division in the relation of the shilling and the penny. Nearly all civilized nations have come to accept the system of Decimal Coinage, though in their actual. currencies they admit certain divergences from the strict decimal. system. The convenience of having the monetary scale of accounts in accordance with the arithmetical scale will probably secure the ultimate victory of the decimal system everywhere, in spite of the objections to it on the ground of its having only two factors2 and 5 - as against the larger number of the duodecimal scale (2, 3, 4 and 6). The immense trouble involved in altering accounts and the difficulty of overcoming the hostility to change felt by the ordinary members of the community are the obstacles that prevent the adoption of the decimal system in England.

Connected with the composition of a currency and the scale on. which it is based is the question of its relation to other currencies. From a very early time the conception of a money that should not be confined by a political limit appears to have existed. In fact until the state took over the control of money its more important. forms had a wide diffusion. The talent, equated to the ox, is a prominent instance. Even when the city-state provided its particular coinage we can still perceive the circulation of the better coinages outside their legal area. The effect on the Greek currencies. has been noted above (§ 8). Under the Roman hegemony and the empire that arose out of it there was the equivalent of an inter - national currency in the wide circulation of the coinages adopted from the conquered states. Such coins as the drachma and the denarius were of general use in the then civilized world. In later times the Carolingian silver currency for a short period supplied an international medium, which vanished in the confusion of the middle ages. Owing to the rise of national governments money became a national distinction peculiar to each state. It is only in the last sixty years that the idea of international money has been revived in a practical form. Unfortunately the revival was speedily checked by the reaction in favour of nationalism that followed the Franco-German War (1870-71) and by the controversies as to, the proper standard. (See Bimetallism and Monetary Conferences for further discussion of this topic.) I o. Typical Currency Systems: their Evolution and Governing Principles. - At first sight it appears that the systems of currency are almost infinite in their variety. They have grown up in different nations under the influence of local conditions and reflect the customs of the particular society. But, underlying these superficial differences, there are certain general principles that permit of a grouping into a small number of clearly marked types. The classification, though resting on logical grounds, is very largely in conformity with the course of historical development..

Better forms have come into being as social progress has become more pronounced; and further improvement may be expected in the future. The condition of things when money is coming into being is characterized by the weighing or measuring of the substances used for aiding the course of exchanges. It has therefore been called the system of " currency by weight." In strictness, it is better regarded as the stage before the introduction of real money; and thus outside the field of currency systems proper. The simplest system of currency seems to be that in which the state coins ingots of different metals and allows them to circulate without assigning any ratio for their respective values. Such an inconvenient form is not likely to be of long continuance; but it has sometimes arisen at a later time through the introduction of foreign coinages. Holland at the end of the 16th century, Turkey down to the present day may be given as countries approaching this state. The title of " currency by tale " is Jevons's apt denomination for such a currency system. The next form in logical order is that in which a single metal is definitely appointed as the sole standard money. In early ages this is the most natural arrangement, and it has, therefore, been widely adopted. Silver has been the metal generally used in this way; as the instances previously given (§ 8) prove. The title of " single legal tender " system is the obvious one for this form. With the growth of transactions a difficulty soon presents itself. If the chosen metal is not of high value it is cumbrous for making large payments; if on the other hand its value is high, it is unsuitable for use in small transactions. Hence there almost inevitably follows the use of other metals, which are better suited for certain particular uses. Thus silver is at once too heavy and too light. To pay r000 in silver at its present value would take Boo lb troy, while a silver penny would be under the convenient limit of size. Partly for these reasons, but also to a large extent through the persistence of currency by tale, we find that along with the standard money other kinds are brought into or retained in use. Copper long survives beside silver; and gold is employed for the more important commercial transactions. Public convenience leads to the valuation of these subsidiary forms of money, and in this easy manner another currency system - that of " multiple legal tender " - comes into being. Though, theoretically, several substances might be valued for use as money, in practice some kind of bimetallism is used, and generally gold and silver are the constituents of the system. Thus for over three centuries England had a currency in which the values of gold and silver werefixed from time to time by royal proclamation. France and the United States, as well as many other countries, have had long experience of national bimetallism. The great problem in such a form of currency has always been that of keeping the two metals in effective circulation. As the values of the precious metals fluctuate, the principle of Gresham's Law is exemplified by the expulsion of the undervalued one. Each change in the conditions of production or in the ratios fixed by other countries tends to disturb the balance and is harassing to trade. Local or national bimetallism comes to be unsustainable, and is replaced by other currency types. The most remarkable is that known as the " composite legal tender " system. Its object is to combine any advantages of multiple legal tender with the maintenance of the single standard principle. One metal is selected as the standard and is legal tender to any amount; other metals are utilized for the purpose of token currency. Thus in the system of the United Kingdom gold is the only standard coinage; but silver and copper are employed for the lower coins and for smaller payments. The establishment of this ingenious arrangement is rather the outcome of the circumstances that governed the English monetary situation in the 18th century than any refined considerations of theory; but its justification on grounds of principle is furnished in Lord Liverpool's Coins of the Realm (1805). The extent to which the system has been copied by other nations and the stability of the English currency are strong confirmations of its merits as a solution of currency difficulties. Though the composite legal tender system has been a decided success, it does not follow that it supplies the only mode of dealing with the troubles that attend on the use of the local double standard. Other methods have been evolved from the monetary experiences of France and India, which take distinct forms according to the special features of the case. There is the currency system known as the " limping standard," the essence of which is the concurrent use of two metals, one being overvalued and coined only by state authority. The quantity of this favoured metal is necessarily limited in amount, to avoid depreciation or the ejection of the other metal from the circulation. It, however, has the position of money in the fullest sense, in that it is legal tender for any amount. The 5-franc pieces issued by the Latin union are the best known specimen of such coinage. In this case also the origin of the system was not theoretical, it was the result of the fall in the value of silver and the fear entertained by the French government that gold would be displaced by the cheaper metal. The temporary expedient of limiting the coinage of standard silver has developed into the maintenance during more than thirtyfive years of the limping standard, which derives its name from the shortness of one limb of the currency body. Equally suggestive for monetary theory is another phase or system, usually described as the " gold-exchange standard " system, in which the ordinary currency is of a metal coined only by the state, and so limited as to keep it in a prescribed value ratio to another metal (gold) which does not circulate, but acts as the standard of value. This variation on the limping standard has been produced by the effort of the Indian government to meet the embarrassment caused by the continuous fall in the gold value of silver. Under the pressure of failing revenue and of persons suffering from the rupee depreciation in gold, the limitation on silver coinage was first enacted (1893); to be followed some years later (1899) by the establishment of gold as the standard, with a definite parity assigned for the state silver issues. The success of the Indian experiment - for such it avowedly was - has led to its imitation by the American administration in the Philippine Islands and by Mexico. It may be looked on as the natural product of the condition in which the single legal tender system is proving unfit, while the material for the composite legal tender system is wanting. The employment and theoretic explanation of these methods of currency adjustment mark the greatest advance made in monetary science and practice in recent years. Whether the limping, or the gold-exchange standards will be permanent forms is difficult to determine; but they are beyond doubt of much importance in meeting the risks of a period of transition. In any case they are entitled to recognition as distinct forms of currency organization, resting on a scientific basis.

The types presented by purely metallic currencies can be considered by themselves for the purpose of theoretical exposition. In actual working they are now affected by the existence of representative money. The state issues paper money which may be either convertible or inconvertible, or if it refrains from so doing, the banks take up the task and supply a medium of exchange in the form of notes, or by a later development through providing for the use of cheques by their customers. An inconvertible paper currency has some pronounced affinities with overvalued metal; a duly regulated issue of this kind is quite on the lines of the gold-exchange system, and the difficulties of the two forms are very similar. But, just as the cruder systems of metallic money have gradually given way to the higher ones, so it may be said that the grosser forms of mismanagement in representative money are being removed, notwithstanding the recurrence of such monetary crises as that of 1907 in the United States. The great instance of government paper money is the United States notes, known, as " greenbacks," which are fixed at the amount of $346,681,016. The most prominent case of bank issue of notes is that of the Bank of France, with somewhat over 200,000,000 in circulation. Examples of the cheque currency are more difficult to state in quantitative shape; as the constituent parts are continually being created and cancelled, but the clearing-house returns give some idea of its extent in England. The figure for 1909 was 1 3,5 2 5,44 6, 000. It seems highly probable that the next stage in improvement will be the extension of currency based on credit, after the Anglo-American pattern, to the other commercial countries of the world. But this movement can only be slow, it will not affect Eastern countries. For a long time they will remain in the metallic currency stage, with the moderate use of a guaranteed note circulation.

There are several plans which have been advocated as superior to any of the systems actually in use. Most of these schemes are undeserving of notice; a few, however, claim attention on the ground of theoretical or practical importance. The most conspicuous is that known as " international bimetallism," which was designed to obviate the evils said to result from the demonetization of silver and the overflow of the established ratio between the precious metals. Its central idea was the creation of a monetary league, composed, if not of all, at least of the leading states (the larger the number the better), the members being bound to coin any amount of gold and silver at an agreed ratio. By such an agreement an adequate field for the use of both metals would be provided, and fluctuations in the relative value of silver and gold would be completely prevented. The expulsion of the cheaper metal would be impossible, owing to the absence of any place to which it could be driven. Variations in the production of the precious metals would act on both metals, not on one. Another plan for meeting the same set of difficulties is the composition of the monetary standard by taking assigned amounts of both metals in combination as the unit-say i oz. of gold with io oz. of silver. The title " symmetallism " has been given to this ingenious mode of trying to obtain a more stable standard than that afforded by the employment of a single metal. Amongst the many devices that the use of paper money has suggested the most noticeable are those that aim at the replacement of metallic money by some other basis. The socialist conception of a " labour note " may be paralleled by the idea of " commodity notes," resting on a development of the clearing system. Viewed from the practical standpoint it may be said that the double standard in any form is condemned by the course of events; it has been defeated by the gold standard. In respect to the other proposed methods there is the almost insurmountable difficulty of making them in any way sufficiently popular to overcome the resistance that they must necessarily encounter. This criticism holds good, quite apart from the objections of principle to which they are all open, in very different degree it is true. The influence of custom in relation to money can never be set aside. For this reason it is certain that very gradual change is the only possible kind of monetary reform that can hope for success. It is essential to preserve as far as possible the old surroundings and avoid the intrusion of novel devices. The adoption of what Sir R. Giffen has styled " fancy monetary standards " is reserved for a distant future.

In the course of the development of monetary systems important theoretical problems have presented themselves. For the middle ages the great question was the best mode of securing an honest metallic currency. At the beginning of the modern national states the problem of keeping a parity between silver and gold was the most serious issue which each state attempted to solve independently. With the rise of credit there followed debate on the proper management of paper money in its various forms, which has not yet been completely closed. But the tendency in the last fifty years has been to concentrate attention on the meaning and due constitution of the monetary standard. In particular, the difficulties that result from an alteration in general prices, and the inconvenience to foreign trade from different currency standards have been exhaustively considered. It is therefore desirable to present in a concise form what appears to be the outcome of these discussions. The first established conclusion is the impossibility of obtaining an absolute and invariable standard. The best that can be hoped is a near approximation by balancing the elements of fluctuation. The construction of the most suitable monetary system is a work of practical adjustment. The influence of the actual conditions, which has been already emphasized, helps to indicate the limits of profitable inquiry. In respect to the metallic basis the choice is between the single standard-gold or silver, and some combination of these. The single standard of silver can be set aside, though it has had influential supporters. On the other hand the only combinations that need be considered are those indicated above by the titles " bimetallism " and " symmetallism." The theory of the gold standard rests on the principle that one metal is a better criterion for measuring values than two, since the fluctuations that occur by the substitution of one metal for the other are certain to be disturbing. There is the further difficulty that no ratio can be permanently fixed between two metals, as their values must vary with the alterations in production. The inherent simplicity, and, so to speak, " naturalness," of the single standard is best realized by embodying it in gold, which is universally desired, of high cost and yet found in sufficient amount to discharge the money work of the standard. The verdict of history is appealed to as confirming the theoretic presumption, for gold has been gaining ground from century to century. The struggles to reverse this process have only made it more pronounced (see Monetary Conferences). Most of the objections to the gold standard rest on ideas which are the support of other economic fallacies. The attempts to supersede it involve the rejection of the rule of economic law. The foundation of the doctrine of " bimetallism " is the theory that the value of money is determined, not simply by cost of production, nor by unregulated supply and demand, but by the action of regulated demand, in conjunction with the actual conditions of production. States are the demanders of metal for monetary use, and by adjusting that demand they can powerfully influence the course of production, especially as the cost at which either [[Table I]].-Estimated Production of Gold and Silver, 1493-1900. gold or silver is obtained varies with the productiveness of the poorest mine in working. Thus by directing consumption, states are controlling production, and therefore - within limits - fixing the relative value of the two metals. This power has been shown in the stability of the ratio during the continuance of the French doublestandard (1803-1873). The possibility of maintaining a given ratio being thus established, the argument proceeds to show the advantages of the system. (i.) It secures the concurrent use of the precious metals and avoids throwing all the money work on gold. (ii.) Greater stability in value may be expected, since the fluctuations of either metal will be compensated by those of the other. At the worst the variation can only be as great. (iii.) The larger stock of money tends to keep up prices to the benefit of trade; for falling prices hamper production. (iv.) The fixed ratio provides a stable par of exchange between silver-using and gold-using countries; though universal bimetallism would remove this dis tinction. (v.) The establishment of a world-currency would be facilitated by allowing both metals a well-defined relation. This enumeration of the heads of the " bimetallic " case shows that its working depends on the area of its operation. It must be " international " and the states composing the union must be " great powers " in the monetary sense. Otherwise, their action would be comparatively ineffective. The crucial difficulty has been the determination of the common ratio. The risk of failure in carrying out the policy has proved a deterrent to such great powers as England and Germany, who are in possession of the gold standard. On the theoretic side the chief weakness of bimetallism has been its failure to supply any clear account of the limits within which states can regulate the ratio of gold to silver. If the ratio 15.5 :1 can be set up why should not the ratio 100:I, or that of equality ? Its practical failure has resulted partly from political conditions, partly from the removal of most of the difficulties which it was [[Table I]]I. - The Coinage Systems of Continental Europe, exhibiting the gold and silver coins, their weight, fineness, remedy and approximate value in English and United States money. * Inconvertible paper currency.

I Present system introduced in 1894, in place of the system adopted in 1870. The Maria Theresa dollar is only used as a commercial money in Levantine trade.

2 The system of the Scandinavian union came into force on the 1st of January 1875. It is based on gold monometallism.

3 The coinage system of France came into force on the 6th of May 1799. It was extended to the countries forming the Latin union in 1865; it has been adopted by Greece, Rumania, Servia and Spain. It is the most widely extended system in Europe. The Austrian 8 and 4 gulden pieces were equivalent to the 20 and 10 franc pieces. In 1879 it was estimated that the system was used by populations amounting to 148,000,000. In its origin a double standard (with ratio of 15.5 :I) it has become a limping standard by the limitation of the silver coinage. The unit is the same value all through the union, but receives different names in different countries. The titles are: in France, Belgium and Switzerland, franc and centime; in Italy, lira and centesimo; in Greece, drachme and lepta; in Rumania, leu and ban; in Servia, dinar and Para; in Spain, peseta and centesimo. 4 The German coinage law came into force on the 1st of January 1875. It was modelled on the English system, but it is only in the last few years that the old silver has been completely withdrawn.

5 The Dutch standard has been changed more than once. In 1847 a silver standard was introduced, and retained till 1872, the unit being the silver guilder. In 1875 the free coinage of gold was decreed; silver coinage having been restricted since 1872. Thus the limping standard is in force.

The nominal standard of Portugal is gold. The English sovereign is legal tender at 4500 reis.

7 The Russian currency until 1897 was nominally a silver standard one; but really was inconvertible. The currency was improved in 1885; and in 1897 the gold standard was adopted, provision being made for the withdrawal of the paper money. Finland, which had a currency on the French model, is now being compelled to accept the Russian currency.

a The Spanish coinage was assimilated to that of the Latin union in 1871. Spain, differing from the other countries of the group, coins a 25 peseta piece.

9 The Medjidie coinage was introduced in 1844. English sovereigns circulate at 125 piastres; 20 franc pieces at 100 piastres.

intended to meet by the subsequent economic development. The proposal for a joint standard formed by using a unit in which the two metals are combined has the advantage of escaping the risk of failure to maintain the ratio, for it makes the employment of both silver and gold essential. Its influence in causing stability is also likely to be greater; but it is open to the danger that a shortage of one metal would not be compensated by the abundance of the other. The further advantage that it does not need international agreement (for each country could settle its own combination) is counterbalanced by the strangeness of the plan and by its necessitating, the use of representative money. The suggestion of " goloid " coins on the model of the Greek electrum would hardly be acceptable.

z 1. The Present Money Systems of the World: Changes of the last Half Century. - The facts as to the money of the leading countries of the world are given in Tables II. and III. It is, however, necessary to explain the way in which this position has been reached by the reforms of the last fifty years. Since z860 the alterations in standards and in coin denominations have been of a very extensive nature. England is one of the TABLE III. - Currencies of the more important non-European States. * Inconvertible paper currency.

1 Until 1906 there was no mint in Canada. English and American coins circulate. The standard is gold (i =4.866 dollars). There were formerly different methods of counting, viz. English sterling, Halifax currency and Canadian sterling; the respective ratios being 100: 120: 108.

2 The Mexican currency has been entirely altered in its standard by the legislation of 1905. The gold-exchange system has been brought into force. The old-established dollar, which is called piastre, is reduced so as to represent a ratio of about 33.1.

The dollar was introduced in 2789 as the unit. In 1792 the ratio of gold to silver was fixed at I to 15. This valuation underrated gold, consequently silver became the standard. In 1834 the ratio was altered to 1 to 16, and it was again changed in 1837. In these changes gold was overrated, and silver was driven out of circulation. This led, in 1853, to the reduction of the metal in the silver coins, which therefore became a token-currency. The suspension of cash payments took place in 1861. In 2873 silver was demonetized, and gold became the standard. In 1878 the " Bland Bill " was passed, making the silver dollar a legal tender, but confining its coinage to the executive, and fixing the amount at from two to four million dollars per month. The difficulties that resulted from this measure led to the Sherman Act of 1890, providing for the coinage of silver to the annual amount of 54,000,000 oz. Owing to the critical situation created by these efforts to aid silver, the repeal of the Sherman Act was carried in 1893. Since then the chief problem has been to maintain an effective gold reserve.

4 The Argentine currency is, in practice, one of inconvertible paper. The gold coins were altered in 1881. The old South American onza weighed 27 grammes, was 875 fine and worth f3, 4s. 6d.

5 The Brazilian currency is greatly depreciated. It is derived from the Portuguese.

6 The Chilean coinage was reformed in 1895, when the gold standard was adopted, and the system brought into relation to the English one. Two Chilean Condors (20 peso pieces) being equal to In 2904 Colombia adopted the gold standard by taking the equivalent of the U.S. dollar as the unit; but the inconvertible paper is the main currency; and the old coins pass as commercial money.

8 After attempting a parity with the Latin union, and passing through a period of inconvertible paper, Peru has adopted the English gold standard and coinage, but keeps her own silver denominations.

9 The silver standard was prescribed in India in 1835, with the use of the gold mohurs. The latter was demonetized in 1853. In consequence of the fall in the gold value of silver, the Indian mints were closed to the coinage of silver, otherwise than by the government, in 1893. The amount of currency was so limited as to bring the rupee to the value of is. 4d. On the realization of this position, English sovereigns were made legal tender at the ratio of 15 rupees =z sovereign. India has, by these measures joined the class, now becoming numerous, of gold-exchange standard countries.

Io The old Japanese currency consisted of gold cobangs and silver itzibus, with a ratio of 4 to 1. This antique system was replaced in 1871 by a double-standard one on the French plan, the ratio being 16.17: II. The system passed first into one of silver monometallism; and then became one of inconvertible paper. The great reform of 1897, aided by the Chinese War indemnity, placed the currency on the gold basis.

few countries that has not found change desirable. France has reorganized her token coins (1864), entered into the Latin union (1865) and adopted the limping standard in 1874. Germany has completely transformed the monetary system hitherto existing in the German States (1873). The Scandinavian union has been set up (1875). Holland has changed her system more than once. Still later, Austria-Hungary (1892) and Russia (1897) have come over from the silver standard with the practical use of inconvertible paper to new currencies on the gold basis. In America the United States, after a series of monetary experiences, has made the gold dollar its standard unit, though the silver complication still exists. Mexico has succeeded in establishing a gold-exchange standard at such a ratio as to induce the import of gold. British India has had its rupee currency put into relation to the English gold unit, and has been followed by the Straits Settlements. Japan first abandoned its ancient currency (1871). It then adopted a double standard system which became in practice a silver one and later passed into inconvertible paper. Finally, it has (1897) established a composite legal tender system on the gold basis. The Dutch Indies have the gold-exchange standard on the same plan as British India.

Remarks

In addition to the tabular statements, the following points respecting the currencies of less advanced countries may be indicated. Though there is a tendency to establish the money of the mother-country in colonies, some of the British possessions, acquired by conquest, have kept their former currency. There has been a widespread movement in the backward countries of the world towards reforming their money; chiefly by setting up some line of connexion with the gold standard. In South and Central America the dollar has been retained as the unit; but the movement for co-ordination with the French system has ceased. The English standard has been preferred as a model by Chile and Peru. In Asia the currency of the Philippines has been reorganized under American control. China is considering monetary reform, and Siam has made progress in the direction of the gold-exchange standard. Probably the most defective currencies are now those of Turkey and her tributary states.

Bibliography

The literature on the subject of money has been well described as " almost measureless." The list of writers who have contributed to it begins with Aristotle, and includes such famous names as Copernicus, Locke and Newton. A full enumeration would fill a volume of no slight size. All that can be done here is to give a short classified list of the most serviceable books.

I. Economic text-books: English and American - J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy (London, 1848; new ed. by Ashley, 1909); Sidgwick, Principles of Political Economy (London, 1883; 3rd ed., 1901); J. S. Nicholson, Principles of Political Economy (3 vols., London, 189 3 -1901); F. A. Walker, Political Economy (New York, 1883; 2nd ed., 1887, often reprinted); A. T. Hadley, Economics (New York, 1896); E. R. A. Seligman, Principles of Economics (New York, 1905); H. R. Seager, Introduction to Economics (New York, 1904; 3rd ed., 1908). French: M. Chevalier, Cours d'economie politique (vol. iii. " La Monnaie," Paris, 1850); P. LeroyBeaulieu, Traite d'economie politique (4 vols., Paris, 1896); C. Gide, Cours d'economie politique (Paris, 1909). German: H. Mangoldt, Grundriss der Volkswirtschaftslehre (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1871); G. Schonberg, Handbuch der politischen Oeconomie (Tubingen, 1882; 4th ed., 1904); G. Schmoller, Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre (Leipzig, 1900-1904). The Dutch work by N. G. Pierson has been translated into English with the title Principles of Economics (London, 1902).

II. Special treatises on " Money ": W. S. Jevons, Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (London, 1875); F. A. Walker, Money (New York, 1878); J. S. Nicholson, Money and Monetary Problems (London, 1888; 6th ed., 1902); C. A. Conant, The Principles of Money and Banking (2 vols., New York, 1905); A. Arnaune, La Monnaie, le credit et le change (Paris, 1894; 2nd ed., 1902); A. de Foville, La Monnaie (Paris, 1907); C. Knies, Geld and Kredit (Berlin, 1873-1879); G. F. Knapp, Staatliche Theorie des Geldes (Leipzig, 1905).

III. Works on special questions: See BIMETALLISM; BANKING; and MONETARY CONFERENCES for writings on the problems of the standard and depreciation. For the history of money - F. Lenormant, La Monnaie dans l'antiquite (Paris, 1876); W. A. Shaw, History of Currency, 1252 -1894 (London, 1895). For the history of the English currency, besides the works on the numismatic side - Lord Liverpool, Coins of the Realm (1805; reprinted 1880). For America - W. G. Sumner, History of American Currency (New York, 1874). On the production and consumption of money materials, W. Jacob, Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals (2 vols., London, 1831); and A. Del Mar, History of the Precious Metals (London, 1880). Technical details in Tate's Cambist (many editions). (C. F. B.)