Thus, the laws of England direct that a pound
Troy of gold, of twenty-two carats fine, shall be cut into forty-four
and a half guineas, each of which shall be worth twenty-one and a
half shillings, that is, into 956 3/4 shillings. This establishes the
shilling at 5.518 grains of pure gold. They direct that a pound of
silver, consisting of 11 1/10 ounces of pure silver, and 9/10 of an
ounce alloy, shall be cut into sixty-two shillings. This establishes
the shilling at 85.93 grains of pure silver, and, consequently, the
proportion of gold to silver as 85.93 to 5.518, or as 15.57 to 1. If
this be the true proportion between the value of gold and silver at the
general market of Europe, then the value of the shilling, depending
on two standards, is the same, whether a payment be made in gold or
in silver. But if the proportion at the general market of Europe be as
fifteen to one, then the Englishman who owes a pound weight of gold
at Amsterdam, if he sends the pound of gold to pay it, sends 1043.72
shillings; if he sends fifteen pounds of silver, he sends only 1030.5
shillings; if he pays half in gold and half in silver, he pays only
1037.
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