A report containing an essay for the amendment of the silver coins

The Third General Head Discusses this Question, Whether it be or be not absolutely Necessary at this time to Re-establish the Coins.

IT will readily be Granted, That the Melting and New Fabricating the much grea∣ter Part of all the Silver Moneys of the Realm (as the Clipt Pieces are) would be a Work very improper to be Enterprized in the heat of an Important and Expensive War; if the doing thereof were not in∣dispensibly necessary, to render effectual the very Ways and Means, which in Par∣liament may be Resolved upon, in refe∣rence to Aids or Supplies for Carrying on of the same War, and to produce a Species of Money that may be Useful and Service∣able for the Upholding of the Commerce, and for answering not only of the Pub∣lick,

but also of all Private Revenues, Rents, Debts, and other Occasions, which concern the very Existence of the great Political Body.

It were enough for me upon this Occa∣sion, to say, That the House of Commons judg'd it necessary to have the Clipt Mo∣neys Re-Coin'd, having Resolved thereup∣on, after many long and mature Delibe∣rations, in the last Session of Parliament. But the Evils which for some time past have been growing upon us, in respect of the Coins, being at length actually Arri∣ved, and more sensibly Felt, I shall take leave humbly to State the same according to the best of my Understanding, and sub∣mit the Judgment thereof to Publick Au∣thority.

First, Because such of the Silver Coins as are usually Currant, or offer'd in Pay∣ments, are very Bad and Defective; the Common People (without any visible Reason, other thanto avoid the Danger and Vexation of such Moneys) by almost an Unanimous Consent and Agreement, do take Guineas at Thirty Shillings apiece, little more or less, which Raises the Gold

here (as hath been observed) to a much higher Price in Proportion than Silver in Bullion now goes at, or that Silver in Coin will go for, when it shall be Raised to the Foot of Six Shillings and Three Pence for the Crown Piece according to this Proje∣ction. And this exorbitant Price of Gold here, hath encouraged Foreign Merchants to Import it upon us in great Quantities: And in Return for the same,

They either Export our Silver in Coin or Molten; which lying in a little Room, the Exportation thereof cannot easily be Prevented. Or,

Secondly, They Buy our Native Com∣modities (the Interruption of the Navi∣gation, not Allowing us such an Over∣plus of Goods, brought from our Colo∣nies in America, and other Foreign Parts, wherewith England in times of Peace could at least Ballance its Trade with its Neighbours.) Or,

Thirdly, They draw back the afore∣said Value of their Gold, by Bills of Ex∣change or Remittances. In every one of these Cases, they make an unreasonable Profit by their Gold, which must needs,

in a little time, Exhaust a great part of the Real Stock and Wealth of our Nati∣on; But particularly in the first Case, the Bullion or Coin in Silver that is Exported, is really worth much more than the Gold Imported for it; and the Difference be∣comes a Dead Loss to England, which La∣bours too much already under the Scarcity of Silver, and will inevitably find it much Scarcer and Dearer than it is, if this Gol∣den Trade continues. In the Second Case, they can Furnish Foreign Markets with our Native Commodities, which would be carried thither by our own Mer∣chants, who want the aforesaid Profit of the Gold, to enable them to Buy those Goods as Dear, and Sell them as Cheap as the Foreigners can. And in the Third Case, by the great occasion they have for Bills to draw back the Value of their Gold to the Places from whence it came, they have Contributed in a great measure towards Lowering the Exchange to the Low Countries; which from divers Causes (whereof the Importing of Guineas is none of the least) is sunk so very Low, that the Publick loses about Four Shillings

in the Pound upon all the Moneys Re∣mitted thither; which Loss Amounts to a great deal in the Charge of the Army. And the Exchange to Hamburgh and the East Countreys for all Naval Stores, and other Goods, is Lower, and to all Pla∣ces in the Mediterranean (where our Fleet is at present) the Exchange is yet more to our Prejudice. And in regard the a∣foresaid excessive Advance of the Guinea Pieces, at least a great part thereof, can be Attributed (as has been before ob∣served) to nothing else but the Base∣ness and Defects of the White Moneys, there is no Prospect of Reducing the Gold to a more moderate or reasonable Price, by any means consistent with the Interest of the Nation, other than the A∣mendment, and Restoring of the Silver Coins.

Secondly, In the present Condition and Circumstances of our Silver Money, this Nation and the Trade and Dealings there∣of, are in a great measure Deprived of the Use and Benefit of the whole Species now in being, as well the Heavy Pieces as the Light; the former of which (espe∣cially

since the Parliament in the last Ses∣sion appear'd desirous of making a Re∣formation or Amendment) have been for the most part Hoarded by the particular Persons Possessed thereof, in prospect that the Silver contained in those Weighty Pieces will be Raised to a Value suitable to the Bullion thereof if Melted, which they may think will turn more to their Profit than Lending at Interest, Purchasing or Trading therewith in the mean time; or at least they may think these Hoarded Moneys (when the Mischiefs of Cor∣rupting and Diminishing their Coins, come to their last Extremity) will parti∣cularly stand those Men in stead that have them; however it be, its certain the Weighty Moneys at present do very lit∣tle appear Abroad, and it is not likely they will soon be brought to Light, with∣out Raising their Value, and Re-Coining the Clipt Moneys; and as for the latter, a great Part thereof, when offered in Pay∣ments, is utterly Refused, and will not Pass, and consequently doth not serve to the end or Purpose for which it was made: so that both the one and the other

(for the greatest Part) are become as it were a Dead Cash in the Kingdom.

Thirdly, In Consequence of the Vitia∣ting, Diminishing and Counterfeiting of the Currant Moneys, it is come to pass, That great Contentions do daily arise amonst the King's Subjects, in Fairs, Markets, Shops, and other Places throughout the Kingdom, about the Pas∣sing or Refusing of the same, to the di∣sturbance of the Publick Peace; many Bargains, Doings and Dealings are to∣tally prevented and laid aside, which lessens Trade in general; Persons before they conclude in any Bargains, are neces∣sitated first to settle the Price or Value of the very Money they are to Receive for their Goods; and if it be in Guineas at a High Rate, or in Clipt or Bad Moneys, they set the Price of their Goods accord∣ingly, which I think has been One great cause of Raising the Price not only of Mer∣chandizes, but even of Edibles, and other Necessaries for the sustenance of the Com∣mon People, to their great Grievance. The Receipt and Collection of the Publick Taxes, Revenues and Debts (as well as

of Private Mens Incomes) are extream∣ly retarded, to the Damage of His Maje∣sty, and to the Prejudice of a Vigorous Prosecution of the War; so that there were never (at least since I had the Ho∣nour to serve the Crown) so many Bonds Given, and lying Unsatisfied at the Cu∣stom-Houses, or so vast an Arrear of Ex∣cises. And as for the Land Tax, your Lordships know how far 'tis affected with the Bad Moneys, by the many Com∣plaints transmitted daily from the Com∣missioners, Receivers and Collectors thereof, and by Comparing the Sum brought into the Exchequer this Year, with the timely Payments of the like Tax in preceding Years. In fine, the Mis∣chiefs of the Bad Money (too many to enumerate) are so sensibly Felt, that (I humbly conceive) they are sufficient to Confute all the Arguments against the Re-Coining the same in this time of War, and even the Objections against Raising the Silver in our Coin to the Propos'd Value. Which Arguments and Objections (how Plausible or Weighty soever they have been heretofore) have not at this time

sufficient Ground or Reason to Support them, especially when the doing of these things is not Projected for the particular Gain or Profit of the Crown ( which formerly Received a Duty of Seigniorage upon Coining or Re-coining of Moneys) but for the Common Good and Utility of the King and his People. But whether all the Evils and Mischiefs before mentioned, and the Increase thereof, which the Na∣tion must undergo, till a Remedy be Ap∣plied, do infer, or are tantamount to an absolute Necessity for the present Enter∣prising the Work aforesaid, must be and is with all Humility submitted to a better Judgment than my own.