The Portuguese Government, by decree of May 22, 1911, adopted a new monetary system and the coins will be placed in circulation as soon as possible. The unit of the system, excepting for her possessions in India, is the gold escudo,... equal to $1.08 American gold. The escudo is divided into 100 equal parts called centavos.... Multiples are 2, 5, and 10 escudos. Divisions of the escudo are of silver, with values of 50, 20, and 10 centavos; subsidiary coins consist of bronze and nickel pieces. Her currency is not maintained at a parity with gold.
Netherlands
... The unit is the florin or guilder of 100 cents, equal to $0.402. The 10-florin piece is the principal gold coin; the ryksdaalder (2-1/2 florins), the florin and half-florin in silver are legal tender, as well as all gold coins; silver is maintained at parity with gold by law; coinage of silver is only on Government account; paper money is issued by a central bank and 40 per cent. metallic (gold and silver) reserve is required against deposits as well as notes; the balance of the notes are covered by negotiable instruments. The central bank was organized in 1814. Banking in the Netherlands is excellently managed.
Sweden—Norway—Denmark (Scandinavian Union)
These have the gold standard and have for their unit the krone, equal to $0.268 United States currency; their subsidiary silver has various fineness; paper currency of Sweden is issued by the Royal Bank, owned by the Government; notes are legal tender and may be issued to a fixed amount in excess of gold on hand or in foreign banks, but must at all times have gold to the extent of at least 10,000,000 kroner.
Norway has a single bank of issue, controlled by the State, which owns a majority of the stock; notes are legal tender and may be issued to twice the amount of gold on hand and in foreign banks.
Denmark's paper money is issued by a privately owned bank, but under strict control by the Government; the notes are legal tender and may be issued to a sum 30,000,000 kroner in excess of the gold on hand.
Russia
Russia is on a gold basis and has for its unit the ruble, of 100 kopecks, equal to $0.51456 in United States currency; the silver coins in common use are the ruble, one-half and one-fourth ruble; paper money is issued by the Imperial Bank, which is owned by the Government and managed as part of its finance department; the law requires the coin reserve to equal two-thirds of the note issue....