Columns 11 and 12 will show on inspection whether silver be passing from London to Amsterdam or from Amsterdam to London. Suppose the price of silver in London to be 6s. 7d. and the exchange with Amsterdam 28s. Against 6s. 7d. in column 11 the par of exchange is 29·41 in column 12; consequently being at 28 it is unfavourable to Amsterdam, and silver can be exported from Amsterdam to London with a profit of 5 per cent. If under the same circumstances the exchange had been 31, silver could have been exported to Amsterdam with a profit of 5 per cent.
Columns 8, 9 and 10 will show from which country gold may be profitably exported. Suppose the price of gold in Amsterdam to be 16 per cent. premium, the agio 3 per cent., the exchange with London 31, and the price of gold in London £5 10s., from which country would gold be exported and with what profit?
Against 16 per cent. in column 1 the par of exchange in column 8 is 39·64, and against £5 10s. the price of gold in London in column 9 the multiplier ·708 stands in column 10. 39·64 multiplied by ·708 gives 28·06 as the par for bank notes; therefore, when the exchange is at 31, it is unfavourable to Holland, and gold may be exported from thence with a profit of 10½ per cent. nearly. Or thus: an oz. of standard gold, when the marc could be bought at 16 per cent. premium at Amsterdam, would cost 154·3 Flemish shillings banco, when the agio was 3 per cent., which reduced into English money at 31 [Flemish] shillings per £ sterling will give £4 19s. 6¾d. But it will sell in London for £5 10s. which is a profit of 10½ per cent. nearly.
| 1 | 2 | 3[57] | 4 | 5 | 6[58] | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price of gold at Amsterdam. Premium on f. 355 per marc. | Value of a marc in current guilders. | Corresponding price of an oz. of standard gold in London. | Corresponding price of an oz. of standard silver in London. | Value of an oz. of standard gold in Flemish current shillings. | Value of an oz. of standard gold in Flemish Banco shillings. Agio 3 p.c. | Real par of exchange in Flemish current shillings per £ sterling in gold. | Real par of exchange in Flemish Banco shillings per £ sterling in gold. Agio 3 p.c. | When the price of gold in London in bank notes is | The bullion par must be multiplied by | Price of standard silver in London in bank notes per oz. | Par of exchange with Amsterdam in Banco. Agio 3 p.c. |
| £ s d | £ s. d. | s. d. | |||||||||
| Par f. 355 | f 355 | 68·00 pence | 137 | 133 | 35·20 | 34·17 | |||||
| 1 p.c. prem. | 358·55 | 67·32 | 138·4 | 134·3 | 35·55 | 34·51 | 4 0 0 | ·973 | 5 2 | 37·48 | |
| 2 " | 362·10 | 66·67 | 139·8 | 135·7 | 35·90 | 34·85 | 4 1 0 | ·961 | 5 3 | 36·88 | |
| 3 " | 365·65 | 66·02 | 141·3 | 137·2 | 36·25 | 35·19 | 4 2 0 | ·949 | 5 4 | 36·60 | |
| 4 " | 369·20 | 65·38 | 142·5 | 138·6 | 36·61 | 35·54 | 4 3 0 | ·938 | 5 5 | 35·75 | |
| 5 " | 372·75 | 64·76 | 143·9 | 139·8 | 36·95 | 35·87 | 4 4 0 | ·927 | 5 6 | 35·21 | |
| 6 " | 376·30 | 64·15 | 145·3 | 141·1 | 37·31 | 36·22 | 4 5 0 | ·916 | 5 7 | 34·68 | |
| 7 " | 379·85 | 63·55 | 146·6 | 142·5 | 37·66 | 36·56 | 4 6 0 | ·905 | 5 8 | 34·17 | |
| 8 " | 383·40 | 62·96 | 148 | 143·9 | 38·01 | 36·90 | 4 7 0 | ·895 | 5 9 | 33·67 | |
| 9 " | 386·95 | 62·39 | 149·3 | 145·3 | 38·36 | 37·24 | 4 8 0 | ·885 | 5 10 | 33·19 | |
| 389·37 | 3 17 10½ | 62 | 150·3 | 146·0 | 38·61 | 37·48 | |||||
| 10 " | 390·50 | 3 18 1 | 150·7 | 146·3 | 38·71 | 37·58 | 4 9 0 | ·875 | 5 11 | 32·72 | |
| 11 " | 394·05 | 3 18 10 | 152·1 | 147·6 | 39·06 | 37·92 | 4 10 0 | ·865 | 6 0 | 32·27 | |
| 12 " | 397·60 | 3 19 6½ | 153·5 | 149·0 | 39·62 | 33·27 | 4 11 0 | ·856 | 6 1 | 31·84 | |
| 13 " | 401·15 | 4 0 3 | 154·8 | 150·3 | 39·77 | 38·62 | 4 13 0 | ·838 | 6 2 | 31·42 | |
| 14 " | 404·70 | 4 0 11½ | 156·2 | 151·7 | 40·12 | 38·96 | 4 15 0 | ·820 | 6 3 | 30·98 | |
| 15 " | 408·25 | 4 1 8 | 157·5 | 152·9 | 40·48 | 39·30 | 4 17 0 | ·803 | 6 4 | 30·58 | |
| 16 " | 411·80 | 4 2 4½ | 158·9 | 154·3 | 40·83 | 39·64 | 4 19 0 | ·786 | 6 5 | 30·17 | |
| 17 " | 415·35 | 4 3 0½ | 160·3 | 155·6 | 41·18 | 39·98 | 5 0 0 | ·779 | 6 6 | 29·79 | |
| 18 " | 418·90 | 4 3 9 | 161·7 | 157·0 | 41·54 | 40·32 | 5 2 0 | ·764 | 6 7 | 29·41 | |
| 19 " | 422·45 | 4 4 5½ | 163·1 | 158·3 | 41·89 | 40·67 | 5 4 0 | ·749 | 6 8 | 29·04 | |
| 20 " | 426 | 4 5 2 | 164·5 | 159·6 | 42·24 | 41·02 | 5 6 0 | ·735 | 6 9 | 28·69 | |
| 21 " | 429·55 | 4 5 10½ | 165·8 | 161·0 | 42·59 | 41·36 | 5 8 0 | ·721 | 6 10 | 28·33 | |
| 5 10 0 | ·708 | 6 11 | 27·99 | ||||||||
| 7 0 | 27·66 | ||||||||||
| 7 1 | 27·32 | ||||||||||
| 7 2 | 27·02 | ||||||||||
| 7 3 | 26·71 | ||||||||||
| 7 4 | 26·40 | ||||||||||
| 7 5 | 26·11 | ||||||||||
| 7 6 | 25·82 |
XIV.
London, 1 Jan., 1814.
My dear Sir,
Having finished a table for the Hamburgh exchanges, similar to that which I have already sent you for Holland, I thought you might like to have a copy of it[59]. In this as well as in the other the result is not quite satisfactory; for example, at the present time I believe the exchange with Hamburgh is quoted 28s. and the price of dollars 6s. 11½d. By the table it appears that with [such] a price of dollars the exchange at par would be 25s.; consequently it is now unfavourable to Hamburgh 12 per cent., which appears to me to be excessively high. In fact, under the present circumstances, there can be no intercourse with Hamburgh, and the quotation must be only nominal. Mrs. Ricardo and I leave London to-morrow early for Bradford; from thence we intend going to Gatcomb[60], and expect to be in town again on Thursday. I hope we shall soon see you. With best wishes to Mrs. Malthus,