Thirty years ago, hoarding coin went on in England to a considerable extent, and greatly augmented the scarcity, and consequently the value, of the precious metals. Even the old practice of making a stocking was by no means given up in rural districts. A writer in the Quarterly Review, 1832, states, “We ourselves, but a few days back, personally witnessed an old crone, the wife of a small and apparently poor farmer, in a wild pastoral district, bring no less than three hundred sovereigns in a bag to a neighbouring attorney, to be placed by him in security; her treasure having accumulated till she was afraid to keep it longer at home. Such examples are by no means so rare as may be imagined. The failures of so many country banks in 1825 destroyed the confidence of country-people in the bank-notes of the present banks, and causes their preference for gold. The failure of many attorneys, as well as of country banks, which received and gave interest on deposits, and, (with the exception of the savings’-banks, which are very limited in the amount of the deposits they allow,) the total absence, in the rural districts of England, of any safe and accessible depositaries for the savings of the economical, such as the invaluable Scotch banks, have tended most injuriously to discourage economy; and where that principle was strongly ingrafted, have converted it into a practice of hoarding—have caused it to stagnate in unprofitable masses, which, spread through proper channels, would have stimulated new industry and new accumulations, and added both to the wealth of the owner, and to the general stock.”
Results of Gold-seeking.
The question as to the probable continuation, increase, or diminution of the Supply of Gold is of the greatest interest; though nothing but the vaguest conjectures can be offered respecting it. Though gold be very generally distributed, it is extremely doubtful whether there be many places in which the deposits are so rich and so extensive as in California and Australia; and even in these the produce is either stationary, or has begun to decline. The myriads of adventurers that are attracted to prolific diggings can hardly fail, in no very lengthened period, to rifle the richest beds. And when this is done—when the excitement caused by the original discovery is worn off, and the great prizes in the gigantic lottery recur only at distant intervals,—then, unless some new and equally promising discoveries should be made, a serious check will be given to the gold-seeking mania. The process of quartz-crushing is believed to produce only moderate profits, and is not of a kind to collect crowds of competitors. The few fortunes that have been realized in California and Australia have not been made by the diggers, but by the merchants and others who have supplied their real or imaginary wants, or bought their gold-dust and nuggets on advantageous terms. Of those engaged on their own account in the search of gold, very few have retired from the pursuit with anything like a real competence. The great majority have hardly realized the wages current in the districts before the deposits were discovered; and the conviction seems to be everywhere gaining ground, that more is to be made by cultivating the surface of the earth than by digging in its bowels, or crushing its rocks.—J. R. Macculloch; Ency. Brit., 1859.
What becomes of the Precious Metals?
The indestructibility of Gold is one of its many characteristics, and some very curious questions arise from the fact. We know that at a very early period of the history of the human race, gold was discovered in very large quantities, and was used for a variety of ornamental and useful purposes. Among the latter may be named its employment as a medium of exchange, not exactly in the form of money, but nearly approaching to it. Pieces of the precious metal were cut into certain lengths and were stamped with figures denoting their weight, and these circulated freely among the buyers and sellers of those remote and primitive times. What was known as a talent of gold weighed, it is supposed, 125 lbs., and Dr. Adam Clarke estimates that the revenue of King Solomon in gold, was equal in value to about 4,683,375l. sterling. To some extent this estimate is confirmed by the Bible; for it is stated in the book of Kings that “the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year, was six hundred and three score and six talents of gold,” without reference to silver, which the same authority states, “was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.” According to Calmet, the precious metals expended by the same monarch in building Jerusalem and the Temple, amounted in value to eight hundred millions of pounds sterling, and the questions naturally suggest themselves as to where this enormous amount of material came from, and what has become of it also.
It is sufficient for our purpose to know that the precious metals did actually exist in very large quantities; and there is little doubt that they had been accumulating almost from the period of the creation of man. The early history of the Jews abounds with statements as to the uses to which gold was put. The subsequent conquests of Rome doubtlessly led to its absorption at one time of a very large proportion of the accumulated mineral wealth of the world.
It is also plain that the Romans could not employ the precious metals for domestic purposes, or at least not to any considerable extent. Watches, spoons, and plate were the inventions of much later times. Since it is clear that many hundreds of tons of gold found their way to Rome during its prosperous time, and equally clear that gold is indestructible, we may well inquire, “What has become of the vast treasures?” Was it, after the decline and fall of Rome, distributed among other nations? Were large quantities of the precious metals buried in the earth, which still holds them in its keeping?
Amidst a multitude of suggestive replies there remains the undoubted fact that gold is indestructible. Who shall say, in short, in the presence of the certain knowledge we have, that war, conquest, and spoliation have been the rule among nations for centuries past, that some of the “talents” of King Solomon, are not existing at this moment in the shape of sovereigns, in the pockets of the subjects of Queen Victoria? Or, who will have the hardihood to assert that the very watch-guard, or trinket he or she may wear, is not a bonâ fide part of the treasure forwarded by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon the wise?
The fact seems to be clearly demonstrable that much of the gold and silver spoken of in Scripture and in ancient profane history is in active circulation at this hour amongst the inhabitants of the globe.—Mechanics’ Magazine.