Suppose for instance then the whole Trade of England to all parts of the World to be carried on by two Merchants, one at London, and the other at Amsterdam, and the only Commodities to be Cloth and Silk. Suppose he at London Exports every year 1000 l. worth of Broad Cloth and no more, and he at Amsterdam Imports hither 1500 l. worth of Silk, that here’s an inevitable necessity of the Londiners Exporting every Year 500 l. in Bullion can’t be denyed, and if this continue year by year it, will be, you’ll say, of pernicious consequence to England, and it will be a wonderful hard matter at this time to help such a Case.
But if we can at present so order it, that instead of importing 1500 l. worth of Silk we shall import 1000 l. worth of Silk, and 500 l. worth of Silver we shall be no losers in the Article I am upon, and which is the only thing I have undertaken to look after, viz. That the Nation shall never want Money be the Trade what it will: for if 500 l. in Silver be Exported and as much Imported every Year, we can never have a Peny worth of Bullion less than we have.
And if other Nations must get by us, they had better get any thing than our Money; if what they get by us they must be forced to spend among us, ’twill lessen I hope the Calamity, as will appear more hereafter.
Now this is not to be done by giving our Coyn a Nominal, fictitious or extrinsick value only above its intrinsick: Foreigners are not such Fools to be dealt with at that rate, as to pay you a Rex Dollar of 18 d. weight 18 grains in Amsterdam or Brussels, for a piece of Money of 15 penny weight in London.
Sir Robert Cotton’s answer of the Committee. September 1626. Pag. 306.
Turn the Tables, and suppose the King of Spain should advance his Real of Eight weighing but 17 Penny Weight 12 Grains to double the value it now bears, and yet needing by reason of the barrenness of his Country more of Foreign Wares than he can Countervail by Barter with his own; he must part with his Money and not gain by enhauncing his Coyn. One Real of Eight would not then buy of us as good a Yard of broad Cloth as two doth now, and why should we think to over reach them more than they us.
But then again, suppose the Money to be Coyned shall be (as our Mill’d Money and diminished hammer’d Money is) pretty near the Intrinsick value of the Silver in each piece, and this will doubtless facilitate Exportation. If a Foreigner for instance bring to London and sells 40 Bales of raw Silk, or 40 Tun of Wine, and meets not here with such a Market for the buying of other Commodities to be Transported as he expected, perhaps those he wants are not of our Growth or Manufacture, or it may be he is in hast, or the Season calls him home; how easie is it for him to sheer away, and go to another Market, having Money in his Pocket passable every where, at the rate he took it, that inconsiderable allowance for Coynage only excepted!
This I think is plain, but as yet there is more in it than so; and suppose it, any other Nations turn to want Silver as much as we now do, and Silver should be there at an higher price than with us, then our Money becomes good Merchandice, and he gets most who carries most over: And the lower the value of our Coyn is the less Foreign Commodities we shall have for it.
You’ll Prohibit you’ll say the exporting of it, and so you have upon pain of Death prohibited the Exportation of our Wooll, yet to the comfort of our Grasiers ’tis still Exported, though it’s very bulky Ware. But Money lies in a small Compass, a Sea Captain knows very little of his chief business if he knows not where to stow a 1000 l. undiscovered.
And if after all we should be very severe in the execution of such prohibitory Laws, it would put such a damp to Foreign Trade as every body is not aware of.