It may be inquired in this place, how far the coining the pound troy into 65 shillings is contrary to the laws of England?
which shews that the standard has been debased,
The moment a state pronounces a certain quantity of gold to be worth a certain quantity of silver, and orders these respective quantities of each metal to be received as equivalents of each other, and as lawful money in payments, that moment gold is made a standard as much as silver. If therefore too small a quantity of gold be ordered or permitted to be considered as an equivalent for the unit, the silver standard is from that moment debased; or indeed more properly speaking, all silver money is from that moment proscribed; for who, from that time, will ever pay in silver, when he can pay cheaper in gold? Gold, therefore, by such a law is made the standard, and all declarations to the contrary are against the matter of fact.
and that the preserving it where it is, is no new debasement.
Were the King, therefore, to coin silver at 65 shillings in the pound, it is demonstration that by such an act he would commit no adulteration upon the standard: the adulteration is already committed. The standard has descended to where it is, by slow degrees, and by the operation of political causes only, and nothing prevents it from falling lower, but the standard of the gold coin. Let guineas be now left to seek their value as they did formerly, and let light silver continue to go by tale, we shall see the guineas up at 30 shillings in 20 years time, as was the case in 1695.
Proof that the standard has been debased by law,
It is as absurd to say that the standard of Queen Elizabeth has not been debased by enacting, that the English unit shall be acquited with 113 grains of fine gold, as it would be to affirm that it would not be debased from what it is at present, by enacting, That a pound of butter should every where be received in payment for a pound sterling; although the pound sterling should continue to consist of 3 ounces, 17 penny weights, and 10 grains of standard silver, according to the statute of the 43 Elizabeth. I believe in that case most debtors would pay in butter, and silver would, as at present, acquire a conventional value as a metal, but would be looked upon no longer as a standard, or as money.
If therefore, by the law of England, a pound sterling must consist of 1718.7 grains troy of fine silver, by the law of England also, 113 grains of gold must be of the same value, but no law can establish that proportion; consequently, in which ever way a reformation be brought about, some law must be reversed; consequently, expediency, and not compliance with law, must be the motive in reforming the abuse.
and is at present reduced to the value of the gold.
From what has been said, it is not at all surprising that the pound sterling should in fact be reduced nearly to the value of the gold. Whether it ought to be kept at that value is another question; and shall be examined in its proper place. All that we here decide, is, that coining the pound troy into 65 shillings would restore the proportion of the metals, and render both species common in circulation. But restoring the weight and proportion of the coin is not the difficulty, as I conjecture, which prevents a reformation of the English coinage.