Questions are here proposed, which I do not pretend to resolve; all I aim at is to discover how they may be resolved.
If this inquiry shall prove an incitement to men of better capacity to review the same subjects, who have more extensive combinations, more experience, and better information as to facts, in that respect it has some degree of merit.
I answer to the question proposed, that if the imposition of a duty on coinage in England would have the effect of rendring her trade with France more lucrative, then the loss marked by the course of exchange is real, at least in part; if otherwise, it is only apparent.
What makes the commerce with any country lucrative, is the balance paid upon the exchange of their commodities.
What regulates the quantity of commodities taken from any country, in the way of trade, is the wants of the country demanding; and what sets the balance even, is the reciprocal wants of the other country. Nations do not give up correspondence with their neighbours, because these do not accept of merchandize in exchange for merchandize, but because they find their advantage in supplying their wants upon easier terms elsewhere.
Every merchant seeks to sell dear; and the dearer he can sell, the greater is his profit: that merchant, therefore, must thrive most, who sells dearest, and who at the same time can afford to sell cheapest.
If an imposition on coinage shall enable England to sell dearer, without depriving her of the advantage of being able to sell as cheap as at present, then it will follow, that an imposition on coinage will be advantageous. If it shall lay her under a necessity of selling dearer, and deprive her of the possibility of selling so cheap as formerly, then the imposition of coinage will be hurtful.
How the paying for coinage affects the profits on goods exported.