According to a royal proclamation of 25th September and 29th December 1873, a new coinage is to take the place of the old one next year. It will consist of
| SILVER MONEY. | |||||
| New Coin (Crowns). | Old Icel. | English Equivalent. | |||
| 1 | Króna (100 aurar) | = | $4 3 0 | £0 1 1½ | |
| 1 | Eyrir | = | 0 0 0½ | 0 0 0 ½ farthing. | |
| 4 | Krónur | = | 2 0 0 | 0 4 6 | |
| 2 | ” | = | 1 0 0 | 0 2 3 | |
| 50 | Aurar | = | 0 1 8 | 0 0 6½ | |
| 25 | ” | = | 0 0 12 | 0 0 3½ | |
| 8 | ” | = | 0 0 4 | 0 0 1¼ | |
| GOLD COIN.[249] | |||||
| New Coin (Crowns). | Old Icel. | English Equivalent. | |||
| 20 | Króna peningur (20 crown-piece) | = | $10 0 0 | £1 2 3 | |
| 10 | ” | = | 5 0 0 | 0 11 1½ | |
In travelling through the island it is advisable to carry a few dollars (specie), many half-dollars, and an abundance of marks and half-marks, with smaller pieces useful to pay minor charges. And it is useless to burden one’s self with a huge bag on board ship: silver can generally be bought at Reykjavik, with a loss of some five per cent. The Danish bank-notes with Icelandic words on the back are to be avoided, as the peasants distrust an article which a wetting may reduce to a rag. In Denmark there are $5 notes (grey paper, with blue border); $10 (yellow paper, with brown border); $20 (light-green); $50 (brown paper, with straight lines in the ground); and $100 (light-brown paper, with wavy lines). For Iceland there are no bank-notes, but when Paraguay manages to raise a loan, she need not despair of civilising her currency.
In July 1810, according to Mackenzie, the war had made the English sovereign worth 15 paper rixdollars on ‘Change; and in 1812 it further rose to $25 paper. The rixdollar at par was then worth four shillings English; as has been seen, like all the smaller coins, it has fallen to a little more than half. In 1872 the metallic value of the English sovereign in Denmark was = $8, 5m. 0sk.; but at Copenhagen it was readily exchanged for $9 to $9, 0m. 4sk. The pound sterling in English silver was worth only $8, 1m. 11sk. At Reykjavik the merchants will not hesitate to offer $8, 4m. 0sk., and some will even attempt $8, 2m. 0sk. The author was once assured by one of the principal tradesmen that the Exchange at Copenhagen was $8, 5m. 0sk; but on consulting the newspaper it was found that this was the price of bills. Thus money-changing becomes a profitable business, realising from five to ten per cent., and strangers will call upon the traveller with the object of “turning” a quasi-honest penny. Yet the simplest way is to take from England sovereigns and ten-pound notes. The foreigner can hardly expect to have a cheque honoured after what has lately happened. The last blow to the English traveller’s credit was dealt in October 1871, when two yachtsmen “did a little bill” with Hr Thomsen, converted their dollars into sovereigns, and went their way. The names of the delinquents are well known, but that is no reason for quoting them.
Weights and measures in Iceland are simply Danish:
| 3 | Kvints | = 1 Lod[250] (half-ounce avoird.). |
| 32 | Lods | = 1 Pund (= 1 lb. 1 oz. 8½ grs.). |
| 16 | Punds | = 1 Lispund[251] (roughly our stone). |
Sometimes the Norwegian weights are used, viz.:
| 2 | Lods | = 1 Unze. |
| 8 | Unzes | = 1 Mark. |
| 2 | Marks | = 1 Skaalpund (10 per cent. more than the English pound avoird.). |
| 12 | Skaalpunds | = 1 Bismerpund. |
| 3 | Bismerpunds | = 1 Vog (36 lbs.). |
| 16 | Skaalpunds | = 1 Lispund. |
| 100 | Skaalpunds | = 1 Centner (the hundredweight of Germany, Austria, etc.). |
| 20 | Lispunds | = 1 Skippund (320 lbs.). |
Of the length measures:
| 12 | Danish inches | =1 Foot (= Eng. meas. 12.356 in. or about 67 : 69 ft.). | |
| 2 | Feet | = 1 Ell (Alen). | |
| 24,000 | Feet | = 1 Mile[252](or 4 = 1° = 4½ English statute miles in | round numbers). |