The five-pound and two-pound pieces have not yet been issued. The margin allowed for wear is relatively greater for half-sovereigns than for sovereigns, because they expose a greater surface in proportion to their bulk.

(8.) The Silver Currency is thus distributed throughout the kingdom: - If in any district there is a deficiency of silver coin, the bankers of that district are the first to find it out. They at once write to their London agents, who4 always have an account with the Bank of England, and who draw upon their account to the requisite amount. If, on the other hand, there is a surplus in any district it accumulates in the coffers of the local bankers, and is by them through their agents sent into the Bank of England. In case of a general demand, and a consequent undue reduction of the Bank stock, notice of the fact is immediately sent to the Mint, and a fresh coinage is commenced. The Bank of England is thus always able to keep the Mint informed of and ready to supply any requirements.*

The following is a list of the denominations and weight of the subsidiary coins.

* "Memorandum on the Distribution of Silver Coin," by Mr. Forbes, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, pp. 72, 73 of the 'Mint Report for 1870.'

I. Silver:

II. Bronze :

(9.) The Mint is at present constituted as follows :

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the " Master, Worker, and Warden" of the English Mint, and " Governor " of the Scotch Mint. All other officers hold their appointments from the Treasury which assigns them ther duties and regulates the general management of the Mint.

The Sovereign has power to determine the size, design, and denominations of the coins, to diminish the remedy and the margin between standard weight and current weight, to call in any coins, to introduce coins of any new metal, which shall be legal tender to any amount not exceeding five shillings, to give currency to foreign coins, to establish Colonial Branch Mints, to impose a charge for coinage thereat, and to determine the application of such charge, with some other details.

A trial of the pyx is held at least once annually, the jury being composed of not less than six members of the Goldsmiths' Company.

The preceding pages give a continuous account of the changes that have taken place in the Mint and coinage of this country from the earliest times to the present day. Space does not admit of a similar treatment of foreign Mints, nor is it necessary to our purpose. In the belief that a right conception of the principles which should regulate the issue of a currency is best founded by examining the question in historical sequence, we have traced at some length the development of the English monetary system. It is sufficient to have done this for a single country; and we proceed at once to a comparison of our own present regulations, as above set forth, with those which now obtain on the Continent and in the United States. We shall afterwards endeavour to arrive at some conclusion as to the most advantageous system of coinage, and, assuming this to be universally adopted, we shall next discuss the possibilities of one international coinage.

The United States is the only important country besides England which takes for the basis of its currency the pound troy.

The first American mint was established at Philadelphia in 1792 "for the purpose of a national coinage." The present regulations, imposed by " An Act revising and amending the laws relative to the mints, assay-offices, and coinage of the United States," which came into force on 1st April, 1873, are as follows :

(1.) The sole standard of value is gold.

(2.) The unit of value is the gold dollar.

(3.) The standard fineness of gold coin is 900 per mille. The remedy of fineness of gold coin is 1 per mille.

(4.) The standard weight of the gold dollar is 25.8 grs.; it therefore contains 23.22 grs. of fine gold. The remedy of weight is, for the double eagle (= 20 dollars) and eagle, 1/2 a gr., and for other gold coins, 1/4 gr. This is rather less than 1 per mille for the double eagle, 2 per mille for the eagle and half-eagle, 4 per mille for the quarter-eagle, and 10 per mille for the dollar.

The following quantities of coin are, moreover, required to weigh collectively within 1/100 oz. of their standard weight.

$5000 in double-eagles, eagles, half-eagles, quarter-eagles.

$3000 in three-dollar pieces.

$1000 in one-dollar pieces.

The denominations and weight of the gold coins are as follows:

(5.) The silver subsidiary coinage is only legal tender to the amount of 5 dollars.

The standard fineness of silver is 900 per mille, and the remedy is 3 per mille.

The standard weight of the silver dollar is 385.8 grs. The remedy of weight is 1.5 gr. for any individual coin, or about 3.8 per mille for the dollar, and 38 per mille for the dime (= 10 dollars). The remedy for large quantities is-

The following table gives the standard weight of these coins:

The minor subsidiary coins are only legal tender to the amount of 25 cents ( = 1/4 dollar). They are composed as follows :

The remedy of fineness is 25 per mille in the proportion of nickel.

(6). The charge for the coinage of gold is 1/5 per cent. The charge for the coinage of silver varies, and is determined by the Director of the Mint.

(7.) Gold coins cease to be legal tender when they are reduced by abrasion below the remedy of standard weight, except at a proportionate valuation, the last holder bearing the loss. Any gold coin, however, not reduced more than 1/2 per cent. below standard in twenty years, and at a rateable proportion for a less period, is received at its nominal value by the Treasury and recoined.