DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22140#0340
324 INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL HISTORY.
currency in England till the seventeenth century. There is said
to have been a coinage in 1257, but no specimen has been found
of it. There was one in 1344, and so onwards ; but it was almost
certainly for foreign use, and the exportation of it was permitted.
Now, I pointed out long ago, that the price of gold bullion weight
for weight with silver, at the period of this first reported coinage,,
was as 9^ and 10 to 1 ; that towards the end of the century the
ratio rose to 12 and \2\ to I, and that gradually gold became
relatively dearer, till at last, when the two metals were in circu-
lation together, the ratio was at from 15 to 15-2 to 1. By this I mean
that different weights of silver were required at disferent times, in
order to purchase' a given weight of gold. I pointed out, too, in
my lectures last year, that the cause of this rise was the gradually
increased use of gold as currency, commenced as far as the
Western World was concerned, by the adoption of gold currencies
in the Italian trading cities. The evidence of these relative
prices is not very abundant, but is, I am sure, conclusive. No
doubt, if one could discover information as to frequent purchases
of gold, the information would be more copious, and would give
us an insight into changes in the relative value of the rarer metal-
But it would not be more decisive. I am perfectly satisfied with
the proof as to the change in the value of gold between the reign
of Henry III. and that of his son, an interval of about forty years.
Beyond the fact that all recorded information as to the relation
of social instruments to each other has a value in the history of
all social relations, the principal and important inference which
one can draw, and with absolute confidence as to these early
prices of gold, is that the fundamental cause of value in the
precious metals is their use as currency. This conclusion is not
so obvious as it might appear. Up to recently, ordinary political
economists have been accustomed to accept Mr. Senior's dictum,
that the measure of value in the precious metals is their use in the
Arts. It is very possible that this view is still accepted, notwith-
standing the experiences of the last fifteen years, during which
events have occurred which would, one might think, induce these
people to reconsider their conclusion.
I make no doubt that the managers of the English Mint had
this knowledge before them, in what seems to be the capricious
currency in England till the seventeenth century. There is said
to have been a coinage in 1257, but no specimen has been found
of it. There was one in 1344, and so onwards ; but it was almost
certainly for foreign use, and the exportation of it was permitted.
Now, I pointed out long ago, that the price of gold bullion weight
for weight with silver, at the period of this first reported coinage,,
was as 9^ and 10 to 1 ; that towards the end of the century the
ratio rose to 12 and \2\ to I, and that gradually gold became
relatively dearer, till at last, when the two metals were in circu-
lation together, the ratio was at from 15 to 15-2 to 1. By this I mean
that different weights of silver were required at disferent times, in
order to purchase' a given weight of gold. I pointed out, too, in
my lectures last year, that the cause of this rise was the gradually
increased use of gold as currency, commenced as far as the
Western World was concerned, by the adoption of gold currencies
in the Italian trading cities. The evidence of these relative
prices is not very abundant, but is, I am sure, conclusive. No
doubt, if one could discover information as to frequent purchases
of gold, the information would be more copious, and would give
us an insight into changes in the relative value of the rarer metal-
But it would not be more decisive. I am perfectly satisfied with
the proof as to the change in the value of gold between the reign
of Henry III. and that of his son, an interval of about forty years.
Beyond the fact that all recorded information as to the relation
of social instruments to each other has a value in the history of
all social relations, the principal and important inference which
one can draw, and with absolute confidence as to these early
prices of gold, is that the fundamental cause of value in the
precious metals is their use as currency. This conclusion is not
so obvious as it might appear. Up to recently, ordinary political
economists have been accustomed to accept Mr. Senior's dictum,
that the measure of value in the precious metals is their use in the
Arts. It is very possible that this view is still accepted, notwith-
standing the experiences of the last fifteen years, during which
events have occurred which would, one might think, induce these
people to reconsider their conclusion.
I make no doubt that the managers of the English Mint had
this knowledge before them, in what seems to be the capricious