Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A30882
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A discourse concerning coining the new money lighter in answer to Mr. Lock's Considerations about raising the value of money / by Nicholas Barbon, Esq.
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Barbon, Nicholas, d. 1698.
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1696
(1696)
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Wing B706; ESTC R12375
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47,571
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114
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the value of their Coins there had been very little Silver Money Coin'd and much less to be found now in England For in King Charles the First 's time by the Civil Wars of England the Plate was brought to the Mints to be Coin'd which was the cause of the great sum of Silver Money Coin'd in his Reign The Calling in the Parliament-Money in King Charles the Second's time and new Coining of it The Two or Three hundred thousand pounds that were yearly sent into England from France upon some particular occasions during his Reign with the Money that Dunkirk was sold for And the Act of Parliament for giving away the charge of Coinage to incourage the Merchants to bring Bullion to the Mint being almost Three and an Half per cent were the occasion of the Silver money Coin'd in his Reign And if the two Sums Coined in these two Kings Reigns which make about Twelve Millions with the Money that was Coin'd in Queen Elizabeth's Reign and a Million that was Coin'd in the Reign of King Iames the First before the Foreign Princes Rais'd the value of their Coins be put together they will make near eighteen Millions So that were it not for these accidental Causes there had not been Coin'd in the Mint of England Two Millions of Silver Money since the Foreign Princes Rais'd the Value of their Coins And had it not been for the wearing of some of the old Money lighter by often telling it over and Clipping of the rest by which they were made unprofitable to melt down by this time in all probability there had scarce been a Silver piece of Money to be seen in England And that the Raising the Coin in Foreign parts and the not Raising the Silver Coin in England was the cause of melting it down and Transporting it will plainly appear from the plenty of the Gold here compared with the Silver For since the Forty third of Queen Elizabeth being the last time that the Silver Money was rais'd here in England the Gold has been twice greatly rais'd by which means there is here double if not treble the quantity of Gold for Silver whereas in all other Kingdoms and States in Europe there is ten times more Silver Money than Gold For in the Forty third Year of Queen Elizabeth according to Mr. Lownds's account from the Records of the Mint which all men agree is very exact a pound weight Troy of Gold of the Standard of Twenty two Carats fine and Two Carats Allay was Coin'd into Thirty three Soveraigns and an half at Twenty shillings a piece making Thirty three pounds ten shillings In the Reign of King Iames I. the Gold was rais'd and the same pound weight and standard of Gold was coin'd into as many Units Double-Corowns and other pieces of Gold as made up Forty pound eighteen shillings and four pence And in King Charles the Second's time the Gold was again rais'd and the same standard and weight was coin'd into Forty four Guineas and an half at Twenty shillings a piece So that from Thirty three pound ten shillings in Queen Elizabeth's time to Forty four pound ten shillings in King Charles's Reign the Gold was rais'd near Three and thirty per cent since the Silver money has been rais'd which is the reason of the great plenty of Gold and scarcity of Silver What was the reason that these two Princes rais'd their Gold and not their Silver is not to be imagin'd unless it was from some powerful Argument offer'd by the Guiney Company whose Interest it is to have Gold rais'd which does not appear And that this raising the Gold is the cause that it is more plentiful here in England than Silver will appear yet more plain if the Records of the Mint be examin'd since King Charles the Second's Restauration For since that time there has been coin'd in the Mint of England 7263836 l. 1 s. 5 d. and in Silver but 4319585 l. 9 s. 5 d. which does not want much of double the quantity of Gold Money that has been coin'd more than Silver And when the Guineas had an extraordinary Rise here in England as to be currant at Eight and twenty and Thirty shillings a piece there was above Seven hundred and twenty thousand pounds in Gold coin'd in little more than Nine months time which was more than was coin'd in six or eight Years before which shews plainly that the raising the Value of the Gold money here in England is the cause that so much is imported and coin'd here And on the contrary the not raising of the Silver money in proportion as the Foreign Mints have done is the cause of its being consâ—â—ntly melted down and carried away notwithstanding the many Laws to prohibit it For there are severe Laws in all Kingdoms and States that prohibit the counterfeiting clipping melting and exporting the money In all Countries 't is death to counterfeit and clip the money In France England and several other Countries it is a high Crime to melt it down and forfeiture of the money to export it and in Spain 't is death to transport it And yet when ever it has been profitable it has been always melted down and carried away So that by experience Princes and States have found that there is no other way to preserve it in the Country but by raising the Value of their money so much above the price of Bullion that the Merchant may get more by carrying away the Bullion than the Money The cause of raising the Money here in Europe will always continue as long as the Europeans continue in Traffick and Commerce for Trade makes a People rich and Gold and Silver are Badges of Riches and therefore as the People grow rich the price of Gold and Silver will rise because the occasions for Gold and Silver will still increase Especially as long as the Trade continues to the Mogul's Country in the East-Indies For the Princes and great People there believe that the possession of Gold and Silver is not only an Honour to them while they are alive but that they shall have a Respect in the next World according to the quantity of Gold and Silver they die possess'd of And therefore what-ever Gold and Silver they get more than is absolutely necessary for Commerce and Traffick they from time to time melt into a Mass or Tank which is buried with them so that great part of what 's dug out of the West is buried in the East And altho' there have been great quantities of Gold and Silver brought into Europe since the Discovery of the West-Indies yet the price of them has always risen and will always continue so as long as the People grow rich by Trade which will make the occasions for them greater than the quantity which is the Rule by which all things are made dear This continual Rise of Gold and Silver will be no prejudice to the Princes and States if they do but observe to
every body refuses the Money in general for fear the loss should fall upon him that last takes it so that the Money becomes useless having lost the currancy and quality of Money and all the murmur and disorder ensues that usually attends a Nation that want Money to drive their Trade and Commerce Other Instances might be given but this with the common usage of not exceeding Ten or Fifteen per cent when the Money is rais'd may be sufficient to answer Mr. Lock 's Objection That the Governments cannot raise their Money as high as they please nor make themselves as Rich as they please The great Objection that Mr. Lock makes against the raising the Value of Money is That if the Government have a Power to give a Value of Ten per cent to their Money why not Twenty Fifty or as high as they please And then it would be in the Government 's Power at any time to make themselves as rich as they please Such a Power at this time were to be wish'd for when the Nation is engag'd in so chargeable a War But that 's the misfortune that attends us that such a Power can be only wish'd for For tho' Princes and States have a Power to give a Value to their Money yet that Power is limited And when ever they have attempted to exceed those Limits which upon an extraordinary emergency they have sometimes done they have fallen under greater mischiefs by reason the Money has been always counterfeited than the advantages they propos'd to themselves amounted to by doing of it and have always been forc'd to call in such Money and reduce the Value within its usual limits and bounds There are two Causes why Princes and States raise the Value of their money the one is Ordinary and the other Extraordinary The Ordinary and Common Cause of Raising the Value of the Coin is the Rise of Bullion Gold and Silver are Commodities for other Uses besides the making of money as for making of Plate Lace Gilding c. And besides it 's scarcer in some Countries and more plenty in others And the Value of all things arising from their Occasions and Plenty and Scarcity making things cheap and dear when ever the Goldsmiths and the Makers of Plate Lace c. and the Merchants to export it to the Indies or those Countries where 't is more scarce will give more for Bullion to supply such occasions than the Mints can afford to do according to the Value the money is at the Princes and States have been forced from time to time to raise the Value of their Coin to prevent it from being melted down and carried away The knowledge when Bullion is risen above the Value of the money is discover'd by the Mints For the Mints are the common Shops and Market place for the Merchants to carry in their Bullion And when ever they forbear the bringing of it thither it is certain it will yield them a better price in another place For Bullion never continues long in a place unalter'd because it yields no profit while it continues so But if it be carried to the Mint to be Coin'd it becomes useful for Trade and Commerce and saves the charge of borrowing money or else may be put out to Interest And if it be wrought into Plate Lace c. it pays for the fashion and workmanship And if it be transported to the Indies or some Country where it 's dearer it produces profit by the exchange of those Goods that are bought with it When ever any of the Princes and States in Europe Raise the Value of their Coin the rest generally follow It were too long to give particular Instances but if it be examin'd by the Records of the Mints of the Kings of France with those of the Mints of the Kings of England it will appear that they have Rais'd their Money from time to time as the Kings of England have done or rather higher For that since the time of St. Lewis who was co-temporary with Edward the IIId the Sols and Crowns contained then near six times more of fine Silver than the Sols and French Crowns do that are lately Coin'd which is a greater proportion than the Money has Risen in England since Edward the Third's Time being not quite four times lighter The reason is it 's almost a hundred years since the English have Raised the Value of their Silver Coin and in the same time the French have Rais'd theirs twice which would have made the English Money much of the same Rise with giving of allowance to the custom of the English who have always undervalued their Silver Money and overvalued their Gold in respect to their Neighbour Nations and have since twice Rais'd the value of their Gold to wit in King Iames the First 's time who Coin'd a twenty-Shilling-piece of Gold lighter by Two shillings than that which he Coin'd in the beginning of his Reign which rais'd the value of his first Iacobus's to Two and Twenty Shillings And in King Charles the Second's time who Coin'd the Guinea Two shillings lighter han the Broad-Piece So that when the Guinea was currant at Twenty shillings the Broad-Piece went for Two and Twenty There seems to be an absolute necessity for the Princes aud States of Europe to Raise the value of their Money much about the same time or else they cannot preserve it in their Countries notwithstanding any severe Laws to prohibit the Melting and Exporting of it For there being a constant Commerce and Traffick betwixt all the Countries of Europe If one Prince sets a much higher value on his Money than another the Merchants whose business it is to observe where they can get most profit will melt down the Coin of one Countrey and carry it to the Mint of another Countrey where the Money is Rais'd and will yield the greatest price This will appear plain by an Instance here in England For the Kings of England having not Rais'd their Silver Money since the Reign of Queen Elizabeth which is about a hundred years ago and the rest of the Princes and States of Europe having since that time twice rais'd their several Coins to wit in the Reign of King Iames the First and about Four or Five years since That although there has been since that time Coin'd in England with allowance of what was Coin'd in Queen Elizabeth's Reign the Sum of 19429061 l. 19 s. 6 d. as appears by the Records of the Mint yet by the Computation that Mr. Lownds makes there is not above Five Millions Six hundred thousand pounds remaining which in my opinion is more than will be found to be upon the new Coinage of the Money by the calculation he makes from the Worn and Clipp'd Money So that there has been near Fourteen Millions melted down and carried away within this space of time And had it not been for some accidental causes that brought Bullion to the Mint since the Foreign Princes have rais'd