190

IMPROVEMENTS IN

CHAP. XXIII.

century. As far as various considerations uniteto enable a judgment to be formed, it may beassumed that the value of the silver money in ex-istence, including the dollars of the Americancoinages, was as four to one of that of the goldmoney.

If the wear of the coined money was the samethrough the time that passed from the year 1700to 1810, the loss by friction on both kinds ofmetal would be at the rate of one part in fourhundred and twenty annually. In the remainingcalculations the rate of loss will be estimated uponthis principle, and it will be extended to the wholemass of coin of Europe and of America .

One reason for making a change in the esti-mated loss at this particular period is that a generalreformation in the state of the coinage was thenintroduced. In England the evil of a debasedcoinage was severely felt and loudly complained ofduring the reign of William III. , and it appearsthat the silver coin which was by far the greatestin nominal amount had from clipping and othercauses become so very deficient, that upon weigh-ing a large quantity at the Exchequer in 1695, itwas found that which should by tale have weighedtwo hundred and twenty-one thousand four hun-dred and eighteen ounces, did in fact weigh nomore than one hundred and thirteen thousandseven hundred and seventy-one ounces, thus show-