EXC
345
EXC
lowed for the monies, advanced in any one’s behalf. Thus it is8 fixing of the actual and momentary value of money. Silver as ametal has a value like ail other merchandise; and an additionalvalue, as it is capable of becoming the sign of other merchandise.If it was no more than a mere merchandise, it w ould perhaps losemuch of its nominal value. As a money, silver has a value whichthe priucc in some respects can fix, but in others he cannot. Theprince establishes a proportion between a quantity of silver, as ametal, and the same quantity, as money. He fixes the propor-tion between the several metals made use of as money ; he esta-blishes the weight and standard of every piece of money ; in fine,lie gives to every piece that ideal value already mentioned. Thevalue of money in all these respects, mav be stiled its positivevalue, because it may be fixed by law. The coin of every statehas also a relative value as compared with the money of oiliercountries. This relative value is established by the exchange, andgreatly depends on its positive value. It is fixed by the currentcourse of commerce, and by the general opinion and consent ofmerchants, but never by the decrees of the prince, because it isliable to incessant variations, depending upon the accidental cir-cumstances of trade, the money transactions betw een nations, thestate of the public credit, See. Nations in fixing this relativevalue are chiefly guided by that country which possesses thegreatest quantity of specie. If she lias as much specie as all theothers together, the others regulate theirs by her standard; andthis regulation between all the others will nearly agree with theregulation made with this principal nation. The relative abun-dance or scarcity of specie, in different countries, forms what iscalled the course of exchange, and this plenty or scarcity, onwhich the mutability of the course of exchange depends, is notreal but relative: e. g. when the French have greater occasion forfunds in Holland than the Dutch have for funds in France , specieis said to be common in France, and scarce in Holland ; and vicevers&. For pci forming the cases of exchange with different coun-tries, see Arithmetic .
Exchange, Arbitration of. See Arithmetic.
Exchange, Course of. See Arithmetic. When thecourse of exchange rises above par, the country w here it rises mayke certain, that the balance' of trade runs against them. SupposeBritain to import from Hamburgh goods to the value of 100,000/.at par, and export only to the value of 80,000/. In this case, billson Hamburgh, will be scarce in Britain , and consequently willrise in value ; and after the 80,000/. is paid, bills must be procur-eu trom other places at a high rate to pay the remainder, so thatinn 20,000/. may be paid for bills to discharge a debt of100,000/, Though tile course of exchange be in a perpetual flux,and rises or falls according to the circumstances of trade ; yet theexchanges of London, Holland , Hamburgh, and Venice, havehitherto in a great measure regulated those of all otiier places inEurope .
Exchange,. Diiv, .Cambium Siccum, or Usurer’s Ex-chance, consists in giving money at one place, to be repaid italter a certain time in the same place, with a certain sum over,which is usually more than common interest. The ceremony ofa real exchange is observed in this fictitious kind, which is only amethod of borrowing money. The borrower draws a bill of ex-change on an imaginary person, perhaps at Amsterdam , at theprice the exchange then goes at, and delivers it to the lender.After the time fixed, a protest comes from Amsterdam for non-payment, with the re-exchange of the money from thence to Lon-don ; all which, with costs, besides a deduction perhaps at themaking of the bargain, the borrower must pay.
Exchange, Par of. Bee Arithmetic . When money ofthe same standard and weight in one country, yields money or thejame standard and weight in another, the exchange is then said tobe at par. Thus in the year 1744, the par between Fiance andHolland was nearly at 54 gros to the French crown of three livres;when the exchange is above 54 gros, the French say it is high ;when below 54 gros, it is low. When the exchange is below parbetween one country and another, the former Joses as debtor andand gains as creditor and seller. Thus if Frunce owesHolland a certain number of gros, the more of these there are ina crown, the more crowns she has to pay ; and as there must be’he same number of gros to buy the same quantity of merchandise,^•nle (lie exchange is low, every French crown is worth fewergros. On the contrary, if France is creditor for a certain number
VOL, tl,—NO. 78. '
of gros, the less of them there arc in a crown, the more crownsshe will receive ; and if France sells her merchandise in Hol-land for a certain mmiher of gros, the more crowns willshe receive, in proportion as cadi crown contains fewer ofthese gros. The same reasoning will apply, mulatis mutandis, tothe commercial intercourse of other countries, and to any par ofexchange. A merchant may send his stock into a foreign coun-try, when tlie exchange is below par, without injuring his fortune ;because, when it returns, he recovers what lie had lost; but aprince, who sends only specie into a foreign country, which cannever return, is always a loser. The par of exchange betweenGreat Britain and the principal places in Europe , with which, intime of peace, we have any commercial intercourse, is as fol-lows :
Par, in Sterling
X.
s .
d
fix dollar.
.. — 0
4
6*
.. 1
ducat.
9
3
. 1
.. - 0
3
l i
Berlin.
rixdollar.
4
0
piastre..
.. — 0
3
7
Bologna.
dollar.
4
3
Bohemia ..
rixdollar.
3
8
Bremen. .........
. 1
ditto.
3
6
ditto.;...
3
3
Brunswick.
ditto.
4
6
piastre.
3
7
Cologn.
rixdollar.
4
6
. I
A
4
6
Dantzic.
florins.
.. — l
0
0
rixdollar.
4
6
ditto.
4
6
Embden.
ditto.
.. — 0
e»
O
6
Florence .
. 1
crown...
.. = 0
5
H
. 1
.. — 0
3
0
. 1
.. — 0
4
6
Hamburgh.
ducat.
.. — 0
9
piastre.
= 0
4
ti
. 1
rixdollar...
4
(>
Liege.
ditto.
— 0
4
6
. 1
milree.
.. — 0
5
7i
.....a 1
.. — 0
2
5 i
Madrid.
piastre..
3
T
Malaga..
ditto.
.. — 0
3
7
Middlcburg.
rixdollar.
., — 0
4
Milan.
ducat .
.. — 0
4
v, —■ 0
3
41*
Narva.,.
rixdollar.
4
e>
. 1
.. — 0
4
(5
ditto.
4
6
O porto.
milree.
5
74
Osnaburgh.
rixdollar.
4
ti
. 1
.. — 0
2
5i
rixdollar..
.. — 0
4
6
ditto.,.
4
6
. |
— 0
0
rixdollar.
4
d
. 1
— 0
O
ruble.
4
5
piastre.,,.
3
7
. 1
crown...........4.
5
0
Stetten.
mark ...
i
c
Stockholm.
dollars.
0
Strasburg.
rixdollar....
4
6
ditto .
4
6
. 1
asper ..
4
(i
. 1
ducat..
^ — o
4
Vienna.
rixdollar.
4
8
Exchange, Beal, is used for the profit which a merchant,negociant, or broker, makes of a sum of money received, and forwhich a bill of exchange is drawn, payable in some other place,and by some other person, for the interest of his money, and the,reward of his negotiation. This profit is exceedingly various;being sometimes two, sometimes three, four, or even ten and fif-teen per cent, according as the alloy of the species differs, or as4 T money