The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface
• Chapter I: Barter
• Want of Coincidence In Barter.
• Want of a Measure of Value.
• Want of Means of Subdivision.
• Chapter II: Exchange
• Utility and Value Are Not Intrinsic.
• Value Expresses Patio of Exchange.
• Chapter III: The Functions of Money
• A Standard of Value.
• A Store of Value.
• Separation of Functions.
• Chapter IV: Early History of Money
• Currency In the Hunting State.
• Currency In the Pastoral State.
• Articles of Ornament As Currency.
• Currency In the Agricultural State.
• Manufactured and Miscellaneous Articles As Currency.
• Chapter V: Qualities of the Material of Money
• 1. Utility and Value.
• 2. Portability.
• 3. Indestructibility.
• 4. Homogeneity.
• 5. Divisibility.
• 6. Stability of Value.
• 7. Cognizability.
• Chapter VI: The Metals As Money
• Iron.
• Lead.
• Tin.
• Copper.
• Silver.
• Gold.
• Platinum.
• Nickel.
• Other Metals.
• Alloys of Metals.
• Chapter VII: Coins
• The Invention of Coining.
• What Is a Coin?
• Various Forms of Coins.
• The Best Form For Coins.
• Coins As Works of Art.
• Historical Coins.
• The Royal Attribute of Coining.
• Chapter VIII: The Principles of Circulation
• The Standard Unit of Value.
• Coin, Money of Account, and Unit of Value.
• Standard and Token Money.
• Metallic and Nominal Values of Coins.
• Legal Tender.
• The Force of Habit In the Circulation of Money.
• Gresham's Law.
• Extension of Gresham's Law.
• Chapter IX: Systems of Metallic Money
• Currency By Weight.
• Unrestricted Currency By Tale.
• Single Legal Tender System.
• Multiple Legal Tender System.
• Composite Legal Tender.
• Chapter X: The English System of Metallic Currency
• English Gold Coin.
• English Silver Coin.
• English Bronze Coinage.
• Deficiency of Weight of the English Gold Coin.
• Withdrawal of Light Gold Coin.
• Supply of Gold Coin.
• Supply of Silver Coin.
• The Royal Mint.
• Chapter XI: Fractional Currency
• Billon Coin.
• Composite Coin.
• Bronze Coin.
• English Bronze Coin.
• Weight of the Currency.
• Nickel, Manganese, Aluminium, and Other Metals and Alloys.
• Chapter XII: The Battle of the Standards
• The Double Standard.
• Compensatory Action.
• The Demonetization of Silver.
• Disadvantages of the Double Standard.
• The Monetary Systems of the World.
• Chapter XIII: Technical Matters Relating to Coinage
• The Alloys In Coin.
• The Size of Coins.
• The Wear of Coin.
• Methods of Counting Coins.
• Cost of the Metallic Currency.
• Chapter XIV: International Money
• Advantages of International Money.
• Disadvantages of International Money.
• Conflict of Monetary Systems.
• International Monetary Negotiations.
• Decimalization of English Money.
• The Future American Dollar.
• German Monetary Reform.
• Systems of Fractional Money.
• Final Selection of the Unit of International Money.
• Chapter XV: The Mechanism of Exchange
• Progressive Development of the Methods of Exchange.
• Representative Money.
• Cheque and Clearing System.
• Chapter XVI: Representative Money
• Early History of Representative Money.
• Reasons For the Use of Representative Money.
• Inconvenience of Metallic Money.
• The Weight of Currency.
• Saving of Interest.
• Chapter XVII: The Nature and Varieties of Promissory Notes
• Specific Deposit Warrant.
• General Deposit Warrant.
• Difference Between a Special and a General Promise.
• Pecuniary Promissory Notes.
• Principles of the Circulation of Representative Money.
• Chapter XVIII: Methods of Regulating a Paper Currency
• 1. Simple Deposit.
• 2. Partial Deposit.
• 3. Minimum Reserve.
• 4. Proportional Reserve.
• 5. Maximum Issue.
• 6. Elastic Limit.
• 7. Documentary Reserve.
• 8. Real Property Reserve.
• 9. Regulation By the Foreign Exchanges.
• 10. Free Issue System.
• 11. The Gold Par Method.
• 12. Convertibility By Revenue Payments.
• 13. Deferred Convertibility.
• 14. Inconvertible Paper Money.
• Over Issue of Paper Money.
• Want of Elasticity of Paper Money.
• Chapter XIX: Credit Documents
• Measurement of Credit.
• Bank-notes.
• Cheques.
• Bills of Exchange.
• Interest-bearing Documents.
• Definition of Money.
• Chapter XX: Book Credit and the Banking System
• Single Bank System.
• System of Two Banks.
• Complex Bank System.
• Branch Bank System.
• Bank Agency System.
• London Agency System.
• Country Clearing System.
• Chapter XXI: The Clearing-house System
• Transaction of Business At the London Clearing House.
• Manchester Clearing House.
• New York Clearing House.
• Extension of the Clearing System.
• Advantages of the Cheque and Clearing System.
• Proportion of Cash Payments.
• Cases to Which the Clearing System Is Inapplicable.
• Chapter XXII: The Cheque Bank
• Relation of the Cheque Bank to Other Banks.
• The Cheque Bank As a Monetary Agent.
• Payment of Wages By Cheques.
• The Cheque Bank As a Savings Bank.
• Results of the Cheque Bank System.
• Chapter XXIII: Foreign Bills of Exchange
• Origin and Nature of Bills of Exchange.
• Trade In Foreign Bills.
• The World's Clearing House.
• Centralization of Financial Transactions In London.
• Representation of Foreign Bankers In London.
• Chapter XXIV: The Bank of England and the Money Market
• Expansion of Trade.
• Competition of Bankers.
• The Bank Charter Act of 1844.
• The Free-banking School.
• Possibility of Over-issue.
• The Right of Coining Bank Notes.
• Scotch and English Banking.
• Cash Reserves of Bankers.
• Remedy For the Sensitiveness of the Money Market.
• Chapter XXV: A Tabular Standard of Value
• Corn Rents.
• A Multiple Legal Tender.
• Lowe's Proposed Table of Reference.
• Poulett Scrope's Tabular Standard of Value.
• Difficulties of the Scheme.
• Chapter XXVI: The Quantity of Money Needed By a Nation
• Quantity of Work to Be Done By Money.
• Efficiency of the Currency.
• Effects of the Cheque and Clearing System.
• Conclusion.

Saving of Interest.

A further and very potent motive for employing representative tokens or notes, consists in the saving of interest and capital, which is effected by substituting a comparatively valueless material in place of costly gold and silver. Whenever a nation is in great straits for want of revenue, there is a great temptation to treat the metallic currency as a treasure to be temporarily borrowed for the necessities of the state. The ancient Greeks understood this as well as the modern English, Italians, or Americans. Dionysius, on this ground, obliged the Syracusans to accept tin tokens in place of silver coins, worth four times as much in metallic value. In the book on Economics, attributed to Aristotle, we are told that Timotheus the Athenian persuaded the soldiers and merchants to receive copper money in place of silver, promising to exchange it for silver coins at the close of the war. The Clazomenians made a similar issue of token money avowedly for the sake of the interest thereby saved. Being unable to pay twenty talents due to some mercenary troops, they were under the necessity of paying four talents a year as interest. They fell upon the device of coining iron tokens to the nominal amount of twenty talents, which they obliged the citizens to take in place of silver coin. The silver thus obtained was used for the immediate discharge of the debt, and there was a spare annual revenue of four talents, formerly absorbed in the payment of interest, which now enabled them in a few years to redeem the token money. Closely parallel to this is the case of the Guernsey Market, which was built without apparent cost. Daniel le Broc, the governor of the island, determined to build a market in St. Peters, but not having the necessary funds, issued under the seal of the island four thousand market notes for one pound each, with which he paid the artificers. When the market was finished and the rents came in, the notes were thereby cancelled, and not an ounce of gold was employed in the matter. There is, however, no mystery in this advantage of paper money.

Daniel le Broc, by issuing his market-notes, drove an equivalent amount of gold out of circulation, and thus effected a kind of forced loan out of the metallic currency of the island, without paying any interest for it. A similar gain of interest accrues upon all paper notes so far as their amount exceeds the gold held in readiness to pay them. The private and joint stock banks of issue in England in this way enjoy the interest upon a sum of about six millions and a half sterling, the Scotch banks upon two millions and three quarters, and the Irish banks upon more than six millions. The issue of paper representative money is beneficial to all parties, provided that it be conducted upon a sound method of regulation, a subject upon which the greatest differences of opinion exist.

Chapter XVII

The Nature and Varieties of Promissory Notes

Before attempting to come to any conclusion as to the best mode of regulating the issue of promissory notes, we must carefully analyse the differences which may exist between one promise and another. What seems at first sight a very slight and subtle distinction, may be found to lead to important results. He who issues a representative or promissory document, engaging to give a certain quantity of a defined commodity in return for the document when presented, may really make any one of three distinct engagements.

• 1. He may promise to keep a certain identical article in his possession until it is called for.
• 2. He may engage to have in his possession a certain amount of commodity ready to meet the promissory notes, without distinguishing between portion and portion of a similar substance.
• 3. The undertaking may be merely to the effect that the required commodity shall be forthcoming when the note is presented, no covenant being made as to the quantity to be held in stock for the purpose.