THE PRICE OF SILVER.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 1, 1 January 1920, Page 6

THE PRICE OF SILVER.

AND ITS COINAGE. The increasing price of silver has brought very near a crisis iv the coinage of this country (states the Shipping World"). As long as silver \rtm costing 2/G to 3/ per ounce, it was a profitable transaction for the Treasury to take a, niece of silver, put an image and superscription upon it, and call it a shilling or a crown or half-a-erown, and say Wat it represented a certain fraction of the value of a sovereign. The nominal value was then about double the intrinsic value. But silver has been steadily rising in price, and the amount of silver required for any coin is now nearly equivalent in price to the face value of the coin itself. Should silver advance further in value, our silver coins will be produced at a loss, which is, of course, an unthinkable proceeding. In such ease, it would pay a person who manages to gain possession of a quantity of the legally stamped discs of metal called silver coins to melt them down and sell the silver to the Government to make further discs of the kind. It almost looks as if some speculativclyminded persons were already preparing! for this course. In Paris, it is said to be almost impossible to get change in silver, and reports are current that botli in France and in this country an issue of paper money is impending lor smaller amounts than at present. A nickel coinage is also said to be contemplated. Might we urge the Government that, if lit should be necessary to institute a, I nickel coinage, it should be courageous j enough to take advantage of such an opportunity to institute a decimal coinage. |lt should be comparatively easy. Keepjing the standard value of the sovereign as it is, there is the florin, which represents the tenth part of it, the tenth part lof the florin represents a value of 2id, 'approximately, but hitherto a coin ot I that value has 'been awkward to mint. A bronze coin would be too clumsy, and i a silver one too minute for convenience. I A nickel coin would just fit this value, | and 100 nickels would then constitute \a sovereign. As for the 1000 th part ot • a sovereign, all that is necessary to reduce the value of the farthing slightly, so that instead of there being 900 farthings to the sovereign, there may be 1000. The scheme is worth trying, and after generations may say of the present silver crisis—"lt's an ill wind that blows nobody good."