£ S. D.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 949, 17 October 1910, Page 4

£ S. D.

ISSUE OP HAIF-CEOWNS AND !:". TLOEINS SUSPENDED. TOO TEW SIXPENCES. ■.;•-'[.; ■ It; was officially announced on 15 : that owing to numerous complaints of the comparative scarcity of shillings and sixpences /in active- circulation,Vthe .* Eoyal Mint, has suspended- the : the Bauk of v England of half-crowius, and. florins. 1 '; The issue of these coins will not.' be.recommenced iiiitU"/a"^sufficleiCT_ : df;"tlw> ; . lower "denominations is /in circulation.' It ;is an interesting;'problem, (writes a • 'Daily.-' Chronicle" : correspondent) as to

the. cause of: this shortage of the .nimble .V sixpence and shilling.--'. The faraine in ":- copper . coins,//okf k which', complaint ."was.;-, : made : soinb .tiine ago, ■' especially v in rural;■ districts, ivas due, of course,'to.thtt lbckvn! ing up of pennies in. automatic machines. ' 'An inquiry, which vras .'conducted by the mint at' the time among railway, electric, gas, and automatic machine companies, showed.that/a gross total of 428'./: tens,'- or; =£190,500. was thus.withdrawn; from;'.;;/ circulation. and: locked: up in'automatfc';'/ machines. At least another SCO,OOO 'worth' t. of coppers was;estimated .to bo. locked'up.*i'< outside that • area,: making an estimated total, of .£250,000 of pence permanently withdrawn from circulation. 'I 1 ho. shorty age was corrected, to a large extent, by a ; larger output; of' coinage of that do-. nomination. ■-'■■■'- '//?:/;'/ ry/ . But the cause;of-the 'shortage of shil-: -.;. lings- and sixpences is not so easy .oi explanation. It may be that the enormous number of ; kineniatograph'"theatres., which; have sprung up. all over the/country, and. , the large' crowds;" attracted "to • football; grounds, may have the effect of causing ; sixpences to.- be / withdrawn; into,; a / nar-. ; rower, channel, although," : of course, the: .coins are not;locked up .as are the- pence .. !in automatic machines. ■ v;i The last; issued annual report of (ho • Master of the' Mint, which deals with the ' V year 190S, ■ iiiav - furnish the 'clue.' -:'This -;;' that oiily'/3,809,520"-; shillings : were 1 - minted , in .that, yeaiy: as;againsl,.l4,oßl,7(il) (a remarkable number) iirtlio preceding •;./■ year. About; 6,700,000- sixpences-: were/-,; ■coined .as against 5,727,810 in trie pns. . ceding: year. ; '>" The total of" the silver com held by -- backers (,£6,832,793) showsd:'a .marked in- - crease. One of . causes .-w-as thus afc .. tributed' by the .Master;of -the. Mint; ' ■ The: deuressiou/in trade diminished: tha /: amount of .silver-.in . active circulation; /; which the/large; issues .'of ■ 1S06 : 1907. had. inr.;. creased to an extent that' was no'longer'-..:. required either tfor the' payment -of - wa£<!s : ■•:; or for Vthe: rapidly narrowing purchasiiig.-V ' capacity ,of ■ the wage-earning •classes.; ■> rfr, But that depression. :has'>ibOT : .'' passed awiv, :: a.nd one iiwould have ;sui>-..v' posed. that' the flow of;silvcr.,would have again- beconio.normal. However;..be: tho " cause what it'-may, the: position;i!s- to: bb : ; ,: righted -by;.'su?jKMU.iig.;..tte''' issue 'of;.halS -tp crowns and • florins.,:; .;:;/;/;;;". y^//'