ENGLAND'S MONEY

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume 3536, Issue 3536, 1 May 1923, Page 2

ENGLAND'S MONEY

The coinage occupies a vital position in the social structure of civilised States. Offences against it are always heavily punishable. In England the crime of coining was formerly held to bo treason, but it is now a felony punishable with penal servitude for life. It is an offence punishable with the same penalty to ‘make, sell, possess, or even merely repair a machine used for coining. To lighten gold and silver coins by scraping or other illegal means is a crime punishable with 14 years’ penal .servitude. Offences against the copper coinage do' not earn such drastic penalties. But coining copper is not very remunerative and is rarely attempted. The laws of coinage have been greatly affected by the war. In the old days the golden sovereign was simply a piece of gold with £1 and the owner could do what he liked ’with it. He could melt it down to make ornaments or export it. But to-day iiO' one can export gold or silver coin or use it other than as currency. But for this restriction people would have exercised their legal right and changed their notes into gold at the Biank of England. ' Some would then have sold the ‘metal at its market price (on February 5, 1920, the intrinsic value of the sovereign was just over 30s), while others would have exported it to countries where the paper pound was at a discount. So our gold reserve would have vanished. —‘Daily Mail.*