CURRENCY HELD UP

Stratford Evening Post, Volume III, Issue 346, 29 April 1935, Page 5

CURRENCY HELD UP

! -O*o— ■ l HOLIDAY IN MEXICO i i ! GOVERNMENT CALLING IN CO!N FOR MELTING I ; Tress Association —Copyright Washington, April 2C. I As a result of the rise in silver prices J the Mexican Government has declared a . bank holiday while the monetary system j is being adjusted to protect its metallic 1 reserves as, under the prevailing price, ! it. would be profitable to nielt coins. All : token money has been called in and an '■ embargo placed on the export of silver. , The banks will open again oa Monday. The Government has issued a decree ordering the exchange of the present ' silver currency for paper notes of the Bank of Mexico.

As the Treasury again failed to-day to raise the official price of silver to meet the rise in the world markets speculators apparently took fright and, in their haste to cover their commitments, prices broke sharply. The New York quotation dropped 4.23 cents to 7G.75 cents an ounce .91)3 tine as compared with the Government price of 77.57 cents. Shares in silver-producing companies contracted sympathetically, losing up to 3.23 points. It is reported that Treasury officials at Washington believe that to-day's price reactions provide an indication that the metal may be somewhat stabilised around the current levels to make the continual raising of the Government price unnecessary.

Ths price of silver at London rose a further 1 3-8 d an ounce and the cash price, 36 .id, is the highest since 1922. Forward quotation advanced to 36 3-8(1. Buying orders with which brokers had to deal were so heavy that price fixing was delayed until nearly an hour after the usual time.