297
while the dollar Coinage
in progress, of itself prevent the simultaneous
execution of the two
Coinages, and would this
ress and probably
Cause great
embarrassment at times.
5th Lieut. Col. Smith has
recorded his opinion of the
necessity of a Mint in this City for the Coinage of Copper. Were this established,
it would not be difficult to combine
the arrangements for Coinage of dollars, and should
the Government of Hong Kong
prefer this plan to that of
a Colonial Mint, I do not see
any objection that could be
offered on the part of the Government of India.
The Govt. would
be able to determine whether
it would be more to its advantage
to pay for the Cost of Coinage here, and for freight
to and fro,
than to establish a mint of its own. In such a question
the extent of the Coinage
to be executed from time to time is of chief importance,
with respect both to expense and to public necessity.
The rate at which
the Coinage would be executed