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Colony in pursuance of the Mint Ordinance 2 of 1864. This despatch has been referred to the Master of the mint and I enclose his Report for your Lordship's consideration, together with seventeen specimens of the new dollar as test pieces.
In my despatch No.57 of 9th June last, written after perusal of a letter from Mr. Graham, the Master of the Royal Mint in London, embodying much the same views as those now adopted in the Treasury Regulations, I explained that the weight of the new dollar had been fixed in Hongkong at 416 grains, and that intimation of this decision had been conveyed to Her Majesty's Government.
In Mr. Berkeley's dispatch No. 23 of 31st January last,
3. The weight of the new dollar thus fixed corresponds almost exactly with the recognized average weight of the Mexican Dollars in circulation in China. It is a fact stipulated for in Hong Kong that all payments in Mexican dollars weighing 717 taels - that is to say that 1000 Mexican dollars should weigh 717 taels - a thousand taels being the equivalent of 579,840 grains; it follows that the average taken for the weight of Mexican dollars in this part of the world is 415.745 grains, being a slight fraction under that of our dollar.
The weight named in the Treasury Regulations, of 20th June 1866, is 0.873 of...