in mind that the object of
is not
object of a tint
of profit, but to serve the Public by Coining their bullion at the least possible cost to them. If the Mint of Hong Kong
were ever in full possession
of sufficient revenue to sustain it,
deprived from any
other source, such
as the large seignorage
on Silver pieces, it would be advisable
to reduce the charge for coining
dollars to
some merely nominal sum. The power reserved in the 8th regulation to decline bullion sent to the Mint by the Public to
be coined, if found to be below Standard,
as the Mint is required,
does act possess the
power of
refining silver. The importation of gold for coinage into the Royal
Mint is
affected by
a similar
regulation. The importer may generally meet the difficulty by
accompanying
his coarse bullion,
whether gold or silver, by a quantity of fine metal sufficient to
bring
the average of the whole above
Standard.
With reference to the Extract from the letter from the Officer
in Charge of the Treasury
Chest in China,
transmitted with your letter of the 12th Instant; it is to be observed
that in a letter to the Master
of the
Mint (Copy Enclosed) which went out with the dies for the British Dollar, I have written to Mr. Kinder that the weight of the Dollar should be slightly increased, upon the same grounds as are
now suggested by the Commissariat Officer; so that the British Dollar should represent the full value of the Mexican Dollar lately declared by the Emperor Maximilian. This will make the British Dollar 2 or 3 per cent, or about one quarter
more valuable than the average
average Mexican Dollar present circulating in China, the
latter appearing
to have
fallen by so much under the
legal ...