14
copper, alloyed with another more fusible metal, and capable of being cast in moulds, the only mode of coining money known to the Chinese. The second metal is always zinc or zinc with a minor admixture of lead and tin. The chemical assay will be subjoined of nine coinages of the cash at present circulating, issued by seven Emperors of the last dynasty, the specimens being those transmitted by Governor Robinson with his despatch to the Duke of Newcastle. Assuming copper to be worth 1001, per ton, and the alloy (zinc and lead) 201. per ton, the intrinsic value of 1,000 cash would be as follows, beginning with the earliest, and ending with the latest coinage, that of the last Emperor :
Intrinsic Falue of 1,000 Cash.
15
Mint; that of the amount of the coin in question, which is required by the Governor, one half, or 5,000 dollars, might be prepared immediately, and the remainder upon future order received from Hong Kong.
That instead of a silver ten-cent piece being coined at present for Hong Kong, new Spanish pieces, the real, two real, and four real (peseta), might be procured, and sent out to the amount of the small silver coin required by the Governor, one half or 5,000 dollars immediately, and the other half upon future order received from Hong Kong.
That specimens of the new copper cash, accompanying the present communication, may be transmitted to the Governor of Hong Kong, with the view of obtaining & com- petent opinion respecting the fitness of that coin as a substitute for the ordinary Chinese cash in the circulation of the Colony.
I have, &c.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTIC.O.882
2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
£ 8. d.
8. d.
Of 1st Emperor
0
6
5 of which 5 10 is copper.
2d Emperor
0
5 42
4 94
3d Emperor
0 4 31
3 81
1st 0 6 0
5 9
4th Emperor
2d 0 4 3
3
1st 0 6
of which 5 11 is copper.
5th Emperor
2d 0 5 04 1st O 5 0
4 6
4 24
3 1
0
3 4
·
6th Emperor 2d 0 3 11 7th Emperor
4 6
per thousand. The cash thus appears to vary in intrinsic value from about 6s. 6d. to 48. This coin fluctuates in the market with reference to silver, but was rated in Hong Kong, at the date of the Governor's despatch, at 970 cash for one Mexican dollar at 48. 2d. sterling. This would make 1,000 cash worth 48. 34d., while the value of the last Emperor's cash is found by assay to be 48. 61d., or a little bigher. It thus appears at once that cash of the Chinese weight and composition could not be manufactured in England, and exported to China, except at a loss, owing to the value of the metals. It may be further added, that the proportion of copper and zinc in the cash of recent date gives a metal too hard and brittle to be laminated, and which could not on that account be coined in the European method. The cash would require to be cast (as in China), which I believe would still further increase greatly the cost of its manufacture.
It is generally allowed by men acquainted with China, that one of the greatest evils A coin that is pre- under which that country suffers is the state of its cash currency. pared by casting is easily imitated, and the amount of spurious cash in circulation is said to be immense. If the cash is to be improved for circulation in Hong Kong or elsewhere, under British influence, there can be little doubt of the principle upon which the improve- ment should be based. The coin ought to consist of pure copper only, without alloy, and should contain as great a weight of that metal as can be given with the workmanship of the coin. A cash of the kind described, of which specimens are enclosed, might be manufactured here of six-tenths of the usual weight of the Chinese cash, or 35'4 grains, One ton of copper, value 100%, would be coined into 144,711 of cash. The margin of 441, would be required to cover the cost of manufacture and other contingent expenses, but would, I believe, be amply sufficient for that purpose.
The copper cash is protected from counterfeiting by the circumstances that, without an entire change in its appearance, copper cannot be debased by alloy with any other metal, and it cannot be cast, but must be laminated, and requires the usual appliances of a Mint for its manufacture into coin.
$
The improvement of the currency of China appears to be an object worthy of a high However imperfectly the and beneficent policy on the part of the European powers. cash monetary system has worked of late years, it appears to be as correct in principle as any other while the "standard of value in England is gold, and in British India silver, in China it is copper. Considering the prevailing cheapness of labour and of commodities, the latter metal is likely always to form a large portion of the currency of the countries of the East. It certainly is so in British India and also in the Dutch settlements of Java. In Hong Kong the British Government has an opportunity of exhibiting to the Chinese what a proper "cash coinage ought to be. The arrange- ments of the custom houses at the Chinese outports might also offer an opportunity of introducing coin of the proper description, manufactured in Europe, with the consent of the Chinese Government, in payment of duties.
In conclusion, it is respectfully submitted for the consideration of the Lords Commis- sioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, that for the use of the Colony of Hong Kong a bronze cent piece of the description given in this communication might be struck at the
G. A. Hamilton, Esq.,
&c.
&c.
&c.
SIR,
(Signed)
Enclosure No. 3 in No. 3.
THOS. GRAHAM.
Copy of DESPATCH from Sir F. ROGERS to Mr. HAMILTON.
Downing Street, March 26, 1862. I AM directed by the Duke of Newcastle to acknowledge Mr. Peel's letter, dated the 12th instant, on the subject of the currency of Hong Kong, enclosing a copy of a report from the Master of the Mint; and I am directed to acquaint you, for the informa- tion of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, that his Grace is ready, as far as he is concerned, to give effect to the opinions expressed in Mr. Peel's letter.
He presumes that their Lordships will cause to be drafted the Order in Council and Proclamation, requisite to repeal the existing Proclamation (or Proclamations) regulating the Hong Kong currency, and to establish the Mexican dollar and the new British cent as legal tenders in the Colony; the former absolutely, the latter up to the amount of five dollars. His Grace also concludes that their Lordships will, without loss of time, direct the Master of the Mint to take steps for coining such an amount as may seem to them necessary of bronze cents.
2. His Grace would also be prepared to concur in the Master of the Mint's suggestion of procuring a certain quantity, to the value of 2,000l., of ten and five cent pieces from Madrid, for transmission to Hong Kong, in case their Lordships should be satisfied that this course would be advisable.
3. His Grace will at once send out copies of the correspondence with the specimens of British-made cash, submitted by the Master of the Mint, to Hong Kong, for the con- sideration of the Governor, Sir H. Robinson, who may be expected in this country in the course of the summer. He will also direct the Governor to take such steps, legislative or otherwise, as may be necessary to prepare for the proposed changes, and he will authorize him (in accordance with the opinion conveyed in your letter of 12th March) to cause the public accounts of the Colony to be kept in dollars and cents, at the earliest convenient period, instructing him, however, that, in the statistical information furnished to this country, the amounts should still be stated in sterling.
G. A. Hamilton, Esq.,
&c. &c. &c.
No. 4.
I am, &c.
(Signed)
F. ROGERS.
COPY of DESPATCH from Governor Sir H. ROBINSON to his Grace the Duke of NEWCAstle, K.G.
My LORD DUKE,
Hong Kong, May 9, 1862. I HAD the honour to receive by the mail which arrived here on the 4th instant your Grace's despatch, separate, of 26th March last, with its enclosures, upon the subject of the currency of this Colony.
The question as regards the issue of ten-cent silver pieces and British cash referred to me will be reported on as soon as I have given to the subject a little further considera- tion; but I do not like to allow the present mail to leave without observing that if it is intended to introduce the new system of currency with the proposed new bronze cent piece as the only subsidiary coin to the dollar, a much larger quantity of these coins will B 4
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