TNAG-0717-FCO40-914-Banking-and-monetary-matters-in-the-Dependent-Territories-is-1978 — Page 34

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better to OAG's.

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cover. In theory, this does face us with the

horrifying prospect of having to pick up the tab

for a bill of many millions of pounds.

3. But this situation would only arise if the entire

market for numismatic coins collapsed so comprehensively

min that the value of the coins fell well below their noal

value, so that the only economic thing to do would be

to cash them in at face value and even this ignores the

fact that many collectors collect coins out of interest

and not primarily as an investment, and would not

therefore want to send all their coins back

simply because their market value fell. Such a collapse is inconceivable - but even if the inconceivable

happened, we assume that the Territories themselves

would, in most cases, have adequate resources to meet

the liability, even where specific cover is not

provided.

4. We do not, therefore, believe that the risk to

HMG is sufficiently real to justify our trying to

prevent Territories from using their initiative to

maximise the advantage they can gain from this

useful source of revenue, nor do we propose to insist,

as suggested at the end of the summary, that all

contracts should be submitted to us for scrutiny before

they are signed though if you would like advice, we should

certainly be glad to provide it.

5. This does not, of course, mean that we believe no

controls of any kind are necessary.

You will no doubt

wish to consider the practice in your own Territory, first of all to ensure that it remains within the law since

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