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 The Numismatic and Antiquarian 
 Society of Philadelphia 
 
 SOME 
 
 MODERN MONETARY QUESTIONS 
 
 VIEWED 
 
 BY THE LIGHT OF ANTIQUITY 
 
 A PAPER REAIJ BEFORETHE SOCIETY APRIL i 18 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT NOXON TOPPAN 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 PRINTED FOE THE SOCIETY 
 
 1880 
 
INTERNATIONAL COINAGE, 
 
 
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 The Numismatic and Antiquarian 
 Society of Philadelphia 
 
 SOME 
 
 MODEM MONETARY QUESTIONS 
 
 VIEWED 
 
 BY THE LIGHT OF ANTIQUITY 
 
 A PAPER READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY APRIL i 1880 
 
 BY 
 
 u/ 
 
 ROBERT NOXON TOPPAN 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY 
 
 1880 
 
CTsS 
 
 The Numismatic and Antiquarian 
 Society of Philadelphia. 
 
 FOUNDED JANUARY ist, 1858. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 1880. 
 
 PRESIDENT. 
 ELI K. PRICE. 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENTS. 
 WILLIAM S. VAUX, 
 WILLIAM P. CHANDLER, 
 EDWIN W. LEHMAN, 
 DANIEL G. BRINTON, m.d. 
 
 CORRESPONDING SECRETARY. 
 
 HENRY PHILLIPS, Jr. 
 
 RECORDING SECRETARY. 
 J. HAYS CARSON. 
 
 TREASURER. 
 
 HENRY PHILLIPS, Jr. 
 
 HISTORIOGRAPHER. 
 CHARLES HENRY HART. 
 
 CURATOR OF NUMISMATICS. 
 ROBERT COULTON DAVIS. 
 
 CURATOR OF ANTIQUITIES. 
 PHILIP HOWARD LAW. 
 
 LIBRARIAN. 
 FRANCIS JORDAN, Jr. 
 
SOME 
 
 MODEM MONETARY QUESTIONS 
 
 VIEWED 
 
 BY THE LIGHT OF ANTIQUITY 
 
 Mr. President and Members of the Numismatic and Antiquarian 
 Society of Philadelphia : — 
 The two pieces of money of antiquity exhibited this evening — 
 one the gold stater of Alexander the Great, the other the gold de- 
 narius, or as it is generally called the aureus, of Augustus — suggest 
 some facts in regard to ancient coinage, which it will be well for 
 us to consider with attention, as they have a practical bearing upon 
 some of the monetary questions of the present time. As is well 
 known to the members of this Society, the progressive steps in com- 
 mercial intercourse were, first, direct barter, then a selection of a 
 common medium of exchange, such as cattle or food of some kind, 
 and finally the adoption of a metal which, being in its nature dur- 
 able, easily divisible and of intrinsic value, was found by experi- 
 ence to be the best medium. The selection of the metal depended, 
 of course, upon the locality. In Lydia, where gold abounded, that 
 metal was naturally used and became the standard of values. In 
 Greece, where the silver mines were worked for many centuries, 
 silver became the medium of exchange. In Sicily and Italy, where 
 copper was very abundant, that metal was used and became, of 
 course, the standard of values. 
 
When commerce between nations was developed — between nations 
 having different metallic systems of money — the relative values of 
 the different metals adjusted themselves, from time to time. The 
 intrinsic value of gold was found to be superior to that of silver, 
 and the value of silver superior to that of copper. A pound of 
 gold was worth several pounds of silver, and a pound of silver 
 many pounds of copper. The relation, however, between the three 
 metals was never permanent, as was natural. Sometimes the gold 
 mines produced more, sometimes less metal. Sometimes the de- 
 mand was greater, sometimes less. The same rule applied to silver 
 and to copper. Where there is only one metal as the standard, there 
 are only two elements of disturbance — the demand and supply. 
 Where a bi-metallic system prevails, there are four elements of dis- 
 turbance. Where a tri-metallic standard exists or could exist, there 
 would be, of course, six elements to disturb the relation ; it could 
 therefore never be fixed. Only, with all the variations, gold was 
 always more valuable than silver, and silver more valuable than cop- 
 per. This is a matter of so much importance at the present time, 
 and the experience of antiquity bears so directly upon the monetary 
 question that has agitated the country for the past few years, that I 
 venture to give an extract from the recent publication of M.. Francois 
 Lenormant, the French savant and authority in numismatics. In 
 his work, published in 1878, called "La Monnaie dans FAntiquit§," 
 Vol. I, page 173, he says : " On peut poser en principe que les an- 
 ciens ne connurent pas la pretention irrealisable de ce qu'on a 
 appele de nos jours la monnaie bimetallique ou le double 6talon. 
 Chez eux l'on constate, au contraire, toujours le choix d'un seul 
 m6tal adopts comme Stalon fondamental et regulateur de tout le 
 systeme mon^taire. Seulement le m6tal choisi a vari6, comme il 
 devait arriver necessairement, suivant les circonstances particulieres 
 des contrSes et des 6poques." 
 
 " We can lay down the principle that the ancients knew no- 
 thing about the unattainable pretension of what is called at the 
 present time bi-metallic money, or the double standard. On the 
 
contrary, we always find that they adopted one metal as the funda- 
 mental standard, upon which was based their whole monetary 
 system. The metal selected, however, varied, as must necessarily 
 happen, according to the particular circumstances of the countries 
 and of the periods." 
 
 Language could hardly be stronger to condemn, by the light of 
 experience, the attempt made recently to reinstate in its former 
 position a metal which the force of circumstances has driven to a 
 subordinate place, and if persisted in, it must lead to financial 
 trouble. 
 
 The same process that has been going on in Europe and America 
 since the addition to the amount of gold in the world by the pro- 
 ducts of California and Australia — the substitution of a gold basis 
 for a silver one — can be distinctly traced in the monetary history of 
 Rome, where the old copper standard was slowly displaced by silver 
 as that metal became more abundant, from conquest and by com- 
 mercial intercourse, and silver in turn yielded to gold when that 
 metal became sufficiently abundant to supply the demands of com- 
 merce, so that silver became subsidiary to gold, just as copper had 
 become subsidiary to silver. 
 
 Another lesson applicable to the present day can be learned from 
 the weights of the ancient coins. The old idea of money being a 
 valuable commodity, selected as a medium of exchange, its weight 
 was naturally regulated by the standard weight of the country. 
 Before the invention of what is called coinage, irregular pieces of 
 metal were used as a medium of exchange, which passed by weight. 
 At each transaction it was necessary to weigh the pieces, which were 
 definite parts of the standard weight of the country. The same 
 custom still prevails in some of the Oriental countries. For 
 instance, where the Babylonian standard of weights existed, the 
 pieces of metal used as money were definite unfractional parts of 
 the Babylonian mina and talent. So many drachma pieces weighed 
 a mina, and so many a talent. In all the various systems of 
 antiquity we find the same rule. In Athens a hundred drachma 
 
pieces of silver weighed a miua, and six thousand a talent. We 
 find the same thing in the Sicilian and Italian systems. Taking 
 Rome as an example, the Aes, or As, as it is most generally called, 
 which was the unit of the old system, weighed originally one libra 
 or pound, divided into 12 ounces, and the subdivisions weighed 
 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 and J ounces. When the successive diminutions took 
 place, the rule of adhering to a definite part of the pound was 
 still followed. The first reduction is supposed to have taken place 
 after the battle of Allia (390 B.C.) when the As became J of a 
 pound, owing to the scarcity of money. During the war with 
 Pyrrhus and Tarentum (279 B.C.) it was again reduced to ^ of a 
 pound. In 269 B.C. to ^, and in 217 B.C., when Hannibal threat- 
 ened Rome itself, it was again reduced to tV of the pound. There 
 were two other reductions up to the time of Augustus, one in 89 
 B.C., making the As i^ and the. other tV of a pound. 
 
 The same rule can be seen in the silver coinage. In the begin- 
 ning 72 denarii were coined out of a pound of silver ; then 84 ; 
 and afterwards Nero reduced the weight of the denarius so as to 
 make 96 to a pound. 
 
 In the gold coinage the same thing can be observed. Sylla 
 issued an aureus, thirty of which weighed a pound, then 36, which 
 rule Pompey followed. Csesar issued a lighter aureus, divided into 
 100 sestertii, 40 of which made a pound. Augustus diminished 
 the weight slightly, so that 42 made the pound. The aureus of 
 Nero weighed it, and that of Caracalla A of a pound. Con- 
 stantine made his aureus, or as it is generally called the solidus 
 (from which come the words sol and sou), of the same weight as 
 the original silver denarius, so that 72 weighed a pound. The 
 Merovingian kings, who built up their monarchy upon the ruins of 
 Rome, made their solidus the A part of the Roman pound. It 
 will be seen from these examples that the old idea of money, cor- 
 responding to definite parts of the standard weight of the country, 
 still prevailed, notwithstanding the fact that the silver money was 
 constantly more and more debased, until finally even a trace of silver 
 
 j 
 
 i 
 
 
had almost entirely disappeared, and the imperial despotism had 
 gradually accustomed men to consider the imperial effigy as alone 
 giving value to the pieces of metal. 
 
 If we now examine the monetary systems of modern times, we 
 will find that the idea of coinage corresponding to the standard 
 weight of the country was almost entirely lost sight of, until the 
 French established their new metric system. For instance, the 
 English sovereign, which is their unit, weighs 123 grains and t% 
 of a grain — a fractional part of the Troy pound, which is the stan- 
 dard weight for coins — so that it takes 46 sovereigns and x%% of a 
 sovereign to weigh one Troy pound. To obtain an even number 
 we have to take 40 Troy pounds, which are coined into exactly 
 1869 sovereigns. The American silver dollar of 412| grains is 
 also fractional, so that out of the 5760 grains forming the Troy 
 pound, 13 and It of a dollar are struck. The gold dollar, which 
 was made the unit in 1873, weighing 25A grains, it requires 223 
 dollars and H of a dollar to make a pound. It is needless to give 
 further examples. 
 
 The French law of 1795, conforming the coinage to the new 
 metric system, was Confirmed by the decree of 1803, when 
 Napoleon was First Consul. The change was not simply metric, 
 but also decimal, as before that time the duodecimal prevailed, 24 
 livres making a Louis d'Or. A five-gramme piece to fine was de- 
 clared to be the unit, and was to be called a franc. In order to obtain 
 an even 5 grammes, the livre tournois was slightly increased in 
 weight and in value about *<r. All the silver coins were made to 
 conform. The five-franc piece, for instance, weighs 25 grammes. 
 The half franc 2.50 grammes. The copper coins were also made 
 to conform ; the two-centime piece weighed 4 grammes, the three- 
 centime piece 6, and the five-centime piece 10 grammes. In 1852 
 the weight of the copper coins was reduced one-half, but still con- 
 forming, so that now one centime weighs 1 gramme, five centimes 5, 
 and ten centimes 10 grammes. The French having adopted an 
 arbitrary ratio between gold and silver, making one pound of gold 
 
8 
 
 always to be equal to 15^ pounds of silver, could not make their 
 gold coins conform to the system. The twenty-franc piece weighs 
 6.tWo 6 (jV grammes and the five-franc gold piece l.AVW grammes. 
 
 Experience having demonstrated that the arbitrary ratio of 15| 
 to 1 is incorrect, there is no reason why the gold coins should not 
 be adjusted to the metric system, or at least that the fractions should 
 not be made simpler. The United States, generally ready to ac- 
 cept views of progress, ordered, in 1873, that the half dollar piece 
 and other subsidiary silver coins should be struck according to the 
 metric system, and the half dollar now weighs 12.50 grammes, exactly 
 half of the five-franc silver piece, and the five cent-nickel piece weighs 
 5 grammes, so that the people can gradually become accustomed to 
 the gramme system. An attempt to alter this law, it is understood, 
 will probably be made by Congress, which ought to be strenuously 
 resisted by all friends of progress. 
 
 An important lesson can also be learned from the ancient idea of 
 coining. It having been found that the weighing of the money at 
 each transaction was very inconvenient, the irregular pieces of 
 metal were shaped so as to receive a mark upon them, and the gov- 
 ernment placed its seal on them, to testify that they conformed to 
 the standard weights. The stamping was simply a guaranty of the 
 weight and purity. The coining did not give the value, it simply 
 testified that the value existed in the piece. This was the true and 
 old idea of coining. The ancients never supposed, for an instant, 
 that the official seal gave the value, and it was not until Roman 
 Imperial despotism had accustomed men to almost complete slavery 
 that the Imperial effigy stamped on a coin was considered as alone 
 giving value. Through the middle ages this false idea has come 
 down to us, and there are many even at this day influenced by it, 
 who believe that the government stamp not only gives currency, 
 but also value to money. 
 
 In conclusion, I wish to speak very briefly of the subject of an 
 international unit, suggested by the coins before us. The gold 
 stater of Alexander the Great was the unit of his system, which 
 
was carried by his conquests to remote countries, and can be con- 
 sidered as the international unit of later Grecian times. This stater 
 was the successor of the gold daric of Persia, which, in turn, was 
 the successor of the gold stater of Croesus, King of Lydia. The 
 aureus of Augustus, which was the unit of his system, may also be 
 considered as the international unit of Imperial Rome, which 
 dominated many nations. Both of these coins weigh about eight 
 grammes. This fact is mentioned by Brandis, the eminent German 
 scholar, who says that the daric, the stater and the aureus may be 
 looked upon as the precursors of the present English sovereign. 
 
 As the metric system has already been adopted by the principal 
 civilized nations, and must eventually be adopted by all, not, per- 
 haps, with the French nomenclatnre, it being difficult to suppress 
 national terms, but by making national weights conform to the 
 metric system — for instance, by making the avoirdupois pound 
 exactly equal to half a kilogramme, retaining the name of pound — 
 and as coins will be eventually weighed by this system, in proposing 
 an international unit it is necessary that the piece selected should 
 be of an even metric weight. It is for this reason that I suggested 
 last year, to the American Social Science Association, that an inter- 
 national unit ought to weigh 8 grammes to fine. Such a piece 
 would conciliate the English, German, French and American 
 systems, as the sovereign £| fine weighs 7. T %%\, and if T 9 o fine would 
 weigh 8. T Vo s ^ grammes, the German twenty-mark piece 7. T 9 ^, a 
 twenty-five franc piece, such as Spain issues, 8. r %%%, and the Ameri- 
 can half-eagle 8. T 3 o 5 5 9 o grammes. The eight-gramme piece would still 
 be called a half-eagle, a sovereign, twenty-five francs and twenty 
 marks, and the changes demanded are slight, compared with the 
 various reductions and modifications that have taken place, without 
 exception, in all the monetary systems of the past. 
 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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