In preceding "General Observations on Coinages for the Channel Islands,"
I have noted that from the time of the Romans the currency continued to
be by _introduced_ or _foreign_ coins. Naturally enough, the islanders
would have only to do with coins which would be accepted by those on the
neighbouring mainland with whom they had commercial transactions. There
was not sufficient interior traffic to make requisite any local coinage
of their own.
It would be uninteresting and of no practical utility to treat in detail
of coins thus imported for temporary and outside, as well as home,
convenience and necessity, but I will now give notes and extracts which
will, I believe, clearly indicate the nature of currency arrangements
which obtained from the days of the early kings of England.
I am indebted to Le Quesne's "History of Jersey"[E] for interesting
information recorded of the coinages and currency of that island, and to
the Rev. G. E. Lee for the Guernsey records. The original states
documents from which these particulars were collated are still
preserved. The denominations of coins officially in use at various
periods appear thereby.
[E] "A Constitutional History of Jersey." By Charles Le Quesne.
Published by Longmans and Co., London, 1856.
"An order of King John, dated 25th March, 1208, directs the Exchequer to
reckon to the bailiffs of Southampton _twenty sols_ which they paid for
a ship in which Stephen de Oxford sailed to Guernsey and Jersey by
order of the king."--_Le Quesne_, page 476.
"Orders from the English Crown in the early part of the 13th century
specified coins as follows for payment in Jersey:--An order from King
John of the 11th of November, 1212, directed that the Treasury should
pay to Philip d'Albigny, going to the island of Jersey, of which
Hasculfus de Soligny was governor, 40 marks for fortifying the
island."--_Le Quesne_, page 476.
"In the 8th year of the reign of King Henry III., 1224, there was an
order on the Treasury to deliver to the Governor of Jersey, Galpidus de
Lucy, _400 livres_ for the payment of eight knights, each knight to
receive _two solidos_ per diem; for the pay of thirty-five cavalry
soldiers, each to receive _twelve deniers_ per diem; and for the pay of
sixty foot soldiers, each to receive _seven deniers_ per diem."--_Le
Quesne_, page 476.
There were also similar grants in the two following years.
"The only direct tax which the Dukes of Normandy had the right to levy
was called moneyage, or fouage, or hearth money. From the _Extent_ of
the Royal Revenue in Jersey, prepared by Commissioners in the year 1331,
this tax was also due to the Crown in Jersey. It was to be levied every
three years, and consisted of _12 deniers_, or _one sol_, for every
hearth in the Duchy."--_Le Quesne_, page 79.
"There is a valuable _Extent_ of the Royal Revenues in Jersey drawn up
in the year 1331 by Robert de Norton and William de la Rue,
commissioners specially appointed for the purpose. In this _Extent_ we
find that William de Barentin held the manor and fief of Rozel by
homage; that this fief _owed sixty sols one denier_ relief; and that
whenever the King of England paid a visit to this island, the seigneur
of this fief was bound to meet his sovereign on horseback in the sea, to
the depth of the girths of the saddle; and during the residence of the
king in Jersey he was to be his butler, and to enjoy the known
emoluments of that office. The seigneur de Rozel, as also all the other
seigneurs holding _in capite_, owed suite de cour at the chief pleas of
the Royal Court, as they do still to this day. For the fief de Meleches
and other fiefs, held by Geffray de Carteret, there was due annually, by
the seigneur to the Crown, the sum of _forty livres one sol_. The fief
de Meleches reverted to the Crown as an escheat from Thomas Pinel, in
the time of King John, and was granted by Edward III. to Renault de
Cartaret, father of the then holder. The fief and manor of St. Ouen was
held by Renault de Carteret by homage; and the relief, when due, was
_nine livres_. The seigneur of this fief was bound to serve the king, in
time of war, at Gouray Castle, at his own expense, for the term of two
parts of forty days, and had to provide horses and armour. The wardship
of this fief and manor, during the minority of the seigneur, was in the
Crown. The manor and fief of Saumarez was held by homage by William de
St. Hillaire, and owed, as relief, the sum of _ten livres_. The seigneur
of the fief des Augres was in the hands of William Bras de Fer; and he
had to meet the king, when he arrived in Jersey, on horseback, to the
girths of his saddle, in the sea; and the fief owed, as relief, the sum
of _seven livres_. Besides the services due by the fiefs de haubert, we
find that a great number of persons owed stated sums annually to the
Crown for the lands held by them. The names of the persons are
mentioned, together with the quantity of land, for which a fixed annual
sum was due. For instance, several persons owed for a _bovata_ of land
the sum of _eight sols_ annually. This was the usual amount; but we find
that in some cases the charge was _six sols_, _seven sols_, _nine sols_,
_ten sols_, and in a few cases as low as _three sols_. The _bovata
terrae_ is the same as an oxgauge or an oxgate of land, or as much as an
ox can till; but being a compound word, it may contain meadow, pasture,
and wood necessary for such tillage.
"Raulin le Francois owed for forty-two acres of land--twelve in Trinity
parish, and thirty in that of St. Laurens--an annual dinner to the king
at Michaelmas, which was, however, partaken by the bailli, the vicomte,
and the clerk of the king. This dinner could be commuted for the payment
of _twelve deniers_, which does not raise any extravagant notions of the
style of living in those days. The abbot of St. Saviour's, however, for
the priory of Bonnenuit, owed to the king annually an apparently better
dinner, for it was estimated at _eleven sols_. There were also due to
the Crown, as there are still to this day, by various persons, a
quantity of geese, fowls, eggs, and chickens. The tenants of the Crown
had various personal services to perform, such as carting the wine,
hay, and wood belonging to the king, and keeping the royal mills in
repair. The right of wardship, usually considered as incidental to
feudal tenures, does not appear to have obtained in Jersey, except in
the case of St. Ouen's manor. The right of marriage, or maritagium,
which was accompanied in some cases with considerable hardships, does
not appear to have prevailed or to have been exercised in this island.
This claim, when admitted, was often the source of large fines paid by
individuals to the Crown, and of much vexation and tyranny."--_Le
Quesne_, page 82.
"In a grant of Sir Richard Harliston, dated 15th September, 1479, there
is mention of both corn and money rents--the former to the amount of 8
qrs., 7 cabots, 2 sexrs., and the latter to _12 groats, 13 sous, 6
deniers_. The grant was for services rendered during the siege for the
recovery of Mount Orgueil Castle."--_Le Quesne_, page 125.
"On the 26th of January, 1534, the value of the current coinage was
regulated, and the same thing took place about this time as regards
coins in Guernsey."--_Le Quesne_, page 191.
"On the 20th February, 1561, the price of cider in Jersey was fixed at
_one Esterlin_ the _Pot_; and the brewers were ordered to make beer
(servoise) for the use of the sick, the price of which was to be fixed
by the constables and principal parishioners."--_Le Quesne_, page 192.
In the reign of King James I., under date the 20th July, 1607, a
commission was appointed, under presidency of Sir Robert Gardiner,
knight, for the determination of differences in Jersey; _it also had
scope as regards Guernsey_.
"The first article of complaint by the governor was relative to the
value of the French coins. At these times there was very little, if any,
English coin in circulation, and there was, strictly speaking, no fixed
standard of value in Jersey. The _livre tournois_ could scarcely be
called a standard of value, and yet it was that by which the market
price of commodities was known. It was the ideal currency of the island,
that in which accounts were kept. The actual current money was French;
and any variation in its value compared to the livre tournois would
have, of course, to be regulated in Jersey.
"Any change in the value or denomination of coins is attended with
serious inconveniences, and it may, in some cases, be highly injurious
to a large class of the community. This is more likely to be the case
when the coins of two countries are adopted; when two different
currencies are in circulation; when any variation in the value of the
coins of one of these countries takes place, and the relative value,
owing to that change, has to be ascertained and determined by a
legislative or administrative body. Great caution is required in these
matters; and, at a later period, the greatest discontent was caused in
Jersey, and even a riot ensued, from an alteration in the value of the
currency.
"The States of Jersey, a few years before the arrival of the
commissioners, perceiving that the King of France had altered and
advanced his several coins, established what they considered an
equivalent value between these coins and the moneys in Jersey after the
old rates. The difference was about seven per cent. The _French crown_
was advanced to _four sous_ more, the _guardesen_ from _fifteen sous_ to
_sixteen sous_, the _teston_ from _fourteen sous and a half_ to _fifteen
sous and a half_, and the _franc_ from _twenty sous_ to _twenty-one sous
four deniers tournois_. The only money in circulation was French; and
the governor claimed the payments due to the Crown in moneys at the old
rate. The commissioners were of a different opinion; they said that it
would be no prejudice to his Majesty or to the governor if the moneys
were received after the new advancements or alteration; and besides, it
would be a great contentment to the people of the island to pay the same
after the rate or value at which they had received it; but as the
commissioners considered that it was a prerogative of the Crown to
diminish, alter, or advance any moneys current among his own subjects,
they ordered that the relative value of the moneys should continue as
regulated by the States, 'until his Majesty's pleasure be known what
other course and order in times to come shall be held and kept therein.'
This decision of the commissioners was confirmed by the lords; but it is
added in the Order, 'that in time to come, because it is a prerogative
of his Majesty, and only appertaineth to royal right, to diminish,
alter, or advance any moneys current among his subjects, we require that
this be not until his Majesty's express consent be thereunto first had
and obtained.'"--_Le Quesne_, page 225.
The following two interesting extracts are from "Charles the Second in
the Channel Islands," by S. Elliott Hoskins.[F]
[F] "Charles the Second in the Channel Islands," by S. Elliott Hoskins,
M.D., F.R.S. Published by Richard Bentley, London.
"The Prince of Wales, driven out of England without resources, having
nevertheless, at his own cost, to maintain soldiers and sailors; to
provide for a host of needy followers; to build fortifications for his
protection; and to defray the travelling expenses of the numerous
messengers going and coming from all parts, was reduced to great straits
at this period. Jersey could supply him but inadequately, and from
France he could obtain but slender and uncertain assistance. In order,
therefore, to improve the state of his finances, and in some measure to
provide for current expenses, it was resolved, at the recommendation of
the council, that an establishment for coining bullion should at once be
set up.[G] A house was accordingly hired in Trinity parish, Jersey, from
one Michael le Guerdain, which was speedily fitted up with furnaces for
fusing the precious metals, and with presses and dies for striking and
stamping coin, under the direction and superintendence of one Colonel
Smith, who was appointed Master of the Mint.
[G] NOTE 1.--"In the year 1684 Charles the Second is said to have issued
tin coinage; had he made it a legal tender in 1646, when it was
plentiful and precious as an article of barter, the speculation might
have proved profitable."
"Chevalier goes on to state that the money herein coined consisted
chiefly of pieces resembling English half-crowns, which passed current
at thirty sous each. The obverse of these pieces, called St. Georges,
was stamped with an effigy of the king on horseback holding a drawn
sword in his hand; and the reverse impressed with roses and harps,
proper to the royal arms, interlaced with fillets, crosses, and other
devices. Some shillings were likewise coined, and besides these a small
number of Jacobuses, said to be worth twenty shillings apiece."--_Hoskins_,
Vol. I., page 416.
"Our journalist reverts to the subject of the mint set up in Jersey some
twelvemonths before, which at that time promised to become a profitable
financial speculation. The manager, Colonel Smyth, he informs us,
originally a landed proprietor, and a man of good family in England, had
been, before the troubles, master of one of his Majesty's provincial
mints, and by virtue of his office an honorary privy councillor. On the
breaking out of the civil war he commanded a regiment in the king's
service, but, at its termination, fled with hundreds of others into
France, from whence he came to Jersey, with his wife and a large train
of domestics, during the Prince of Wales's sojourn in that island. Being
desirous of exercising his former profession, and, moreover, provided
with dies and other coining implements, he succeeded in establishing a
mint under his royal highness's sanction and the countenance of the
governor, but not, as we shall see, under the patronage of the
chancellor of the exchequer.
"In a few months the concern turned out to be an utter failure--partly
owing to mismanagement, partly to an alleged scarcity of bullion. Smyth,
a person of expensive habits, who kept up an extravagant private
establishment, becoming deeply involved, was forced to dispose not only
of his household goods, but of the greater part of his machinery,
reserving merely the dies he had brought over with him. Towards the end
of May he again sought refuge in France, intending, as he said, to send
his wife into England to compound for his sequestered estates.
"Chevalier, although he admits that Colonel Smyth, 'etant a Jersey, fit
de la monnoie de quoi je ne dis rien,' is a firm believer in the actual
existence of a mint from whence were issued coins of gold and silver of
legal tender. Misled by his assertions--on all other subjects rigidly
accurate--we confidently bestowed considerable time and industry in
seeking to obtain specimens of the St. Georges, jacobuses, half-crowns,
and shillings, so minutely described, and alleged to have been struck in
Jersey. The perusal, however, of the subjoined letter dissipated the
illusion--proved that the mint was a Mississippi Scheme, a South Sea
Bubble on a small scale, and that the master thereof was little better
than a swindling adventurer--thus accounting for the non-existence of
the coinage in any numismatic collection:--
"SIR EDWARD HYDE TO SIR EDWARD NICHOLAS.
"I will tell you a tale, of which it may be you may know somewhat; if
you do not, take no notice of it from me. When we were in Cornwall,
Colonel Smyth (who was Sir Alexander Denton's son-in-law, and taken in
that house), having obtained his liberty by J. Ashburnham's friendship
upon such an exchange (one of the councillors of Ireland) as would have
redeemed the best man, came to us from the king at Hereford. To me he
brought a short perfunctory letter from my lord Digby, but from J. A. to
my lord Culpeper his dispatch was of weight; his business, to erect a
mint at Truro, which should yield the king a vast profit; Mr. Browne, J.
A.'s man (who was long a prisoner with him) (_sic_); the king's dues, by
a special warrant (which I saw), to be paid to Mr. Ashburnham.
"What he did in Cornwall I know not, for you perceive he was to have no
relation or reference to me, which, if you had been Chancellor of the
Exchequer, you would have taken unkindly. Shortly after the Prince came
hither he came to us, having left Cornwall a fortnight before we did.
You may imagine my lord Culpeper was forward to help him, and how he
promised to set up his mint, and assured us that he had contracted with
merchants at St. Malloe to bring in such a quantity of bullion as would
make the revenue very considerable to the Prince. We wondered why the
merchants of St. Malloe should desire to have English money coined. He
gave us an answer that appeared very reasonable: that all the trade they
drove with the west country for tin, fish, or wool, was driven with
money; and therefore they sent over their pistoles and pieces-of-eight,
in which they sustained so great a loss that their merchants had rather
have this bullion coined into English money at 20 in the hundred than
take the other way.
"After several debates, in which (though there seemed no convincing
argument to expect great profit from it) there was not the least
suggestion of inconvenience, he pretending that he had all officers
ready at St. Malloe, and such as belonged to the King's mint, and
likewise his commission under the great seal (for he produced only the
warrant under the sign-manual), the Prince writ a letter to the
Governor, Bailiff, and Jurats to give him countenance, and to assign him
some convenient place to reside in. Shortly after the Prince went away,
the Colonel proceeds, brings his wife hither (who in truth is a sober
woman) and takes a little house remote from neighbours, but pretended
that the Prince's remove and other accidents had hindered the advance of
the service, but that he hoped hereafter to proceed in it. Here he
lived soberly and reservedly; and after two or three months here was
found much adulterated money--half-crown pieces which had been put off
by people belonging to him. One only officer he hath, an old Catholic,
one Vaughan, who is a good graver.
"The Governor (who is strangely civil to all men, but immoderately so to
such gentlemen as have seemed to serve the King in this quarrel) was
much perplexed, the civil magistrates here taking notice of it (the base
money), and sent to him to speak with him; told him that he believed his
education had not been to such artifices, and that he might be easily
deceived by the man he trusted, who was not of credit enough to brave
the burthen of such a trust; that if this island fell into suspicion of
such craft, their trade would be undone; and therefore (having showed
him some pieces of money) desired him by no means to proceed in that
design, till satisfaction might be given by the view of such officers
who were responsible for it. The Colonel denied some of the pieces to be
of his coining, but confessed others, and said it was by mistake too
light; but I had forgot to tell you that he had assured me, two or three
days before, that he had yet coined none.
"To conclude (though much troubled), he promised the Governor not to
proceed further in it. Then he came to me, and told me a long and
untoward discourse of a great trust between the King, Mr. Ashburnham and
himself, and one more, which he would not name, but led me to believe it
was Mr. A.'s friend at Paris, and that the design was originally to coin
dollars, by which he could gain a vast advantage to the King. He found
me not so civil as he expected, and therefore easily withdrew, and the
same day attempted the Governor, and offered him a strong weekly bribe
(enough to keep you and me and both our families very gallantly) to join
with him and assist him. His reception was not much better there, so
that he has since procured a good stout letter from the Prince to
command the Governor, Bailiff, and Jurats to give him all countenance,
and to advance the service. This will put an end to it, for the Governor
will deal freely with the Prince, though upon the confidence we have
still naughty new money. The reason of the Governor's exceeding
tenderness is his duty to the King, to whom such a communion (which
indeed is a strange one) would draw much dishonour. Tell me if you know
anything of this, and whether you think your friend so wise, and careful
of his master's honour as he should be; beyond this say nothing of it,
except to my lord Hopton, who can tell you how scurvy a thing it is.
"EDW. HYDE.
"Jersey, February 24th, 1647.
"There is some discrepancy between this account of the affair and
Chevalier's; not so much, however, considering that one writer was
before, while the other was behind the scenes. The two narratives
combined complete the history of the Jersey mint--a history evidently
discreditable to certain personages, and therefore never intended to
meet the public eye. Even the unsophisticated chronicler is intuitively
aware that some mystery attaches to the transaction, which prevents him
from writing with his usual unreserve."--_Hoskins_, Vol. II., page 138.
"In 1646, men of the Jersey Militia each received _5 sols_ per diem on
Field days."--_Le Quesne_, page 486.
"A great improvement was effected in the organisation of the militia by
Sir Thomas Morgan. He divided the militia into regiments, and remodelled
the artillery. On his proposition, in order to compel the men to attend
with regularity to their military duties, so essential for the
preservation of the island, the States, on the 25th September, 1666,
ordered that fines should be levied by the vingteniers for all defaults
in the following proportions:--
A commissioned officer _sixty sols_.
A cavalry soldier _thirty sols_.
A private soldier, with musket (mousquetaire) _twelve sols_.
A private soldier, with halbert or staff
(halbarde ou baston) _eight sols_."
--_Le Quesne_, page 489.
"It is an indication of the little traffic of the Island that payments
were usually made in _liards_--small copper coins of the value of
one-eighth of a penny. There are acts of the States passed at different
periods alluding to the scarcity of money. According to the prevalent
notions of those times, and of a much later period, one chief object of
commercial legislation was to keep as much money or actual coin in the
country as possible; and the balance of trade was to be so regulated as
to insure this result. The exportation of coin has therefore, in various
countries, been occasionally prohibited under severe penalties. The same
notions existed in Jersey, and it was equally believed that coin or
money could be retained, and should be retained, by legislative
enactments. We find an act of the States, of the 3rd of October, 1701,
forbidding all persons to take or send out of the Island to foreign
countries any gold, silver, or other coin, to a larger amount than
_thirty livres tournois_ at a time, on pain of confiscation of the
money, besides a fine; and, in addition to this penalty, confiscation of
the vessel on board of which such moneys should be found, and three
months' imprisonment of the master and crew. This prohibition did not
produce the results anticipated by the States; for we find them, on the
9th of April, 1720, complaining that, although the sending out of the
Island of gold and silver was forbidden, yet very little remained in the
Island. They could not understand that if a profit or benefit was to be
derived in the purchase of commodities or provisions in France with
actual money, such money would unavoidably find its way there. Coins,
being in fact merchandise, will follow the same rules of exchange, and
will be attracted to those parts where they bear a greater exchangeable
or market value. The actual value of a coin in currency must be that of
its intrinsic value; and if temporary circumstances cause it to bear a
greater value elsewhere, thither it will tend, till the balance is
restored, in defiance of any attempts to arrest its progress.
"The ill-success of the States, in their prohibition of the exportation
of gold and silver coin, did not lead them to perceive the futility of
the measure; but they were fearful that the copper money, the _sous_ and
the _liards_, would follow their betters, particularly as sous and
liards had risen in value in France, and that thus the Island would be
deprived of all metallic circulation. They therefore, on the 9th of
April, 1720, prohibited the carrying out of the Island of _liards_ and
_sous_ to a larger amount than five livres tournois for each person,
under the penalty of confiscation; and all persons were authorised to
seize the moneys thus exported, and to require the assistance, if
necessary, of the constables and centeniers in the searching of the
vessels; while the master and crews on board of which such sums should
be found, if cognizant of the fact, were to be liable to a fine and an
imprisonment of three months.
"By an act of the States of the 3rd of May, 1720, it appears that there
was no longer any gold or silver in circulation: it had disappeared,
having been sent out of the Island; and the only metallic currency
remaining was that of _liards_, which it was probable would also
disappear. The States, in consequence, found it impossible to repay the
sums which had been generously lent, without interest, by individuals,
for the works at the harbour; and in order to obtain a supply which was
to enable them to pay their debts, and to avoid the loss accruing from
the variable market value of the coins, they resolved on the adoption of
a plan which could only increase the evil, and perpetuate the banishment
of gold and silver coin. The States evidently confused the want of funds
with the want of metallic money; for had they possessed the former, the
latter would have been forthcoming. An easy mode of creating money,
according to them, which was to enable them to pay their debts, without
any detriment or cost to anybody (sans qu'il n'en coute rien a
personne), and to build the harbour without any expense to the Island,
was by the issue of a paper currency, from the circulation of which the
public were to derive much benefit, and which, besides, would not be
liable to fluctuation in value. They seemed not to be aware that a paper
currency must be based on a metallic one; that it must represent, and be
exchangeable for, a metallic currency, and therefore must follow the
fluctuations of the latter in value; since, if not exchangeable, at the
option of the bearer, for metallic value, it at once becomes
depreciated, and drives from circulation the metallic currency by which
it is designated. The lower the value of the notes, or paper currency,
the greater will become the scarcity of the coin. Such would naturally
be the result of the enactment of the States, for they decided on
issuing notes of a very low value. For instance, there were to be
2,000 notes each of twenty sous.
1,000 " " " thirty sous.
1,000 " " " sixty sous.
1,000 " " " one hundred sous.
750 " " " ten livres.
500 " " " twenty livres.
300 " " " thirty livres.
240 " " " fifty livres.
The aggregate amount of these notes was fifty thousand livres.
"The scarcity of gold and silver continued; and the States, on the 21st
of December, 1725, declared that the only metallic currency in
circulation was liards or deniers. They had on previous occasions
prohibited the exportation of this copper money; they now forbade its
importation, under pain of confiscation. In the following year,
perceiving no doubt the futility of their enactments, they allowed, by
their act dated the 19th of September, 1726, a free trade in liards--the
free importation and exportation of this coin. On the same day they
appointed a committee from their body to prepare a representation to his
Majesty in Council, on the subject of the relative value of the coins in
circulation in the Island. This representation was adopted by the States
on the 25th of November, 1726. The ulterior sanction by Council of the
recommendation of the States was the occasion of serious commotions and
discontent in the Island. The avowed object of the States in their
request to the Crown was to prevent the exportation of gold and silver
coin from the Island, and to encourage the exportation of liards to
France, which they asserted passed in Jersey above their intrinsic
value, and with which they were very much burdened--reasons among the
very worst which could be given, or upon which a legislative enactment
could be based.
"An Order in Council, dated the 22nd of May, 1729, was issued, approving
of the proposed alterations in the currency by the States; and it was
accordingly ordered:--
"That the French silver coins be current in the said Island only
according to their intrinsic value, in proportion to the British
crown-piece.
"That the British crown-piece do continue at seventy-one sols; the
half-crown at thirty-five sols and a half; the shilling at fourteen
sols; and the sixpence at seven sols.
"That the French liards be reduced to their old value of two deniers
each; and that the British half-pence be current for seven deniers; and
the farthing for three and a half. And his Majesty doth hereby further
order that the said coins do pass in all manner of payments, according
to the said rates; but that this order shall not take effect till the
expiration of six calendar months from the date thereof; and to the end
that no person may pretend ignorance hereof, the bailiff and jurats of
his Majesty's said Island of Jersey are to cause this order to be
forthwith published, and to take care that it be executed according to
the tenor thereof."
The act of the States and the Order in Council were, to say the least of
them, highly injudicious. The only coin apparently in circulation was
the _liard_, and the accounts were kept in _livres_ and _sous_. The
proportion between the sol and the livre remained unchanged; but it
followed, from the new law, that if a person did not meet his
liabilities within the specified time of six months, his debts were
consequently increased fifty per cent. if he had to pay them in liards;
and he could pay them apparently in no other coin. The value of the
_sol_ relative to the _liard_ was raised fifty per cent.; that is, six
liards were to be estimated as equivalent to one sol, instead of four
liards as heretofore. Now, on what grounds could the States establish
this great difference, when it did not exist in reality? We ascertain
positively by an act of the States of the 21st of December, 1725, that
the real exchangeable difference between the liards, at their estimated
value of four to a sol, and gold and silver coin, was only twelve per
cent. in favour of the latter. The rate of exchange between countries is
not dependent on or regulated by any legislative authority, however
despotic or absolute it may be, but is regulated by the real intrinsic
relative value of the coins in circulation in the two countries; and
hence the rate of exchange, compared with the par of exchange, will show
the depreciation sustained by the circulating medium of a country; for
the difference between the par and the rate of exchange should in
ordinary circumstances not exceed the cost of transmission of the
precious metals from one country to the other. Now, by an act of the
States of the 21st of December, 1725, we learn that they were indebted
to a merchant at St. Malo for the proceeds of the sale of a cargo of
wheat, which had been taken possession of and sold to the people by the
States, at a time of great scarcity in the Island. They had remitted a
portion of the amount; but there remained a balance due of 3,332 livres
tournois, which Mr. Patriarche had engaged to remit to St. Malo. The
States ordered that this amount should be paid to Mr. Patriarche by the
deputy viscount in liards, thus incidentally proving that there was in
reality no other coin in circulation; but as Mr. Patriarche had to pay
the amount to the merchant at St. Malo in gold and silver, and as these
bore a premium compared to liards, the loss, or rather the amount of the
premium, had of course to be made good by the States; and they
accordingly ordered that that difference, amounting to 416 livres ten
sous, should be raised by rate on the parishes, and placed in the hands
of the deputy viscount, for payment to Mr. Patriarche. We are thus
enabled satisfactorily to ascertain the real comparative difference
between the value of the liard and other metallic currency, or, in other
words, the premium which the latter bore compared with the copper
currency, at the rate of four liards to the sol. By a calculation on the
data thus furnished, we find the difference to be precisely twelve per
cent. in favour of gold and silver; and we are also to bear in mind that
the great scarcity of gold and silver would of course add to the
premium. By the Order in Council the difference was to be established at
fifty per cent.
"The States soon perceived that they had either committed a great
mistake or that they must yield to public opinion, which was strongly
and decidedly opposed to the change ordered. They accordingly, on the
20th of December, 1729, petitioned his Majesty in Council for the recall
of the Order in Council, being apprehensive that the said regulations
would not answer the ends they at first expected from them. The States,
on the 24th of April, 1730, named a deputy in support of their petition.
Counsel were heard by the committee of the Privy Council for the States,
and also for several members of the States and others who opposed the
petition of the States; but the opinion of the committee was, that the
Order in Council regulating the currency ought not to be suspended or
revoked, but carried into execution. His Majesty in Council, therefore,
on the 9th of July, 1730, ordered that the said Order in Council of the
22nd of May, 1729, be carried into execution: but that during the term
of six months from the date hereof all creditors in the said Island do
receive their debts, if tendered to them at the rate at which the coins
went current immediately before making the aforesaid Order in Council;
and, in case of refusal, that such creditors do forfeit one-third of
their debts to the benefit of the debtors."
In 1774, in France, from whence the small change for the Channel Islands
was being obtained, the _sou_ was equivalent to twelve deniers, the
_double-liard_ or _half-sou_ to six deniers, and the _liard_ or
_quarter-sou_ to three deniers.
"Established custom, and the relative value of coins, proved of greater
force than the Orders in Council. Livres, and sous, and liards tournois
continued, in fact, the currency of the Island at their old rate; and
many of the native inhabitants of the Island still keep their accounts,
or make their reckonings, in the livre tournois--the livre being
estimated at twenty sous, and the sou at four liards or twelve deniers.
When the English currency was, in the year 1835, adopted as the legal
currency of the Island, it was done by declaring the relative value
which it bore in circulation to the livre tournois. This was to meet the
objections which were raised to the adoption of the English standard
with regard to wheat rents, and other mortgages, which were estimated in
the old currency tournois. Twenty-six livres tournois, or old French
currency, were declared to be equivalent to one pound sterling, which
was, and is now, the current rate.
"Allusion is still made in some legal and official documents to
order-money or, as it is called, argent d'ordre, or argent selon l'ordre
du roi. But the question may reasonably be asked, 'What is order-money?
What is the standard of order-money? Does order-money really exist, or
has it ever existed?' The livre of order-money is considered worth fifty
per cent. more than the livre-tournois; and the distinction is supposed
to be derived from the Order in Council of the year 1729. But that Order
in Council did not establish that difference: it did not change the
relative value of the sou and the livre. There was, in fact, no such
thing as order-money, except for liards, and thus it did not apply to
sous or livres. The value of the liard, as compared to the sou, was, it
is true, changed and regulated; but the relative value of the sol,
compared with the livre, could not be changed or affected thereby; it
remained the same as before. There were twenty sous to the livre: the
coin, the sou in circulation, was not enlarged, or made of more
intrinsic value. Such as it was before, such it remained still. There
was no other sou or livre known or acknowledged in use than the
tournois; and the Order in Council did not substitute any other. The
Order in Council could not, with any degree of fairness or justice, be
supposed to affect those persons who paid their accounts in sous or
livres, or in gold or silver, and not in liards. This was not, however,
the view taken of the Order; and hence the indignation felt; for the
interpretation given, and the claim of fifty per cent. more than was in
fact due, bore the semblance of great injustice.
"The present value in circulation in Jersey of English silver coin will
illustrate my meaning. The shilling passes current for twenty-six sous,
or thirteen pence of old Jersey currency; but the value of the shilling
is not intrinsically or really changed--whether it is called twelve
pence British or thirteen pence Jersey. In either case, a shilling
remains a shilling, a pound sterling a pound sterling, worth twenty of
the shillings, whether called twelve pence or thirteen pence. The
intrinsic value of the coin, of the shilling, is precisely the same; and
its relative value to the sovereign is not in the slightest degree
modified. The only mode of changing the value of a coin is by an
addition of the metal of which it is composed, or by deterioration. If a
coin contains the same quantity of metal of the same standard, it does
not vary in intrinsic value, whatever may be the denomination given to
it, or whatever may be the depreciation of a coin of less value. For the
same reason, whether the sou was called six liards or four liards,
twelve deniers or eight deniers, that made no difference whatever in the
real intrinsic value of the sou or the livre. Persons could not in
justice be compelled to pay their accounts in liards, when the amount
was stated in livres or sous; and hence to oblige them to pay fifty per
cent. more than the amount due, when the amount offered was gold or
silver, livres or sous, was egregiously unjust."--_Le Quesne_, page
421.