ABSTRACT
The Act of 1819 declared that the notes of the Bank of England should be once more convertible into gold, upon demand, at the rate of 3l. 17s. 10d. per ounce. The objects of the complementary Act of 1844 were to secure the convertibility of the bank-note, to impart to the circulation a greater degree of steadiness than that which it possessed under the former law, and to cause the mixed circulation of coin and banknotes to expand and contract, as it would have expanded and contracted under similar circumstances had it consisted exclusively of coin. The Act of 1819 for the resumption of cash payments was strenuously opposed by a numerous and not uninfluential section of the commercial community. By the provisions of the Act of 1844, the banking department of the Bank of England was placed upon the footing of an ordinary bank of deposit and discount.
