ABSTRACT
Currency.—In the years immediately succeeding the Restoration, three important steps were taken towards the establishment of an automatically-working metallic currency in England. The embargo on the export of bullion was withdrawn (1663); the Mint charges for the coining of the metals were abolished (1664); and the first issue of mill-edged coins, which could defy the activities of the clipper, was made in 1663. The supersession of the old method of hammering coins was due to a Frenchman, Blondeau, who was made ‘Engineer of the Mint’ at the beginning of Charles II’s reign. By this time, the currency was again in a wretched condition, and Blondeau’s discovery naturally suggested the desirability of a complete renovation of the coinage. This necessary step was delayed until 1696. During the next three years, a complete recoinage was carried through, but the government did not handle the situation well. Lowndes, a Treasury official, wisely suggested that the new standard coins should not contain more metal than the light coins actually in circulation. His object was to reduce the cost of recoinage and to avoid any dislocation of prices, following on the issue of the new coins. This proposal to reduce or devaluate the standard was strongly opposed by Locke, who insisted that it would be unfair to creditors. His views prevailed with the government. The old standard was restored; the new coins issued from the Mint had a higher purchasing power than the old clipped coins, and a break in prices inevitably followed, very detrimental to trade. The government committed another blunder. It had undertaken to receive the light coins at their face value up to a certain date, but it so mismanaged matters that only the rich were able to benefit from this provision. Thus a part of the cost of the recoinage was thrown on the section of the public least able to bear it. The total loss to the State was £2,700,000, which was met by the imposition of a window-tax. But at least another million came out of the pockets of poor people who had been unable to get rid of their clipped coin. The popular discontent at this unfair discrimination found expression in numerous riots and disturbances.
