1 HE weights, meafures and the currency of the hard money ? Some details relating to exchange with Europe?
Our weights and meafures are the fame w^hich are fixed by a6ls of parliament in England.—How it has happened that in this as well as the other American dates the nominal value of coin, was made to differ from what it was in the country we had left, and to differ among ourfelves too, I am not able to fay with certainty. I find that in 1631 our houfe of burgeffes defired of the privy council in England, a coin debafed to twenty five per cent : that in 1645 they forbid dealing by barter for tobacco, and eftablifhed the Spanifh piece of eight at fix fliillings, as the ftan- dard of their currency: that in 1655 they changed it to five fhillings fterling. In 1680 they fent an addrefs to the king, in confequence of which, by proclamation in 1683, he fixed the value of French crowns, rix dollars, and pieces of eight at fix Ihil- lings, and the coin of New-England at one fhilling. That 1710, 17 14, 1727, and 1762, other regulations were made, which will be better prefented to the eye ftated in the form of a table as follows:
The firfl: fymptom of the depreciation of our prefent paper money, was that of fil- ver dollars felling at fix {hillings, which had before been worth but five fhiUings and nine-pence. The aflembly thereupon raifed them by law to fix fhillings. As the dol- lar is now likely to become the money-unit of America, as it paffes at this rate in fome of our fifter ftates, and as it facilitates their computation in pounds and fhillings, &c.
converfo, this feems to be more convenient than its former denomination. But as this particular coin now ftands higher than any other in the proportion of i33Tto 125, or 16 to 15, it will be neceflary to raife the others in proportion.