and continuing until the present.
The larger question of the relative distribution of this mass of precious metals depends for its determination upon a full understanding of the law of the various Mints. Speaking in large, during the eighteenth century the Mint ratio was in favour of silver in France, and her currency was almost entirely silver throughout the century; conversely the Mints Page 157 favoured gold in England and Spain, and gold was almost the only constituent of the currency of either country for the greater part