In 1697 the bank was allowed to enlarge its capital stock by an ingraftment of £1,001,171 10 s. Its whole capital stock, therefore, amounted at this time to £2,201,171 10 s. This engraftment is said to have been for the support of public credit. In 1696, tallies had been at forty, and fifty, and sixty percent discount, and bank notes at twenty percent. During the great re-coinage of the silver, which was going on at this time, the bank had thought proper to discontinue the payment of its notes, which necessarily occasioned their discredit.
In pursuance of the 7th Anne, c. vii the bank advanced and paid into the exchequer, the sum of £400,000; making in all the sum of £1,600,000 which it had advanced upon its original annuity of £96,000 interest and £4,000 for expense of management. In 1708, therefore, the credit of government was as good as that of private persons, since it could borrow at six percent interest, the common legal and market rate of those times. In pursuance of the same act, the bank cancelled exchequer bills to the amount of £1,775,027 17 s. 10½ d. at six percent interest, and was at the same time allowed to take in subscriptions for doubling its capital. In 1708, therefore, the capital of the bank amounted to £4,402,343; and it had advanced to government the sum of £3,375,027 17 s. 10½ d.
By a call of fifteen percent in 1709, there was paid in and made stock £656,204 1 s. 9 d. ; and by another of ten percent in 1710, £501,448 12 s. 11 d. In consequence of those two calls, therefore, the bank capital amounted