A DISCOURSE UPON COINS,  
By Signior Bernardo Davanzati, A Gentleman of Florence; Being publicly spoken in the Academy there, Anno 1588.  
Translated out of Italian, By JOHN TOLAND.  
LONDON; Printed by J. D. for Awnsham and John Churchil, at the Black Swan in Pater-Noster-Row. 1696.   

THE TRANSLATOR TO HIS FRIEND.  
SIR,  
I Have twice read over the Book you were so kind to lend me last Week; but I found that part of it, which treats of Money, deserving a more particular Consideration; for all the Discourse of late has been almost only of Coin. Many of those who pretend to understand this nice Affair, have printed their Sentiments about it; and such as are Strangers to it, are, or should be very desirous of better Information. I must reckon myself, and so must you, Sir, in the number of the latter; for neither my Years, nor Employment at the Schools. (which I left but t'other day) will allow me to be Master enough of a thing, whereof the Knowledge depends so much upon Business, and more acquaintance with the World than I can boast of. And indeed I benefited little (though most willing to learn) by all the Pieces written upon this Subject, till Mr. Lock was pleased to favour the Public with his Thoughts upon it. It seems as impossible for that great Man to write obscurely, as to publish any thing he does not thoroughly understand. He has by this, and his other Treatise concerning Lowering the Interest of Money, given a convincing Demonstration that Business and Observation are not incompatible with the speculative part of Philosophy: but if you compare his Book too, with what others have said of Coin, you have there a Demonstration how ridiculous it is to write from abstracted or Closet-Notions of what must be only learned by Experience and Conversation.  
What he has printed therefore gave me entire Content; but I'm infinitely pleased with my good fortune in meeting with the Discourse I borrowed from you: for it is not only very methodically digested, as Mr. Lock's is, but also both these learned Gentlemen (notwithstanding one of 'em wrote above an Age ago) are of the same mind, and sometimes make use of the same Terms about the intrinsic Value and debasing of Coins. So all those who reason exactly concerning any thing, must be necessarily of the same Opinion, and often agree too in their Expressions. What pleased me further, was to find so ample and satisfactory an account, within so narrow a Compass, of the Origin of Money; of its Essence, Names and Importance; of the Persons who first invented it, with the Place and Time; likewise an Account of the evil Consequences of debasing or raising of Money, and their proper Remedies: add to this the Origin of Fairs, foe Markets, and, in one word, of all Commerce or Traffic in general.  
Signior Davanzati was every way qualified to perform his Undertaking, being famous for natural and acquired Parts, not only conversant in Trade, and one of the best Arithmeticians of his time; but likewise an able Politician, as appears by his admired Translation of Tacitus, and his own original Compositions. He compiled a compendious Treatise concerning the Nature and Knowledge of Exchange, reducing (according to the Writer of his Life) a most obscure and intricate Matter to great Clearness and Facility. He did in like manner, at the request of the Consul M. Baccio Valori, (continues the same Author) read a public Lecture upon Coins, full of Political Instructions, and containing all that can be desired on so vast a Subject.  
That Lecture was the following Discourse, which I have been at the pains to translate; and my only design now in the Publication of it, is to share with others the Benefits, I think, may be received by it. I never imagined the end of my Creation was to be serviceable only to myself; I could not learn, I'm sure, any thing so unworthy from your Familiarity or Example: and I could give but an ill account of my time, if, having sometimes the Happiness of keeping good Men company, I should not entertain more exalted and generous Notions. Truly I'm so far from desiring to live merely to myself, and from preferring a solitary Life, that I set no value upon all the Books and Leisure in the World, further than they contribute to render me fit for Business and Society, especially the Service of God and my Country. Those Creatures, who perhaps are not to be blamed for shutting themselves up all their days, I judge as useless and contemptible as the Worms that help 'em to consume their Papers.  
My design then being to do what good I could, I shall not think it lost, if young Persons, at least, get any Advantage by it; which, in this (or in any other respect) they cannot fail of, if avoiding Idleness as some dangerous Precipice, they seriously apply themselves to Business and Virtue: Otherwise (as the Writer of our Author's Life says extremely well) they are sure to be despised in their inglorious Lives, and their Names shall be forgotten when they are dead.  
This Piece, I confess, appears a little too late, however it is not my fault; for it was by pure accident, as you can witness, that I came to know of it, and almost as soon I send it abroad in this new Dress. Besides, if all things be well considered, that part of it which concerns base Coin, is now as useful as ever; and the Knowledge of the rest cannot be unseasonable at any time. But I have no Apology to make, except to you, Sir, for presuming to inscribe such a Trifle, and that too but a Translation, to one who so well deserves from the World and me. I shall only offer, that I am not willing to lose any opportunity of showing my Gratitude and Respect; for if herein I have committed any fault, my Intentions being sincere, I know you'll grant an easy Pardon to,  
Honoured Sir, Your true, and most respectful Servant, J. TOLAND. Middle-Temple, March the 1st, 1695/6.   

A DISCOURSE upon Coins, by Signior Bernardo Davanzati, a Gentleman of Florence; being publicly spoken in the Academy there, Anno 1588.  
1. THE Sun and Internal Heat do separate, as it were by Distillation, the best Juices and Substances in the Bowels of the Earth; which being percolated into proper Veins and Mines, and there congealed, grown solid, and ripened, they are in time made Metals: whereof the most rare and perfect are Gold and Silver, resembling the two great Luminaries of the World in Splendour and Colour. Fire nor Rust will not consume them; they are not subject to be destroyed by Moths, Worms, or Rottenness; nor do they waste much by use. They may in Wire or Leaves be extended to an incredible Fineness, and have something in 'em that is Divine; at least certain Indian People think so, who fast when they are digging for Gold, and forbidden themselves the Company of Women, with all other Pleasures, out of an old Superstition.  
2. Now, Gold and Silver contribute very little in their own nature to our Lives, for which all Earthly Things seem to have been created. Yet Men, as if they would make Nature ashamed of this, have agreed to make those Metals of equal value to all other things, to make 'em the Price and Measure of all, and the Instruments of changing and exchanging whatever can be found good in this World. We may therefore call 'em the second Causes of a happy Life, seeing that by their means we enjoy all those Benefits which render it so. This is likewise the Reason why many have made 'em their Gods, seeing 'em perform almost Impossibilities. There is not a Rock so hard, said a wise and warlike King, but an Ass loadned with Gold may force it. The known Fable of Jupiter's descending into Danaë's Lap in a shower of Gold signifies nothing else, but the Miracles which Gold can work. We may conclude as much of the Story of Gyges a Lydian Shepherd, who walking in a Cave is said to have taken a Gold Ring from the Finger of a dead Man he found there, and, putting it upon one of his own, he presently becomes invisible, goes into the King's Bedchamber, enjoys the Queen, by whose Assistance he next murders her Husband, and seizes the Kingdom to himself.  
3. Considering therefore the mighty Power and Importance of Gold in Human Affairs; and since Socrates, leaving Divine and Natural Things to the Care of the Gods, taught that Morality and Matters of Practice did only belong to us, I esteem it not a mean Subject, nor unseasonable, nor out of my Province (most courteous Academics) to discourse now before you of Gold, of Silver, and other Coins. But it shall be with much brevity after our Florentine manner, especially because I come hither to day under a great Infirmity, my old and hereditary Distemper, which has not only rendered me feeble and uneasy, but likewise for many Years a Stranger to Books and Study. I must therefore beg your Attention, because I naturally am, and shall this day be purposely sparing of my words.  
4. Our Mortal Body being designed a Habitation for the Divine and Immortal Soul, was framed, as became the Servant of so great a Lady, of a most noble, delicate, and tender Constitution; but withal naked and exposed to the Injuries of Seasons, and Animals. It could not therefore but stand in need of several things, which no body can procure by himself alone; and this is the reason why we live together in Cities, to help one another by various Occupations, Offices, and Degrees. But no Person is born fit for all sorts of Business, some having a Genius for one thing, and some for another; nor can any Climate indifferently produce all the Fruits of Earth, being in very different Situations with respect to the Sun and Stars. Hence it is that one Man labours and toils not for himself alone, but also for others, and they reciprocally for him. So one City helps another, and one Country parts with its Superfluities to another, in lieu whereof it is from thence again supplied with what it wants. And thus all the good things of Nature and Art are communicated and enjoyed by the means of Human Commerce or Traffic, which at first was but simple Barter, or changing of one Commodity for another, as it still continues in the uncivilised parts of the World.  
5. Now it was a difficult thing to know who stood in need of what you could spare, or who had an overplus of what you wanted; and so to transport, preserve, or divide them, as that both Parties might be accommodated. But Necessity, the Mother of Inventions, taught Men to pitch upon a certain place, where many meeting from different Parts with their Commodities, might the more easily supply one another; and this was the Origin of Fairs and Markets. Their Eyes were opened by this Convenience to discover a greater, that as they had chosen a particular place, so they might appoint some one thing that should bear an equivalent value to all others; and that every thing might be given or received for a certain quantity thereof, as if it had been the Medium or Fountain of the universal Value of things, their separate Substance, or Idea.  
6. The first Money that the Ancients wrought was Copper, and was by common Consent preferred to this high Office. So whatever superabounded to any Person, he gave it for as much Copper as was compared with, or judged equal to it; this Copper he afterwards gave for other things wanting to him, or otherwise he kept it by him in his Coffer, as a Security for the Supply of his future Necessities. And this was the Original of selling and buying, which we Tuscans still call comparing, in our Language comperare. Afterwards the greater Excellency of Gold and Silver did set them off, and occasioned them to be made Money. They were at the beginning used in unwrought Pieces as they came to hand; but, as Additions are easily made to Inventions, they were next weighed, then stamped, and so became Money.  
7. When, where, or by whom Money was first coined is not agreed upon by Writers. Herodotus says in Lydia, others in Naxos, Strabo in Aegina; some in Lycia by King Erichthonius; Lucan says in Thessaly by King Jonus. I cannot learn that there was any Money in use before the Flood: but the Scriptures speak plainly of it afterwards. Abraham purchased a Field from Ephron the Hittite for four hundred Shekels of Silver, currant Money with the Merchant. Joseph was sold by his Brethren for twenty pieces of Silver. And Moses laid upon the Israelites by Poll half a Shekel, that is, four Drachms of Silver. Theseus, who reigned in Attica about the time of the Judges in Israel, coined Silver-Money with the Stamp of an Ox upon it, to invite those to manure and till the Ground, who till then lived at random in the Woods. When Janus King of Latium received Saturn fled by Sea from his Son Jupiter, who drove him from his Throne, (that was in the so well governed, and so much celebrated Golden Age) Janus, I say, did in the Memory of this Favour coin Copper Money, which had stamped upon it the Prow of a Ship. The first Money among the Romans was a piece of Copper, without any coining, of a Pound Weight, called by them Aes gravis, As Assis, and Pondo. Servius Tullius stamped a Sheep upon it, as one of his Domestic Animals; the Riches of the Ancients consisting then in their Flocks, by them called Peculium or Pecunia, whence Money was so named. In the Year of Rome 383, Silver was there coined, and Gold sixty two Years after. When the Florentines defeated the Forces of Sienna at Mount Alcino in the Year 1252, they coined a Dram of fine Gold into a Florin, which was so well received in the World, that all People would coin such Pieces, and call them Florins too.  
8. The Latin Names of Money are Moneta, Pecunia, Nummus: The Greek Names are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: And ours Pecunia, Danari, Danaio. 'Tis called Moneta, because the Stamp of it does admonish us of its Name, Value, and Fineness. The Denomination of Money is generally derived from the Stamp, as some old Coins were called Bigati, from the Figure of a Cart drawn by two Horses; Philippi, from the Head of King Philip; Sagittarii, from an Archer; and Armati, from the Impress of an armed Man. A Judge having received a thousand of the latter for passing an unjust Sentence, did in his own excuse roguishly play upon the words, saying, that he could not resist a thousand armed Men. The Mark or Letter X gave a Denomination to the Roman Denarius, which was worth ten Asses. Our Florin was so called from the Flower-de-Luce, which by Allusion shows it to be Florentine, as a Rose does Rhodian Money. The Stamp denotes oftentimes some Matters of Fact, as the Prow of a Ship the abovementioned Humanity of Janus: and a Yacht sunk, with this Motto Quare dubit asti, declared the vanquished Fortunes of Clement the VIIth. Pecunia is derived, as we said before, from Pecus; and Nummus from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which signifies a Statute, or somewhat appointed by Law, such as Money is, being made the Queen of all things. It was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for its Usefulness and Goodness, seeing that by it we receive all that is good and beneficial, called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Lastly, it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which betokens the small Money that runs amongst the common People. We of Florence make use of the Latin words; and from Denarius, which amongst the Romans was a particular Piece, we call Money in general Danari or Danaio.  
9 Thus far have we discoursed of the Time, Place, Invention, Authors, Names, and Advantages of Money. 'Tis now time to give its Essential Definition. Money therefore is Gold, Silver, or Copper coined by public Authority at pleasure, and by the Consent of Nations made the Price and Measure of things, to contract them the more easily. I said Gold, Silver or Copper, because People have chosen those three Metals to make Money of. If the Prince (by which word is understood whoever governs and protects the State, be it one or many, few or all:) I say, if the Prince makes Money of Iron, Led, Wood, Cork, Leather, Paper, Salt, or the like, (as it has sometimes happened) it will not be received out of his Dominions, as not being coined of the Matter generally agreed upon. It could not then be universal Money, but a particular Tally, Countermark, Note or Bill from the Prince, obliging him to pay so much good Money when he is able. And this has been frequently practised for want of Money, when the Publ●ck Good required it. The Romans called the Masters of their Mint the Triumvirs, appointed to oversee the fining and coining of Copper, Silver, and Gold. Vlpianus, Pomponius, and others learned in the Civil Law, expressly affirm that no Money is good, but what is of Gold, of Silver, or Copper: wherefore Mark Antony was reproached, amongst his other Crimes, for coining of base Silver mixed with Iron.  
10. I said in the Definition coined by public Authority, because few Metals are found altogether pure. To make Money therefore of equal Value, it is necessary to reduce the Metal to a certain degree of Fineness, to cut it into pieces of equal Weight, and to put a known Stamp upon it as a Mark of its being good Money, that every one may not be obliged upon all occasions to try or essay it. This notwithstanding must not be done by private Men, who may be suspected of Fraud, but by the Prince, who is the Father of all. Wherefore no Person may coin his own Metal, be it never so good, without incurring the Penalty due to Counterfeiters and Forgers. But he is to carry it to the public Mint, where it is received, weighed, essayed, marked, melted, allayed, beaten, made into equal Pieces, adjusted, coined, and rendered every way according to Law.  
11. It was likewise said in the Definition at Pleasure: For though the Law requires Money to be coined, yet whether this or that way, that is, round or square, broad or narrow, more or less pure, with this or that Stamp, under one Denomination or another, these are all Accidents, and left entirely to the Magistrate's Discretion. It suffices that he touch not the Substance of it, which he has no Power to do: that is, he may coin no Money but of the three known Metals, nor set a false Price upon the Pieces, as it must needs happen, if, after trying of 'em, they should be found not to consist of fine Metal enough answerable to their Names. Should the People be thus cheated under the public Faith that ought to protect them, they might say as the Wolf did once to the Shepherd who devoured the Sheep, If I had done this, good Mr. Shepherd, you would cry, help, help, and raise the Country to pursue me.  
12. It was said in the Definition, By the Consent of Nations made the Price and Measure of things; because Men have agreed to fix that Value upon those Metals, for they have no such Privileges from Nature. A Natural Calf is far more noble than a Golden one, yet how much inferior in Price? An Egg that was bought for half a Grain of Gold, kept Count Vgolino alive in the Castle for ten days, which all the Treasure in the Universe could not do. What does more nearly concern our Lives than Corn? nevertheless ten thousand Grains thereof are sold for one of Gold.  
13. But how comes it that things so valuable in themselves are worth so little Gold? From what Root springs it, that one thing is worth just so much of another, rather than so much; worth this rather than that quantity of Gold? Let us examine whether this be the Effect of Chance or not. All Men labour to become happy, and they think to find this Happiness in the Satisfaction of all their Wants and Desires, to answer which all Earthly Things were created very good. Now all these by the Consent of Nations are worth all the Gold (comprehending also the Silver and Copper) that is wrought in the World. All Men than do passionately covet all the Gold, to buy up all things for the Satisfaction of all their Wants and Desires, and so to become happy. The Parts follow the nature of the whole. How much therefore of the Happiness of a Man, City, or Country, is caused or occasioned by any thing, just so much it is worth of their Gold or Labour: But it causes as much Happiness as it answers of their Desires or Wants, as Drink is pleasing proportionable to the degree of Thirst. The Will takes its measure from the Appetites and Pleasure; and Want takes its measure from the Nature, Season, Climate, and Place; from the excellency, rarity, or abundance of any thing, with perpetual Variation.  
14. To be always acquainted with the Rule and Arithmetical Proportion which things bear among themselves and with Gold, it were necessary to look down from Heaven, or some exalted Prospect upon all the things that exist, or are done upon the Earth; or rather to count their Images reflected in the Heavens as in a true Mirror. Then we might cast up the Sum and say, There is on Earth just so much Gold, so many Things, so many Men, so many Desires: As many of those Desires as any thing can satisfy, so much it is worth of another thing, so much Gold it is worth. But here below we can scarce discover those few things that are round about us, and we prise 'em according as we see 'em more or less desired at any time, or in any place; whereof the Merchants do carefully inform themselves, and for that reason they know the Prices of things better than all others.  
15. It will not be amiss to illustrate what we have here said by some Examples. Water is excellent, said Pindar, and we could not well live without it: But because every one may have enough of it for nothing, Jeremy had reason to lament that it could not be procured without Price. A Mole is a vile and despicable Animal, but in the Siege of Cassilino the Famine was so great, that one was sold for 200 Florins; and yet it was not dear, for he that parted with it died of Hunger, and he that bought it outlived the Siege. So Esau threw away his Birthright, and Esop's Cock contemned the Jewel. On the contrary, Apitius, whom Pliny calls a bottomless Gulf, spent two Millions and a half of Gold upon his Gut; and, finding but the fourth part of a Million in his Coffers, he poisoned himself for fear, as he said, of starving: And that, says Martial, was the daintiest bit that ever he swallowed. Aristotle knew how to spend his Money better; for he gave for some few Books of Speusippus the Philosopher, a little after he was dead, 20250 Ducats of the Sun: So I reduce the ancient Talents, after Budaeus, to our modern Money, that I may be the better understood. Alexander the Great gave Aristotle himself forty eight thousand for writing the History of Animals. And Virgil received ten Sesterces a piece for the twenty Lines in the sixth of his Aeneids, wherein he laments the Death of Marcellus; this makes of our Money 4250 Florins. The Vanity of Mankind has set excessive Rates upon Vessels, precious Stones, Statues, Pictures, and other trifling Curiosities; because they find as much Satisfaction in these, as in the quantity of Gold they give for them. Thus the Inhabitants of Peru did at first barter Ingots of Gold for Looking-glasses, Needles, little Bells, and the like; because they put a high Esteem upon those things then new to them, and drew more Satisfaction from 'em, than from the Gold and Silver wherewith they abounded. And when all the Gold in those Countries shall be transported into ours, (which must quickly happen, if we continue those rich Navigations begun Anno 1534, and then returning with less than a Million of Gold, the Spoils of Cucco and K. Atabalipa, but now bring from 16 to 18 Millions at a time, which has raised the Price of things one third, a sign that we have more Gold) I say, that when all the Gold in the Indies is brought into Europe, because than it will become a Drug, we must either find out something more rare to make Money of, or else return to the old way of bartering. And let so much suffice concerning the Essence of Money.  
16. Some maintain that Money was a very ill Invention, for this reason, viz. That the Desire of other things could not be so great, nor the cause of so many Evils as is the Thirst of Gold; because so much of those could not be laid up and preserved, as there may be treasured of this. I answer with Epictetus, that every thing has two Handles, and may be well or ill taken and used; as Reason, Physic, and Law are often abused to the Destruction of Mankind; but are they for all this prohibited in the Commonwealth? Have all the Philosophers plucked out their Eyes like Democritus, because the sight of many things takes off the Mind from Contemplation? All Steel, as they say, makes its own Rust, and we must learn how to scour it. Money was an excellent Invention, and an Instrument of doing infinite good; if any makes an ill use of it, 'tis not the Thing but the Person that is to be blamed and punished.  
17. Some grave and famous Authors have called Money the Sinews of War and Government; but, in my Opinion, it may be more properly styled the second Blood thereof. For as Blood, which is the Juice and Substance of Meat in the natural Body, does, by circulating out of the greater into the lesser Vessels, moisten all the Flesh, which drinks it up as parched Ground soaks Rain Water; so it nourishes and restores as much of it as was dried up and evaporated by the natural Heat: In like manner, Money, which we said before was the best Juice and Substance of the Earth, does, by circulating out of the richer Purses into the poorer, furnish all the Nation, being laid out upon those things whereof there is a continual Consumption for the Necessities of Life. From the poorer it returns again into the richer Purses; and thus circulating without Intermission, it preserves alive the Civil Body of the Commonwealth. Hence it may be easily conceived that every State must have a quantity of Money, as every Body a quantity of Blood to circulate therein. But as the Blood stopping in the Head or the larger Vessels puts the Body naturally into a Consumption, Dropsy, or Apoplexy, etc. so should all the Money be only in a few Hands, as in those of the rich for Example, the State falls unavoidably into Convulsions, and other dangerous Distempers. Thus it was very near happening at Rome, when by reason of the multitude of accused Persons, of Condemnations, Slaughters and Confiscations, all the Money was like to come into the Exchequer, had not Tiberius distributed two Millions and a half of Gold into the Banks, whence it was to be lent to Debtors upon double Security for three Years, without any Expense or Interest. We ought therefore to set a high Value upon this living Member of the Commonwealth, and to preserve it from those Mischiefs which usually befall it, when not carefully looked after; such as Counterfeiting, Monopolising, Simony, Usury, and the like, already decried, and known everywhere. But, passing by these, I shall now confine my Discourse only to one, not so much taken notice of, and indeed neglected from the beginning; I mean debasing of Coin, which increases more and more every day. I design to show the Causes, the Damage, the Scandal, the Remedy of this Evil, and so to conclude.  
18. The Root of this, as of all other Evils, is Covetousness, which has found out many occasions and pretences for debasing of Money. But this is the chief, that Money, being once out of the Mint, does in time, by too much handling, and frequent counting, grow lighter; or that a Grain, for Example, is taken off it by some illegal Practice; the People in the mean while either take no notice of so small a matter, or care not, and so the Money passes: Hereupon the dishonest Coiner says to his Lord, Since your Money, Sir, is one Grain lighter, 'tis fit you should get by it, than that others clip it; and so a Grain is taken off it. The neighbouring States seeing this, diminish theirs likewise. Some time after they fall to it again, and take off another Grain, and then another, and so on. Thus for sixty Years past this Worm has consumed above the third part of the Silver in Europe; and it must at last (if this Practice continue) be brought to nothing, or to those Nail-heads, which, perhaps, was the Iron-Money that Lycurgus gave the Spartans'.  
19 The Damage is manifest, because by how much Money is debased whether in Alloy or Weight, by so much are lessened the public Revenues, and the Credit and Estates of private Men, who so far receive less Gold or Silver. And he that has but little Money, can buy but few things, which are the only true Riches: for no sooner is Money debased but all things grow dear: And there is Reason for it, because (as Carafulla, who was no Fool, delivers the Etymology of the word) vendo to sell comes from venio to come, and do to give; for things are given in sale, because you expect there should come to you in Exchange so much Metal as is wont, or is believed to be in the Money; and not so many Stamps, or Denominations, or Pieces. If that same quantity of Silver be at present in one hundred and nine pieces, which used before to be in a hundred only, must not one hundred and nine be now paid for that which formerly cost but a hundred?  
20. Threescore Years ago our Florin was worth seven Livres, now 'tis exchanged for ten; And why? because there was at that time as much good Silver in those seven Livers, as there is now in ten: So that at present seven Livers cannot purchase a whole Florin, but only seven parts in ten. The other three parts are vanished, and by so much are lessened the public Revenues, with the Estates of private Men. Now here may be perceived how great an Injury Princes do to themselves; for though they gain once by robbing the poor People of what is taken from the Money, yet they lose by it ever after, being forced to receive their Revenues in the same Coin. Hence spring Disorders, and Confusions; because the People do, by the Novelty of the Coins and Prices which measure things, become, in a manner, Strangers in their own Country; and not less confounded than if the Weights and public Measures were altered, with which they were wont to contract for Corn, Liquor, Cloth, etc. But what worse thing can be done to the Commonwealth than every day to change the Laws, Coins, Offices, Customs, and, as it were, to renew the Members of it? To make muddy, or rather to poison the common Fountain of the City?  
21. More Confusions still follow upon debasing of Money; for when Silver is debased, the Price of Gold must consequently rise, as it was said before of our Florin raised from seven to ten Livers: Otherwise the common Proportion between Silver and Gold, which at this time is that of one to twelve or thirteen, could not hold; for all the Gold would be bought up, and carried where it was worth more Silver. Great Difficulties therefore, and Quarrels would happen about the payment of Legacies, Taxes, Rents, Profits, and of all Debts contracted when the Money was good. A Debtor of a Gold Florin of seven Livres would say to his Creditor, Sir, here are seven Livres which I owed you. The Creditor answers, You must pay me ten Livres; for a Gold Florin, which you promised to pay me, is now worth so much: and if this pleases you not, pay me a Gold Florin, flower-deluced, and stamped, as when we bargained. The Debtor replies, If I give you a Florin of seven Livers, as the Proclamation sings, I do enough: If the Prince has debased the Money, it is a common Storm, and we are all in the same Ship: Complain not of me, but of the Prince. And truly the People have reason to complain of him, being involved in such cruel Difficulties and Tumults, as even the wise know not how to be delivered from: for some of 'em are for maintaining the Law in this case, others the Intention of it; some are for the Rigour, and others for the Equity of it.  
22. But how shall the Prince help debasing the Money? Suppose it be made bad by his Neighbours, by Time, or evil Practices; that all the good be spirited or exported, and after vanishing a while, it appears again made worse; must the City be filled with foreign, base, and clipped Money, and the People be plagued with it, as if they were to feed upon mouldy Bread? I answer, that no such Money is to be suffered by any means: That every one may be secure from being cheated, let it be quickly removed, but by just and discreet Methods. Let there be certain Persons appointed to receive it, and to pay the just value thereof, without making any Gain or Profit by it. So every one will bring it to be changed, and obey most readily, when they perceive they are to suffer none, or a very inconsiderable Loss. Thus a great Master in Politics ordained in the 5th Book of his Laws, that the Government should not take the bad Money from those who brought it from Abroad, but might justly pay it after the manner of the Country.  
23. There can be no danger, that your Money, for being too good, should be exported and recoined: for I presume it is not bestowed upon him that carries it Abroad; but paying for it after the rate of good Money, he leaves (as we say) his Skin behind him; and if it be made bad, it passes and is exchanged only for bad Money. A hundred Livres of Florence go for a hundred and six of those of Lucca: he that takes by Exchange an hundred Livres in Florence, does but labour in vain. We don't find therefore that Lucca, nor any other City are emptying Florence of its Money to re-coin it, since the Exchange has every way levelled and made it equal.  
28. It is not fit then, that because others debase their Money, you do so too. Rather let what has been once received, always pass, because so the People are in no danger of losing, of being cheated, or offended. The Egyptians cut off both their Hands who falsified the public Weights and Measures. But what greater falsifying can there be than diminishing the Money, that is, basely to pilfer People of their Goods? Rome being straitened by Hannibal, and drained of Money, they coined their Assis of one Ounce, that weighed twelve before. But this was done by public Advice in that Extremity, which being over, all matters were settled as formerly. However, had it continued, does it not follow, that as Money was brought down from twelve to one, so the Prices of things would be raised from one to twelve? The old Countrywoman that used to sell her dozen of Eggs for an Assis of twelve Ounces, seeing it look now so deformed, and reduced to one Ounce, would have said, Gentlemen, either give me an Assis of twelve Ounces, or twelve of those paltry ones that weigh but one Ounce; or I'll give you an Egg apiece for your Asses; choose which you will.  
25. Remove then all the thoughts of debasing the Coin, and pluck up the Seeds of this Mischief. Let not the Mint gain by any means; for truly 'tis a most scandalous business to lessen other People's Metal that is sent thither to be coined. Greediness is a Crime that was punished by God with the Death of Eli the Priest in Shilo, and with that of his two Sons Hophni and Phineas his Ministers, who cut off, for their own Tables, the best of every Offering brought them to sacrifice. The Gentiles did better, who eat all the Victim except the Fat that run out of it, as if the Gods would have the Soul only for their share, so Strabo and Catullus say: 
Gnarus ut accepto veneretur carmine Divos;  
Omentum in Flamma pingue liquefaciens.   
26. Now to take away all Temptation of Gain, to wash off all the Marks of it, and to make this Matter creditable, plain, and safe, command that Money pass according to its intrinsic Value, that is, for as much Gold or Silver as there is in it; and that Money of the same Alloy be worth as much in Bar, as when it is coined: so that the Metal, like an amphibious Animal, may without any Expense indifferently pass from Bullion into Coin, and from Coin into Bullion. In a word, let the Mint deliver out the same Metal in Money that it received in to coin. Would you have then, some will say, the Mint to bear all the Expense? Yes certainly; many eminent Civil Lawyers contend that the Public must be at the Charge of maintaining this Blood in the Commonwealth, as they pay the Soldiers, and the Salaries of Magistrates for the Preservation of Liberty and Justice. Others think it equitable that Money should pay its own Minting, by being made somewhat worse, and yet of more Value than so much Bullion, like Vessels, Furniture, or other things whereupon any Labour is bestowed. So, very often the Workmanship is of greater Value than the Materials, as those two Beakers of Silver wrought by Mentor, which Lucius Crassus the Orator bought for 2500 Florins of Gold, yet never drunk out of them afterwards. And the Husbands of our time can tell whether the Embroideries and other little Trangums of the Women, cost 'em more than the Clothes they are to set off.  
26. After all, the old Custom of Money's paying its own Coinage, (the People looking on and suffering it) pleads Prescription, and the Prince is in Possession of it. I shall not dispute with my Masters; but I may say that if the Mint ought not to bear this Charge, yet it should be made as easy as possible, and the Stamps be rather less beautiful. But why should not we return (as some desire it) to the old way of casting Money? for it has all the Advantages that can be wished. Two Stamps of Steel can mark both sides of a Piece in two Moulds of Copper, so that two Men without any more Expenses than Waste, Boiling, and Coals, may in one day coin any great Sum in pieces of equal Weight and Fineness, and for that reason more apt to discover clipping or counterfeiting. For Money that is made of false Metal, if it be of any ordinary Body, cannot escape being found out by its Weight in the Scales; and if it be broader or narrower, thicker or thinner than it should be, it cannot impose upon the Eyes. Nor had it been more than Justice, if Officers were appointed to see it melted, allayed, and cast before the People within those Iron Grates, ordained for that purpose by our good and wise old Citizens, after the Example of the Romans, who religiously performed all this nice business of Money in the Temple of Juno, the Doors being set wide open, that the People might freely see what so nearly concerned them.  
27. Who does not perceive that by such means as these we might eradicate those pernicious Weeds of Expense, Fraud, and Gain; which being only lopped, never fail to grow again, and to debase the Coin? Lastly, I shall add as a Corollary, that Traffic has so much trouble and difficulty in it upon the account of this blessed Money, that it would be better perhaps to do without it, and to pass our Gold and Silver by Weight and Size, as they did in the Primitive Times, and is still used in China, where they always carry about them their Shears and Scales, and have nothing to fear but the Alloy, which by Use and the Touchstone is easily discovered.  
Concerning the Generation of Metals; the Excellency of Gold and Silver; the Origin of buying and selling, with that of Money; when, why, and by whom Money was first invented and used; of the Names, of the Essence, and the Importance thereof; of its debasing, and the Causes of it, with the Damages and Scandals that are the Consequences of it, and their proper Remedies; let it suffice, most patiented Auditors, to have discoursed those few things, by me thought convenient for this time and place; not for your Instruction, Gentlemen, but for your Entertainment.  
FINIS.   

Books printed for, and sold by A. and J. Churchill at the Black Swan in Pater-Noster-Row.  
A View of Universal History, from the Creation, to the Year of Christ 1695. By Francis Talents, sometime Fellow of Magdalen College Cambridg. The whole graven in 16 Copper-Plates, each 15 Inches deep, and 12 broad; bound up into Books, the Sheets, lined. Price 16 s.  
Cambden's Britannia newly translated into English with large Additions and Improvements. By Edmond Gibson, of Queen's-College in Oxford.  
The General History of the Air. By R. Boyl, Esq; 4ᵒ.  
A complete Journal of the Votes, Speeches, and Debates, both of the House of Lords and Commons, throughout the whole Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Collected by Sir Simond Dewes, Baronet, and published by Paul Bowes, of the Middle Temple, Esq 2 d Edit. Fol.  
The Works of the famous Nich. Machiavelli, Citizen and Secretary of Florence. Written originally in Italian, and from thence faithfully translated into English. Fol.  
Mr. Lock's Essay concerning Human Understanding. The third Edition with large Additions. Fol.  
— His Thoughts of Education. Octavo.  
The Fables of Aesop and other Mythologists; made English by Sir Roger L' Estrange, Kt. Fol.  
Two Treatises of Government: The first an Answer to Filmer's Patriarcha. The latter an Essay concerning the true Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government. Octavo.  
Notitia Monastica: Or, A short History of the Religious Houses in England and Wales, etc. By Thomas Tanner, A. B. Octavo.  
The Resurrection of the (same) Body asserted from the Tradition of the Heathens, the Ancient Jews, and the Primitive Church: With an Answer to the Objections brought against it. By Humphrey Hody, D. D.  
Bishop Wilkins of Prayer and Preaching: Enlarged by the Bishop of Norwich, and Dr. Williams. Octavo.  
Considerations about lowering the Interest, and raising the Value of Money. Octavo.  
Short Observations on a printed Paper, Entitled, For encouraging the coining of Silver Money in England, and after for keeping it here. 8o.  
Sir W. Temple's History of the Netherlands. Octavo.  
— Miscellanea. Octavo.  
Dr. Gibson's Anatomy of Human Bodies, with Figures. Octavo.  
Dr. Patrick's new Version of all the Psalms of David in Metre. 12ᵒ.  
Two Treatises of Natural Religion. Octavo.  
Gentleman's Religion, with the Grounds and Reasons of it.  
The Novels and Tales of the Renowned John Boccacio, the first Refiner of Italian Prose; containing an hundred curious Novels: By seven Honourable Ladies, and three noble Gentlemen, framed in ten days. The fifth Edition much corrected and amended.  
Logica: sive, Ars Rationandi. Ontilogia; sive, De Ente in genere. Pneumatologia, seu de spiritihu. Autore Joanne Clerico. 12o.  
The Lives of the Popes, from the time of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to the Reign of Sixtus iv By Sir Paul Rycaut, Kt. The Second Edition corrected.  
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antonimus, the Roman Emperor, concerning himself. To which is added the Life of Antoninus, with some Remarks upon the whole: By Monsieur and Mad. Dacier. Never before in English. 8ᵒ.  
Sermons preached by Dr. R. Leighton, late Archbishop of Glasgow. The Second Edition. 8ᵒ.  
The Roman History, written in Latin by Titus Livius, with the Supplements of the Learned John Freinshemius, and John Dujatius: Faithfully done into English. Folio.  
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boetius, of the Consolation of Philosophy. In five Books. Made English by the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Preston. 8ᵒ.  
Sir Richard Baker's Chronicle of the Kings of England, continued down to this Time.  
The Reasonableness of Christianity, as delivered in the Scriptures. 8ᵒ.  
Prince Arthur; an Heroic Poem. In ten Books. By R. Blackmore, M. D. Fellow of the College of Physicians, London. Folio.  
The Christians Defence against the fear of Death, with seasonable Directions how to prepare themselves to die well. Written originally in French, by Char. Drelincourt of Paris, translated into English by M. D. Assigny, B. D. Third Edition.  
The Royal Grammar, containing a new and easy Method for the speedy attaining the Latin Tongue.