COURSE OF EXCHANGE. 285 London. Course of Exchange. Florins and Stivers for £1. Pence and Fractions for 1 U. S. Dollar. EXAMPLES. Decide on the best way of paying these debts and find the actual cost, including brokerage and stamps. (1) London-Austria, £356. 8d. 4d., rates 12:05, 118·75, 3 mos. Discount rates 3 and 4 p.c. (2) London-France, 10,000 Fr., rates 25-18, 25.19 cheques. (3) London-Russia, 20,000 Ro., rates 24, 101·40, 3 mos. Discount rates 4 p.c. each. (4) London-New York, £975. 10s. 8d., rates 49‰, 4·85. 60 days' sight. Discount 2 and 3 p.c. (5) London-Calcutta, 8075 Rs., rates 18. 2 d., 18. 21ğd. sight. Weights and Measures. The bullion weight is Troy weight, but the Bank always uses oz. and decimals. In weighing diamonds the oz. Troy is divided into 151 carats, .. I diamond carat = 19 grs. Troy. In weighing pearls the oz. Troy is divided into 600 grains,.. 5 pearl grains = 4 grs. Troy. In standarding gold the lb. Troy is divided into 24 carats of 4 carat grains, .. 1 gold carat = 240 grs. Tr. The lb., oz., gr. in Apothecaries' weight are those of Troy weight. = = The commercial weight is Avoirdupois weight, 1 lb. Av. 7000 grs. Tr., and 1 lb. Tr. 5760 grs. Tr. A great many things nominally sold by measure are really sold by weight-the measures being taken to be of a given weight, e.g. a firkin of butter 56 lb. = At Mark Lane wheat is nominally sold by the quarter, but really by weight, 1 qr. being taken to be 504 lb. and 1 bush. to be 63 lb. Foreign wool is always sold by the lb. British wool occasionally by the pack of 240 lbs. and by the sack of 2 weys of 2 tods of 2 stones (14 lbs.) of 2 cloves. BRITISH UNITS. 287 The ordinary liquid measure is the gallon-filled with distilled water it must weigh 10 lbs. Avoir. at 62° Fahr. and 30 inches barometer. = 1 gallon 277.274 cub. inches, . 1 cub. ft. of water weighs 62.321 lbs. = The dry measures are the peck, bushel and quarter. 1 qr. 8 bush. = 32 pks. = 64 galls. 10 qrs. = 1 last. The tun of 2 pipes, 3 puncheons, 4 hhds, or 6 tierces is chiefly used for oil. 1 tun of oil is estimated at 20 cwt. 1 qr. For beer the butt of 3 barrels of 2 kilderkins of 2 firkins of 9 gallons is used. For wines pipes of varying quantities of gallons are divided into hhds, quarter casks and octaves. The commercial length is the yard of 3 feet of 12 inches. The inch is divided into halves, quarters, eighths, or into tenths or twelfths. For land the perch of 5 yds. is used, or the chain of 100 links. 1 chain 4 perches. For cloth the yard is divided into qrs. eighths and sixteenths. 1 sq. of flooring is 100 sq. ft. (11⁄2 thick) = 2721 sq. ft. sq. For land, acres, roods, sq. poles sq. chains = 1 rod of brickwork 1 load of earth is a cubic yd. 1 load of timber = 50 cubic feet. Deals and battens are usually sold by the S. Petersburg standard. The old wine gallon (231 cub. ins.), and the Winchester bushel (2150-42 cub. ins.) are still used in the U.S. and some Colonies. The old beer gallon of 282 cub. inches is not now used. FRANCE. Moneys and Bullion. 100 centimes = 1 franc. The gold coins are 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 franc pieces, all 900 fine. 155 20-francs weigh 1 kilogramme, . 3010 francs are the equivalent of 1 kilogramme gold 900 fine. The 20-franc pieces are called Louis or Napoleons. The silver coins are 5, 2, 1, 1, franc pieces, each 835 fine, except the 5-franc which is 900 fine. 40 5-franc pieces weigh 1 kilogramme, .. 200 francs are the equivalent of 1 kilog. silver 900 fine. The nominal value of the silver coins (other than the 5-franc) is 7 p.c. above their real value-owing to their having been issued originally at 900 fine. The bronze coins are 10, 5, 2, 1-centimes-they weigh the same number of grains. France and the Latin Union at first adopted the double standard or valuation. After 1867 the 5-franc piece was alone legal tender in silver, but it was still coined and .. the double standard remained in force at 1:15. The adoption THE ETALON BOITEUX. 289 by Germany in 1871 of the gold standard caused such a depreciation in silver that this legal relation was absurdly high, and to prevent the export of gold France and the Latin Union had finally to suspend the coinage of the 5-franc piece. Thus the French monetary system is a gold standard conjointly with the circulation of the existing 5-franc silver pieces as legal tender; this is called the étalon boiteux and gives to the silver 5-franc in all markets a value higher than that of the silver it contains by about 15 p.c. The number of these 5-franc pieces still in circulation is from 4 to 5 hundred millions. If the balance of trade had been largely against France this étalon boiteux would have caused a serious derangement in the foreign exchanges, but this has not been the case yet, and the exchanges in France and the States of the Latin Union have almost always adjusted themselves as if they had had a purely gold valuation. French reports of gold and silver assays are in millièmes and tenths: they are thus more accurate than British reports. The French add raide if the fineness is barely up to the report, franc or bien franc if fully up to the report. The bullion weight is the kilogramme. = 1 kilog. = 32151 oz. Tr. 1 oz. Tr. 1 oz. Tr. 0311035 kilog. .. 1 oz. Brit. stand. gold=0285115 kilog. fine gold, and 1 oz. Brit. stand. silver = 0287707 kilog. fine silver. The value of 1 kilogramme gold 900 fine is 3010 francs (this is the Mint rate of coinage). The Mint buys gold at a discount of Fr. 6.70 per kilogramme gold 900 fine. Thus it gives (3100-670)=3093-30 Fr. per kilog. gold 900 fine, i.e. 3437 per kilog. fine. |