2* S. N 15., APRIL 12. '56.] NOTES AND QUERIES,
297
for translation into the dialect of Languedoc by
L'Abbe Soularie, in a letter to a French countess,
" sur le deperissement des langues du midi,"
Mercure de France ; Esprit des Journaux, Oc-
tobre, 1788. G. M.
St. Martin's, Guernsey.
VARIATION OP CUBEENCT.
(2 nd S. i. 153.)
Currency, or the imaginary money of the British colonies, had its origin in various causes. The metallic circulation of these colonies consisted ori- ginally of Spanish and Portuguese coins*, current at nominal rates established by law or by custom. In the apportionment of those rates' to British and foreign coins (determined in the first instance by the people, and afterwards modified by acts passed in the local legislatures and ratified by the Crown), the monetary denominations of the parent state were adopted ; and it appears that "not only were different rates assigned to the same coins in dif- ferent colonies, but the rates assigned were rela- tively different with reference to the intrinsic value of the different coins.
Thus, in most of the colonial possessions of the Crown, the British denominations of . s. d. were at an early period introduced into their pecuniary computations. At a subsequent period, in conse- quence of the scarcity of specie, the wear and mutilation of the coins, and the excessive issues of paper, various depreciations took place, which were liquidated at different rates of composition. Hence arose the various systems of currencies which prevailed in the West Indies and in Ame- rica ; the monies of account, and the nominal prices of current coins, being raised so as to cor- respond with the depreciations respectively.
Previous to the year 1838 the state of the me- tallic money of the West India colonies was in the highest degree confused and unsatisfactory : the conflicting character of the coins, and the various monetary denominations which existed, were the sources of innumerable difficulties and complaints. No fixed standard to which those denominations referred was provided by law ; gold and silver coins bore no relative accurate adjustment, those of the former metal being generally over-valued with respect to those of the latter.
In 1838 the subject was a second time brought under the consideration of the Treasury Board, and a remedial measure introduced. A previous order in council (of 1825) was revoked, and in-
- The existence of these coins, as the medium of circu-
lation in the West Indies and America, arose from the proximity of these colonies to the countries in possession of the mines from which the supplies of gold and silver (in the form of coins) were chiefly derived.
structions transmitted by the Secretary of State
to the governors of the several colonies in the
West Indies (including the province of British
Guiana), directing them to issue proclamations
declaratory of the nominal value and rate at
which the doubloon, dollar, and British shilling
should circulate and be deemed a legal tender,
' ' expressed in terms of the currency of those several colo- nies, according to the proportions and relative value of the coins fixed in Her Majesty's proclamation."
Those rates are exhibited in the following tabular statement :
Doubloon.
British
Shilling.
Dollar.
s. d.
s. d.
s. d.
Jamaica
568
1 8
6 11
Barbadoes -
500
1 6$
6 6
Trinidad ~\
Grenada f_
St. Vincent ?"
Dominica }
800
2 6
10 5
Antigua ~\
St. Kitt's f
Montserrat C
740
2 3
9 4
Nevis j
In Jamaica the ultimate object of this measure,
viz. the correct apportionment of the several de-
scriptions of coins in circulation according to their
respective values, thus preparing the way for the
future conversion of the various monies of account
into sterling denominations, was effected by an
Act passed by the legislature of that island in the
following year (1839), by which the currency of
the colony was assimilated to that of the United
Kingdom. By this Act it was ordained that the
doubloon shall be a legal tender at, and after the
rate of 64s., the dollar at 4s. 2rf.*, and that the
gold and silver coins of Great Britain shall be a
legal tender to any amount at the rates current in
the mother country. In many of the other islands
of the British West Indies the old forms and de-
nominations of money are still retained; virtually,
however, and for all practical purposes, payments
in doubloons and dollars (or either), at the rates
before mentioned, viz. 64s. and 4s. 2d. respec-
tively, are deemed and taken to be a lawful
tender, in the same manner as if such tender had
been made in the current coin of the United
Kingdom.
It should be added, that by an order in council, dated August 19, 1853, the coins of the United States of America are declared to be equivalent, in Her Majesty's West India colonies, to current money of the United Kingdom at the following
- The conversion, of the former currency of Jamaica
into sterling money is effected by deducting 40 per cent, from the amount of that currency.
