Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/760

enables a large series of coins to be formed.^[1] The main reason, however, for the adoption of a duodecimal system appears to have been the preference for the number 12 so frequently shown by early societies; thus, among the Semitic races, the Jews were organized in 12 tribes, and in Italy the Etruscan league consisted of two groups, each of 12 cities. In connexion with this it may be noted that a duodecimal system of currency prevailed south of the Apennines. At Rome the as was divided into 12 unciæ. The modern tendency, however, has been to adopt a decimal scale. This method of notation, which is found very widely in use among savage tribes, is undoubtedly derived from the ten fingers of the human hands. Though the base 10 is not so convenient as 12, it is firmly established as the only system of counting, and is in process of extension to weighing and measuring.^[2] For the purposes of currency this scale is not very convenient, as 10 can be only resolved into two factors (2 and 5), and one of these is a rather high number. This disadvantage has retarded the adoption of decimal coinage, and is the base of the objections made to it. It has been contended that it is unsuitable for small purchases, and for such fractions as one-third.^[3] France adopted the decimal system of coinage in 1799, and it has now extended over all the countries of the Latin Union (see Table II.). It is also in use in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, the Netherlands, and Finland, as well as in the United States. But none of these countries has a decimal coinage pure and simple. In-

 

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1. J. R. M‘Culloch in Ency. Brit., art. "Money," vol. xv. p. 431 (8th ed.).
2. Tylor, Anthropology, pp. 311–312.
3. Laing and M‘Culloch, as quoted above. The former unfortunately prophesies that "the decimal division never will come into general use in France or anywhere else."

Table II.—The Coinage Systems of Continental Europe, exhibiting the gold and silver coins, their weight, fineness, remedy, and approximate value in English and United States money.

Coins.	Material.	Weight in Grammes.	Millesimal Fineness.	Rem. p. 1000	Approximate Money Value.		Coins.	Material.	Weight in Grammes.	Millesimal Fineness.	Rem. p. 1000	Approximate Money Value.
In Fineness.	In Weight.	English.	United States.	In Fineness.	In Weight.	English.	United States.
Austria-Hungary*[table2 1]—									£	s.	d.		$	c.		Netherlands[table2 2]—										£	s.	d.		$	c.
100 Kreutzer	8	Gulden	piece	Gold	6·	45161	900·	2·		2·	5	0	15	10		3	86		100 Cents = 1	10	Guilder	piece	Gold	6·	720	900·		1·	5	2·		0	16	6		4	2
= 1 Gulden.	4	,,	,,	,,	3·	22580	900·	2·		2·	5	0	7	11		1	93		Guilder.	5	,,	,,	3·	360	900·		1·	5	2·		0	8	3		2	1
	2	,,	,,	Silver	24·	6914	900·	2·		2·	5	0	3	11	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	96			2$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	,,	Silver	25·		945·		2·	5	2·	5	0	4	2		1	0
	1	,,	,,	,,	12·	3457	900·	2·		2·	5	0	1	11	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	48			1	,,	,,	10·		945·		2·	5	2·	5	0	1	8		0	40
	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{4}}$	,,	,,	,,	5·	3419	520·	2·		2·	5	0	0	5	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	0	12			$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	,,	,,	5·		945·		2·	5	2·	5	0	0	10		0	20
	20	Kreutzer	,,	,,	2·	666	500·	2·		2·	5	0	0	4	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	0	10			25	Cents	. . . . . .	,,	3·	575	640·		2·	5	2·	5	0	0	5		0	10
	10	,,	,,	,,	1·	666	400·	2·		2·	5	0	0	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{8}}$	0	5			10	,,	. . . . . .	,,	1·	400	640·		2·	5	2·	5	0	0	2		0	4
																	5	,,	. . . . . .	,,	0·	685	640·		2·	5	2·	5	0	0	1		0	2
Belgium. See France.								Norway. See Denmark.
								Portugal[table2 3]—
Denmark[table2 4].}}—																1000 Reis = 1	Crown or $10·000	Gold	17·	735	916·	666̇	2·		2·		2	4	5		10	80
100 Öre = 1	20	Kroner	piece	Gold	8·	960572	900·	1·	5	1·	5	1	2	1		5	36		Milrei.	Half-Crown or $5·000	,,	8·	867	916·	666̇	2·		2·		1	2	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	5	40
Krone.	10	,,	,,	,,	4·	480286	900·	1·	5	2·		0	11	0	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	2	68			One-fifth Crown or $2·000	,,	3·	547	916·	666̇	2·		2·		0	8	10		2	16
																	One-tenth Crown or $1·000	,,	1·	773	916·	666̇	2·		2·		0	4	5		1	8
	2	,,	,,	Silver	15·	000	800·	3·		3·		0	2	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {2}{3}}$	0	53
	1	Krone	,,	,,	7·	500	800·	3·		3·		0	1	1	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{3}}$	0	27			500	Reis	. . . . . . . .	Silver	12·	500	916·	666̇	2·		3·		0	2	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	54
	50	Öre piece	. . . .	,,	5·	000	600·	3·		3·		0	0	6	$\scriptstyle {\frac {2}{3}}$	0	13			200	,,	. . . . . . . .	,,	5·	000	916·	666̇	2·		3·		0	0	10	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	21
	40	,,	. . . .	,,	4·	000	600·	3·		3·		0	0	5	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{3}}$	0	10			100	,,	. . . . . . . .	,,	2·	500	916·	666̇	2·		3·		0	0	5	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{4}}$	0	11
	25	,,	. . . .	,,	2·	420	600·	3·		3·		0	0	3	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{3}}$	0	6	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$		50	,,	. . . . . . . .	,,	1·	250	916·	666̇	2·		3·		0	0	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {5}{8}}$	0	5
	10	,,	. . . .	,,	1·	450	400·	3·		3·		0	0	1	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{3}}$	0	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	Roumania. See France.
																Russia*[table2 5]—
France[table2 6]—																100 Copecks	Imperial or
100 Centimes	100	Franc	piece	Gold	32·	25806	900·	2·		1·		3	19	3	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{3}}$	19	30		= 1 Rouble.	10	Rouble	piece	Gold	13·	088	916·	666̇	nil	2·		1	11	8		7	72
= 1 Franc.	50	,,	,,	16·	12903	900·	2·		1·		1	19	7	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	9	65			Half Imperial or
	20	,,	,,	6·	45161	900·	2·		2·		0	15	10		3	86			5	Rouble	piece	,,	6·	544	916·	666̇	,,	2·		0	15	10		3	86
	10	,,	,,	3·	22580	900·	2·		2·		0	7	11		1	93			3	,,	,,	3·	926	916·	666̇	,,	2·		0	9	6		2	31
	5	,,	,,	1·	61290	900·	2·		3·		0	3	11	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	96
																	1	,,	Silver	20·	7315	868·	056	,,	2·		0	3	2		0	77
	5	,,	Silver	25·		900·	2·		3·		0	3	11	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	96			$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	,,	,,	10·	3660	868·	056	,,	2·		0	1	7		0	38
	2	,,	,,	10·		835·	3·		5·		0	1	7		0	38			$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{4}}$	,,	,,	5·	183	868·	056	,,	2·		0	0	9	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	19
	1	,,	,,	5·		835·	3·		5·		0	0	9	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	19			20	Copecks	. . . .	,,	4·	146	750·	0	,,	2·		0	0	7	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	15
	50	Centimes	. . . .	,,	2·	5	835·	. .	. .	0	0	4	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	0	10			10	,,	. . . .	,,	2·	073	750·	0	,,	2·		0	0	3	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	0	7
	20	,,	. . . .	,,	1·		835·	. .	. .	0	0	2		0	4			5	,,	. . . .	,,	1·	037	750·	0	,,	2·		0	0	2		0	4
																Servia. See France.
Germany[table2 7]—																Spain.[table2 8].
100 Pfennige	20	Mark piece	. .	Gold	7·	964954	900·	. .	. .	0	19	7		4	76		Sweden. See Denmark.
= 1 Mark.	10	,,	. .	,,	3·	982477	900·	. .	. .	0	9	9	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	2	38		Switzerland. See France.
	5	,,	. .	,,	1·	991239	900·	. .	. .	0	4	10	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	1	19		Turkey*[table2 9]—
																100 Piastres	Medjidie or Lira	Gold	7·	216	916·	666̇	2·		2·		0	18	0		4	40
	5	,,	. .	Silver	27·	7777̇	900·	. .	. .	0	4	10	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	1	19		= 1 Medjidie	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	,,	,,	3·	608	916·	666̇	2·		2·		0	9	0		2	20
	2	,,	. .	,,	11·	1111̇	900·	. .	. .	0	1	11	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	48			$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{4}}$	,,	,,	1·	804	916·	666̇	2·		2·		0	4	6		1	10
	1	,,	. .	,,	5·	5555̇	900·	. .	. .	0	0	11	$\scriptstyle {\frac {3}{4}}$	0	24
	50	Pfennige	. . . .	,,	2·	7777̇	900·	. .	. .	0	0	6		0	12			20	Piastres	. . . .	Silver	24·	055	830·		3·		3·		0	3	7		0	88
	20	,,	. . . .	,,	1·	1111̇	900·	. .	. .	0	0	2	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	5			10	,,	. . . .	,,	12·	027	830·		3·		3·		0	1	9	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	44
																	5	,,	. . . .	,,	6·	013	830·		3·		3·		0	0	10	$\scriptstyle {\frac {1}{2}}$	0	22
Greece.* See France.																	2	,,	. . . .	,,	2·	405	830·		3·		3·		0	0	4		0	9
Italy. See France.																	1	,,	. . . .	,,	1·	202	830·		3·		3·		0	0	2		0	4

* Inconvertible paper currency.

1. Present system introduced in 1870, in place of system of 1857; 8-gulden piece equivalent to 20 francs; silver not freely coined. The Maria Theresa dollar (28·0644 grammes, $\scriptstyle {\frac {5}{6}}$ths fine) is coined as commercial money.
2. The Dutch standard has been several times changed. In 1847 a silver standard was adopted, and continued till 1872, the unit being the silver guilder. In June 1875 the free coinage of gold was decreed, the silver coinage having been restricted since 1872. The ratio of gold to silver is 15·625 to 1, but practically the "limping standard" exists.
3. The single gold standard is in force in Portugal. The English sovereign is legal tender for 4500 reis.
4. The system now in use in the Scandinavian Union (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway) came into force 1st January 1875. It is a monometallic gold standard on the Decimal Coinage See {{sc|France
5. The Medjidie coinage was introduced in 1844. English sovereigns circulate at 125 piastres, 20-franc pieces at 100 piastres.