INTRINSIC OR REAL
[PRATT, Samuel].
The regulating Silver Coin [sic], made practicable and easie, to the Government and Subject. Humbly submitted to the Consideration of both Houses and Parliament. By a Lover of his Country.
London, Bonwick, 1696.
8vo, pp. [2], 125, [1, blank]; chipped and stained at edges throughout, not affecting text, else a good copy in contemporary mottled panelled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red morocco lettering-piece; rubbed, chipped, some loss to leather of upper board, peeling away; joints cracked but holding firm.
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The regulating Silver Coin [sic], made practicable and easie, to the Government and Subject. Humbly submitted to the Consideration of both Houses and Parliament. By a Lover of his Country.
First and only edition. William Lowndes had the Treasury pay for this argument for the recoinage of the currency of 1696, and it was supportive of his policy of devaluation. Pratt calls for regulation of the mint and an end to clipping, hoarding and the exportation of coins. He develops the idea of a difference between the ‘intrinsic’ value and the ‘real’ value of the coinage, arguing that the intrinsic value must be considerably higher than the real value, to prevent clipping and the melting down of coin when the price of silver rises.
ESTC R8943; Wing P 3184; Goldsmiths’ 3331.
