Memoirs of a banking house

MEMOIRS OF A BANKIXG-HOUSK 85
issuing of any substitute for money of less value than tAventy
shillings.*
At length a partial remedy was found. There chanced to be in
London at that time a great quantity of Spanish dollars, worth
about four shillings and sixpence each. On these a stamp was
affixed at the Mint, by government, which gave them a currency ;
and as every person issuing notes took care to obtain a supply of
these, they answered tolerably well the purpose of change.
Quarter guineas, too, were coined at the Mint ; and in a short time
an act of parliament was passed to permit such banking-companies
as had been in the practice of issuing circulating paper, to issue
notes of five shillings value during a limited time. Of this per-
mission, the Royal Bank and several country banks availed them-
selves ; and I have no doubt they were considerable profiters by
the measure. For as these notes mostly passed into places of the
lowest traffiic, they soon became so torn and ragged that they
would scarcely hang together ; and many of them must doubtless
have been entirely destroyed, so as never to return for payment on
the issuers. We did not issue any notes of that description ;
being convinced that there was no real scarcity of specie in the
country, and that it would again make its appearance when the
panic should wear ofij as actually proved to be the case.
In two or three months, when confidence seemed to be toler-
ably well restored, Ave began again to issue our notes of one
pound and upAvards as formerly, and they were just as well
received as CA^er ; so that our circulation, Avhich had diminished,
greatly Avhile Ave ceased to issue, again swelled to its former
amount. And it was matter of agreeable surprise to see in hoAV
short a time, after the suspension of paying in specie, the run on
us ceased.' Indeed, when the holders found they could not
succeed in obtaining payment in gold, they desisted from demand-
ing the value ; appearing to be equally Avell satisfied to retain our
promissory-notes bearing interest, instead of receiving the value in
circulating notes of the other banks, Avhich bore no interest, and
for Avhich they could no more get specie from them than from us.
It Avas remarkable, also, after the first surprise and alarai Avas over,
hoAV quietly the country submitted, as they still do, to transact all
business by means of bank-notes, for AA'hich the issuers give no
specie as formerly. The Avonder AA^as the greater, because the act
* Some people adopted the ingenioxis method of tearing a twenty-shilling
note into halves or quarters, and paying them away accordingly ; and when such
were presented to us, we always paid the value of the fragment without
hesitation. ri