WHY ARE SOVEREIGNS SCARCE?

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2697, 17 February 1916, Page 6

WHY ARE SOVEREIGNS SCARCE?

20,000,000 PRODUCED BY THE MINT LAST YEAR. The Deputy Master of the Royal Mint recently issued a summary of the operations of that institution during the years 1913, 1914, and 1915. The issues of gold and silver were as follows :— GOLD ISSUED 1013. 19H. 1915. .£ £ -£ Sovereigns 24,583,789 11,501,170 20,280,000 Half-sove-reigns .... 3,055,000 3,625,000 1,02f,000 Total _.. 27,635,759 15,126,170 21,301,000 SILVER ISSTTKD. 1913. Mil.' 1315. •£ ■£ £ Vartorna coins ... 1,934,354 6,250,524 7,598,923 The quantity of worn coins withdrawn iroin circulation is considerably reduced. H will be seen that in spito of the rarity of the sovereign in these days of Treasury, notes, the number of sovereigns issued was in 1915 nearly as great as in pre-war days. And in the minting of silver there is, as would be expected in view of its much more extended use, an enormous increase. The sovereigns minted are plainly not for circulation in England. What becomes of some of them wo Jcarn from occasional New York tcicgrstins. In the middle of last mouth ft was stated that the Treasury Department of New York were engaged in melting down a block of 20,000,000 English sovereigns, which had been accumulating as the result of British payments for some time past. The secret of our production of sovereigns, at a time when we use notes as common currency, is that we are making good our dolicicncies in tin exports of merchandise by the export of gold.