WHOLESALE FORGERY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 255, 20 June 1932, Page 8

WHOLESALE FORGERY

currency issue PRINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES. ANXIETY OF TREASURIES. The Treasuries of the world are in the throes of one of the most serious problems they have ever had to deal with in connection with their currencies, says a London paper. The art of printing and photography has been perf ected to . such an extent in recent years that forgeries of securities and notes have been developed on an international scale hitherto un dreamt of. The Kreuger bond forgeries and other forgeries of note on the Continent have awalcened every Treasury to a realisation of the sei'ious danger inherent in the situation. Not i only are the dangers great, but the | maintenance of large staffs to in- ; spect notes in circulation is prov- ! ing very costly. j Partly in consequence of the extensive forgeries of notes of small demonmination on the Contfnent last I year, Germany has reverted to the ! issue of silver coins to a considerI able extent. Indeed, in 1931 she was the largest buyer of silver for coinage purposes; 25,000,00 ounees were used, and there have been subseauent substantial purchases. The authorities believe that the fear of forgery in connection with note issues will drive many countries back to silver currency, although it will be only as a token coinage. They predict within a few years a boom in silver. In the past ten years many countries have abandoned silver as a currency, or have debased their coinage. Its price has fallen to a low level. On a gold basis it is less than a shilling an ounce, compared with the high level of 33 7-16d in 1925.' The cause of the fall has been an effort to save money on currency by various Governments. They have reduced the silver content of their coins, thus making them purely of token value. Britain Gives Lead. The British Government led the way in this movement — in 1920 — when the price of silver was 7s an ounce and the coinage was debased to the extent of 40 per cent. This policy was followed by many other countries. The linking of the rupee to gold in 1927 rendered the greater part of the silver stocks of the Indian Treasury redundant, and heavy saies of Indian silver have taken place every year. Large quantities have also been released by Indo-China and Siam, which have also linlced their currencies to gold. The heavy fall in the price of silver and of other metals with which it is found in mining" has resulted in a substantial falling-off in production in the past year or two. The average world output for the tliree years to 1930 was, roughly, 240,OOO.OOozs. Last year it was 195,000,000ozs, and this year it is expected that it will be reduced to 140,000,000ozs. The world's stocks of the metal, including a large amount which has been melted down as the result of demonetisation, are approximately 400,000,000ozs.