REMARKS
ON THE PRODUCTION OF THE
PRECIOUS METALS,
AND ON THE
DEMONETIZATION OF GOLD
IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES IN EUROPE.
BY
MONSR. LEON FAUCHER.
TRANSLATED BY
THOMSON HANKEY, Jun.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED.
LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 65, CORNHILL.
1853.
My Dear Sir,
I have fulfilled the promise I made you a fewweeks since, by translating, I hope intelligibly,your remarks on the subject of the Production, &c.,of the Precious Metals, which I read first in theAugust number of the “Revue des Deux Mondes,”and which have been subsequently published, somewhatamplified, in the reports of the “Académie desSciences Morales et Politiques.” Since the date ofyour remarks, the production of gold in Australiahas been greater than you anticipated; recentreports estimate the amount shipped, or ready forshipment, from thence, at not less than £8,000,000sterling; at which figure, I think, we may safelyplace the produce of 1852.
A gentleman who was with me a few days since,just arrived from Victoria, told me that the golddiggings at Bathurst were nearly at an end, and thathe did not believe that any more gold would beshipped from Sydney. Although Sydney is onlyone of the ports of Australia from which gold hasbeen shipped, this would appear to confirm yourviews, that the first gatherings cannot fairly beassumed as data on which to found estimates offuture production: at the same time when we hearof so great an increase of production in other partsof Australia, I can hardly agree with you, that thereis so little ground for alarm as to a depreciation inthe value of gold, in consequence of these late discoveries.The effects of the production in Australiacan hardly be felt at present, considering that theexport of English gold coin has been, up to thisdate, I think, equal to the amount of gold we havereceived thence; but when the sovereigns latelyshipped are found to be in excess of the wantsof the community in Australia, and are re-shippedto this country, together with the produce of thegold workings between this and next summer, Icannot but believe that the supply in the market[v]of the world will be found in excess of the demand,and that ultimately a considerable and generalalteration in prices will ensue.
I shall be very glad if I find that by this translationI have in any way contributed to increasethe circulation of your remarks in this country.The subject is one of considerable interest, andI hope that you will, at no very distant period,give us some further observations, and let us knowhow far your first impressions have been theninfluenced by events which may have occurredsubsequently to the present time.
I am, my dear Sir,
Yours very faithfully,
THOMSON HANKEY, Junr.
London, 30th November, 1852.
The Foreign Weights and Monies have been converted into English,at the following rates.