In this respect, therefore, France may be supposed to lose upon exporting her coin, to wit, so far as she consumes foreign commodities at an advanced value; but then I say, that in this case France loses the whole price of the commodities, not the advanced price only; because she loses the balance of her trade. Abstracted from that, I say she loses nothing. Who loses then the advanced price? I answer, the consumer of the commodity loses it, and I say that no body gains it. This is what, in the eighth chapter of the second book, was called positive loss, and it is owing to the annihilation of a part of the advanced value of the coin, which the operations of commerce have effectuated. In these respects only can France be considered as a loser upon exporting her coin; but in having it returned upon her, when at an advanced price above bullion, the loss is nothing; because the advanced price then is a real value added to the coin, and there is no manner of difference as to France, to receive, for the balance of her trade, an hundred pounds weight of her own louis d’ors, or an hundred and eight pounds of standard gold bullion, at such times as bullion is commonly carried to the mint; because the one and the other weight of coin and bullion will answer the same occasions both in the Paris market, and in most trading towns in Europe. From these principles we may gather how effectually the imposition of coinage must prevent the melting down of the coin, providing a sufficient attention is had to preserve the denominations of the coin in both species at the exact proportion of the market price of the metals. [Sidenote: QUEST. 7. If by over-rating gold, the English lose their silver, Why should not France, by over-rating silver, lose their gold?] QUEST. VII. The two metals being only valued by one another, if the English, by valuing the gold higher than the French do, occasion the exportation of their silver, why should not the French, by valuing their silver higher than the English do, occasion thereby the exportation of their gold? And if the English, by over-rating their gold, prevent the carrying silver to be coined at their mint, why should not the French by over-rating their silver prevent the carrying gold to be coined in their mint? [Sidenote: ANSW. Because the English rate their gold above the value of it in _their own market_, the French do not so with their silver.] ANSW. The English over-rate their gold not only with respect to other nations, but with respect to the value of it in their own market; whereas the French preserve, in their gold and silver coins, nearly the proportion between the metals as they are sold in their own market. In France no body can profit by melting down either of the species, in order to sell it, with advantage, as bullion; but in England, by melting the heavy silver coin, one may sell it in London for more gold than the same coin not melted can purchase.