Upon the whole, the regulations in France appear (so far as I comprehend them) admirably well contrived to serve every purpose. They prevent the melting down and exporting of the coin; they prevent bullion from being coined, when it cannot remain in the kingdom; they give an advanced value to that part of the nation’s coin which must be exported for the payment of the balance of trade; and they recall it home when the balance becomes favourable. They prove an encouragement to the industry of goldsmiths; there is a sufficient check put upon their melting down the specie; and there is no discouragement given to private people from making plate, because the silver in the plate is sold by the goldsmith, a small matter below its intrinsic worth when compared with the coin. The only thing to be reformed is the remedies allowed by the King upon the weight and fineness; because it tends to perplex calculations, and is not at all necessary. When exactness can be procured, it ought to be procured; and as the workmen regularly profit of all the remedies allowed them, it is a proof that they have no occasion for any indulgence to make up for their want of dexterity. I shall make no mention of the duty of _controle_ upon wrought plate. This I consider as an excise upon a branch of luxury; consequently, the examination of it belongs to the doctrine of taxation, and is foreign to that of money. It has been said above, that the imposition of coinage (occasioning the coin of France to circulate, almost at all times, above its intrinsic value as bullion, even in foreign countries) prevented bullion from ever rising in the Paris market to the price of coin. This principle I also find confirmed by facts. [Sidenote: High price of bullion in the Paris market during the year 1760.] Foreign gold of 22 carats fine, sold in the Paris market (December 13th, 1760) at 712 livres the marc. In order to find the value of the marc of fine gold, state thus, 22 : 712 :: 24 : 776.7. Now the marc of fine gold in the coin, we have seen to be 801.12 sols. So at this time, when France is engaged in a most expensive war, while she is daily exporting immense quantities of both gold and silver coin, to pay her armies and subsidies, the price of gold bullion in her market is 24 livres 18 sols per marc below the value of her coin. Nothing but the advanced value of her specie in foreign currency, could possibly produce such a phænomenon. But when she was sending stamped ingots of gold to Russia, in the month of September last, the price of the gold bullion of 22 carats then rose to 734 livres per marc, which for the marc of fine gold makes 800 livres 14 sols, which is but 18 sols below the value of the coin. The reason is plain: the coin sent to Germany, or Holland is constantly returning to France, or at least may soon return, which supports the high price of it in these countries; but what was sent to Russia was plain bullion.