Heins was far from meaning to say that the Bank dealt only to the extent of these forty millions. It was not necessary that precious metal should be kept to meet the presentation of bank receipts which had expired. It was enough that receipts in actual circulation should be convertible; and forty millions of guilders seemed to him a rather striking amount of convertible currency, to be issued by one bank. "You should remember, Mr. Snoek, that this Bank is not like other banks, where merchants may deal or not, as it pleases them. Your law that every bill drawn upon Amsterdam, or negotiated here, of the value of 600 guilders, must be paid in bank money, obliges all merchants trading in your country to have an account with your Bank; so that the amount of money in these treasure-chambers is a pretty fair guide to the extent of your commerce." Heins observed that the law in question was necessary, as, before it was made, the varying quality of the metal currency at Amsterdam rendered the value of bills of exchange so uncertain as materially to injure the operations of commerce. In a place to which money flowed from all parts of the world, there must necessarily be much clipt and worn coin in circulation. While such coin was present, all that was issued, new and good, from the Mint, immediately disappeared; and to whatever extent the issue might proceed, the merchants could scarcely obtain enough good money to pay their bills. Under these circumstances, the institution of bank-money was most serviceable to the credit and commerce of the country; and the law which compelled the payment of all bills of 600 guilders and upwards, in such money, was only a new evidence, in Heins's opinion, of the depth of Dutch wisdom, and the fertility of Dutch genius. How well the experiment had answered was proved by the willingness of all respectable merchants to pay a premium for this bank money. Though the difference between good coin and the light money which was poured into Holland at the time of the establishment of the Bank was no more than nine per cent., the merchants had been willing, from the very beginning, to allow the bank money to bear a more considerable agio. They might well be thus willing, Master Peter thought, since their bank deposits were safe from robbery, fire, and other accidents; the whole city of Amsterdam being bound for it. "The city, though not the depositing merchants, was very near losing much of its bank wealth by fire," replied Heins, pointing to a part of the Stadt-house which appeared newer than the rest. "See how near the treasure-chamber the flames must have approached! Some say that smoked guilders blacked the hands of the receivers, so lately as twenty years back, when the Bank was called upon to make large issues of coin, from the French having reached Utrecht."