One aspect of this latter conference of 1857, viz. its deliberations with regard to gold coinage, will be referred to separately. As far as relates to its attempted systematisation of these three German currencies the agreement took the following form:-- 1. The pound of 500 grammes decimally subdivided, to be used as the basis of the coinage. 2. The competing systems to be assimilated to this basis by the following regulation:-- The thaler (or Prussian) standard of 30 thalers to the pound of silver to take the place of the 14-thaler standard, and to prevail in Prussia, Saxony, Hanover, Hesse, and a string of minor states. The Austrian standard to be on the basis of 45 guldens out of a pound of fine silver, and to prevail in the Empire of Austria and the principality of Lichtenstein. The South German standard to be on the basis of 52-1/2-gulden to the pound of silver (instead of the 24-1/2-florin standard formerly used), and to prevail in Bavaria, Würtemburg, Baden, Hesse, Frankfurt, and a few other places of South Germany. The equivalence of the systems was to be-- One-thaler convention piece (1/30 pound) = 1-1/2 florins in Austrian currency = 1-3/4 florin in South German currency. All the coins to be of unlimited validity in all the states, divisional coinage to be of a lighter standard than the coinage standard of the country, but lighter only within limits fixed. The tender of these latter to be limited to 20-thaler or 40-gulden. [Sidenote: THE VIENNA CONFERENCE, 1857] The regulations adopted by this Vienna Convention as to the gold coinage are very significant, and deserve special note. The advance in the gold price of silver, due to the Californian and San Franciscan gold finds, acted on the silver-using countries. As soon as the price of bar silver exceeded 60-7/8-pence per standard oz., there resulted a melting down and export of the silver, in the countries which had adopted bimetallism at the 15-1/2-ratio.