§ MR. ANDERSONasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, as Master of the Mint, If his deputy has prepared a paper showing the mintage charge on the coinage of other countries; and, if he will make of it a Parliamentary Paper; and, if there are at the Mint calculations snowing the average cost of coining (apart from metal) a single coin of each denomination; and, if he will give a Return showing that, or, failing that, the average cost (apart from metal) of coining one coin?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS)A table has been prepared at the Mint, showing the Mint charges levied in the principal countries of Europe, and was printed in the Journal of the Institute of Bankers for the 19th of March, 1884. I will lay it on the Table as a Parliamentary Paper. It is impossible to form any trustworthy estimate of the cost of coining individual pieces of each denomination, as the average cost of the coins struck each year depends entirely upon the amount of coinage executed. But if my hon. Friend will peruse the valuable Joint Report of Mr. Graham, the late Master of the Mint, and Colonel Smith, the late Master of the Calcutta Mint, which was a Parliamentary Paper of 1869, No. 285, he will find the fullest information on this subject, and in the calculation then made the present Deputy Master concurs.