§ MR. KELLY (Camberwell, N.)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a shilling piece, recently issued by the Mint, has erroneously been supposed to be spurious, and to have been coined in Germany; whether, in addition to the shilling piece known as the Jubilee shilling, another has since been issued from the Mint in which the representation of the 858 head of Her Majesty the Queen is much larger than that issued in 1887: whether, in the shilling pieces recently issued by the Mint, there is no space between the representation of the head of Her Majesty and the rim, whereas on that issued in 1887 there is a considerable space; and, whether the statements published in the newspapers recently to the effect that the shilling piece without any space between the representation of the head of Her Majesty the Queen and the rim of the coin are spurious, and have been manufactured in Germany, and are only of the value of 7½d. are wholly mistaken and erroneous?
§ MR. GOSCHENYes; I am aware that there has been such an impression, but the statements mentioned by the hon. Member are quite unfounded. In 1889 a slight change was made in what is known as the Jubilee shilling, the head of Her Majesty being slightly enlarged. There is less space, therefore, on this coin between the head of Her Majesty and the rim than there was on the original Jubilee shilling, but the newspaper statements that coins of this description are spurious are entirely mistaken.