§ MR. BELLAIRS (Lynn Regis)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer how many descriptions of silver coins are still issued by Great Britain, the United States, Germany, and France, respectively; and whether there is any evidence to show that the number of British issues might be diminished with advantage.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) New issues of silver coin in the United Kingdom are now ordinarily made only in the five denominations: half-crown, florin, shilling, sixpence, threepence. The current new issues in the United States are at present confined to three denominations (silver dollars not having been struck since 1905); in Germany to four; and in France to three. Of our own issues, that of threepences is comparatively small in amount, and during the last twenty years the popularity of the florin has steadily increased at the expense of the 243 half-crown; but I am not prepared to say that there is any positive evidence that the number of denominations might be diminished with advantage.