§ SIR WILLIAM BULL (Hammersmith)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can give any estimate of the cost of a gradual substitution of a nickel coinage for bronze in the United Kingdom, and of the disturbance to trade that would result therefrom, considering that the machines at the Mint can be easily adjusted so as to make coins of any size and metal, and that the nickel and bronze coins could be used simultaneously for most purposes until one superseded the other.
(Answered by Mr. Lloyd-George.) It has been estimated that the gradual substitution of a nickel for the bronze coinage now in circulation would cost at least £170,000. I have no means of estimating the precise degree of disturbance which would be caused to trade, but I am advised that it might be considerable.