§ 51. Mr. H. WILLIAMSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the total issue of notes, the total reserve of gold and silver, and the total fiduciary issue should the Bank of England note issue and the Treasury note issue be combined; and what would have been the corresponding figures five years ago?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLAs the reply contains many figures, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply
§ On the assumption made, the figures on the 25th February, 1925, would have been
| £ | s. | |
| Total issue | 399,376,080 | 10 |
| Gold | 153,761,020 | 0 |
| Fiduciary issue | 245,615,060 | 10 |
§ In addition to the gold, silver coin to the value of £7,000,000 is held in the Currency Note Account, but this is not reckoned as reducing the fiduciary issue.
2060§ The amount of currency notes of the 1st and 2nd Series, which have been called in, but not yet cancelled, amounted on the 25tb February, 1925, to £1,349,457; these notes are not included in the figures shown above.
§ The figures of the combined issues five years ago (25th February, 1920) would have been:
| £ | s. | |
| Total issue | 449,057,682 | 10 |
| Gold | 138,213,890 | 0 |
| Fiduciary issue | 310,843,792 | 10 |
§ Thus the total gold cover increased in the five years by more than £15,500,000, although the total issue was reduced by nearly £50,000,000.