CHAPTER 11 
THE REIGN OF BIMETALLISM! 
§ 1. Establishment of bimetallist régime ; application of the 
system of free coinage to two metals ; theoretical difficulties. 
THE disappointments with which public authorities had 
met for several centuries under the old régime in their 
perpetual efforts to scale. the value of currency seemed to 
have demonstrated how useless it was to intervene, and the 
conclusion was drawn that the value of currencies was de- 
termined by natural causes outside the control of public 
authorities, and that both in regard to the determination 
of its value and in other respects money was essentially a 
commodity. 
A sound comprehension of the real nature of money 
under modern conditions thus seemed to dictate, so far as 
possible, a policy of complete non-interference. Modern 
legislation has conformed to this view and the monetary 
practice of the old monarchies has given place to the 
system of free coinage described above. 
In order to link up the new coin with the previous 
moneys of account, it was enough to define each of the 
latter in terms of a certain weight of fine metal, which was 
to remain constant. Thus the franc was originally defined 
as consisting of § grammes of silver 9/10 fine, the pound 
sterling of 123274 grains of gold of a fineness of 22/24 
carats (or 7988 grammes of a fineness of 0.916). But a 
difficulty arose ; if money is a commodity the value of which 
can no more be controlled by law than that of any other 
commodity, it is idle to attempt to keep a constant ratio 
! Part of this chapter has already appeared with the title “L’Expérience 
bimétalliste du XIX siecle et la théorie de la Monnaie” (Rev. d’ économie 
politique, 1908). 
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