212 THE NATIONAL SAVINGS MOVEMENT
ten years its value was 24s. instead of the 26s. under certificates
of the first and second series.
On Savings Certificates of the first series which cost 15s. 6d.
each no interest was paid if the certificate was cashed during
the first year. On the completion of the first twelve months
the cash value increased by 3d., and thereafter by 1d. a month
up to the end of the fifth year, when an additional 8d. made
the cash value £1. Originally it was a five years’ security,
but the period was extended to ten years, interest being
allowed at the rate of 1d. per month, with an additional 1Is.,
making 26s. in all, at the end of the tenth year from the date
of purchase. The price of the second series of certificates was
increased to 16s.—a much more convenient price to deal with
than the original 15s. 64. No interest at all was allowed on
account of the first year, but thereafter, throughout the whole
lifetime of the certificate, the interest was 1d. per month with
an additional shilling at the end of ten vears. making the value
at maturity 26s.
The third series of certificates, introduced on 1st October
1923, gives 3d. for interest on certificates that have been in
force for a full year. Thereafter the interest is 3d. every four
months, or 9d. a year, up to the end of the tenth year, when an
additional shilling is added, making the value of the certificate
at maturity 24s.
The rate of interest per cent. per annum yielded by certifi-
~ates at the end of ten years is for the first series 5-309, for the
second series 4°975, and for the third series 4-138. The rates
of interest here quoted are those at which the purchase price,
if accumulated at interest compounded annually, would
amount to the cash value. Thus, a certificate costing 16s. or
192 pence, and yielding 26s. or 312 pence at maturity, gives the
formula, 312 + 192 =(1 +4)! whence (log 312 -log 192) + 10=
log (1+¢), where ¢ is the interest on 1 for one year. The
rates of interest for intermediate vears are found in the same
way.
There is no doubt about the attractions of Savings Certifi-
cates from an investor’s point of view, but it is worth considering