128 
POLITICAL ECONOMY 
first international indebtedness is recognised 
or discharged by means of bills of exchange, 
but ultimately, when final settlements have 
to be made, the balance must be met with 
exportations of gold. 
This will be a suitable place to point out 
that token money (that is coins like shillings 
and pence which have a face value in excess 
of the value of the metal contained in them) 
may be regarded as notes made of metal. For 
convenience they are made complete legal 
tender up to certain amounts when issued by 
Government, as they are usually at the 
present time. It may also be pointed out 
that a limited amount of inconvertible paper 
money may circulate in a country without 
depreciating in value. 
In 1844 the English Government made a 
successful attempt to limit the issue of notes 
by the Bank Act of that year, but whether 
this measure proved to be beneficial all 
round is problematical. While restricting 
the issue of notes, the Bank Act had no 
bearing upon the cheque system, the immense 
ascendancy of which of late years could 
hardly have been foreseen. At the present 
time the bulk of the payments made in Eng 
land are made in the form of cheques. At first 
sight the cheque system would seem to be a