144 
POLITICAL ECONOMY 
much more than those of gold, because 
as gold got scarce silver would tend to fill the 
gap made in the currency, and when silver 
got scarce gold would tend to fill the gap left. 
And there would obviously be a par of 
exchange between the gold-using and silver 
using countries. A par of exchange is 
provided when the standards of value in the 
two groups of countries do not vary independ 
ently. When they vary independently, a 
rise or fall in the value of silver with reference 
to gold naturally causes disturbance in the 
trade between the two groups of countries. 
The inducement to make the bimetallic 
experiment lost its power after prices began 
to rise ; and before that it had been weakened 
by the closure of the Indian mints to the 
free coinage of silver, which meant that the 
quantity of silver coins in circulation was so 
regulated by the Government that their 
purchasing-power was kept constant with 
the purchasing-power of gold, and a par of 
exchange between gold-using countries and 
India was created.