Coinage Act 1816

The Coinage Act 1816 (56 Geo. III c.68), also known as Liverpool's Act,[1] defined the value of the pound sterling relative to gold. One troy pound of standard (22-carat) gold was defined as equivalent to £46 14s 6d.,[2] i.e. 44½ guineas, the guinea having been fixed in December 1717 at £1 1s exactly. According to its preamble, the purposes of the Act were to:

  • prohibit the use of silver coins (which would now be of reduced weight, 66 shillings rather than 62 shillings per troy pound), for transactions larger than 40s
  • establish a single gold standard for transactions of all sizes.[3]
Coinage Act 1816
Long titleAn Act to provide for a New Silver Coinage, and to regulate the Currency of the Gold and Silver Coin of this Realm.
Citation56 Geo. III c.68
Territorial extentUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Dates
Royal assent22 June 1816
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

See also

References
  1. Sargent, Thomas J. (2002). The Big Problem of Small Change. Princeton University Press. p. 303.
  2. Lisle, George (1906). "British Currency: Gold". Accounting in Theory and Practice. William Green & Sons. p. 277.
  3. Scott, William Amasa (1903). "XV.2: Currency Reform in England and the Act of 1816". Money and Banking. Henry Holt and Company.


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