Why does not some man of public research enlighten the public on the
proceedings at the Mint? The whole system is as little comprehensible
by the uninitiated as the philosopher's stone. The cost of the Mint is
prodigious--the machinery is all that machinery can be; yet we have one
of the ugliest coinages of any nation of Europe. A new issue of coin is
about to be commenced.

"It appears, from the king's proclamation, that the new coinage
will consist of double sovereigns, to be each of the value of 40s.;
sovereigns, each of 20s.; and half-sovereigns, 10s. silver crowns,
half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences. The double-sovereigns have for
the obverse the king's effigy, with the inscription, 'Gulielmus IIII.
D.G. Britanniarum Rex. F.D.;' and for the reverse, the ensigns armorial
of the United Kingdom contained in a shield, encircled by the collar of
the Order of the Garter, and upon the edge of the piece the words 'Decus
et Tutamen.' The crowns and half-crowns will be similar. The shilling
has on the reverse the words 'One Shilling,' placed in the centre of
the piece, within a wreath, having an olive-branch on one side, and an
oak-branch on the other; and the sixpences have the same, except the
word 'Sixpence' instead of the words 'One Shilling.' The coppers will
be nearly as at present."

Now we must observe, what the master of the Mint and the people about
him ought to have observed before, that there is in the first instance
a considerable expense incurred in the coinage of the double-sovereigns,
without any possible object, except the expense itself may be an object,
which is not impossible. We shall have in this coin one of the most
clumsy and useless matters of circulation that could be devised. The
present sovereign answers every purpose that this clumsy coin can be
required for, and even the single sovereign would be a much more