Both Sides of the Coin - a Reply

David Sealy

Though not a member of the Bexley Coin Club, I greatly enjoyed my recent visit to speak to the club, and count myself among their friends. I was privileged to see an advance copy of Tony Gilbert's article, and would like to take the opportunity to make some remarks in reply.

We note Tony Blair is beginning to "go soft" on the issue of Britain joining the euro, as he now fears it would prove unpopular with the British people - and he would lose a referendum on the subject! the Conservative opposition, meanwhile, sees this as an election winner. I believe they are both right, and the British people will not consent to the scrapping of the pound. Normally, my own political allegiance is to the Liberal Democrats, but I am quite certain they will lose heavily in espousing such a cause. It is not the existence of the euro itself that we do not like, but the idea that we should give up the pound. If a way could be found to have both currencies in circulation together - say pounds for internal use, and euros for travelling abroad and overseas trade - we might be persuaded to accept it. Natural selection might eventually lead to the survival of the fittest. A dual currency is not unparalleled; for example, the use of the U.S. dollar in Latin America, alongside local currencies, is found very convenient for commerce. Recently, Ecuador even proposed to drop its own sucre and use dollars exclusively, but this plan has now been abandoned.

So wherein lies the British love for their pound? Basically, ancient history and tradition, as the numismatist knows well. New Labour notwithstanding, we are a profoundly conservative (with a small c) country. Politicians and economists do not, and should not, wholly govern our lives. There are issues above and beyond politics and economics they will ignore at their peril - those great, defining cultural and historical values which make our nation what it is. The pound, like the monarchy and our language, is foremost among them. I believe the British people would never forgive anyone who, for merely political or economic convenience, would force us to abandon them, no matter what the apparent advantages.

The pound has its roots in the pound weight of silver used as money of account in medieval days. It first became a coin with the large silver pieces of Charles I. Although, of course, inflation has caused it to dwindle over the centuries, its existence as a unit of value has been continuous for about the last millennium. The point I am trying to make is, the same cannot be said of any of the other currencies which now comprise the euro. They can be more easily abandoned, without the same cultural and emotional wrench. The franc only dates from Napoleonic times, c.1800, the lire only from the 1860s. The Greek drachma, even, represents a 19th century revival, in the interests of nationalism, of an ancient currency name after a lapse of many hundreds of years. As for the mark, in its present incarnation as the deutschmark, it has died and been revived many times. The mark was originally, like the pound, a medieval bullion money of account, the "mark of silver". The name was adopted for the currency of the German Empire in 1871, precisely because it was not a term in current use. Unlike "thaler" or "gulden", for instance, it was without regional connotations. It met its nemesis in the inflation after WW1, and was replaced first by the rentenmark and then the reichsmark. After WW2 had done its work, we had the deutschmark. In short, the "mark" too is a recent construct.

So let us not lightly cast aside the pound, an essential part of our national heritage. On the other hand, there was a moment, a few months ago, when briefly the sinking euro was at parity with the U.S. dollar. If at that moment they could have "locked", we could have had a truly global currency - a true "eurodollar" if you like, or the universal "credit" so beloved by futuristic science-fiction authors. The British, along with all other nations, could hardly have long resisted joining such a world currency, and I for one, with regrets of course, would have acquiesced. A world currency would be a cause worth making sacrifices for. But nothing less. Think of it - a world with no currency barriers, exchange rates, or even perhaps inflation! Maybe the chance will recur - could we afford not to grasp the opportunity?