TABLE OF FOREIGN COINS WHOSE VALUES ARE FIXED

BY USAGE,

When a Consular's certificate of the real value or rate of ex

[The above Tables are taken from a work on the Tariff, by E. D Ogden, Esq., of the New York Custom House.]

EXCHANGE.

278.. EXCHANGE is a term which denotes the payment of money by a person residing in one place to a person residing in another. The payment is generally made by means of a bill of exchange.

QUEST.-278 What is exchange? How is the payment generally

made?

279. A BILL OF EXCHANGE is an open letter of request from one person to another, desiring the payment to a third party named therein, of a certain sum of money to be paid at a specified time and place. There are always three parties to a bill of exchange, and generally four.

1. He who writes the open letter of request, is called the drawer or maker of the bill.

2. The person to whom it is directed is called the drawee. 3. The person to whom the money is ordered to be paid is called the payee; and

4. Any person who purchases a bill of exchange is called the buyer or remitter.

280. Bills of exchange are the proper money of commerce. Suppose Mr. Isaac Wilson of the city of New York, ships 1000 bags of cotton, worth £96000, to Samuel Johns & Co. of Liverpool; and at about the same time William James of New York orders goods from Liverpool, of Ambrose Spooner, to the amount of eighty thousand pounds sterling. Now, Mr. Wilson draws a bill of exchange on Messrs. Johns & Co. in the following form: viz.,

Exchange for £80000.

New York, July 30th, 1846.

Sixty days after sight of this my first Bill of Exchange (second and third of the same date and tenor unpaid*) pay to David C. Jones or order, eighty thousand pounds sterling, with or without further advice. ISAAC WILSON.

Let us now suppose that Mr. James purchases this bill of David C. Jones for the purpose of sending it to Ambrose

* Three bills are generally drawn for the same amount, called the first, second, and third, and together they form a set. One only is paid, and then the other two are of no value. This arrangement avoids the accidents and delays incident to transmitting the bills.

QUEST.-279. What is a bill of exchange? How many parties are there to a bill of exchange? Name them. 280. How do bills of exchange aid commerce? Name all the parties of the bill in this example.

Spooner of Liverpool, whom he owes. We shall then have all the parties to a bill of exchange; viz., Isaac Wilson, the maker or drawer; Messrs. Johns & Co., the drawees; David C. Jones, the payee; and William James, the buyer or remitter.

281. A bill of exchange is called an inland bill, when the drawer and drawee both reside in the same country; and when they reside in different countries, it is called a foreign bill. Thus, all bills in which the drawer and drawee reside in the United States, are inland bills; but if one of them resides in England or France, the bill is a foreign bill.

282. The time at which a bill is made payable varies, and is a matter of agreement between the drawer and buyer. They may either be drawn at sight, or at a certain number of days after sight, or at a certain number of days after date.

283. DAYS OF GRACE are a certain number of days granted to the person who pays the bill, after the time named in the bill has expired. In the United States and Great Britain three days are allowed.

284. In ascertaining the time when a bill payable so many days after sight, or after date, actually falls due, the day of presentment, or the day of the date, is not reckoned. When the time is expressed in months, calendar months are always understood.

If the month in which a bill falls due is shorter than the one in which it is dated, it is a rule not to go on into the next month. Thus a bill drawn on the 28th, 29th, 30th, or 31st of December, payable two months after date, would fall due

QUEST.-281. What is an inland bill? What is a foreign bill? Are bills drawn between one state and another inland or foreign? 282. How is the time determined at which a bill is made payable? How are bills always drawn? 283. What are days of grace? How many days of grace are allowed in this country and in Great Britain? 284. In ascertaining the time when a bill is payable, what days are reckoned? When the time is

expressed in months, what kind of months is understood? If the month in which the bill falls due is shorter than that in which it is drawn, what rule is observed?

on the last of February, except for the days of grace, and would be actually due on the third of March.

ENDORSING BILLS.

285. In examining the bill of exchange drawn by Isaac Wilson, it will be seen that Messrs. Johns & Co. are requested to pay the amount to David C. Jones or order; that is, either Mr. Jones or to any other person named by him. If Mr. Jones simply writes his name on the back of the bill, he is said to endorse it in blank, and the drawees must pay it to any rightful owner who presents it. Such rightful owner is called the holder, and Mr. Jones is called the endorser.

If Mr. Jones writes on the back of the bill, over his signature, "Pay to the order of William James," this is called a special endorsement, and William James is the endorsee, and he may either endorse in blank or write over his signature Pay to the order of Ambrose Spooner," and the drawees, Messrs. Johns & Co., will then be bound to pay the amount to Mr. Spooner.

A bill drawn payable to bearer, may be transferred by mere delivery.

ACCEPTANCE.

286. When the bill drawn on Messrs. Johns & Co. is presented to them, they must inform the holder whether or not they will pay it at the expiration of the time named. Their agreement to pay it is signified by writing across the face of the bill, and over their signature the word “accepted,” and they are then called the acceptors.

LIABILITIES OF THE PARTIES.

287. The drawee of a bill does not become responsible for its payment until after he has accepted. On the presenta

QUEST.-285. What is an endorsement in blank? What is the person making it called? What is a special endorsement? What is the effect of an endorsement? How may a bill drawn to bearer be transferred? 286. What is an acceptance? How is it made? 287. When does the drawee of a bill become responsible for its payment?

tion of the bill, if the drawee does not accept, the holder should immediately take means to have the drawer and all the endorsers notified. Such notice is called a protest, and is given by a public officer called a notary, or notary public. If the parties are not notified in a reasonable time, they are not responsible for the payment of the bill.

If the drawer accepts the bill and fails to make the payment when it becomes due, the parties must be notified as before, and this is called protesting the bill for non-payment. If the endorsers are not notified in a reasonable time, they are not responsible for the amount of the bill.

PAR OF EXCHANGE-COURSE OF EXCHANGE.

288. The intrinsic par of exchange, is a term used to compare the coins of different countries with each other, with respect to their intrinsic values, that is, with reference to the amount of pure metal in each. Thus, the English sovereign, which represents the pound sterling, is intrinsically worth $4,861 in our gold, taken as a standard, as determined at the Mint in Philadelphia. This, therefore, is the value at which the sovereign must be reckoned, in estimating the par of exchange.

289. The commercial par of exchange is a comparison of the coins of different countries according to their market value. Thus, the market value of the English sovereign, varying from $4,83 to $4,85 (Art. 277), the commercial par of exchange will fluctuate. It is, however, always determined when we know the value at which the foreign coin sells in our market.

QUEST.-If the drawee does not accept, what must the holder do? What is such notice called? By whom is it made? If the parties to the bill are not notified, what is the consequence? If the drawee accepts the bill and fails to make the payment, what must then be done? If the bill is not protested, what will be the consequence? 288. What do you understand by the intrinsic par of exchange? What is the intrinsic value of the English sovereign? 289. What is the commercial par of exchange? What is the commercial value of the English sovereign?