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
Citation56 Geo. III c.68
Territorial extentUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Status: Repealed

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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