London, Jan. 23.
Messrs. Montagi's silver report states:—The sharp fall in price on January 16, was due to the sale of a considerable amount of melted coin from abroad, but parity with York owing to the weakness of exchange was so much higher that the market was buoyant. China has shown interest but rising prices hindered business from that quarter.
Two significant indications that the doom of silver as the material of subsidiary coin in many countries is imminent were given during the week, namely, the German Reichsbank's decision to pay in paper currency for Germaz_ silver and a half times its face value, and the introduction of the McFadden Bill in the United States Congress authorizing the Federal banks to notes f as denomina and two dollars and also providing for reducing the quality of silver coin to 8.—Reuter.
In their letter dated London,
state Decsnibee 4, Messrs. Montagu Under the influence of a falling U. 8. exchange (by which the cost of silver from America increased) the price began again to climb each day. Continental and trade demand are languishing, now that the metal has become so dear, and manufactured goods and foreign silver coin are being realized freely as bullion, so that the governing factor here is rather a question of the U. S. exchange than of supply and demand.
It is recalled that Holland, one of the first to succumb to the scare created by Australian and Californian gold- discoveries, discontinued the coinage of silver on private account in 1873. The Dutch Government has now brought in a Bill for the Minting of new silver coins for Holland and the Dutch Indies, with a pure silver content of 800-1,000, against 945-1,000 as heretofore. This measure was necessitate ed by the fact that the intrinsic value of the Dutch Guilder has already risen from cents 40 to over cents 95, with a face value of cents 100.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.