aregulationequallytyrannical，butmuchlesseffectualthanthatwhichitwasmeanttosupport。Apositivelawmayrenderashillingalegaltenderforguinea，becauseitmaydirectthecourtsofjusticetodischargethedebtorwhohasmadethattender。Butnopositivelawcanobligeapersonwhosellsgoods，andwhoisatlibertytosellornottosellashepleases，toacceptofashillingasequivalenttoaguineainthepriceofthem。Notwithstandinganyregulationofthiskind，itappearedbythecourseofexchangewithGreatBritain，thatahundredpoundssterlingwasoccasionallyconsideredasequivalent，insomeofthecolonies，toahundredandthirtypounds，andinotherstosogreatasumaselevenhundredpoundscurrency;thisdifferenceinthevaluearisingfromthedifferenceinthequantityofpaperemittedinthedifferentcolonies，andinthedistanceandprobabilityofthetermofitsfinaldischargeandredemption。
Nolaw，therefore，couldbemoreequitablethantheActofParliament，sounjustlycomplainedofinthecolonies，whichdeclaredthatnopapercurrencytobeemittedthereintimecomingshouldbealegaltenderofpayment。
Pennsylvaniawasalwaysmoremoderateinitsemissionsofpapermoneythananyotherofourcolonies。Itspapercurrency，accordingly，issaidnevertohavesunkbelowthevalueofthegoldandsilverwhichwascurrentinthecolonybeforethefirstemissionofitspapermoney。Beforethatemission，thecolonyhadraisedthedenominationofitscoin，andhad，byactofassembly，orderedfiveshillingssterlingtopassinthecolonyforsixandthreepence，andafterwardsforsixandeightpence。Apoundcolonycurrency，therefore，evenwhenthatcurrencywasgoldandsilver，wasmorethanthirtypercentbelowthevalueofapoundsterling，andwhenthatcurrencywasturnedintopaperitwasseldommuchmorethanthirtypercentbelowthatvalue。Thepretenceforraisingthedenominationofthecoin，wastopreventtheexportationofgoldandsilver，bymakingequalquantitiesofthosemetalspassforgreatersumsinthecolonythantheydidinthemothercountry。Itwasfound，however，thatthepriceofallgoodsfromthemothercountryroseexactlyinproportionastheyraisedthedenominationoftheircoin，sothattheirgoldandsilverwereexportedasfastasever。
Thepaperofeachcolonybeingreceivedinthepaymentoftheprovincialtaxes，forthefullvalueforwhichithadbeenissued，itnecessarilyderivedfromthisusesomeadditionalvalueoverandabovewhatitwouldhavehadfromtherealorsupposeddistanceofthetermofitsfinaldischargeandredemption。Thisadditionalvaluewasgreaterorless，accordingasthequantityofpaperissuedwasmoreorlessabovewhatcouldbeemployedinthepaymentofthetaxesoftheparticularcolonywhichissuedit。Itwasinallthecoloniesverymuchabovewhatcouldbeemployedinthismanner。
Aprincewhoshouldenactthatacertainproportionofhistaxesshouldbepaidinapapermoneyofacertainkindmighttherebygiveacertainvaluetothispapermoney，eventhoughthetermofitsfinaldischargeandredemptionshoulddependaltogetheruponthewilloftheprince。Ifthebankwhichissuedthispaperwascarefultokeepthequantityofitalwayssomewhatbelowwhatcouldeasilybeemployedinthismanner，thedemandforitmightbesuchastomakeitevenbearapremium，orsellforsomewhatmoreinthemarketthanthequantityofgoldorsilvercurrencyforwhichitwasissued。SomepeopleaccountinthismannerforwhatiscalledtheAgioofthebankofAmsterdam，orforthesuperiorityofbankmoneyovercurrentmoney;thoughthisbankmoney，astheypretend，cannotbetakenoutofthebankatthewilloftheowner。Thegreaterpartofforeignbillsofexchangemustbepaidinbankmoney，thatis，byatransferinthebooksofthebank;andthedirectorsofthebank，theyallege，arecarefultokeepthewholequantityofbankmoneyalwaysbelowwhatthisuseoccasionsademandfor。Itisuponthisaccount，theysay，thatbankmoneysellsforapremium，orbearsanagiooffourorfivepercentabovethesamenominalsumofthegoldandsilvercurrencyofthecountry。ThisaccountofthebankofAmsterdam，however，itwillappearhereafter，isinagreatmeasurechimerical。