ThenecessitywhichtheBankfeltitselfundertoguardthesafetyofitsestablishment，therefore，alwaysprevented，beforetherestrictionfrompayinginspecie，atoolavishissueofpapermoney。
Thuswefindthat，foraperiodoftwenty-threeyearspreviouslytothesuspensionofcashpaymentsin1797，theaveragepriceofgoldbullionwas3l。17s。73/4d。peroz。about23/4d。underthemintprice；andforsixteenyearspreviouslyto1774，itneverwasmuchabove4l。peroz。Itshouldberememberedthatduringthesesixteenyearsourgoldcoinwasdebasedbywearing，anditisthereforeprobablethat4l。ofsuchdebasedmoneydidnotweighasmuchastheounceofgoldforwhichitwasexchanged。
DrA。Smithconsiderseverypermanentexcessofthemarketabovethemintpriceofgold，asreferribletothestateofthecoins。Whilethecoinwasofitsstandardweightandpurity，themarketpriceofgoldbullion，hethought，couldnotgreatlyexceedthemintprice。
MrThorntoncontendsthatthiscannotbetheonlycause。\"Wehave，\"hesays，\"latelyexperiencedfluctuationsinourexchanges，andcorrespondentvariationsinthemarket，comparedwiththemintpriceofgold，amountingtonolessthaneightortenpercent；thestateofourcoinagecontinuinginallrespectsthesame。\"MrThorntonshouldhavereflectedthatatthetimehewrote，speciecouldnotbedemandedattheBankinexchangefornotes；thatthiswasacauseforthedepreciationofthecurrencywhichDrSmithcouldneverhaveanticipated。IfMrThorntonhadprovedthattherehadbeenafluctuationoftenpercent。inthepriceofgold，whiletheBankpaidtheirnotesinspecie，andthecoinwasundebased，hewouldthenhaveconvictedDrSmithof\"
havingtreatedthisimportantsubjectinadefectiveandunsatisfactorymanner。\"（6*）