Britain's single currency debate of the late 1860s

Abstract

Though a Royal Commission had rejected Britain joining the Latin Monetary Union, Robert Lowe, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said he would recommend membership provided three conditions were satisfied. As these included a general adherence to the gold standard, nothing further came of it. But meanwhile there had been a complex public discussion of the subject, and the related topic of shrinking the pound coin so it weighed the same as the 25-franc piece. The debate shed much light on the contemporary state of value and monetary theory, and those who supported the changes had the best of it.