Note 225-1 — Chapter II

Here, as a rule, the value of the metal was greater than the form-value; and hence the medieval monasteries frequently made loans of silver vessels, where of course, the form could not be taken into consideration. On the other hand, in the case of the table service, presented by the king of Portugal to Lord Wellington, the metal cost £85,000 and the workmanship £86,000. (Jacob, Gesch. der edlen Metalle, translated by Kleinschrod, II, 5.) Compare Hume, History of England, ch. 44, App. 3. Similarly under Louis XIV. (Sismondi, Hist. des Français, XXVII, 45.) When Rome was highly civilized, C. Gracchus paid for very good silver ware, 15 times the value of the metal, and L. Crassus, (consul 95 before Christ) 18 times its value. Mommsen, R. Gesch. II, 383.