Difference between revisions of "Lethse (currency)"

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The lethse or officially the Lethian pound (IN£ or £) is the currency of the United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland, established after the Act of Consolidation, 1562 united the then sovereign kingdoms of Isselmere and Nieland as the state currency, replacing the Isselmerian pund or pound (Is£) and the Nielander krõne (NKr). Today, the lethse operates on a floating foreign exchange rate and domestically is valued at 100 Isselmere-Nielander pence (p).

History

The Parliament of Isselmere and the Storting of Nieland decided upon an entirely new currency due to rampant counterfeiting preceeding unification, as well as the need to mint coins bearing the likenesses of both monarchs. Officially, the lethse was a gold coin with the same worth as a pound of silver, valued at twenty shillings (scillingis or sc.) of twelve pence (pengst, a combination of pence and pengar). Currency debasement practised by either desperate or corrupt kings and minters, particularly during the religious troubles of the seventeenth-century, meant that the actual value of the coin was far less than that.

Valuation

The original sub-divisions of the Lethian pound were many and troublesome. As noted above, the basic sub-divisions were the scillingis (sing. scilling; sc.) and the pengst (sing. penny; p.) at twenty per pound and twelve per scilling, respectively. Beneath the penny were the arhe or eighth at eight to a penny, and the farthing or firthing at four a penny. There was also a halfpenny coin as well. Above the penny were twopence and sixpence coins with their easily discernable valuations, as well as the gróst or groat at four pence. Beyond the scilling were the rose or two scillingis bit, the mark at four shillings, and the half-crown at ten.

The first lethses bore the likenesses of Queen Hortense II and King Henry enthroned on the obverse with the new state's coat of arms on the reverse. The new pound coin was supposed to have been made of pure gold and was, as one might expect due to its high value, rarely used as a unit of exchange. In practice, the coin was often of lesser metals merely festooned with gilt of varying thickness depending upon the needs of the monarchy for ready funds and the scrupulousness of the chartered minters. The coin was not very popular within either kingdom, but persistent royal pressure upon the House of Lords and the Royal Assembly of Burgesses ensured its acceptance by the end of Hortense II's reign.

New era

In 1693, King Alexander II, tired of scandals involving the uncertain value of the currency and at the behest of the burgesses and merchants established the Union Bank of Isselmere-Nieland. Alexander II gave the new central bank an exclusive charter over the royal mint and granted it sole responsibility for issuing bills of exchange. Consequently, the first Governor-General of the Union Bank, Sir Edward Pritchard, endeavoured to reduce the variety of coins it was required to emit, reducing the burden upon it and the monarchy.

From 1693, the Union Bank ceased the coining of arhes and required their return upon collection at city gates to the new Royal Mint on Ocherage Lane. The farthing and the groat were spared from numismatic extinction, both finally disappearing from legal currency in 1857 to counter debts and inflation incurred by the Crimean War. Coins of higher value were not spared. The Union Bank discontinued both the rose and the mark in favour of the new five shilling castle, which was immediately christened the rook by its opponents in Parliament who suspected Sir Edward of continuing to debase the currency for his own profit.

Stabilisation

The long and relatively peaceful reign of Alexander II (r. 1684-1723) enabled the lethse to gain pace on other European and world currencies. Between the late seventeenth- and early twentieth-centuries, the value of the lethse stabilised somewhat, surpassing that of the Scottish pound (12 pounds Scots = 1 pound sterling = 9 lethses) before 1707 and eventually rising to about the value of the US dollar by 1914 (5 USD/INP = 1 GBP).

Until 1914, there were one and two lethse coins, but demands from war industries led the Union Bank, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat government, to introduce pound- and two-lethse notes to conserve vital metal resources. Again, there was resistance to the new notes from the populace, but the United Kingdom's involvement in the First World War (1914-1918) on the side of the British Empire distracted political opposition by the Conservative Party and rallied popular support behind the government of the day. By the end of the War, so many changes had been wrought upon Isselmere-Nielander society that the dismay caused by the new notes was entirely forgotten.

Depression

Denominations

The present-day lethse and its lesser values are a joint product of the His (or Her) Majesty's Treasury and the Royal Mint, as well as the latter's governing body, the Union Bank. The Metric and Decimalisation Act, 1971 established the current valuation that has not been altered since.