3. The Decimal Problem Solved

Extract

The author having had experience of the simple duodecimal monetary system of Portugal, which is accumulated by multiplication from a decimal minimum unit, proposes to apply the same principle to the British coinage. Having also discovered, while in Canada, that the difference betwixt the British coinage and a decimal position or character, is 20 per cent, over all, he proposes to overcome this by altering the value of the present farthing, by this rate, making it the fifth, instead of the fourth of the penny—the penny of 5 farthings would then become the duodecimal multiplier of all the coins, making the shilling 60 farthings instead of 48, and the pound 1200 instead of 960, and each intermediate coin would be represented by one of the digits and one or two ciphers, while the pound, being represented by 12, the highest single divisor or multiplier, could be kept out as the maximum unit.