In 1910 the Act now in force (9-10 Edward VII, Chap. 14) was enacted. Its. reads in part as follows: "The denomination of money in the currency of Canada shall be dollars. cents and mills,— the cents being 0110. hundredth part of a dollar, and the mill one-tenth part of a cent.
"The standard for gold coins of the currency of Canada shall be such that of one thousand parts by weight. nine hundred shall be of fine gold and one hundred of alloy; and the standard for silver coins of such currency shall be such that of one thousand parts by weight nine hundred and twenty-five shall be of fine silver and seventy-five of alloy.
"Gold, silver and bronse coins, struck by the authority of the Crown for circulation in Canada, of the respective denominations mentioned in the schedule to this act, and 'of the standard weight and fineness therein set out, shall be equal to and pass current for the respective sums in the currency of Canada following, to wit: for twenty dollars, ten dollars, five dollars, two and one-half dollars, fifty cents, twenty-five cents, ten cents, five cents and one cent." "pound currency" when this was desired. This Act was repealed by the Act of 1871, which established the metallic currency on its present basis throughout the whole of the Dominion except Prince Edward Island (entered Con federation, 1873) and British Columbia (entered Confederation, 1871) extension to these prov inces being effected in 1881. In 1886 a consoli dating act was passed, providing that: "The denominations of money in the currency of Canada shall be dollars, cents and mills — the cent being one hundredth part of a dollar, and the mill one-tenth part of a cent.
"The currency of Canada shall be such, that the British sovereign of the and fineness now prescribed by the laws of the United 1Cingdom. shall be equal to and shall Pass current for four dollars eighty-six cents and two-thirds of a cent of the currency of Canada. and the half sovereign proportionate weight and the fineness, for one-half the sa sum.
'Any gold coins which Her Majesty causes to be struck for circulation in Canada, of the standard of fineness pre scribed by law for the gold coins of the United Kingdom.
and bearing the same on in weight to that of the British sovereign, whi ve dollars bear to four dollars eighty-six cents and two-thirds of a cent, shall pass current and be a legal tender in Canada for five dollars; and any multiples of divisions of such coin, which Her Majesty muses to be struck for like purposes. shall pass current and be a legal tender in Canada at rates proportionate to their it value respectively.• It also provides that the British sovereign and multiples and divisions thereof, and the five, ten and twenty dollar gold coins of the United States shall pass current and be legal tender, and gives the governor in council au thority to fix, by proclamation, the rates at which any foreign gold coins shall pass current and be a legal tender.
The actual currency of the country consists almost entirely of paper (see CANADA — BANK ING SYSTEM) and this has been found entirely satisfactory. Until recent years there had been no Canadian gold coinage, while the silver and bronze coinage needed had been obtained from England, through the Royal Mint, an arrange ment which had always worked very well. In fluenced, however, by the large production of gold in the Yukon territory the government took authority, during the session of 1901, with the concurrence of the Imperial govern ment, to establish at Ottawa a branch of the Royal Mint, which came into operation in 1908.
Since that date all Canadian coinage has been minted in Ottawa. In 1912 the Ottawa Mint began the coinage of Canadian five dollar and ten dollar gold pieces, and up to 31 Dec.
1915 $4,868,420 had been coined and issued. Practically none of this is in the hands of the public, which does not want and will not use gold, except very occasionally for some special purpose, and almost the whole of Canada's gold currency is held by the government or the banks, forming a small part of the country's gold reserves. These reserves are drawn upon or added to in the settlement of international balances, and for this purpose British and American gold is better adapted than is Canadian.