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A prince, who should enact that a certain proportion of his taxes

should be paid in a paper money of a certain kind, might thereby

give a certain value to this paper money, even though the term of

its final discharge and redemption should depend altogether upon

the will of the prince. If the bank which issued this paper was

careful to keep the quantity of it always somewhat below what

could easily be employed in this manner, the demand for it might

be such as to make it even bear a premium, or sell for somewhat

more in the market than the quantity of gold or silver currency

for which it was issued. Some people account in this manner for

what is called the agio of the bank of Amsterdam, or for the

superiority of bank money over current money, though this bank

money, as they pretend, cannot be taken out of the bank at the

will of the owner.