Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/404

356 Germany the mark is equal to the shilling. In Austria the florin is 2 francs i.e., 1s. 8d. In Italy the lira is equal to the French franc. If the English Government, without giving up the shilling, were to coin a silver ten pence piece, and the Germans followed suit, and if the Dutch and the Austrians would coin a half guilden and a half florin respectively, something like an international silver coin could be had in the 10 pence piece, equal to a franc, equal to a half guilden, equal to the proposed German coin, and equal to the lira! However Governments are not yet of the same mind as the perplexed tourist rapidly travelling through one half of Europe in six weeks!